People and places: Find out who is moving when and where...

Paul Giles has won a three week, secret ballot election to become the chairman of Norton Rose. Giles, who is currently Norton Rose’s Asian managing partner, will relocate from Singapore to take up his new position on 1 May. He replaces the current chairman David Lewis, who has come to the end of his second three-year term. Chief executive, Peter Martyr, said: "Paul has been a very successful manager in Asia and he is a forward thinker which makes him very well suited to his new role.”
The Preston office of Ricksons has hired Ian McKillop as assistant solicitor. He joins the firm from the in-house legal team of multinational glassmaker, Pilkington plc where he handled a wide range of commercial matters. John Hartup, head of Ricksons’s corporate and commercial services department, said: “This appointment is key to driving the commercial department forward as he brings with him an excellent level of expertise in commercial law.”
Bond Pearce has promoted Gareth Kagan, Stephen Lister and Tim Baily to partners. Kagan, who leads the firm’s banking and insolvency litigation team and also heads up the firm’s credit- management services, was voted litigation specialist of the year at the Credit Industry 2002 Awards and assistant solicitor of the year at the Lawyer Awards 2002. Baily has specialised in property since qualification and is recognised by Chambers as a “leader in his field”. He undertakes a wide spectrum of property work for a range of clients, primarily those with substantial property portfolios. Lister, an associate in the firm’s commercial litigation group, also has specialist knowledge in public procurement, competition, insolvency and pensions litigation.
Taylor Wessing has appointed Dr. Ernst-Albrecht von Beauvais to its corporate team as a partner specialising in international M&A and leveraged buy-outs. He joins from CEA Capital Partners, an international private equity fund focusing on the media and communications industries, where he was partner and investment director. News of the hire closely follows the announcement that corporate partner Friedhold Andreas will cross to TW from PriceWaterhouse Veltins.
Stephen Fraidin has joined Kirkland & Ellis as a partner in its New York office. A former senior corporate partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, Fraidin will join Kirkland’s transactional practice. Thomas D. Yannucci, who chairs Kirkland’s management committee, said: “We are delighted to welcome a lawyer of Steve’s calibre. Kirkland has been expanding in M&A and corporate governance to meet client demands. Steve is not only an esteemed corporate lawyer, but also a recognised leader in the field and will be a tremendous asset to our firm.”

If you know of any interesting appointments that you would like to see included in this section, please contact the editor at: cpoynton@ark-group.com.