Squire Patton Boggs adds real estate partners

Squire Patton Boggs adds real estate partners

With one associate from AVOCATALYSE and Taylor Wessing, Estelle Vernejoul and Thomas Coëffé each join

Two new real estate partners have been hired by Squire Patton Boggs in Paris, AVOCATALYSE and Taylor Wessing.

As the founding partner of AVOCATALYSE, which she founded in 2018, Estelle Vernejoul joins the firm. She will move across together with her associate Angélique Charrier. Previously, Thomas Coëffé worked as a real estate counsel at Taylor Wessing. Together with real estate associate Elise Milani, he joins the firm.

Earlier this month, the firm brought on private equity specialist Maxime Desquesne from Lamartine Conseil as its third lateral partner hire in Paris. It was in his presence that private equity partner Anthony Guillaume from DLA Piper and leveraged finance partner Benjamin Marché from Shearman & Sterling followed his arrival.

With the addition of the latest additions, the office now has 22 partners, four counsels, and 21 associates.

In his recent remarks, Squire's European real estate leader, Matthew Dalzell, stated that building a strong real estate team will help the company continue to develop its services in the region.

According to the firm's Paris managing partner, Carol Sportes, we are seeing an increase in demand for real estate, both as a means of supporting the transactional activity of other practices and as a means of meeting the needs of clients more generally. In addition, Estelle and Thomas offer global synergies in key industry sectors such as hospitality and leisure, which will be greatly appreciated locally and within the firm."

Her firm, Vernejoul, was founded in 2018 after spending five years as an associate at Eversheds Sutherland. In addition to real estate transactions, portfolio management, leasing and construction projects, she also works on litigation and urban planning issues, according to Squire.

Similarly, Coëffé s work focuses on large-scale real estate transactions and projects in the hospitality sector, including M&A, outsourcing, financing, and asset management.

During the past few months, the Paris legal market has seen significant lateral activity, partly due to the strong market for mid-market private equity and M&A deals in the country. The firm Shearman & Sterling added Xavier Norlain from DLA Piper last October, while Willkie Farr & Gallagher hired Tiana Rambatomanga from Stephenson Harwood to its PE and M&A team.

The head of Hogan Lovells' Paris finance litigation practice, Julien Martinet, quit the firm with his team to establish Swift Litigation, a firm that specializes in financial disputes.