Chairman’s retirement heralds changes at Walkers

(CNS): Offshore legal firm Walkers has overhauled its senior management team and elected a new global managing partner and a new chairman, according to reports in the industry press. Managing partner Grant Stein will become the firm's chairman from 1 July when Wayne Panton retires after more than 20 years at the firm and three years in the chair. As a result Diarmad Murray will step into Stein’s shoes as the new global managing partner. Murray will continue as head of the Cayman Islands’ office for the next three years.

Other management changes will see the firm's practice managing partner, Jonathan Tonge, swapping roles with regions managing partner, Ian Ashman. Tonge's new role will see him move from Cayman to Jersey, where he will also head the local office. Ashman will remain in Dublin.

Diarmad’s election to global managing partner had unanimous support of the firm’s partners and he was described as doing an “excellent job reshaping the Cayman Islands office over the past two years.” 

The changes come two years after a radical overhaul of the firm’s management structure, in which the firm reorganised into five practice-focused divisions. The firm has expanded in the past decade, growing from the Cayman office to offices around the world, from Hong Kong to Ireland.

“A lot of our major clients have expanded rapidly and globally and we’ve been fortunate enough to be able to help them,” Stein said of the firm’s globalisation programme.

Nor is the expansion over. Stien said further expansions are likely to be in growing economies, particularly in Asia. Brazil and Russia are also areas where Walkers is directing its attention. “We have focus groups at the moment that are very active in relation to these markets,” revealed Stein.

Murray said the firm’s prospects in practice areas such as investment funds and finance were looking good. “It’s a fairly rosy picture at the moment,” he added.

In addition to taking over the global managing partner role, Murray will continue to focus on developing the Cayman office’s support functions. Last year this resulted in the recruitment of Neil Sherlock as chief financial officer and David Smailes as chief information and technology officer.