The Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands (BVI) offices of international law firm Maples and Calder (Maples) are pleased to announce the recruitment of 7 partners and 3 associates to join the firm’s growing investment funds practice.

Currently at offshore firm Walkers, partners Julian Ashworth, Heidi De Vries, Sheryl Dean, David Marshall, Philip Millward and Gwyneth Rees, and senior associates Philip Dickinson, Patrick Head and Lucy Nicklas will be joining Maples’ Cayman Islands office and partner Tim Clipstone will be joining the firm’s BVI office as soon as they are free to do so under their existing arrangements.  These 10 key hires will reinforce Maples’ position as a premier service provider, offering an unrivalled range of expertise in the funds arena.

Jon Fowler, Global Head of Investment Funds, said “We look forward to welcoming Julian, Heidi, Sheryl, David, Philip M, Gwyneth, Tim, Philip D, Patrick and Lucy to our leading hedge fund and private equity teams in due course.  The recruitment of these high calibre individuals demonstrates our commitment to excellence and our focus on client service.  We are recognised for the quality of our professionals and our ability to deliver a seamless service offering legal, corporate, fiduciary, and funds solutions to our clients. The proven Maples business model avoids the dislocation of outsourcing entity formation and maintenance to a third party provider. This no doubt was a factor in their respective decisions to join us.”

Maples and Calder and its affiliate, MaplesFS, a leading specialised fiduciary and fund services provider, has grown from strength to strength. MaplesFS’ industry experts work closely with Maples and Calder lawyers in a business model that provides a comprehensive service, unmatched by its competitors.

Global Head of Private Equity, Iain McMurdo, stated “With the recent resurgence of the private equity market we are well positioned to provide excellent advice to our clients and we are delighted that each of these lawyers will be joining our global practice. Our private equity and hedge fund lawyers are specialists in their fields and bring a wealth of knowledge to each transaction. We are proud of our reputation as a world-class service provider and the lateral hire of such high quality lawyers reinforces our desire to maintain these standards and continue to grow our funds practice.”

Maples’ global investment funds practice advises on the laws of the Cayman Islands, the BVI and Ireland. The firm is uniquely placed to provide multi-jurisdictional solutions.

Global Head of BVI, Kieran Walsh, said “Operating in the second largest funds jurisdiction following Cayman, our BVI office has seen a steady increase in deal flow and our responsive funds team delivers an exemplary service to our clients.  We are pleased that Tim will become a part of our BVI funds group in the near future, further strengthening the depth of our practice and our commitment to the jurisdiction.”

Clients and competitors alike have long recognised Maples as the market leader in each of its principal practice areas.  The expansion of the firm’s funds practice represents one of the largest recruitment initiatives in this sector in recent times.