Dewey partner leaves for KPMG

KPMG has recruited the senior London tax partner of international law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf to head its European practice.

Fred Gander, a tax lawyer who joined legacy Dewey Ballantine in 1986 and led the firm’s London office prior to its 2007 merger with LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae, is joining KPMG’s US arm to head its US tax practice for Europe and the Middle East.

He is also the head of Dewey’s European supervisory committee and is known throughout the firm as one of its most successful tax lawyers, Accountancy Age’s sister publication Legal Week reports.

He recently stood down from the firmwide executive committee as a part of a wider group of partners leaving the committee in protest at the way management has been dealing with the firm’s issues, according to partners within the firm.

The latest departure, which has taken total partner losses this year past 70, has also seen Washington DC project finance partner Gregory Smith leave to join Allen & Overy’s (A&O’s) recently launched based in the US capital.

Meanwhile, Smith, who joined A&O in Washington, represents clients in the development, financing, and privatisation of infrastructure projects, particularly in emerging markets.

With partner losses mounting and questions swirling about its finances, Dewey is weighing up various options for its future, with the filing of a so-called prepackaged bankruptcy reportedly under consideration. Greenberg Traurig, meanwhile, has confirmed that it has held preliminary talks about taking on an unspecified number of Dewey lawyers.

The Am Law Daily is a US affiliate title of Legal Week.