LONDON, March 1, 2012: Morgan Lewis today announced that William Yonge—a leading private investment funds practitioner focusing on financial services regulation—joined the firm as a partner in its Business and Finance practice, resident in London. Mr. Yonge's arrival at Morgan Lewis comes shortly after funds partner Noel Ainsworth joined the firm in January.
"It is more important than ever to be able to offer clients guidance on ever-changing regulations," stated Louis Singer, leader of the Private Investment Funds team in the Business & Finance practice at Morgan Lewis. "William's extensive knowledge of United Kingdom and European Union regulatory issues will be tremendously valuable to our clients."
Mr. Yonge focuses his practice on the regulation of private investment funds and other financial services businesses, as well as the formation and marketing of funds and the representation of investors in funds. He advises a broad range of asset managers on all aspects of financial services regulation, securities law, and EU financial services directives.
Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Mr. Yonge was a partner in the private investment funds and investment management practice of an international law firm, resident in its London office. Before entering private practice, he was an in-house lawyer at the Investment Management Regulatory Organisation and the Securities and Investments Board.
"We are excited for William to join Morgan Lewis and to see this continued growth in London," added Chuck Lubar, managing partner of the firm's London office. "William's experience will add to our already sizeable private investment funds team and will also add to our business and finance and investment management practices in London, generally."
Mr. Yonge joins a global practice with more than 70 attorneys serving clients on every major continent from a dozen offices around the world. Morgan Lewis is the #1 "Most Active Law Firm" in the 2011 Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst ranking, which is based on the number of private equity and venture capital funds worked on for general partners and limited partners in 2010.
The continuing expansion of Morgan Lewis' London private funds practice will be led by Noel Ainsworth, William Yonge, Louis Singer and Ann Baker, who have consistently been recognised as leading private funds lawyers. The practice is supported by well-respected practitioners in the areas of tax, secondary transactions, and finance.