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Friday 8th June 2001

SJ Berwin has recruited a leading Paris M&A lawyer and team to build the M&A practice of the recently created Paris office of SJ Berwin.

Mark Richardson and his team of three lawyers join from the Paris office of S G Archibald, the French arm of Andersen Legal. SJ Berwin continues to develop its deals capability throughout Europe with this latest recruitment which compliments the opening of its Paris office. In addition to Paris the firm now has offices in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid and Munich.

Mark Richardson is an M&A lawyer with broad experience in corporate work, ranging from acquisitions and disposals, private equity investments, joint ventures, IPOs, MBOs and general commercial advice. Consistent with the emphasis in all the European offices recently opened by SJ Berwin, Mark has particular expertise in the high-tech and venture capital end of the market as well as regularly intervening for leading foreign and French multi-national companies.

Mark will be joining the other partners of the newly formed SJ Berwin Paris office namely George Pinkham, Sylvie Vansteenkiste and Jean Goncalves. The associates who will be joining with Mark are Celine Maironi-Persin, Fabrice Remy and Prudence Thiry.

Partner George Pinkham commented:

"The arrival of Mark and his team provides us with a platform to expand the service we can offer in Paris to our corporate clients, particularly in our core areas of private equity and corporate transactions. I have known Mark for a long time and I am delighted that he and his team have chosen to join us at the outset to build the SJ Berwin operation in France".

Mark Richardson said:

"SJ Berwin has impressed me in the past with its entrepreneurial culture and its ambition. We are pleased to be able to contribute to SJ Berwin's development in the French market from the very beginning. The focus of SJ Berwin's international expansion will enable us to operate in a firm that is very hungry to grow its business. We are looking forward to the adventure."

SJ Berwin's Senior Partner David Harrel added:

"We have a very clear vision of the type of firm we are building across Europe and we are delighted that this is proving so attractive to bright lawyers of the calibre of Mark and his team, who with the inception of our Paris office, want to build their careers with us."

• Mark Richardson was born in England 38 years ago, and lived and completed his education in America, before moving to Paris. Following spells at Holman, Fenwick & Willan and Kevorkian & Partners, he joined S G Archibald in 1993, joining the partnership in 1997. Mark is admitted to the Bar in Pennsylvania and Washington DC and qualified as a Conseil Juridique in 1991 and as an Avocat in 1992.
• Founded in 1982 in London, SJ Berwin is a leading European law firm with offices in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, Madrid, Munich and Paris.
• Current awards held by the firm include: 'Private Equity Law Firm of the Year' - European Venture Capital Journal 2001 'Law Firm of the Year' - The Lawyer Awards 2000 'Property Team of the Year' - The Lawyer Awards 2000 'Competition Team of the Year' - Legal Business Awards 2001.