Ropes steps up European push with 10-lawyer Linklaters Paris team

Ropes & Gray has pulled off a significant Paris raid, hiring two partners and a team of eight associates from Linklaters as it accelerates its European private capital push.

Funds and tax partners Edouard Chapellier and Jonathan Abensour have joined the US firm’s Paris office, ending long tenures at Linklaters. Chapellier is one of France’s top-ranked tax and funds lawyers and spent 25 years at the Magic Circle firm, while Abensour joined Linklaters 15 years ago and made partner last year.

The hires come barely a year after Ropes opened in Paris and mark a major step-up for the office, which now counts 23 lawyers, including five partners.

Chapellier is widely regarded as a heavyweight in the French market, advising on tax, fund formation and secondaries, alongside transactional mandates. Abensour brings complementary experience across the tax aspects of M&A and PE deals, as well as fund formation matters.

Paris managing partner Fabrice Cohen, who joined Ropes from Clifford Chance to launch the office last March, said the duo “are exceptionally well regarded in the French market for their expertise in private funds and tax work” with the hires marking a big step forward for the firm’s Paris office.

Building a European private capital platform

The Paris raid fits into a broader, tightly focused European expansion strategy for Ropes, centred on its core strength in private capital. The firm is positioning London, Paris and Milan as a connected platform for sponsor clients investing across Europe.

Earlier this week, Ropes announced the hire of former EQT senior lawyer Paul Dali as a partner in London, bringing recent buy-side experience into its private equity and M&A practice. In a major move in September, the firm opened in Milan, recruiting leading dealmaker Aldo Piccarreta from Latham, and has continued to add senior talent locally.