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P3 hire to boost Ashurst US push

Allen & Overy (A&O) attorney Charles Williams has joined Ashurst as partner in its US infrastructure group.

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Law firm Ashurst has landed a long-time public-private partnership (PPP; P3) professional.

Erstwhile Allen & Overy (A&O) attorney Charles Williams is joining Ashurst to bulk up its P3 profile in the US market, confirmed partner Jason Radford.

Radford, head of the Ashurst energy, resource and infrastructure practice for North America, said the firm has identified the US as “potentially the largest market in the world,” noting that Williams, a partner in the A&O project, energy and infrastructure group, will be called upon to help build out its Stateside business.

Radford said he came to New York in late 2011, explaining that London-headquartered Ashurst has a “strong global commitment to infrastructure” with a 250-person team. In 2009, the firm made its debut in America, poaching 30 people from the US arm of McKee Nelson, which Bingham McCutchen acquired.

Williams, a public advisor on transportation and renewable energy, will report to Radford as a partner in the energy, resource and infrastructure group. He joined A&O in 1999 after a two-year posting with Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & Roberts.

A&O last September lured noted PPP attorney Kent Rowey as well as Dolly Mirchandani from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.