US law firm to open in Europe

Boston-based law firm Ropes & Gray is to open its first European office in London in January 2010 and has hired a new partner to join the debt financing practice group.

Jonathan Bloom will service clients in both the UK and Europe and focus on private equity and debt. The team he is joining is headed by finance lawyers Maurice Allen and Michael Goetz who will lead the opening of the firm’s London office.

Prior to Ropes & Gray, Bloom was a partner in White & Case where he was a partner in high yield practice. He has experience in the US securities laws and in structuring and negotiating cross-border Rule 144A and Regulation S high-yield debt offerings and restructurings.

The opening of the London office marks the firm’s fourth move into global geographic markets which include Tokyo, Hong Kong and Chicago.