Sector developments and company hires

Highland Capital lawsuit filed
The latest lawsuit brought by Highland Capital Management (HCMLP) against former employees has been filed in the bankruptcy court of the northern district of Texas. The action seeks to “recover hundreds of millions of dollars in damages that HCMLP suffered at the hands of its founder, James Dondero, acting in concert with other entities that he owned and/or controlled… and with the aid of other HCMLP officers and attorneys who disregarded their fiduciary duties to HCMLP in favour of Dondero and their own self-interests.”

The suit also includes Mark Okada, now ceo and co-founder of Sycamore Tree Partners. An emailed statement from Okada's spokesman says: “There are no allegations that Mark engaged in any wrongdoing. He acted ethically and appropriately at all times at Highland and looks forward to defending himself in this litigation.”

In other news…

EMEA
Ashurst has appointed Daniel Franks as partner in its global markets practice, based in London. Franks joins from Norton Rose Fulbright, where he has been a partner since 2014. He is a derivatives and structured finance expert, with extensive experience across a broad range of capital markets transactions.

Marcus White has joined Permira Credit as an associate director, based in London. He was previously a senior CLO analyst at Prytania Asset Management, which he joined in January 2006.