Slaughter and May Former Fin-Tech Co-Head Retires

Slaughter and May’s former fin-tech co-head has retired after 22 years at the firm.

Financial regulation partner Ben Kingsley has retired, a firm statement said on Tuesday, to pursue interests away from the legal sector.

Kingsley joined Slaughter and May as a trainee in 1999 and qualified in 2001, before being promoted to partner in 2008. He was also the firm’s fintech co-head during his time at the firm.

In a statement, managing partner, Deborah Finkler, said: “Ben Kingsley retired from the Slaughter and May partnership in May 2022 after 22 years with the firm to pursue interests outside of the legal sector.

“He made a really valued contribution to the firm’s practice and we wish him all the very best for the future.”

Kingsley notably led on the firm’s flagship tech incubator programme, Fast Forward, alongside the firm’s head of tech, Rob Sumroy. He was also part of the Slaughter and May team advising on the £6.8 billion takeover of Walmart-owned U.K. grocery giant Asda in 2020.

Partner exits from Slaughter and May have been historically scarce, although the firm lost corporate partner Murray Cox to Weil Gotshal & Manges in 2021.

In June, Nigel Boardman, who joined the elite U.K. firm in 1973, also retired from the firm after nearly 50 years.

On Monday, Slaughter and May corporate M&A associate Di Yu joined White & Case as a partner.