Latham & Watkins has strengthened its London office with the hire of three partners from A&O Shearman, continuing an aggressive build-out of its real estate finance and structured finance capabilities in the city. Real estate finance partners David Oppenheimer and David Varne, alongside structured finance partner Lucy Oddy, are joining Latham’s London practice. Oppenheimer joins after a 20-year tenure at A&O Shearman, where he served as global head of real estate finance. Varne has spent more than 12 years at the firm, while Oddy departs after a decade in its structured finance practice. According to Latham, Oppenheimer and Varne are widely regarded as two of the leading real estate finance partners in Europe. The pair have also worked closely with Oddy on complex CMBS and back-leverage transactions. Oddy brings more than 20 years’ experience advising financial institutions, funds, private equity firms, and corporates. Over the past year, Latham has added real estate private equity partner Jeremy Kenley, promoted Chris Cox to partner, and strengthened its structured finance bench with partners Franz Ranero and James Smallwood, who joined as part of an 11-lawyer CLO team in summer 2025. London office managing partner Ed Barnett described the arrivals as “another significant development” for the firm’s City platform, adding that the hires enhance Latham’s ability to advise private equity firms, investment banks, investors, and public companies on high-value, sophisticated transactions. The latest hires underscore the U.S. firm's continued investment in London as a key hub for its European and global finance practices. At A&O Shearman, partners Chris Woolf and Lisa Brill will continue to lead the global real estate practice and John Coburn will lead the real estate finance team as practice head. An A&O Shearman spokesperson said: “We thank David, Lucy and David for the contribution they have made to the firm and wish them all the best for the future.”