McDermott Will & Emery has launched a new private client group in Washington, DC, recruiting a top industry figure to oversee it.

The international law firm McDermott Will & Emery has recruited Leigh-Alexandra Basha as a partner and head of its new Washington, DC, private client group.

Basha spent the past ten years chairing Holland & Knight’s international private client practice and was recently elected to council of the International Bar Association’s legal practice division and is past chair of the IBA’s individual tax and private client committee.

Bilingual in French, Basha works with wealthy and international clients on areas including estate and trust administration, family wealth preservation, tax compliance, business succession planning, expatriation and pre-immigration planning.

“No longer just the home of the government, the Washington metropolitan area is an increasingly sophisticated hub for business," Carol Harrington, partner and global head of McDermott’s private client practice group, told Family Wealth Report.

"We searched for many years to find the right person to establish and lead our private client presence in Washington, one of the country’s leading centers for international private client work," Harrington said.

As well as its new base in the capital, McDermott’s private client arm has a presence in London, New York, Chicago, IL, Los Angeles, CA, and Palo Alto, CA.