Eversheds Sutherland Focuses on Growth with Addition of Toccarra Brooks as US Chief Strategic Recruiting Officer and Taimur Ghaznavi as Head of Konexo US

These additions come on the heels of the firm announcing Lino Mendiola and Keith Froud as Co-Chief Executives, who will take office in the second quarter of this year. The firm has also just announced that it has named Partner Rocco Testani as its new US General Counsel and Robin Dupree as its US Assistant General Counsel.

 

Brooks, the firm’s first Chief Strategic Recruiting Officer, supercharges Eversheds Sutherland’s recruiting capabilities to attract top-tier talent. The addition of Ghaznavi advances Konexo’s mission of providing cutting-edge alternative legal services to clients to drive efficiency, innovation and value.

 

The announcement of these new leadership roles—in addition to the firm’s promotion of 20 US Partners and Counsel, effective January 1— signals Eversheds Sutherland’s strategic focus on multifaceted growth to support clients in the critical areas of legal talent, innovation and competitive services.

 

Toccarra Brooks Joins as Chief Strategic Recruiting Officer

 

As Chief Strategic Recruiting Officer, Brooks oversees Eversheds Sutherland’s US lateral partner recruitment efforts, working alongside firm leaders to develop and implement the firm’s growth strategy.

 

“As the legal talent market gets more and more competitive, Toccarra gives the firm an edge in our ability to recruit attorneys that best support our clients,” said Mark D. Wasserman, Co-CEO of Eversheds Sutherland. “Toccarra’s collaborative and insightful approach will fuel the firm’s growth across our offices and practice areas.

 

“I am honored to join Eversheds Sutherland during this exciting period of growth,” said Brooks.  “We are already building momentum. We are well-positioned to attract premier talent who will further enable us to expand our market share and drive the firm’s continued success.”

 

Brooks has nearly two decades of legal recruitment experience and previously managed the lateral partner recruiting departments at two AmLaw 100 firms. She is based in the firm’s Washington, DC office.

 

Taimur Ghaznavi Joins as Head of Konexo US

 

As Head of Konexo US, Ghaznavi will direct the organization’s strategy and services in the US, while David Saunders will continue to lead Konexo’s International operations.

 

Developed by Eversheds Sutherland, Konexo provides global alternative legal services and consulting to support in-house legal, compliance and human resources functions. The platform streamlines data-driven work—including litigation assistance, e-discovery, regulatory research, contract review, and re-papering assignments—in a fast, high-quality and cost-effective manner.

 

“Taimur is a highly accomplished legal services professional who will continue to enhance Konexo’s capabilities in the US and build our reputation as a trusted one-stop source for our clients’ legal services needs,” said Wasserman. “As in-house legal teams continue to seek out new forms of optimization in an increasingly tech-driven business landscape, Taimur will play a vital role in charting Konexo’s future to increase efficiencies for our clients.”

 

“There has never been a more pivotal moment to influence the trajectory of our industry,” said Ghaznavi. “I am thrilled to lead an organization that is making strategic investments to not only meet our clients’ needs today, but also to help shape their tomorrow.”

 

Ghaznavi, who is based in the firm’s Atlanta office, most recently was the Legal Transformation leader for the Financial Services sector at a Big 4 consulting firm. He has extensive experience leading large-scale transformation initiatives and managed services projects for corporate legal departments, compliance, procurement and front-office functions across highly regulated industries, including financial services, government and pharmaceuticals.

 

Already in 2025, the firm has also hired two new partners. Alex Choinski has joined the Global Energy Group as a partner in Houston, bringing his extensive experience in complex cross-border traditional and renewable energy international project finance, project development and related transactions. In New York, Emanuel Tsourounis II has joined the Real Estate Practice Group to enhance the firm’s services that advise institutional lenders on real estate debt financing and broader commercial real estate transactions.

 

In February 2025, Richard Chudzynski joined the firm as Head of Konexo Middle East.

 

About Eversheds Sutherland

 

As a global top 10 law practice, Eversheds Sutherland provides legal services to a global client base ranging from small and mid-sized businesses to the largest multinationals, acting for 75 of the Fortune 100, 57 of the FTSE 100 and 129 of the Fortune 200.

 

With more than 3,000 lawyers, Eversheds Sutherland operates in over 70 offices in more than 30 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. In addition, a network of more than 200 related law firms, including formalized alliances in Latin America, Asia Pacific and Africa, provides support around the globe.

 

Eversheds Sutherland provides the full range of legal services, including corporate and M&A, dispute resolution and litigation, energy and infrastructure, finance, human capital and labor law, intellectual property, real estate and construction, and tax.

 

Eversheds Sutherland is a global legal practice and comprises two separate legal entities: Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP (headquartered in the UK) and Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP (headquartered in the US), and their respective controlled, managed, affiliated and member firms. The use of the name Eversheds Sutherland is for description purposes only and does not imply that the member firms or their controlled, managed or affiliated entities are in a partnership or are part of a global LLP.

 

About Konexo

 

Unique in the market, Konexo delivers global alternative legal and compliance services. Ranked Band 1 by Chambers & Partners, it provides advisory services, managed services and interim resources to national and international clients in the US, UK, Europe and Asia.

 

Konexo is the name and brand under which the Konexo Entities provide legal or other services to clients around the world. For more information on the Konexo Entities and their relationship with Eversheds Sutherland, please see www.konexoglobal.com

 

The use of the name Konexo is for description purposes only and does not imply that the Konexo Entities are collectively in a single partnership or are part of a global LLP.