While the US legal market is rarely quiet, post-merger settling at A&O Shearman seems to be driving a spate of activity, with magic circle firm Linklaters among those capitalising on departures to expand their US presence.
Leading the high-profile moves, Linklaters again strengthened its New York office by hiring a four-partner finance team from A&O Shearman. Former global co-head of A&O Shearman’s financial markets practice David Lucking made the move, along with John Hwang, Derek Poon, and Dan Guyder, bringing with them experience in derivatives, securitisation and restructuring.
The hires comes less than six months after Allen & Overy’s merger with Shearman & Sterling went live, and less than eight months after Lucking lost the race for managing partner at then-A&O to Paris-based Hervé Ekué.
The move marks Linklaters’ second major New York push this year, following its hire of a six-lawyer M&A team from legacy Shearman in January. Led by Legal 500 Hall of Famer for $1bn-plus M&A deals George Casey, the team also included partners Heiko Schiwek and Gregory Gewirtz. Casey, who had been global managing partner at Shearman from 2018, joined Linklaters as its global co-chair of corporate.
The firm seems to be following through on its commitments. In a July interview with Legal Business, Linklaters managing partner Paul Lewis pointed to the M&A team led by Casey as a clear indicator of its plans for expansion in the US.
‘We want to be bigger in the US,’ he said. ‘That was the start and by no means the end and we are actively looking to hire more. We’ve changed the system so that we have the ability to pay at very competitive levels.’
A&O Shearman saw another departure in New York as Gillian Emmett Moldowan moved to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, bolstering its executive compensation and employee benefits practice.
She joined then-Shearman & Sterling as a counsel in 2017, and became a partner in 2019. She had previously worked at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and Davis Polk, where she qualified. Her experience includes advising companies, boards, executives, and investors on compensation and benefits in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, initial public offerings, and capital markets.
Elsewhere in the Big Apple, magic circle firm Clifford Chance ploughed ahead in its growth plans by hiring two partners, David Schultz and Matthew Hinker, from O’Melveny & Myers.
Schultz brings over 20 years of experience representing private equity clients in complex business transactions. Meanwhile, restructuring and insolvency partner Hinker specialises in complex Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, representing debtors, creditors, purchasers, lenders, and other stakeholders.
Sharis Pozen, regional managing partner for the Americas, said: ‘We remain laser focused on recruiting top talent and continuing the momentum of strengthening our US team.’ This duo brings the firm’s total lateral hires in the US to 15 since January.
Back in July, Clifford Chance revealed a 28% increase in its US revenue. Commenting on those results, global managing partner Charles Adams said: ‘We are making great progress everywhere, but fastest in the US.’
As part of its US strategy, the firm opened a Houston office in June 2023. Notable hires include New York finance partner Jason Ewart, who joined from Latham & Watkins last October, and two energy and infrastructure hires from Kirkland this February: Ty’Meka Reeves-Sobers in Houston and Marcia Hook in Washington DC.
In another four-person hire in New York, Paul Hastings has bolstered its employment practice with the addition of Paul Evans, Krissy Katzenstein, Blair Robinson, and Jeffrey Sturgeon. They join from Baker McKenzie where they spent three years after moving as a team from Morgan Lewis in 2020.
The team bring with them experience on issues such as pay equity, human capital, complex Title VII and civil rights cases, ERISA, and employment-related class actions. Paul Hastings chair Frank Lopez said in a statement: ‘They further enhance our ability to represent clients at the C-suite and board levels on their most sophisticated and complex matters, including high-profile matters across the employment spectrum.’
Finally in New York, Mayer Brown hired King & Spalding partner Sheel Patel to head its private credit practice in the city. Other notable recent hires into the practice include Blaise Latella, who joined from Winston & Strawn in October, and Jason Friedman, who joined from Gibson Dunn last April.
Over in Chicago, Kirkland & Ellis has hired Jeremy Watson from Sidley Austin as a partner in its insurance transactions & regulatory practice. Watson brings experience advising insurers, private equity firms, and asset managers on M&A, reinsurance, strategic investments, and regulatory and governance matters within the insurance sector.
Leaving Sidley after a decade, Watson’s arrival marks Kirkland’s third high-profile lateral hire in its insurance practice this year, following Jack Yamin in February and Jeremy Carroll in July.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Barnes & Thornburg has hired corporate partner David Andersen from BCLP.
Andersen advises public and private companies, private equity sponsors, and others on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and financing transactions, primarily in the middle market, with a focus on media, technology, and healthcare.
This marks the fourth corporate partner to join the firm in the past month, following the addition of Matthew Michaels in Los Angeles, Robert Karr in Chicago, and Dino Wu in New York.