Eight more Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman partners have resigned in New York, Washington DC and San Francisco to join Winston & Strawn, taking the firm’s haul of Pillsbury partners up to 11.
Winston & Strawn, which was revealed by Legal Business yesterday to have been targeting up to 15 lawyers from Pillsbury and having already secured Abu Dhabi managing partner Stephen Jurgenson, London-based co-head of energy, infrastructure and projects James Simpson on top of New York-based structured products chief Jeffrey Stern, has hired senior Pillsbury partners to manage its investment management and M&A and securities practices.
As part of the firm’s push into the corporate market, Winston & Strawn has brought in Pillsbury Washington DC-based corporate partner Chris Zochowski. He joins as co-chair of the firm’s M&A and securities group. Zochowski joined Pillsbury in 2011 from McDermott Will & Emery, where he had spent four years as a partner. He started his career as an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell.
Joining the influential Stern in New York are two finance partners, restructuring specialists Peter Alfano and Anthony Schouten, alongside corporate partner James Kelly, corporate trust partner Bart Pisella and employment partner Scott Landau.
Landau works closely with the finance team and is well known for representing private equity clients in acquisitions, divestitures and restructurings. The moves bring the number of partners making the switch in New York up to five, with more expected to follow.
‘The addition of this talented group enhances our M&A, private equity, finance and corporate trust practices while augmenting our footprint in key markets,’ said Dominick DeChiara, chair of Winston’s corporate department. ‘These partners will integrate exceptionally well with our existing practice and client base.’
Winston & Strawn’s raid on Pillsbury also hit the West Coast with the arrival of financial services partners Jay Gould and Michael Wu.
Gould headed Pillsbury’s investment funds and investment management practice and takes up a similar position at Winston & Strawn, gaining the title of financial services and investment management co-chair.
Gould’s book of business centres on investment companies, hedge funds, offshore investment companies and broker-dealers. He has served long stints within the financial services sector too, having been chief counsel at US online brokerage platform E*TRADE Global Asset Management, vice president at life insurance firm TransAmerica and senior counsel to Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association. He has been an attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Wu’s practice focuses on investment management regulation, advising broker dealers, private equity funds and hedge funds.
DeChiara said the duo were ‘important hires’ due to their ‘strong track record of helping clients in the financial services sector to navigate the challenges presented by the continuously changing regulatory environment’.
Outlining Winston & Strawn’s overall aims, managing partner Tom Fitzgerald added: ‘We are placing an emphasis on strategically expanding our corporate practice in key markets, including Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, Silicon Valley, and Washington DC.’
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
