‘Paul Weiss hasn’t got enough partners in London for doubles ping pong!’ scoffed a senior source at the beginning of August when it emerged that the Wall Street powerhouse had lost its City managing partner, Alvaro Membrillera, to Kirkland & Ellis.
What a difference a few short weeks make. While the political skirmishes inside Kirkland that prompted the exit of private equity star Roger Johnson can only be guessed at – and, ringing around the market, there is no shortage of such rampant speculation – what followed has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Just when the market expected Paul Weiss to chalk up its London foray to experience, its hire of Neel Sachdev (pictured), Kirkland’s driven and dynamic debt finance rainmaker, effectively establishing an English law capability for the first time, has shaken the City up like no other lateral play since buyout star David Higgins left Freshfields for Kirkland in 2017.
For Sachdev, this will be a chance to rekindle the entrepreneurial spirit and hustle that characterised the early days of Kirkland in London.
What by rights should have been a characteristically sleepy August has seen Paul Weiss, still admittedly a Johnny-come-lately in pursuing a credible strategy in London, explode onto the market as an unlikely (if in diminutive David vs Goliath style) challenger to the seemingly unstoppable Kirkland machine.
It goes without saying that the reports of Kirkland’s demise are greatly exaggerated, but let’s not forget how the Chicago juggernaut started its own English law practice in London some 20 years ago, with a low-profile hire from DLA.
While Sachdev has not gone it alone, bringing with him a young and hungry team comprising debt finance partner Kanesh Balasubramaniam and capital markets partners Matthew Merkle and Deirdre Jones, he is the one that can turn this into a major coup for Paul Weiss. Sachdev has got form for earmarking the most talented names in the City, having pushed for influential hires, including that of Stephen Lucas back in the day. Even if you dispute that Sachdev was ‘the face of Kirkland in London’ as one managing partner sees him, there is no denying that he has been in large part the driving force behind building out its City practice with steely resolve.
For the strategy to work, Paul Weiss will need a credible corporate offering and, while at the time of going to press nothing had been enshrined, it is entirely likely that Johnson, with a team in tow, will have joined the firm by the time this magazine hits desks.
If Paul Weiss’ strategy isn’t to create a full-service transactional practice to complement its stellar offering state side (and an informed pundit might strongly suspect it is), it is difficult to imagine how this move cannot have an impact that will reverberate around the Square Mile for years to come.
Even without taking into account Paul Weiss’ hire of the four-partner team from Kirkland in New York, the London play has created a chink in the Chicago giant’s armour that nobody thought could ever exist. Slaughter and May and Macfarlanes will no doubt feel the pinch too, as referral work from their longstanding relationship firm takes an inevitable hit. For US firms in London, it will be a case of yet another credible player capable of handling decent-sized transactions eating into market share. For Sachdev, this will be a chance to rekindle the entrepreneurial spirit and hustle that characterised the early days of Kirkland in London; to turn the underdog into the leader of the pack once again. It will be fascinating to watch how it plays out. This is the disruption we didn’t know we needed.