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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

Up to 15 lawyers are set to quit from US firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman for Winston & Strawn, with the firm’s Abu Dhabi managing partner Stephen Jurgenson, London-based co-head of energy, infrastructure and projects James Simpson and New York-based structured products chief Jeffrey Stern having already resigned from the firm.

An internal announcement to the Winston & Strawn partnership on Monday confirmed that Stern had joined the firm. Legal Business understands the New York structured finance specialist also attended Winston & Strawn’s annual partners meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, last week. Management at Winston & Strawn was hoping to announce what one partner told Legal Business is ‘up to 15 lawyers, mainly partners, and mostly heads of departments’ at the four-day gathering which ended on Sunday, but was delayed as some Pillsbury partners are still to resign.

The swoop reinvigorates what has been a flagging international strategy at Winston & Strawn following a number of partner exits in 2014 and bolsters the firm’s finance credentials in the US, London and the Middle East. The firm is well known and regarded for its litigation capabilities in the US, with disputes accounting for around 50% of the firm’s global revenue, and this move is viewed by partners as a major push to rebalance the firm and build up in corporate.

Jurgenson’s arrival will result in Winston & Strawn launching in the Middle East, with the firm contemplating whether he continues to operate in Abu Dhabi or relocates to Dubai. The new office will become Winston & Strawn’s 19th global office, but one issue that will need to be resolved is that the firm will need to obtain its own license for him to practice under its banner, as it is necessary for him to be employed to stay in the jurisdiction.

Stern is seen by Winston & Strawn management as a major coup in New York, with two decades of experience in structured finance and derivatives under his belt. He has also moved into the crowdfunding arena, helping to launch a number of financings. He previously spent time as a partner at US firms Stroock & Stroock & Lavan and Thacher Proffitt & Wood.

Meanwhile, Simpson is set to join Winston & Strawn’s London office in April and is expected to bring across a team of associates as well. Simpson works closely with Jurgenson in the Middle East, given his large book of business in the region, and has more than 25 years of corporate transaction experience. He leaves after just three years at Pillsbury, having joined in May 2012 from now defunct Dewey & LeBouf, where he was also a partner.

Commenting on the departures, Pilsbury said in a statement: ‘While Pillsbury has had excellent partner retention in recent years, it is nevertheless a fact of life that partners come and go at all firms. We are very sorry to see any partner leave us. We wish these partners nothing but the best in their new endeavor.’

tom.moore@legalease.co.uk