Go big or go home: Market reacts to Paul Weiss’ daring London play

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Go big or go home: Market reacts to Paul Weiss’ daring London play

Grabbing headlines in recent weeks, Paul Weiss has pursued an English law offering at breakneck speed, hiring some of the City’s biggest hitters. Here LB canvasses the reactions of industry peers to the Wall Street giant’s bold play.

‘The firm was keen to do something for a while and spoke to a lot of people in the market. But it needed a big name to lead it,’ commented one source with knowledge of the matter. And it is fair to say that Paul Weiss’ hire of debt superstar Neel Sachdev from Kirkland & Ellis has arguably been the most groundbreaking move the City has seen since buyout star David Higgins left Freshfields for Kirkland in 2017. Continue reading “Go big or go home: Market reacts to Paul Weiss’ daring London play”

Kirkland endures more losses as Magic Circle firms continue expansion in the US and Middle East

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Kirkland endures more losses as Magic Circle firms continue expansion in the US and Middle East

September saw it finally confirmed that, as suspected, M&A lawyer Roger Johnson will join Paul Weiss’ new English law offering, leaving Kirkland after the firm’s management discovered that he was in discussions to take a team to a US rival firm. Johnson joins former Kirkland colleague Neel Sachdev who moved to Paul Weiss in August. Indeed, September was not the easiest month for Kirkland, which suffered further losses to McDermott in New York and London from its transactions and employment practices.

The rest of the London and international markets have also been hectic, picking up after the summer lull with notable lateral activity reported in corporate, energy and infrastructure, finance and employment in particular. Continue reading “Kirkland endures more losses as Magic Circle firms continue expansion in the US and Middle East”

Revolving doors: Two out, two in at Kirkland, as A&O sees first exit following merger approval

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Revolving doors: Two out, two in at Kirkland, as A&O sees first exit following merger approval

London fraud specialist Andy McGregor has become the first partner to leave Allen & Overy since partners voted in favour of its merger with Shearman & Sterling last week. A Legal 500 leading individual for civil fraud in London, McGregor is particularly experienced in banking litigation. He moves to disputes boutique Enyo Law after eighteen months at A&O, which he joined from RPC in May 2022.

Kirkland & Ellis has seen another partner depart its London office with the move of IP litigator Katie Coltart to Linklaters. Coltart joined Kirkland as a partner in 2018, and previously spent six years at A&O, where she qualified in 2011. Continue reading “Revolving doors: Two out, two in at Kirkland, as A&O sees first exit following merger approval”

Revolving Doors: lateral hiring market picks up pace again

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Revolving Doors: lateral hiring market picks up pace again

The beginning of October has seen the lateral hire market leap back into action following the summer lull, with several high-profile hires across disputes, arbitration, and IP.

Goodwin has strengthened its litigation offering with the appointment of government investigations and enforcement partner Mark Beardsworth.  Beardsworth is a Legal 500 Leading Individual for white-collar crime and will lead the firm’s European investigations and enforcement practice. He carries out internal investigations for corporations and regulators and advises on a range of risk and governance issues.  Alongside this he has been involved in prosecutions by HM Revenue and Customs, the Serious Fraud Office, the Financial Conduct Authority, and the Financial Reporting Council. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: lateral hiring market picks up pace again”

Revolving Doors: City firms expand finance and restructuring teams

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Revolving Doors: City firms expand finance and restructuring teams

RPC has added partner James Channo to its London corporate practice to provide clients with advice on IPOs, secondary fundraisings, cross-border M&A and joint ventures. Channo joins RPC from Ince, where he headed up the corporate practice, before which he was the London managing partner and head of corporate at Locke Lord.

Examples of Channo’s prior transactional experience includes the listings of Supergroup, Adriatic Metals, SolGold, BSF Enterprise and Roquefort Theraputics, as well as advising Derriston Capital on the reverse takeover of S4 Capital. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: City firms expand finance and restructuring teams”

Revolving doors: Firms build up London deal teams as Keystone hires six new partners

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Revolving doors: Firms build up London deal teams as Keystone hires six new partners

Amid a recent spate of senior deal lawyer appointments, McDermott has brought former Kirkland & Ellis partner Usman Khan into its transactions practice. Khan specialises in real estate finance, and has experience acting for clients including banking institutions, private equity sponsors, credit funds, and sovereign wealth funds.

Mayer Brown has also grown its London banking and finance practice, with the hire of Victoria Thompson from Morgan Lewis. Thompson focuses on domestic and cross-border secured lending and restructuring transactions and is dual-qualified in New York and England and Wales.

Continue reading “Revolving doors: Firms build up London deal teams as Keystone hires six new partners”

Revolving Doors: Paul Hastings continues infrastructure hiring spree as White & Case strengthens debt finance practice

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Revolving Doors: Paul Hastings continues infrastructure hiring spree as White & Case strengthens debt finance practice

Last week saw several hires in the finance sector and numerous lateral hires in the international market, as London calmed down following the shock Paul Weiss moves in August.

Paul Hastings has made its third infrastructure hire in just three months, appointing partner Candice Lambeth to its energy and infrastructure practice. Moving from Weil, Lambeth specialises in domestic and cross-border M&A, joint ventures, and co-investments across the energy and infrastructure sectors. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Paul Hastings continues infrastructure hiring spree as White & Case strengthens debt finance practice”

Revolving Doors: Kirkland, Shearman and Latham hire in New York

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Revolving Doors: Kirkland, Shearman and Latham hire in New York

Despite the sluggish summer hiring season, it has been busy in New York. After losing several partners to Paul Weiss, Kirkland announced it had appointed partner Adam Shapiro to its debt finance group. He brings with him a wealth of experience in restructuring, leveraged finance and syndicated lending, having served at Simpson Thacher for 16 years.

Shearman & Sterling announced it has rehired Alejandro Gordano as a capital markets partner for its Latin America group also in New York. He joins from Linklaters, where he spent over three years as counsel, having previously served as counsel at Shearman for two years starting in 2016. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: Kirkland, Shearman and Latham hire in New York”

Kirkland departures rack up as Paul Weiss makes major London and New York plays

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Kirkland departures rack up as Paul Weiss makes major London and New York plays

August’s reputation as a slow month for lateral hires has been turned on its head in recent weeks, particularly considering the shock departure of debt finance rainmaker Neel Sachdev from Kirkland & Ellis. In what is one of the biggest City law moves in the last five years, Sachdev moves to Paul Weiss, taking with him a team made up of debt finance partner Kanesh Balasubramaniam and capital markets partners Matthew Merkle and Deirdre Jones.

The moves establish an English law offering at Paul Weiss for the first time, in a display of serious intent from the firm. Sachdev, previously a top earner at Kirkland and one of its longest-serving partners, has a book of top-tier financial sponsor clients including Apollo, Bain Capital and Strategic Value Partners. Continue reading “Kirkland departures rack up as Paul Weiss makes major London and New York plays”

Revolving Doors: A&O grows in Washington as UK regional firms make key hires in real estate, financial services and employment

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Revolving Doors: A&O grows in Washington as UK regional firms make key hires in real estate, financial services and employment

Despite the dramatic news that  Kirkland had lost a London debt finance team to Paul Weiss, it has been another relatively quiet August week for lateral hiring among UK firms.

In Washington DC, Allen & Overy announced that it had appointed Scott Cockerham as a new partner in its projects, energy, natural resources, and infrastructure practice. Cockerham joined A&O from Orrick, where he spent two years as a partner, before which he was a partner for three years at Kirkland. He is in demand by clients for his advice on the tax elements of energy and infrastructure projects, including tax equity financing and tax credit transferability transactions. Continue reading “Revolving Doors: A&O grows in Washington as UK regional firms make key hires in real estate, financial services and employment”