US lateral spree: Jones Day closes in on 50 hires for 2013 as King & Spalding continues to crank up City offering

Posted on |

In its 49th lateral hire of 2013, Jones Day has hired Latham & Watkins finance partner Brian Conway to its London banking and finance practice. His hire comes amid a spate of lateral hires to take place between US-based international firms recently.

Conway is the tenth partner to join one of the firm’s global banking and finance practices this year, following the hire of former co-chair of Miami-based firm Akerman Senterfitt’s Rafael Aguilar who joined Jones Day’s recently launched Miami banking and finance practice in July.

Continue reading “US lateral spree: Jones Day closes in on 50 hires for 2013 as King & Spalding continues to crank up City offering”

Latham, Sidley and Skadden lead the US pack in Legal 500 research

Posted on |

Often hailed as one of the greatest US success stories of the last 25 years, new research underlines the elevated position Latham & Watkins has attained in the world’s largest legal market.

The Legal 500 United States 2013 edition shows Latham as the highest ranked law firm judged by the total number of recommendations, putting the Los Angeles-bred giant ahead of a string of top Wall Street firms.

The 600-partner firm received recommendations in 55 practice areas. Recommendations are calculated by the research team of The Legal 500 based on client and peer feedback and the submissions of the firms themselves, and take into account multiple factors including track record in winning cases, the complexity of deals and innovation. Latham received 20 top-tier recommendations, including listings in areas such as capital markets (equity offerings and high-yield debt offerings), project finance (lenders and sponsors), energy (renewable and transactions) and telecoms and broadcast (regulatory and transactional).

Continue reading “Latham, Sidley and Skadden lead the US pack in Legal 500 research”

Asia round-up: K&L Gates, Akin Gump, Addleshaws and Milbank bolster presence

Posted on |

A raft of leading UK and US firms boosted their East Asian presence this past week, including K&L Gates, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy and Addleshaw Goddard, with Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo a continuing focus of international attention.

On 31 May, Hong Kong corporate partner Virginia Tam moved from White & Case to US rival K&L Gates’ established 19-lawyer office, set up as its first Asian post 15 years ago. Continue reading “Asia round-up: K&L Gates, Akin Gump, Addleshaws and Milbank bolster presence”

Lateral push sees key UK players switch to US firms

Posted on |

US firms in the City continue to demonstrate their appetite for big name lateral hires from leading UK firms, with Latham & Watkins and Reed Smith picking up experienced partners from Clifford Chance (CC) recently, while Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan announced the hire of disputes expert Ted Greeno from Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF).

Latham & Watkins’ acquisition of CC’s global head of private equity, David Walker, particularly caught the eye last month. This is one of the most significant blows to CC’s corporate practice since the departure of Adam Signy to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in 2009.

Continue reading “Lateral push sees key UK players switch to US firms”

The New deal

Posted on |

The private equity dealmakers of the boom years have been shifted off the front pages. As the market shows signs of recovery, the US firms are challenging the established order

As private equity comes blinking into the light after a torrid couple of years, advisers are grappling with a new market, where leverage is a dirty word and once mighty European buyout houses look distinctly off colour. Continue reading “The New deal”

Talent scouts

Posted on |

With the City’s law firms bogged down by plummeting profits and disaffected partners, the Americans have seized the chance to hire some serious big cheeses. Here, LB names our top ten laterals of the year

If you thought one of the most turbulent 12-month periods that the legal market has ever seen would result in partners hunkering down and getting on with whatever work they could find, then think again. Since our last Global London survey a year ago, no fewer than 64 partners have opted to up sticks and join US firms on this side of the Atlantic, and not all of them were moving because they were pushed.

Continue reading “Talent scouts”