Cooley’s London managing partner Justin Stock has left the firm to join Akin as international technology practice head, along with two other partners.

Akin has hired three partners from Cooley into its London office. Cooley London managing partner Justin Stock will move to the firm alongside Stephen Rosen, a Legal 500 Hall of Famer for mid-market private equity transactions who headed Cooley’s London corporate practice, and technology transactions partner David Bresnick.

Stock will join Akin as international technology practice head, and will work with Rosen and Bresnick to deepen Akin’s strength in tech transactions.

‘Justin, Stephen and David’s outstanding reputations in the market, coupled with their extensive transactional experience in high growth sectors such as technology and life sciences, significantly enhance our global corporate platform,’ said Akin chair Kim Koopersmith in a statement.

‘Their addition underscores our commitment to our technology focused clients and more broadly to the technology sector both in London and globally, ensuring we continue to provide unmatched client service.’

Akin London partner in charge Sebastian Rice added: ‘The arrival of Justin, Stephen and David is a significant step for our London office and gives Akin a market-leading global technology transactions team, focusing on clients in innovative industries including disruptive commerce, technology, health care, life sciences, data, data privacy, gaming and energy transition. We are particularly excited about their capabilities to grow the tech M&A pipeline and adding depth to our global technology practice.’

Back in February, Cooley also saw the departure of M&A partner Michal Berkner who left for McDermott Will & Emery’s transaction practice.

Stock led a five-partner Morrison Foerster team to Cooley in January 2015 as part of Cooley’s London office launch. Bresnick moved with Stock from Morrison Foerster, while Rosen came to Cooley from Olswang in May 2016. Only one of Cooley’s 2015 Morrison Foerster hires remains at the firm: Chris Coulter. Ed Lukins went to Orrick in 2019 and Nicholas Bolter left for Morgan Lewis in 2020.

Akin, meanwhile, first launched in London in 1997, and burst onto the scene in earnest in 2014 with a 22-partner hire from Bingham McCutchen, which collapsed in 2015.

The departures bring Cooley’s London partner headcount down to 30, according to the firm’s website.

‘We thank Justin, Stephen and David for their contributions and wish them well in the future. We look forward to continuing our ambitious growth plans in London, serving some of the world’s most exciting and disruptive innovators and technology and life sciences companies’, a Cooley spokesperson said in a statement.

alexander.ryan@legalbusiness.co.uk

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Ashurst global PE co-head exits to O’Melveny; Hogan Lovells hires from K&L Gates and Weil and Kirkland picks up a CC tech partner

O’Melveny & Myers has expanded its London office with the hires of Ashurst private equity partners David Carter and Braeden Donnelly, bringing O’Melveny’s London partner headcount to seven.

Carter,  a Legal 500 Hall of Famer for mid-market private equity transactions, was global co-head of Ashurst’s PE practice, and brings over 20 years of experience in leveraged buyouts, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate reconstructions. Donnelly, a partner at Ashurst for five years, has experience advising on UK and multijurisdictional PE transactions for clients including Agilitas, CapVest, and Liberty Hall Capital Partners.

Commenting on their departures, Ashurst’s global CEO Paul Jenkins told Legal Business: ‘We wish David and Braeden the very best. We also made some significant hires and internal promotions, so for us it’s a matter of continuing to invest and look for opportunities to continue to grow that team.’

Also active in PE was Hogan Lovells, which has hired K&L Gates partner James Cross and Weil acquisition finance counsel Nick Cusack as a partner. This follows last month’s hire of special situations partner Sam Norris from Ropes & Gray, signaling continued growth in the firm’s largest office.

Cross’s expertise includes advising investors and management on buyouts, restructurings, and bolt-on acquisitions, with notable experience in complex cross-border transactions for Chinese and US investors.

Cusack, a specialist in leveraged finance transactions, has a focus on private credit.

Global corporate & finance practice group head James Doyle emphasised the strategic importance of the hires, stating: ‘Their arrival helps us to continue to service the increasingly important and sophisticated global private capital market across the full investment life cycle.’

Elsewhere, André Duminy has joined Kirkland & Ellis as a partner in the firm’s technology and IP transactions practice, concluding a nearly 25-year tenure at Clifford Chance.

Specialising in technology and business separation issues, as well as multi-vendor and multijurisdictional carveout transactions, Duminy is set to enhance the firm’s tech and IP transactions offering, alongside its broader M&A practice in Europe.

‘André’s skillset strongly supports out private equity and financial sponsor clients’ investments across relevant asset classes,’ said Kirkland corporate partner and executive committee member Matthew Elliott in a statement. ‘His hire will help spearhead the development of the London Technology & IP Transactions practice as our transactional offering continues to evolve and drive growth opportunities,’ he continued.

Simmons & Simmons has also strengthened its London PE offering with its hire of Richard Kyle, who joins from Eversheds after over two decades.

‘It’s an excellent time to join, with the firm prioritising the expansion of its mid-market private equity offering. With strong EU transactional and financing capabilities, a wide international network, and a sector focus aligned with that of my clients, Simmons is a fantastic fit for my practice,’ Kyle said in a statement.

Covington & Burling has enhanced its EMEA PE practice with the addition of partners Lyndsey Laverack and Jade Williams-Adedeji in London, complementing the February hire of Paul Hastings’ Adrian Chiodo as European leveraged finance practice head.

Laverack, previously at Sidley Austin, focuses on PE and cross-border M&A, particularly in equity investments in real estate and social infrastructure assets. Williams-Adedeji, also joining from Sidley after over almost two decades, advises clients on the real estate investment cycle, including debt and equity investments, as well as direct asset acquisitions and disposals.

Meanwhile, White & Case has expanded its investment funds practice and global private equity industry group with its hire of Alexandra Chauvin as a secondaries partner in London.

Chauvin, who joins from Ropes & Gray where she led the European secondaries team, brings extensive experience in US and European secondaries transactions.

Chauvin marks the firm’s third recent hire from Ropes: Emily Brown joined as investment funds practice head last November after making partner at Ropes in April 2021, followed by Lavanya Raghavan, who was a counsel at Ropes and joined W&C as a partner in March.

‘With deep experience in the US and Europe, Alexandra will strengthen our funds and secondaries capabilities globally and be well-placed to capitalize on a market that is growing at speed’, said Brown in a statement.

Elsewhere, Jenner & Block expanded its litigation team with its hire of Legal 500 banking litigation leading individual Edward Davis. Davis joins from Stephenson Harwood, where he co-headed the London litigation practice for 25 years, handling complex banking and fund-related matters, fraud cases, and corporate disputes.

Also active in disputes was Fladgate, which hired Ashurst counsel Thomas Karalis into its dispute resolution group as a partner. A Legal 500 international arbitration rising star, Karalis joins with over 15 years’ experience, and brings the firm’s London partner headcount to just shy of 100.

Shoosmiths has grown its London employment practice with the addition of Adam Lambert, who joins from BCLP, where he led the UK employment and labour group. Lambert brings nearly 30 years of experience to complement Shoosmiths’ 50-strong national employment team.

Additionally, Rachel Orton has joined Clyde & Co as a partner in the firm’s real estate team. Formerly partner and head of senior living at Addleshaw Goddard, Orton brings experience in advising on healthcare and living sector developments, including hospitals, supported living, dementia care assets, and infrastructure transactions.

Finally, looking overseas, Freshfields continued its run of aggressive US expansion with its hire of Skadden tax head Steven Matays into its New York tax practice.

Matays brings over 20 years of experience in handling complex U.S. and international tax matters, focusing on M&A, spinoffs, debt and equity offerings, corporate restructurings, and joint ventures.

Matays said in a statement: ‘Freshfields is the firm to watch in the US. I’ve been impressed by how the firm has become a go-to outside counsel for the most important assignments of high-profile clients especially in M&A over the last few years. I’m excited to be a part of this vibrant team and I look forward to contributing to the next phase of growth.’

anna.huntley@legalease.co.uk

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A&O Shearman banking heavyweight Philip Bowden, the former co-head of legacy A&O’s global banking practice, has left the newly merged firm to join Proskauer as part of a four-partner raid by the US firm.

Bowden, who unsuccessfully ran for senior partner at A&O Shearman ahead of the transatlantic tie-up, is departing alongside acquisition finance partner Megan Lawrence, who made partner at A&O in 2022.

The pair will move to Proskauer, where they will join the global banking and finance team alongside two partners joining from Cahill Gordon & Reindell’s London office –  Jake Keaveny and Warren Newton, both of who are also A&O alumni.

‘We thank Philip and Megan for the contributions they have made to the firm and wish them all the best for the future’, an A&O spokesperson said in a statement.

For Cahill, the departures come after two other recent London partner exits, with leveraged finance duo Jonathan Brownson and Joydeep Choudhuri exiting for Latham & Watkins.

Executive committee chairman Herb Washer said in a statement: ‘We’re committed to expanding our corporate practice in London and we are currently evaluating our options to ensure the right fit for our team and our corporate clients. We thank them for their service to the firm’s clients and we wish them well in their future endeavors.’

In the wake of the A&O Shearman merger, Bowden had been appointed as one of the firm’s five private capital sector leads. He had been at the firm since 1999, making partner in 2002. He went on to co-head both the firm’s global banking and finance practice and its global leveraged finance group and is a Legal 500 leading individual for acquisition finance

Bowden had run for senior partner in two consecutive elections, losing both – to incumbent Wim Dejonghe in 2020 and to interim managing partner Khalid Garousha in 2024. He is the only one of the three senior partner candidates at pre-merger A&O without a seat on either the executive committee or the board at A&O Shearman. Garousha is senior partner and co-chairs both the board and the executive committee with Adam Hakki, who took over as senior partner at Shearman & Sterling last March, and now serves as A&O Shearman’s US chair.

The third contender, David Lee is now global co-head of project, energy, natural resources and infrastructure as well as an ExCom member.

The departures see Cahill lose the last of a clutch of ex-A&O lawyers it brought over in 2020-21. Legal 500 high-yield leading individual Keaveny joined Cahill alongside Brownson in summer 2020, while Newton came over in January 2021, joining the firm as a partner after leaving A&O as a senior associate. The US firm’s website now lists no banking and finance partners in London.

Alexander.ryan@legalbusiness.co.uk

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McDermott Will & Emery has built its London real estate bench today with a dual hire from Fried Frank, including the firm’s former head of European real estate.

McDermott has announced today (26 June) that Darren Rogers and Devina Rana have joined the firm’s transactions practice group as partners.

Rogers (pictured) previously led the European real estate practice at Fried Frank, where he spent nearly seven years with Rana, who was special counsel. The pair also moved together to Fried Frank from Ashurst in 2017.

Harris Siskind, the global head of McDermott’s transaction group, emphasised that strengthening the firm’s real estate practice has been a ‘long-standing goal’ in London. ‘We are thrilled that Darren and Devina are joining the team as they complement and enhance our global real estate offering and will support our strategic outlook,’ he said.

Rogers’ focus is on equity-related investment matters, including real estate capital markets transactions, major London leasing joint ventures, and mixed-use development projects, while Rana brings experience in handling high-value investment transactions for UK, US, and broader global clients, along with real estate finance expertise.

The duo’s expertise complements real estate finance partner Usman Khan, who joined the firm last year from Kirkland & Ellis.

Commenting on the hires, newly appointed London managing partner Aymen Mahmoud said: ‘Darren and Devina are excellent real estate lawyers and will further enhance our real estate capabilities in London and beyond, dovetailing neatly with our wider global practice to offer our clients a solution across-geographies.’

Mahmoud highlighted that the new hires complement the firm’s cross-border growth strategy, citing recent additions like White, Chris Kandel from MoFo, and Fatema Oreja from Sidley, and indicated plans for further strategic hires in the near future in an interview with LB last month.

Less than two weeks ago, the firm also saw leadership changes with Matthias Kampshoff appointed as its new Germany managing partner, succeeding real estate partner Jens Ortmanns.

elisha.juttla@legalbusiness.co.uk

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Paul Hastings has recruited finance partner Reena Gogna in London, marking the latest hire for the acquisitive US firm in the City.

This development marks another notable move from Weil to US rival Paul Hastings, after Alexander Horstmann-Caines, a specialist in high-yield offerings and leveraged finance, joined in February last year.

Recognised as a leading individual in the Legal 500 for acquisition finance, Gogna will bring with her over two decades of experience. Notable transactions under her belt include advising on the €1.35bn senior secured term loan and revolving facilities for Mehiläinen Oy, and working with major banks such as JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, and Goldman Sachs.

Gogna’s exit from Weil comes after finance counsel Luke Lado’s move to Greenberg Traurig last November, as well as the exit of private equity and infrastructure funds partners James MacArthur and Ed Freeman to Sidley a year ago.

At Paul Hastings, Gogna will reunite with familiar faces such as Patrick Bright, a leader in European high-yield transactions who transitioned from Weil in 2022. She will also join Ross Anderson and Mo Nurmohamed, who arrived as part of a four-member team from Latham & Watkins, where Gogna spent 11 years of her career from 2003 to 2014.

This hire aligns with Paul Hastings’ ongoing strategic expansion of its global finance practice. Her appointment adds to significant lateral hires, such as investment funds and private capital specialist Zach Milloy from Kirkland & Ellis in October 2023, and financial restructuring partner Helena Potts from Shearman & Sterling in February 2023.

However, Paul Hastings has also seen some recent departures, including capital markets lawyer Peter Schwartz, who left for King & Spalding in March, followed by former global finance co-head Luke McDougall, who left for Davis Polk & Wardwell in May.

anna.huntley@legalease.co.uk

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Cadwalader notches another loss from its London office as real estate finance partner moves to Greenberg Traurig.

Greenberg Traurig announced today (17 June) that Cadwalader real estate finance partner Duncan Hubbard is joining the firm as a shareholder in its finance and restructuring practice, less than a week after the firm lost five partners to King & Spalding.

Hubbard will be joined by associate William Lo, who will move to Greenberg as an of counsel. Both lawyers joined Cadwalader from Norton Rose in February 2019.

Hubbard brings with him more than two decades of experience. He has acted on some of the largest UK and international property finance transactions, from single assets such as The Gherkin to cross-jurisdictional funds with investment and development portfolios around the world, ranging from logistics in South Korea to healthcare in London.

Greenberg chairman Richard Rosenbaum said in a statement: ‘Duncan brings a wealth of experience, as we further execute our strategic development across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. He will also further support our top-tier global real estate, finance, M&A and funds capabilities.

Greenberg has built its real estate practice over the past two years with its hires of Sierra Taylor from Paul Hastings in April 2023 and Daniyal Ansari from BCLP in March 2022 as shareholders.

The departure comes hot on the heels of Cadwalader’s loss last week of five partners and one special counsel, including Legal 500 fund finance leading individual Samantha Hutchinson and next-generation partner Nathan Parker.

The move leaves Cadwalader with just 19 partners in London, according to the firm’s website. Hubbard was instrumental to the firm’s Legal 500 tier six-ranked property finance team. The firm’s website now lists just one London-based lawyer in the real estate team: associate Shelby Gemmell.

‘My move to Greenberg Traurig has been driven in large part by the firm’s collaborative European and global footprint and its long-term commitment to and brand in the industries I focus on,’ said Hubbard.

‘Working with a talented team across jurisdictions in related practices, and drawing on their localised sector knowledge, will enable me to provide my cross-border client base with a truly seamless service. This is an exceptional opportunity to join and help build a market-leading offering in London.’

elisha.juttla@legalbusiness.co.uk

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Five-strong fund finance team finds new home at K&S with further hires on the cards.

King & Spalding has hired a funds finance team from Cadwalader into its London office, led by Legal 500 fund finance leading individual Samantha Hutchinson.

The team includes four Cadwalader partners and one special counsel who will join K&S as a partner, with a number of junior lawyers also set to make the move.  

Along with Hutchinson, the partners are funds finance experts Mathan Navaratnam and Legal 500 next-generation partner Nathan Parker, as well as ESG co-chair Sukhvir Basran, who joined Cadwalader from Hogan Lovells in December 2022. Special counsel James Hoggett, who came to the firm as an associate in 2018 from Dentons at the same time as Hutchinson, will also be joining.

The departures will leave Cadwalader with just 20 partners in London, according to the firm’s website, and comprise the bulk of its top-tier London fund finance group. Of the lawyers named in the firm’s Legal 500 fund finance ranking, only one remains: special counsel George Pelling. The firm’s website lists 11 other London funds finance lawyers.

For K&S, meanwhile, the moves are evidence that the firm is in growth mode in London, following on from last October’s announcement that it would upsize its premises with a move to 41,000 square feet of office space on levels 27-31 of 8 Bishopsgate. ‘On a strategic level, our growth plans presented us with a choice to either be conservative or ambitious when it came to office space’, the firm’s London managing partner Tom Sprange KC told Legal Business at the time. ‘We opted for ambition.’ 

Sprange also spoke of a need to ‘balance our practice’ – to expand in transactional work alongside the office’s experience on the contentious side. The firm built up its non-contentious benches with its October 2022 hires of private equity partners Amit Kataria and Paul Barron from Morrison Foerster and Dickson Minto respectively. In March, capital markets partner Peter Schwartz joined the firm, reuniting with his former colleagues Richard Kitchen and Amin Doulai, who had also left Paul Hastings for K&S in August 2022. 

A Cadwalader spokesperson said in a statement: ‘We are grateful for our former colleagues’ contributions and wish them success in all their future endeavors. We’re proud of our market-leading trans-Atlantic fund finance practice, which has seen tremendous success and will continue to serve as the go-to team for sophisticated cross-border transactions. Fund finance is a key component of our robust, multi-practice team in London. For 30 years, we’ve built an exceptional group of attorneys and staff in the UK, and recently expanded our London office footprint to accommodate our continued growth.’ 

Alexander.ryan@legalbusiness.co.uk 

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Earlier this month McDermott Will & Emery announced that leveraged finance partner Aymen Mahmoud will take the reins from Hamid Yunis as managing partner of the US firm’s London office.

Mahmoud (pictured), who has been at the firm since 2020 after joining from Willkie Farr & Gallagher, will take the helm on 1 June, while also continuing as co-head of the firm’s London transactions group and the finance, restructuring, and special situations group.

Yunis, who served as London managing partner since 2019, has steered the firm through five years of growth, during which lawyer headcount has risen by around 30%. He will now transition back to a full-time fee-earning role.

In a conversation with Legal Business, Mahmoud explained that the firm reviews its leadership regularly, typically reassessing every three years. ‘I was asked to step into the role as part of the usual leadership change to drive the next period of growth, and am honoured to be trusted with it,’ he said.

The leadership refresh has also seen private equity veteran Graham White take on the mantle of London senior partner, having joined the firm in March after a seven-year hiatus. He was most recently London managing partner at Fried Frank, and has a history of building City practices, notably at both Kirkland & Ellis and Linklaters.

Mahmoud said that talks with White began around a year ago. ‘I brought Graham into the firm because he has a really complementary skill set with our existing bench; with what we want to have going forward,’ he said. ‘He is a really fantastic person – giving us a nice cultural fit’.

The pair are behind much of the recent recruitment at the firm, including the hire of Fatema Orjela, who joined the transactions practice from Sidley last month, and also featured as a deal star in LB’s ‘Alphas Revisited’ feature last year.

Mahmoud said: ‘It’s a lot less risky to hire people that you know and who have a successful track record. But we are not limiting ourselves. We want to bring in and develop the best talent in the market who are hungry to continue to build with us just as we are extremely hungry to build, and we have huge capacity to do so.’

‘We are ultra-focused on culture, as an office and as a firm, and every person we bring in needs to fit into that culture,’ he continued.

As of May 2024, the firm’s London office houses 103 fee-earners, including 30 partners, and has welcomed 15 new partners since 2021. The latest addition to the roster is Adrian Cohen, who has joined as a senior consultant from Proskauer Rose where he was a partner, following a thirty-year stint at Clifford Chance. Last week the firm also announced that Chris Kandel – who was featured in LB’s Banking and Finance perspectives last year – is joining from Morrison Foerster alongside finance colleague John Burge.

There have been losses though, with Tom Whelan, the former head of the private equity and corporate transactions group, departing to join Reed Smith in February.

Globally, McDermott has seen five-year growth of 96%, with only Kirkland & Ellis surpassing it at 106%. Only four other firms in the 2023 Global 100 have achieved growth of more than 75% – King & Spalding (77%), Willkie Farr & Gallagher (79%), Holland & Knight (82%) and Cooley (87%).

Mahmoud – who describes his leadership style as ‘authentic, energetic, and strategic’ – said that the firm is committed to ongoing expansion in London, with further hires anticipated in the coming months, but stressed that these will be strategic. ‘If we double or triple the size of the London office, that’s great, but what we will not do is grow for the sake of growth,’ he said.

‘There is a strategic focus on where we want to grow in line with our power alleys, in line with our existing client relationships, and in line with clients we want to target that we think have great adjacencies with our existing business.’

When asked about his vision for the firm in the next few years, Mahmoud said the firm does pay undue attention to revenue, profitability and headcount projections. ‘We care more about sustainable and strategic growth – we want to increase all those metrics, but without putting an external target on it as such. We’ve been beating internal targets year on year for some time.’

Recent mandates for the the firm have included advising data analytics platform Kpler on annual recurring revenue (ARR) financing from global PE houses Bain Capital Credit and Apax Credit, led by Mahmoud in London alongside teams in the US and France. The firm’s London arbitration team also recently advised UAE-based oil and gas company Crescent Petroleum and Crescent Gas Corporation in enforcing a $2.4bn arbitration award against the National Iranian Oil Company.

On juggling his new position with his client work, Mahmoud said: ‘Our firm’s priority is always our clients and that will be where my focus is, but management of the firm in London exists alongside that, just as for each of our other office managing partners.’

elisha.juttla@legalbusiness.co.uk

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Lateral hiring saw a notable pickup during the first quarter of 2024, with partner moves across sectors from litigation to corporate, finance, and restructuring, to ESG, energy and competition.

Global London firms were especially busy during this period, often to the detriment of their Magic Circle peers. While Paul Weiss has been making headline-grabbing hires, Skadden, McDermott, Kirkland & Ellis, and Paul Hastings have also seen considerable movement over the last two months.

Litigation and regulatory

Paul Hastings strengthened its investigations, white collar, complex litigation, and arbitration practices with a double hire from Latham & Watkins. Oliver Browne, who was at Latham for 18 years, serving recently as the London co-chair of the litigation and trial department, will be joined by his colleague Stuart Alford KC. Alford specialises in white-collar crime and was at Latham for seven years. Before joining the firm, he spent four years at the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as head of banking fraud.

Meanwhile, Ashurst has strengthened its disputes and investigations offering with the hire of Legal 500 Hall of Famer for white-collar crime, Judith Seddon. Moving from Dechert, Seddon has built a practice advising corporate clients in some of the most complex and high-profile investigations conducted by the SFO and Financial Conduct Authority in the UK and by global prosecuting authorities. Previously, she has been a partner at Ropes & Gray and Clifford Chance (CC).

Skadden made a play for former Linklaters partner Sebastian Barling who has now joined the firm’s financial institutions regulatory group. A Legal 500 Next Generation partner for financial services: non-contentious and regulatory, he has experience advising financial services clients on UK and EU regulations. His move adds to Linklaters’ woes, with the firm seeing an exodus of partners in 2023. Twelve partners left the firm last year according to Edwards Gibson’s annual partner moves report.

Corporate

Senior private equity partner Graham White left Fried Frank to join McDermott. White was Fried Frank’s managing partner until 2017, and head of the firm’s private equity practice until his departure. He moved to Fried Frank in 2014. While at Kirkland he was considered to be the de facto head of the London office after joining from Linklaters in 2006. In a statement, McDermott managing partner Hamid Yunis said that White ‘will work closely with me, our London transactional heads and our global senior leadership to help grow the firm’s presence and transactional capabilities in the UK market and provide senior level support to our practices.’

McDermott also hired Cooley cross-border M&A head Michal Berkner in February, further bolstering its transactional practices in London. Moving from Cooley, her clients include strategic and private equity buyers and sellers in public and private transactions and she led the cross-border M&A practice, including negotiated and unsolicited transactions and joint ventures. She is recommended in the Legal 500 for her work on mid-market deals and her experience covers the life sciences, healthcare and technology sectors.

Paul Weiss continued to plough ahead with its London expansion plans, appointing private equity M&A specialist Oliver Marcuse to its partnership. Marcuse, who made partner at CC in May 2022, has experience acting on transactions from leveraged buyouts to secondaries for clients including CVC and Cinven. He undertook a secondment at the latter.

The firm also appointed Matthew Hearn to its London M&A practice. Formerly at Linklaters, where he made partner last year, the move is Paul Weiss’ fourth partner hire from Linklaters, following Dan Schuster-Woldan in January, Nicole Kar in December, and Will Aitken-Davies in September.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett made a double hire from Weil, taking Paul Hibbert and Emma Serginson. Both are infrastructure financing specialists, ranked as Legal 500 Leading Individuals in this practice area.

Elsewhere, Reed Smith strengthened its private equity and corporate transactions group in London, appointing Tom Whelan from McDermott. He was formerly the head of the firm’s private equity and corporate transactions group.

Fried Frank bolstered its London private equity practice with a triple hire from Goodwin. Christian Iwasko, Michelle Tong, and Priya Rupal join the firm after a three year stint at Goodwin, bringing with them experience at Sidley and Kirkland.

King & Spalding appointed senior capital markets partner Peter Schwartz from Paul Hastings. After spending nearly a decade at Paul Hastings, the move sees Schwartz reunite with his former colleagues Richard Kitchen, Amin Doulai, and Alon Blitz, who moved to King & Spalding in 2022.

In New York, Freshfields made headway with its US strategy, hiring private equity M&A partners Neal Reenan and Ian Bushner from Latham.

Reenan joined as global co-head of private capital alongside Charles Hayes in London and Arend von Riegen in Frankfurt. Prior to joining Latham’s Chicago office in March 2020, he spent 17 years at Kirkland.

Meanwhile, Bushner joined the firm as head of US private capital. He also did a stint at Kirkland, joining in 2014, and helping to set up the firm’s Boston office in 2017.

Finance

In March, prior to the A&O Shearman tie-up going live, Shearman & Sterling’s Europe managing partner and EMEA finance team leader Ward McKimm announced his retirement from the firm.

‘Shearman & Sterling and Ward McKimm jointly confirm that, after a nearly 30-year career as a leading high-yield and leveraged finance lawyer based in London, he has decided to retire,’ a firm statement said.

A member of the Legal 500 Hall of Fame for high-yield finance in London, McKimm joined Shearman’s New York office in 1997 before relocating to London in 1999 and making partner in 2015. He moved to Kirkland in 2011, then to Freshfields in 2015, before rejoining Shearman in 2018. He was instrumental in positioning the merger.

‘A&O has an international outlook, its IP network across Europe and the US provides exciting opportunities for my practice and me generally.’
Gemma Barrett, Allen & Overy

Meanwhile, Allen & Overy (A&O) added John Goldfinch as a partner in its global structured finance practice. Goldfinch, who joins from Milbank ahead of the A&O Shearman merger, is a structured finance specialist with a particular focus on collateralised loan obligations.

He is joined by a team of four Milbank senior associates: Adrian Kwok, Peter West, Eleanor Cripps and Alexandra Wells. A&O has positioned private capital as a key strategic focus for the firm, with its private capital revenue growing by over 60% over the past two years.

Kirkland hired Legal 500 Leading Individual Marwa Elborai from A&O. Elborai, who joins the firm’s London capital markets team, is US qualified, and focuses her practice on high-yield bonds, complex corporate financings and leveraged finance transactions. She joined A&O, after moving from Shearman.

Kirkland also added Alex Amos to its London investment funds group. Moving from Macfarlanes, he is experienced in structuring alternative investments and working with real assets and other strategies across various fund products. Kirkland also bolstered its debt finance practice with the hire of partner Vanessa Xu from A&O. Xu, whose practice specialises in advising financial sponsors on cross-border leveraged finance transactions, is a Legal Business one to watch for debt finance.

Meanwhile, CC has appointed Blake Jones to its finance team. He joins from Paul Hastings, having previously worked at Linklaters.

Elsewhere, David Irvine, Linklaters’ co-head of leverage finance, has moved to Gibson Dunn, with his private equity and cross-border financing expertise set to strengthen the firm’s finance practice.

Restructuring

Paul Hastings bolstered its European financial restructuring group in London with the addition of Jessica Ling. Joining from Akin, she focuses on advising bondholders, ad hoc committees, credit funds, hedge funds, institutional investors, and insolvency practitioners in complex cross-border restructurings and special situations.

‘I was attracted by the prospect of working alongside talented colleagues as well as the entrepreneurship and collaborative spirit senior management have for the firm’s European and broader global financial restructuring practice. I am excited for the opportunity to grow my own cross-border, creditor-side restructuring practice on the elite platform that the global firm offers,’ she said.

IP

Gemma Barrett has joined A&O’s IP practice, moving from life science specialist, Bristows. ‘A&O has an international outlook, its IP network across Europe and the US provides exciting opportunities for my practice and me generally,’ Barrett said.

ESG and energy

Kirkland appointed Rebecca Perlman to its ESG and impact practice group in London as a partner. This follows a 12-year stint at Herbert Smith Freehills from Perlman, where she headed the firm’s UK, US, and EMEA operations and was global head of sustainable and impact investment.

Meanwhile, Mayer Brown bolstered its global energy group with the appointment of former CC partner, Massimo Amoruso, to its global energy group.

Antitrust

Paul Weiss launched a Brussels practice in April with the hire of antitrust partners Richard Pepper and Ross Ferguson.

Moving from Macfarlanes, Pepper has experience advising on cartel and behavioural investigations, global merger control and foreign direct investment. He advised Dow on its merger with DuPont and Telefónica on a joint venture with Liberty Global to form Virgin Media O2.

Ferguson, who moved from Simpson Thacher, has built a practice focusing on cross-border transactions, EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation filings, antitrust investigations and foreign direct investment reviews. His standout mandates include advising Refinitiv on its acquisition by the London Stock Exchange Group and KKR on its acquisition of ContourGlobal.

holly.mckechnie@legalease.co.uk

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While there is no shortage of fast-growing US firms in London, Paul Hastings is a notable standout, increasing London lawyer headcount by 68% over the past five years with a steady stream of eye-catching hires.

However, this rapid growth has also come with departures as the firm repositions itself in the City, and yesterday (2 May) it was announced that highly regarded former global finance co-head Luke McDougall is leaving to join Davis Polk.

McDougall, who is a Legal 500 leading individual for acquisition finance in London, had been at Paul Hastings since 2015 when he joined from Ashurst. His practice covers UK and cross-border leveraged finance, corporate finance and restructuring, and since 2022 has been working along a team of four finance partners who joined from Latham & Watkins.

As the latest Global London rankings highlight, Paul Hastings now sits just outside the top 15 in that group with 170 fee-earners in London, and this rise – coupled with its continued ability to pull off marquee hires such as the Latham team – has meant that it is a firm that always looks on the verge of a breakthrough to the very top table in London.

The firm, which was founded in Los Angeles in the 1950s and has been in London since 1997, recently posted global revenues of $1.8bn for 2023, with profit per equity partner up 10% to $5.4m, and the latest Global London figures underline the firm’s growth across other key metrics. Total fee-earners in the capital increased 13% to 170, while the number of London equity partners rose to 36, a near 30% increase on last-year’s figure of 28.

Among the most notable London hires in 2023 were the addition of energy and infrastructure duo Jessamy Gallagher and Stuart Rowson, the former co-heads of infrastructure at Linklaters, and those hires are already paying dividends, with the duo recently advising VINCI Airports on its £1.27bn acquisition of Edinburgh Airport.

The firm has, however, seen a degree of churn in recent years, with the 30% rise in London equity partners serving as something of a rebound following a 20% dip from 35 down to 28 the previous year. The most noteworthy departure in 2022 was unquestionably former London managing partner Ronan O’Sullivan, who had been expected to take over as firmwide chair, with his exit paving the way for New York finance partner Frank Lopez to take the top job.

Movement in and out has continued into 2024, with litigation duo Oliver Browne and Stuart Alford KC joining from Latham & Watkins and former KKR managing director William Needham coming in as co-chair of European restructuring, set against exits including McDougall and private equity partner Samantha McGonigle, who is heading back in-house after less than a year at the firm.

In a statement on McDougall, Paul Hastings said: “We wish Luke all the best. Paul Hastings had a record first quarter up approximately 20% in value of time worked. The firm’s London office was a core driver, having a record Q1 FY25 with value of time worked up approximately 40% as compared to the first quarter of last year, driven by a significant uptick in demand across finance, structured credit, private equity and M&A, infrastructure and restructuring. We look forward to continuing to build premier practices and take market share at the top of the market in London and more broadly.”

Lopez, who became the firm’s first new leader in over two decades after succeeding long-serving former chair Seth Zachary in late 2022, is on the record with his intentions to prioritise the continuous addition of ‘elite’ talent, both globally and in London.

‘Over the past few years, we have added elite talent across a wide variety of practices. We are continuing to build and enhance our practices and overall platform with premier talent, enabling us to compete for and win market share at the top of the market.’

One former partner characterises the firm’s recruitment as a push ‘to elevate its practice to become basically a Wall Street firm’ and while such lofty ambition is to be applauded, it follows that there will be questions about what this means for the culture in London.

Speaking to Legal Business, Lopez emphasises the firm’s careful approach to talent acquisition: ‘We are thoughtful and deliberate in the talent we are adding, focusing on lawyers and teams who are synergistic with our existing practices and clients and have the potential for exponential growth.’

This focus is acknowledged by sources close to the firm, with one ex-partner noting that while a centralisation of the recruitment process in New York has ‘caused some ripples’, the firm’s ongoing financial success will, for now, provide ‘enough glue to hold things together’.

This interplay between exponential growth and culture will always be a balancing act for expansive firms, and as another Paul Hastings alumnus notes: ‘They’ve been growing really aggressively in London – there’s a chance that it pays off and that they’re left with a really good mixture of teams, but the risk is that you’re bringing in a lot of different attitudes and perspectives.’

anna.huntley@legalease.co.uk

Paul Hastings London equity partner numbers: three-year view

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