Latham & Watkins and Clifford Chance lead this week’s partner moves roundup, hiring John Sobolewski in New York and Annie Lewis in London, respectively.
Latham hired restructuring and finance partner Sobolewski (pictured) from Wachtell in New York, the firm announced this week, in a rare departure for the white-shoe firm. Sobolewski joins Latham as global head of liability management after 12 years at Wachtell.
Sobolewski’s arrival comes after the firm made major additions to its restructuring team last November, bringing over Weil partners Ray Schrock, Candace Arthur, and Alexander Welch as well as Andrew Parlen from Paul Weiss. Schrock joined as global chair of Latham’s restructuring and special situations practice, with Parlen coming in as head of US restructuring.
‘John has earned a stellar reputation for leading many of the market’s largest and most complex liability management exercises’, said the firm’s New York managing partner Marc Jaffe in a statement. ‘His deep knowledge and experience will be a tremendous asset to our clients in New York and globally, at a time when demand for our services is growing rapidly in both scale and sophistication.’
Chair and managing partner Rich Trobman added: ‘John’s arrival, following the recent addition of Ray Schrock, Andrew Parlen, Candace Arthur, and Alexander Welch to our restructuring and special situations team, is a powerful testament to our commitment to being the absolute best advisor to our clients throughout their lifecycle, including through their toughest challenges.’
In the City, Clifford Chance announced the return of Lewis (pictured) to the firm as a partner in its global private capital team. Lewis was an associate in private equity at Clifford Chance and recognised in the Legal 500 as a rising star, before leaving the firm in 2022 to lead the European legal function for Blackstone Capital Partners.
‘Annie’s appointment aligns with our commitment to quality and our growth strategy for private capital, building on our exceptional global team which sets the benchmark for the industry, consistently delivering results for our clients’, said global head of PE Jonny Myers in a statement. ‘We are thrilled to welcome her back to Clifford Chance.’
Lewis added: ‘The team at Blackstone is outstanding, and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have worked at a remarkable organisation with such a talented group of professionals. I am now excited to enter the next chapter of my career, rejoining Clifford Chance.’
The move comes as CC continues to rebuild its PE team after the departure of Chris Sullivan to Paul Weiss in late 2023. Other recent hires include Skadden partner Bruce Embley and former Skadden European counsel Emma Ghaffari who joined as a partner, both last month.
This aligns with similar moves in the US where the firm strengthened its transactional practices by bringing on two partners, David Schultz and Matthew Hinker, from O’Melveny & Myers in New York.
Kirkland & Ellis hired Norton Rose Fulbright partner Albert Weatherill, according to a post on Weatherill’s LinkedIn. Weatherill will join the firm’s financial services regulatory team. He made partner at NRF in 2021, and is recognised as a Legal 500 next-generation partner in both fintech: regulatory and financial services: non-contentious/regulatory.
Also leaving NRF was Legal 500 competition: EU and global leading partner Miranda Cole, who joined Perkins Coie, where she will lead the firm’s EU and UK antitrust practice. Cole spent nearly three years at NRF, including as Brussels office head, and previously spent over 13 years at Covington & Burling, where she made partner in 2011.
Her hire sees the firm grow the London office it launched under White & Case, Linklaters, and Clifford Chance private equity veteran Ian Bagshaw last summer.
TLT announced plans to welcome a total of 29 lawyers in energy, infrastructure, public law, and planning. The eight partners and 21 associates will join from Broadfield – the SHP Legal Services-established global firm that launched in the UK last December with BDB Pitmans’ rebrand.
Partners Mustafa Latif-Aramesh and Duncan O’Connor will join TLT on 1 April, while Sarah Clark, Nick Evans, Tom Henderson, James Ross, Angus Walker, and Richard Marsh will join later in the year. All eight partners are based in London, and four are individually ranked in the Legal 500 for planning, where Clark and Walker are leading partners and Latif-Aramesh and Marsh are next-generation partners. The departures leave Broadfield with no Legal 500-ranked individuals in planning.
The departures come as Broadfield announces its opening in Hong Kong with a trio of lawyers from Sidley Austin.
Orrick M&A and PE partner James Connor joined King & Spalding’s corporate practice group, bringing expertise in a range of transactional matters, with recent experience in tech-focused exits. Prior to his time at Orrick he spent over eight years at Simpson Thacher and six years at Slaughter and May, where he qualified.
CM Murray launched its new dedicated regulatory unit with the hire of partner Nick Leale. Leale joins from Armstrong Teasdale’s now-shuttered London office, where he was a partner from May 2023. He previously spent over 18 years at Blake Morgan, including as head of the firm’s regulatory business group.
Fieldfisher expanded its corporate and PE offering with its hire of Withers partner Philip Watkins. At the same time, director Steven Garry and senior associate Craig Arrowsmith left the firm to join Brabners in Manchester.
Elsewhere, Dearbhla Quigley left Forsters for the corporate and capital markets team at Michelmores, while Brown Rudnick hired Osborne Clarke corporate partner Matthew Edwards into its global life sciences practice group, and Troutman Pepper Locke hired restructuring and insolvency attorney Mahnvir Singh as a partner, as international arbitration partner Claire Morel de Westgaver left BCLP for London disputes specialist firm Ontier.
Finally, Simmons & Simmons was also hiring, bringing Freshfields counsel Sara Barin into its energy, natural resources, and infrastructure practice as a partner.
