Kirkland & Ellis has hired Wachtell restructuring and finance chair Joshua Feltman, as the global elite continue to compete for talent in the increasingly important field of liability management.
Kirkland’s hire of Feltman, a Wachtell lifer who joined the firm in 2002 and made partner in 2010, comes after the departure of heavyweight restructuring partner David Nemecek, who left for Simpson Thacher in February to head the firm’s newly created capital structure solutions practice.
Feltman’s experience in liability management has seen him advise on some of the most novel transactions in the area, including advising alternative asset managers Angelo Gordon and Centerbridge in connection with a $1.3bn dropdown financing to and subsequent restructuring of Envision Healthcare and its Amsurg business, and advising a group of second lien noteholders in connection with the multibillion-dollar dropdown restructuring of AMC Theatres.
Other examples of high-profile work include advising a group of noteholders in connection with the liquidation of Toys R Us in 2018, with Kirkland representing Toys R Us. He also joined Wachtell’s litigation team that acted for Twitter in 2022 when Elon Musk was compelled to follow through on his acquisition of the social media site.
Last week the Financial Times reported that Kirkland had offered Feltman a pay package of $80m over three years.
Recent hires for Kirkland include New York debt finance partner Adam Griffin, who joined from Orrick in February, and New York structured finance partner Darren Littlejohn, who joined from Clifford Chance in March.
For its part, Wachtell has seen a clutch of departures in recent years, in a rare situation for the single-office Wall Street firm. These include restructuring and finance partner John Sobolewski, who moved to Latham & Watkins last February to head up the firm’s liability management practice. He has since been followed to Latham by partners including dealmaker Zach Podolsky as well as banking partner Emily Johnson and private equity and M&A partner Mark Stagliano.
Kirkland executive committee chair Jon Ballis said that Feltman’s arrival ‘will significantly enhance our already market-leading finance, restructuring and liability management practices.’
Restructuring partners and executive committee members Edward Sassower and Joshua Sussberg added: ‘We have known Josh for our entire careers and have long been hoping he’d join Kirkland. Not only is he universally recognized as a leading talent, but he’s a terrific person and will fit seamlessly into our team-focused and collaborative culture.’
