Sidley Austin made waves in London this week with another senior partner hire from Latham & Watkins, bringing over Latham’s London corporate co-chair David Stewart (pictured).
Stewart is the ninth Latham partner to join Sidley in the last eight months, following the August move of a five-partner leveraged finance team led by Legal 500 acquisition finance Hall of Famer Sam Hamilton and leading individual Jayanthi Sadanandan, the October hire of capital markets partners Scot Colwell and Patrick Kwak, and the December hire of Latham London finance co-chair Tania Bedi.
‘We have a very specific way we integrate laterals,’ Sidley management committee chair Yvette Ostolaza told Legal Business. ‘By the time you join the firm, you’re well-positioned to succeed. Dave is an example of that. We wanted someone who can help us grow our cross-border practice, and Dave fits that role perfectly.’
She continued: ‘We aim to continue to invest and grow key industry verticals including tech, life sciences, energy/infrastructure, and private equity.’
London managing partner Tom Thesing added: ‘We’re in expansion mode. There will be more hires in the near term.’
Though Latham also saw Silicon Valley partner Tony Richmond depart to become chief legal officer at American Airlines, the firm was also active, bringing over London A&O Shearman structured finance duo Franz Ranero and James Smallwood.
Ranero is a Legal 500 Hall of Famer for securitisation. His arrival with Smallwood deepens Latham’s expertise in collateralised loan obligations, and adds to a total of more than 100 partners to leave A&O Shearman since the Allen & Overy-Shearman & Sterling merger was announced in 2023.
Hot on the heels of its own transatlantic merger approval vote, Herbert Smith Freehills also saw two London partners leave, with PE partner Joseph Dennis set to join Dechert and Legal 500 product liability defendant leading partner litigator Philip Pfeffer moving across the Atlantic to join Jones Day in New York.
Also active in London was Weil, which hired PE secondaries partner Simon Saitowitz from Ropes & Gray. Saitowitz returns to the US firm after leaving as an associate to join Fried Frank as a partner in 2017, and moving to Ropes & Gray in 2022.
Meanwhile, Paul Weiss hired Legal 500 fund finance next-generation partner Cameron Roper from Proskauer, marking the acquisitive US firm’s first fund finance hire in London.
Baker Botts hired Vinson & Elkins global project finance practice head Nabil Khodadad as head of project finance for its international office. Khodadad made the move with counsel and Legal 500 oil and gas leading associate Alistair Wishart, who joins Baker Botts as a partner.
Shoosmiths hired Bird & Bird real estate finance partner James Salford, while Crowell & Moring hired AI and emerging tech specialist Emma Wright into its Privacy and Cybersecurity Group from Harbottle & Lewis. A Legal 500 leading partner in artificial intelligence, IT and telecoms, and industry focus: tech, media, and telecoms, Wright is also co-founder and director of the Interparliamentary Forum on Emerging Technologies and an executive committee member of the global UNESCO Women4Ethical AI platform.
DWF saw the departures of insolvency and restructuring partner Natasha Atkinson and finance and restructuring partner Matt Williams to Pillsbury and Taylor Wessing, respectively. Finally in London, Wedlake Bell hired corporate partner Hollie Gallagher from Broadfield, formerly BDB Pitmans.
In New York, Clifford Chance continued to build its New York corporate M&A benches with the hire of Robert Chung. Chung is the third corporate M&A to leave W&C for CC in the Big Apple in a year, following Bryan Luchs this March and Chang-Do Gong, who joined the firm last May and now co-heads its US M&A practice.
Meanwhile, A&O Shearman readied to launch its Chicago office, the firm’s tenth in the US, with its hire of Mayer Brown energy and infrastructure partners Paul Astolfi and Katy McNeil.
Astolfi joined Mayer Brown as a partner in 2010 and served as co-head of its global projects and infrastructure group. He is based in Dallas and spends significant time in Chicago, where McNeil, who made partner in 2023, works full-time. A&O Shearman will launch in Chicago ‘subject to requisite approvals’.
Also opening a new office was Fenwick, which established a presence in Boston with its hire of a three-partner life sciences IP team from Cooley comprising Matthew Pavao, Heidi Erlacher, and Chen Chen.
Finally in the United States, Brown Rudnick launched in Los Angeles with a four-partner hire from US firm Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, bringing litigators Daniel Rozansky and Nicholas Rozansky into its brand and reputation management group, as well as corporate and M&A partner Jonathan Friedman and litigator and trial counsel John De La Merced.
In Europe, King & Spalding hired Brussels data, privacy, and security partner Charles-Albert Helleputte from Squire Patton Boggs, where he was EU practice head and global data privacy, cybersecurity, and digital assets team co-chair. Helleputte is the third partner to join K&S in Brussels, following Baker McKenzie trade duo Arnoud Willems and Bregt Natens in February.
Meanwhile, Jones Day hired a four-lawyer team from RocaJunyent in Madrid led by banking and finance partner José Luis Pita da Veiga Subirats.
Finally, this week LB waves goodbye to two of its own, with city editor Elisha Juttla and reporter Anna Huntley both leaving the team. We wish them all the best.
