Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has launched in Chicago, hiring a five-partner team from rival Kirkland & Ellis.
Ryan Harris, private investment and family office practice lead at Kirkland, will serve as managing partner of the new office.
He is joined by four additional partners: private investment and family office co-lead Cole Parker, and corporate partners Kyle McHugh, Ryan Jackson, and Ziyad Ziyadze.
Harris said of his move: ‘Our team has worked together for many years and we are very excited to join the firm and build on its commitment to establishing a major presence in Chicago that will deliver outstanding service to our clients.’
‘We look forward to fully scaling the Chicago office as part of Simpson Thacher’s world class platform, with the goal of bringing together the very best lawyers to collaborate across transactional, regulatory and disputes practices in this amazing city,’ he continued.
All five partners join Simpson Thacher after over a decade at Kirkland. Harris, Parker and McHugh previously spent time at legacy McDermott Will & Emery, with Harris and Parker moving to Kirkland in 2014 and McHugh in 2016.
Harris was a partner at McDermott, while Parker and McHugh made partner at Kirkland, in 2015 and 2021 respectively.
Jackson joined Kirkland in 2013 from Detroit-headquartered firm Honigman, while Ziyadze started his career at Kirkland in 2016.
Commenting on the launch, Simpson Thacher executive committee chair Alden Millard said: ‘Opening an office in Chicago extends our ability to serve our clients in one of the country’s most dynamic centers of investment activity and legal talent.
‘The addition of Ryan, Cole, Kyle, Ryan and Ziyad significantly expands our ability to advise middle market private equity funds and other private capital clients.’
The moves mark the second time this year that Simpson Thacher has launched a new office with hires from Kirkland, following its February opening in Dallas, when the firm brought over liability management heavyweight David Nemecek to lead a new capital structure solutions practice.
Since then, Simpson Thacher has hired a number of Kirkland partners, including restructuring partner Jordan Elkin and infrastructure finance partner Marten Olsson, who joined in New York in May.
In addition, last month, Simpson Thacher also brought in a three-lawyer hybrid capital team from Akin, with partner Ryan Cox now co-leading the Dallas office alongside Nemecek.
The firm also expanded into the Asian market this year, launching in Singapore in April.
The new office marks Simpson’s ninth in the US, and its 17th worldwide.
