Sullivan & Cromwell has hired two practice heads from Paul Hastings, as the New York firm pushes ahead with the latest stage of its City buildout.
Will Needham, chair of Paul Hastings’ European restructuring practice, and Patrick Bright, chair of the firm’s high-yield financing practice, are both set to join S&C, which has been on an aggressive recruitment push in recent months.
Needham is joining as co-head of restructuring alongside Kon Asimacopoulos, the former Kirkland partner who kicked off the Wall Street firm’s expansion drive when he joined in September alongside former Weil London head Mike Francies. Similarly, Bright is set to take up a role as head of high-yield.
S&C’s City expansion has picked up pace since January, with the firm bringing in finance duo Chris McLaughlin and Alastair McVeigh from Weil in late January, in a move that reunites the pair with Francies.
Bright and Needham have both also worked at Weil in the past, with the former a partner there until 2022, while Needham spent three years there as an associate between 2011 and 2014, before joining KKR until his move to Paul Hastings.
The pair handed in their notice at Paul Hastings earlier this week.
The hires come almost a year after Gibson Dunn hired Sullivan & Cromwell’s high-profile finance and restructuring duo Presley Warner and Chris Howard.
Warner was head of the US firm’s European credit and leveraged finance practice and spent almost 14 years at Sullivan, whilst Howard led the firm’s European restructuring practice and is recognised in the Legal 500 Hall of Fame for restructuring and insolvency.
Before bringing in Francies and Asimacopoulos, S&C had taken a very conservative approach to hiring in London. Between 2013 and September 2025, the firm only made three lateral hires.
Since then, it has made eight in the capital, including private equity partner Aprajita Dhundia and tax partner Ian Ferreira, who both joined from Kirkland in December.
The most recent hire before Francies and Asimacopoulos was the June 2025 addition of former A&O Shearman global financial services regulatory co-head Barney Reynolds.
Needham’s departure from Paul Hastings comes after last year’s exit of London co-chair Mei Lian, who co-led the firm’s European restructuring practice alongside him.
Lian left for Linklaters last autumn, and was followed by financial restructuring partner David Shennan, who joined Linklaters as counsel.
Paul Hastings’ London restructuring team now comprises three partners – Helena Potts, Jessica Ling and Tom McKay.
Potts, a former partner at Latham & Watkins and legacy Shearman & Sterling, has been at the firm since 2023, while Ling and McKay joined from Akin and Shearman respectively in 2024.
Meanwhile, Bright’s departure comes after fellow high-yield finance partner Edward Holmes left for Cadwalader last summer. The firm’s remaining partners on the high-yield front include Max Kirchner and Reena Gogna.
Earlier in the month, Paul Hastings hired David Richardson, a funds partner from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
Paul Hastings’ London revenue has grown 20% year on year and 100% over the last three.
