Simpson Thacher has hired a three-lawyer hybrid capital team from Akin, further deepening its bench in the growing area of capital solutions.
Ryan Cox, Payson Lyman, and Joshua Morry have joined the firm in Dallas, Boston, and New York respectively. Cox, who was a partner at Akin for six years, will head the firm’s hybrid capital practice and co-manage the Dallas office alongside David Nemecek, who joined Simpson from Kirkland & Ellis in February.
Lyman was a partner at Akin for two years, while Morry has made partner on his move to Simpson, having become a counsel at Akin in December 2023. All three lawyers bring experience advising on the range of hybrid capital transactions.
‘Ryan, Payson and Josh are recognized leaders in hybrid capital and have built one of the most active practices in the market,” said executive committee chair Alden Millard. ‘Their arrival meaningfully expands our ability to advise clients on sophisticated capital solutions, and the opening of our Dallas office reflects our continued investment in key US markets.’
Simpson established its capital structure solutions practice with its hire of Nemecek – a prominent liability management partner who now heads the practice.
Commenting on the latest hires, Nemecek said: ‘As demand for tailored capital continues to grow, this team brings the judgment, creativity and experience clients want.’
The firm has also continued to build with its hire of Stephanie Marshak, who joins its capital structure solutions practice in New York. Marshak joins from Wachtell, where she spent eight years as a counsel, and will focus at Simpson on out-of-court restructuring, liability management, and other debt-related matters.
Also active in Texas is Kirkland & Ellis, which has hired a pair of restructuring partners from Jones Day into its Dallas office.
The firm has hired Dan Prieto and Amanda Rush, who both bring particular experience advising clients on how to address mass tort liabilities, including in cases involving asbestos and talc claims. Prieto spent five and a half years at Jones Day, making partner in 2023, while Rush is a Jones Day lifer of nearly 15 years, and also made partner in 2023.
Kirkland has been building its mass tort team since January 2025, when it hired a five-partner team from Skadden led by Philadelphia partner Allison Brown. It followed up last May with its hire of a 30-lawyer team from King & Spalding, including 13 partners, among them Legal 500 toxic tort leading partner Kristen Fournier.
Restructuring partners and executive committee members Edward Sassower and Josh Sussberg said of the hires: ‘We are thrilled to welcome Dan and Amanda as the first members of the restructuring team in Dallas.’
They continued: ‘We couldn’t imagine two better hires who will fit seamlessly into both our mass torts restructuring practice as well as our recent mass tort buildout in litigation.’
In New York, Latham & Watkins has hired a clutch of partners into its capital markets practice from Davis Polk.
Byron Rooney joins as global vice chair of capital markets after more than two decades at Davis Polk, where he made partner in 2014. Dan Gibbons, now global co-chair of Latham’s digital assets and web3 practice, spent just under 12 years at Davis Polk and made partner in 2022. Latham has also hired Jennifer Ying Lan, who spent nearly 13 years at Davis Polk, where she was a counsel, and joins Latham as a partner.
Stelios Saffos, global co-chair of Latham’s capital markets and public representation practices, and global chair of its hybrid capital practice, said: ‘The addition of Byron and Dan further cements our clear market leadership as the only firm with a fully integrated offering spanning the entire capital spectrum and the strategic advisor for the most sophisticated market participants.’
On Lan’s hire, he added: ‘At a time when clients are navigating evolving market conditions and increasingly sophisticated capital structures, Jenn further bolsters our ability to deliver comprehensive counsel across debt, equity, hybrid capital, liability management, and other financing solutions.’
Paul Weiss has also added to its new York capital markets practice, hiring Rachel Phillips from Ropes & Gray. A Ropes lifer, Phillips spent more than 16 years at her previous firm, making partner in 2019.
McDermott Will & Schulte has hired Robert Rizzo as global co-head of its private equity group.
Rizzo joins the firm from Weil, where he spent four and a half years as a partner, joining in 2022 from Willkie, where he was a partner for more than eight years.
‘The market for sponsor-side talent has never been more competitive, and we are thrilled for Rob to join us,’ global head of transactions Harris Siskind said. ‘He gives private equity sponsor clients direct access to the full breadth of the firm — M&A, financing, tax, regulatory — and the seniority to bring it together on the deals that matter most.’
Sidley has hired structured finance specialist Marissa Gluck as a partner in its global finance practice.
Gluck joins from Latham, where she spent just over five years as an associate, and has experience advising clients from banks and underwriters to investors and borrowers on a range of structured finance, securitisation, and other secured financing transactions. She has particular expertise with esoteric asset-backed securities, having worked on securitisations involving affordable housing, data centres, and fintech and startup assets.
Finally in New York, Reed Smith has hired finance partner Brian Rogers into its energy and natural resources group. Rogers, who joins from Bracewell where he spent three years as a partner, focuses on debt finance and structured commodities across the sector.
Mayer Brown has hired real estate partner Daniel Rothberg into its Los Angeles office. Rothberg has experience advising a broad range of clients on complex transactions across the spectrum of real estate asset classes. He joins from Orrick, where he spent nine years, making partner in 2023.
In Washington DC, Arnold & Porter has hired Brian Hill into its intellectual property practice. A specialist in US International Trade Commission (ITC) matters, and a Legal 500 next-generation partner for patents: litigation (ITC), Hill joins from King & Spalding, where he made partner in 2024.
Also in the capital, Orrick has hired Obrea Poindexter into its financial services and fintech advisory practice. Poindexter joins from Cooley, where she spent five and a half years as a partner, and has experience advising a range of clients on complex financial services regulatory issues.
Her hire follows the recent arrival of new fintech licensing head Lisa Lanham, who joined Orrick in Miami earlier this month as part of a six-lawyer team from Greenberg.
Finally, in Philadelphia, BakerHostetler has hired antitrust trial attorney Kenneth Racowski, to lead its private civil antitrust practice. He joins after five years at Holland & Knight, where he co-led the firm’s antitrust team, and brings particular experience advising businesses in complex, high-stakes antitrust, class action, and commercial litigation.
