The value of top-end lawyers has been demonstrated again with the recent hire by Skaddens of former Freshfields’ M&A star
The lawyer, Bruce Embley, was hired for a reported $5 million according to reports from American Lawyer, who have reported what insiders have told the law news service.
Embley has spent most of his career with Freshfields, but the move by Skadden, bolstered by a sharp drop in the pound, sees the firm move more aggressively into the European deals market, as well as boosting its cross-border transaction work.
Bruce Embley was most recently co-head of its mergers and acquisitions practice, having worked on transactions including Anheuser-Busch InBev’s $103bn takeover of SABMiller in 2016.
A man who takes his professional and personal life seriously he was a fitness club member of the month three years ago, explaining that boxing was his favourite exercise.
Financial Times report that other clients include private equity groups TPG and Permira as well as the Qatar Investment Authority.
The high-profile hire comes just a year after Skadden poached George Knighton and Simon Toms from Allen & Overy. For Freshfields, Embley’s departure marks another high-level exit of a senior deals lawyer. US law firm Kirkland & Ellis hired two of its senior private equity lawyers, David Higgins and Adrian Maguire, in recent years, while Latham & Watkins recruited another senior deals lawyer, Sam Newhouse, earlier this year.
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