Skadden Lawyer’s Career Turn

A&O Shearman just pulled off a big move bringing a lawyer who has handled some of the biggest deals in the UK back to the firm from Skadden. George Knighton has been around for nearly three decades handling major deals for the firm.

Knightson started his career at Allen & Overy (now A&O Shearman), worked his way up to partner, and then left for Skadden in 2019, where he co-led their UK Corporate practice. Now he’s heading back to his old stomping ground, and it’s clear A&O Shearman is keen to make the most of his experience.

What makes this interesting isn’t just the “boomerang” move. Knightson has a reputation for being the go-to adviser for corporates, private equity, and financial institutions when the stakes are high. He’s worked on everything from public and private M&A to joint ventures and boardroom advice.

A&O Shearman’s London M&A team is already top-tier (they’re ranked Band 1 by Chambers for high-value M&A), and they’ve been on a hiring spree lately—bringing in people like Dan Graham and Paul Dunbar for private equity, Parisa Clovis and Filippo Crosara for debt finance, and Mahesh Varia for incentives.

They’ve just promoted a bunch of new partners, both in London and globally, since the merger between Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling went live last year.

For anyone keeping an eye on the big law firm mergers and the talent moves that follow, this is one to watch.