Ben Boman – We seem to report on raids by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison with somewhat monotonous regularity, particularly regarding their raids upon Kirkland & Ellis and the massive deal offered to star lawyer Neel Sachdev, but now they are switching their attention to Clifford Chance, adding two new partners to the growing London office.
The new partners are Christopher Sullivan (pictured above ) and Taner Hassan. Sullivan lead the UK private equity practice, a key component for Paul Weiss’ London office and Hassan is a private equity specialist focused on buyout and infrastructure financing.
Sullivan’s client list includes Cinven, Alter Domus, Blackstone, and Kirkbi, according to a Reuters report.
Among the recent recruiting efforts from Paul Weiss has been the recruitment of a team including Sachdev, the more recent move to the firm of IP specialist John Patten high-profile partners from Kirkland & Ellis in London and a partner from Linklaters.
This follows the departure of Alvaro Membrillera, the former leader of Paul Weiss’s London office, along with other lawyers who moved to Kirkland.
Paul Weiss is one of the powerhouse law firms, regarded as one of the most powerful and influential law firms in Manhattan, but also with growing international plans in key markets like London.
The growth of Clifford Chance, which is London-based, has been one that has seen increasing focus by the mega-firm upon global growth. The increasing lateral movements between major law firms is one of the increasingly common events that affect firms as they grow, develop, and work to attract – and pay for – the best legal talent they can find.
In a flat market many law firms are using the opportunity to recruit more partners from their rivals in moves described in one article in ABA Journal as a “lateral playpen”.
The moves can be somewhat dangerous, given the sort of money involved and the credibility of legal stars with their clients. Shearman & Sterling and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan have both suffered from partner losses of this kind.
It is also understood that Nicole Kar, the global head of Linklaters’ antitrust and foreign investment group, based in London and Dublin, is also to join Paul Weiss.
Author – Ben Boman is a regular writer for LawFuel and other legal publications.
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