The Latest Paul Weiss Hire

Paul Weiss continues to boost its London office with yet another hire – and yet another from their now-standard recruitment target: Kirkland & Ellis.

The firm has recruited Jeremy Leggate, an investment funds partner, who has a substantial client base. He has previously been an associate with both Sidley Austin and Clifford Chance.

Paul Weiss has been on quite the hiring spree in London since last August. It all started when they lost their London leader, Alvaro Membrillera, to Kirkland & Ellis. But Paul Weiss wasn’t about to take that lying down.

They turned the tables and poached Neel Sachdev, a real rainmaker, from Kirkland. Sachdev is now co-heading the London office and leading the charge in their expansion efforts, doubtless dipping into the Kirkland ‘recruitment pool’ using his prior knowledge of the firm and its legal talent.

But it doesn’t stop there. Paul Weiss has been attracting top talent from other major firms too, including Clifford Chance, Linklaters, and Akin. We reported some of the moves to the firm last year.

Earlier this year, the expanding team moved into swanky new digs in London, strategically located near some of their prime private equity clients. Talk about rolling out the red carpet!

Neel Sachdev, the London co-head, is super optimistic about the firm’s future in Europe. They’re not just focusing on London – they’ve also launched an office in Brussels and are looking to expand there too.

Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis isn’t taking these departures lightly. They’ve recently changed their policies, implementing new rules in July that could potentially withhold deferred pay for partners who decide to leave. A similar move has also been made by Linklaters.

It’s an interesting move – they’ve made it potentially costlier for partners to leave, but they’ve also halved the notice period required for departing partners. It’s like they’re saying, “If you’re going to go, go quickly, but know there might be a price to pay.”

The lateral hires highlights the competitive nature of the legal world, especially when it comes to top talent.

Firms like Paul Weiss and Kirkland & Ellis are constantly vying for the best and brightest, and it’s fascinating to watch these power moves play out.

Read More –