US law firm Paul Weiss has initiated a second recruitment effort targeting Kirkland & Ellis, successfully enticing at least three additional partners from Kirkland’s London office. This move follows closely on the heels of Paul Weiss’s recent recruitment of private equity finance lawyers from Kirkland. Paul Weiss, known for its prestigious clientele, including Wall Street giant Apollo Global Management, is also in the process of hiring a London M&A partner from Linklaters. This intensifying competition for top legal talent reflects the ongoing battle among leading law firms for the industry’s top professionals.
Over the past decade, law firms have reaped significant rewards from the private equity deal boom, with senior partners now commanding salaries comparable to investment bankers. Paul Weiss’s recent hires include Will Aitken-Davies, a deal specialist from Linklaters with experience representing clients such as Asda owner TDR Capital, and Roger Johnson, formerly of Kirkland, known for advising private equity firm EQT and others. Three additional Kirkland lawyers are joining Paul Weiss as partners, specializing in tax (Timothy Lowe and Cian O’Connor) and M&A advisory (Andreas Philipson). Discussions are also underway with another Kirkland lawyer focused on tax.
In less than a month, Paul Weiss is set to increase its London office headcount by more than a third, with a team of over 40 lawyers offering legal counsel on mergers and acquisitions, debt finance, capital markets, tax, and litigation for private equity firms and their top executives. This expansion follows Paul Weiss’s earlier hiring of debt finance lawyers, including Neel Sachdev, from Kirkland’s London office and a group of US lawyers led by Kirkland partner Eric Wedel. The move signals Paul Weiss’s ambition to establish a significant presence in the London legal market.
Unlike some of its US competitors, such as Kirkland and Latham & Watkins, Paul Weiss has had limited participation in the European market over the past decade. This recruitment drive is part of its strategy to change that. It’s worth noting that Paul Weiss recently lost its London head, Alvaro Membrillera, to Kirkland, highlighting the fierce competition for legal talent.
Kirkland gained market share by recruiting star dealmakers with high salaries from other firms. Paul Weiss’s decision to heavily invest in London comes at a time when the buyout boom, which has generated substantial legal fees, has slowed due to higher interest rates and more selective investors. However, law firms like Paul Weiss are well-positioned to navigate economic downturns as they also earn fees for advising on restructurings, refinancings, and bankruptcies.
Paul Weiss is renowned for its close relationship with Apollo and its connections to prominent US Democratic politicians. In the US, the firm recently made strategic hires, including Morgan Stanley’s M&A chair, Robert Kindler, and energy and infrastructure corporate lawyer Ravi Purohit from Latham & Watkins.
Both Kirkland and Paul Weiss have chosen not to comment on these developments, while Linklaters did not respond to requests for comment.