Is Paul Weiss Preparing A Strategic Checkmate in London?
Observers have been watching Paul Weiss and its London lateral hires with high interest since the headline-making move to recruit law star Neel Sachdev two years ago. And now, the interest is in just what the powerhouse firm is planning in its aggressive London expansion?
According to Law.com their UK “hiring blitz” – which includes the most recent addition of restructuring specialist Kai Zeng, (pictured) who joins from investment firm Blantyre Capital – is that the firm is orchestrating a major move.
As their article said Paul Weiss “appears to be orchestrating a strategic endgame, positioning its pieces for a decisive checkmate. But is it wise to take on so many grandmasters at once?”
The hire of Kai Zeng, who had been a partner at Kirkland & Ellis for eight years, follows the firm’s July recruitment of Liz Osborne, a highly regarded restructuring expert from Akin, to spearhead its European restructuring practice.
The firm has been rapidly expanding its London office by hiring top partners from rival firms with the headline-making hire of legal star Neel Sachdev and Roger Johnson from Kirkland & Ellis, as well as partners from Linklaters, Clifford Chance, and other major firms that we’ve outlined below.
The firm is particularly targeting private equity clients, leveraging its expertise in this sector and strategic office location near major PE houses.
Zeng’s expertise lies in advising various stakeholders on cross-border restructurings and distressed transactions, all of which falls within Paul Weiss’s strategic objective to be party to the major deals occurring in London and Europe.
Paul Weiss’s London Expansion
The firm’s growth in London has been significant since Neel Sachdev and Roger Johnson left Kirkland to establish Paul Weiss’s English law practice and the two have clearly been orchestrating the rapid London build-up.
Paul Weiss is actively pursuing work on major deals to raise its profile in the London market, just as it is also working on boosting its personnel (like Zeng) to handle complex, cross-border transactions.
Their strategic hires include major hires from major firms
From Kirkland & Ellis:
- Matthew Merkle (capital markets)
- Timothy Lowe (tax)
From Linklaters:
- Nicole Kar (competition)
- Dan Schuster-Woldan (M&A)
- Will Aitken-Davies (M&A)
From Clifford Chance:
- Christopher Sullivan (private equity)
- Taner Hassan (acquisition finance)
Additionally, Paul Weiss recently recruited David Holdsworth, former general counsel at TDR Capital, marking his return to private practice.
The high-profile hires underscore Paul Weiss’s aggressive expansion strategy in the London legal market, particularly in areas such as restructuring, M&A, and private equity. The firm plans to grow its new London office, strategically located, to over 200 lawyers this year, which puts it into the tp 20 global London law firms.
Such growth puts the firm in the region of US big law competitors like Debevoise & Plimpton, Gibson Dunn and Cleary Gottlieb.
Whether Law.com are correct in assuming the firm may have over-reached with their hiring of grand chestmaster, only time will tell. But the ego-clash of such an assemblage of legal talent will create some intense competition in-house.
