Good morning,
This week’s lateral market was led by Sullivan & Cromwell, which pulled four private equity M&A partners from Kirkland & Ellis across New York and Los Angeles, opened its first Middle East office in Abu Dhabi by hiring Ahmed el-Gaili from Latham & Watkins, and picked up an executive compensation partner from Cleary Gottlieb.
Freshfields added an M&A partner from Cravath, while Latham brought on an IP litigation partner from Gibson Dunn. Meanwhile, a wave of DOJ departures continued to reshape the antitrust bar, with former prosecutors landing at Orrick, Ashurst Perkins Coie, and Crowell.
Fund finance and investment management hiring was notable, with moves at Proskauer, DLA Piper, Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, and Akin across New York, Los Angeles, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai.
Now, on to what matters for your practice today.
BigLaw Moves Sentiment
The volume and geographic spread of lateral activity this week signal that firms are building capacity for a sustained dealmaking cycle, not just filling gaps. Sullivan & Cromwell’s multi-front offensive — four PE M&A partners from Kirkland, a new Middle East office, and targeted additions in executive compensation and capital markets — reflects a firm positioning for cross-border private equity work and Gulf state sovereign capital.
The four DOJ antitrust departures in a single week suggest the government-to-BigLaw pipeline is accelerating, likely driven by a combination of enforcement pullback and private-sector demand for regulatory defense talent.
Fund finance and investment management hiring across five geographic markets points to growing institutional allocator activity and continued sponsor fundraising that will generate legal advisory revenue throughout the balance of 2026.
BigLaw Moves
A few quick patterns worth noting: Sullivan & Cromwell accounted for roughly a third of the week’s marquee partner hires, recruiting at least seven partners across private equity M&A, capital markets, executive compensation, and Middle East expansion.
Kirkland & Ellis was the most common departure firm, losing partners to Sullivan & Cromwell, Winston Taylor, Sidley, and others. Antitrust saw four lateral hires from the DOJ in a single week.
Fund finance and investment management had at least eight partner-level moves. The K&L Gates–Pillsbury group move involved six attorneys across four offices.
Geographically, New York dominated with more than 20 partner additions, followed by Washington D.C. and Los Angeles.
Antitrust and Competition
Aaron Teitelbaum joined Orrick as a partner in its antitrust practice in Washington, D.C. from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Adam Severt joined Ashurst Perkins Coie as an antitrust and competition partner in Washington, D.C. from the DOJ.
David Dahlquist returned to Winston Taylor’s antitrust and competition practice from the DOJ in Chicago and D.C.
Rebecca Valentine joined Crowell as an antitrust partner in Washington, D.C. from the DOJ.
Capital Markets
Jean Park joined Paul Hastings as a capital markets partner in New York and Silicon Valley from Cooley.
Joze Vranicar joined Sullivan & Cromwell as a capital markets partner in New York from Davis Polk.
Norly Jean-Charles joined Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres as a capital markets partner in New York.
Corporate M&A
Bethany Pfalzgraf joined Freshfields as a partner in New York, coming from Cravath, where she practiced M&A.
Damon McLean joined Nelson Mullins as a corporate partner in Raleigh from Arnall Golden Gregory.
Francesco Castaldi joined Simpson Thacher as an M&A partner in Chicago, coming from Greenberg Traurig.
Guirgis Nasief joined Sullivan & Cromwell as a private equity M&A partner in Los Angeles from Kirkland & Ellis.
Hamed Meshki joined Sullivan & Cromwell as a private equity M&A partner in Los Angeles from Kirkland & Ellis.
Jeff Friedman joined Nelson Mullins as a corporate partner in Atlanta from Arnall Golden Gregory.
Jen Smith joined Norton Rose Fulbright as a partner in its corporate, M&A and securities group in Austin from Latham & Watkins.
Luke Guerra joined Sullivan & Cromwell as a private equity M&A partner in Los Angeles from Kirkland & Ellis.
Mark Kahn joined Cozen O’Connor as a corporate partner in Miami from Sheppard Mullin.
Matt Brohm joined Nelson Mullins as a corporate partner in Raleigh from Arnall Golden Gregory.
Sarah Remmer Long joined White & Case as a partner in its M&A and employment, compensation and benefits practice in New York from Sullivan & Cromwell.
Y. Michael Chung joined Sullivan & Cromwell as a private equity M&A partner in New York from Kirkland & Ellis.
Cybersecurity and Data Privacy
Alexander Southwell joined Jones Day as a partner in its cybersecurity, privacy and data protection practice in New York from McDermott Will & Emery.
Debt Finance
Anna Dodson joined Foley Hoag as a partner and co-chair of its debt finance practice in Boston from Goodwin.
Bruce Steinert joined Akerman as a debt finance partner in Los Angeles from Troutman Pepper Locke.
Emerging Growth and Venture Capital
Brittany Turner joined DLA Piper as an emerging growth and venture capital partner in San Francisco from SoftBank Investment Advisers.
Energy, Infrastructure, and Project Finance
Andrej Kormuth joined Akin as a project development partner in Dubai from Bracewell.
Scott Rafshoon joined Saul Ewing as a project finance partner in Atlanta from Squire Patton Boggs.
Stephen Olson joined Foley & Lardner as an energy and infrastructure partner in Houston from Gibson Dunn.
Executive Compensation
Amanda Toy joined Sullivan & Cromwell as an executive compensation partner in New York from Cleary Gottlieb.
Intellectual Property
Ahmed ElDessouki joined Latham & Watkins as an IP litigation partner in New York from Gibson Dunn.
David Tsai joined K&L Gates as an IP partner in San Francisco from Pillsbury, as part of a six-attorney group.
Karin Hessler returned to Wiley’s IP practice in Washington, D.C. from the Association for Accessible Medicines.
Matthias Kamber joined Munger, Tolles & Olson as an IP partner in San Francisco from Paul Hastings.
Michael P. Shepherd joined Bradley as an IP partner in Washington, D.C. He will serve clients navigate the AI and machine learning fields while expanding the team’s patent prosecution and technology capabilities.
Zandir Morton joined K&L Gates as an IP partner in San Francisco from Pillsbury, as part of a six-attorney group.
Investment Funds and Fund Finance
Andrea Dougall joined Akin as an investment management partner in Abu Dhabi from Morgan Lewis.
Ariele Cohen joined Jones Day as a funds partner in New York from McDermott.
Ari Feder joined DLA Piper as an investment funds partner in New York from Mintz.
Christopher Pristouris joined Winston Taylor as a private capital and funds partner in New York from Kirkland & Ellis.
Jakarri Hamlin joined Hogan Lovells Cadwalader as a fund finance partner in Los Angeles from Mayer Brown.
Luke Charleston joined Milbank as an alternative investments partner in New York from Akin.
Marie-Sophie Bandeira Vieira joined Akin as an investment management partner in Dubai from White & Case.
Stewart Ross joined Proskauer in its corporate and fund finance practice in New York.
Labor and Employment
Alex Pratt joined Haynes Boone as a labor and employment partner in Dallas from Perkins Coie.
Derek Lipscombe joined Haynes Boone as a labor and employment partner in Dallas from Toyota.
Netanel Newberger joined Ellenoff Grossman & Schole as a labor and employment partner in New York from Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone.
Litigation
Asha Dhillon joined Smith, Gambrell & Russell as a litigation partner in Los Angeles from Turner Dhillon.
Kevin Collins joined Sterlington as a litigation partner in Sacramento from Buchalter.
Megan Lewis joined Simpson Thacher as a litigation partner in Washington, D.C. from McGuireWoods.
Peter Hall joined Saul Ewing as a litigation partner in Atlanta from Holland & Knight.
William Turner joined Smith, Gambrell & Russell as a litigation partner in Los Angeles from Turner Dhillon.
Private Equity
Kimberly Rowe joined Akin as a private equity partner in Los Angeles from the Walt Disney Company.
Matthew Lasky joined Honigman as a private equity litigation partner in Chicago from Raines Feldman Littrell.
Product Liability and Mass Torts
Brian Vanderhoof joined Womble Bond Dickinson from Lewis Brisbois as part of a mass torts team across multiple cities.
David Lassen joined McGuireWoods as a product liability litigation partner in Seattle from Boeing.
Paul Efstratis joined Womble Bond Dickinson from Lewis Brisbois as part of a mass torts team across multiple cities.
Thomas Regan joined Womble Bond Dickinson from Lewis Brisbois as part of a mass torts team across multiple cities.
Twelve additional lawyers joined Womble Bond Dickinson from Lewis Brisbois as part of a mass torts team across multiple cities.
Real Estate
Darwin Huang joined Norton Rose Fulbright as a real estate partner in New York from Kasowitz as part of an eight-lawyer team.
David Szeker joined Norton Rose Fulbright as a real estate partner in New York from Kasowitz as part of an eight-lawyer team.
Matt McElroy joined Norton Rose Fulbright as a real estate partner in New York from Kasowitz as part of an eight-lawyer team.
Patrick Hennessy joined Latham & Watkins as a partner in its real estate practice in London.
Regulatory and Financial Services
Mark Shaffer joined Mintz as a financial services regulatory partner in New York from Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld.
Zila Acosta-Grimes joined Winston Taylor as a financial innovation and regulation partner in New York from Linklaters.
Tax
Jonathan Westreich joined Simpson Thacher as a tax partner in Los Angeles from Sidley Austin.
Matt Donnelly joined Kirkland & Ellis as a partner in its tax practice group from Gibson Dunn.
Michael Alcan joined Sidley Austin as a tax partner in Century City from Kirkland & Ellis.
White Collar Crime and Government Investigations
Della Sentilles joined Steptoe as a financial crime and enforcement partner in New York from Morgan Stanley.
Kara Stein joined Nixon Peabody as a government investigations and white-collar defense partner in Washington, D.C. from the PCAOB.
Other Notable Moves
Laura Rosmarin joined Ellenoff Grossman & Schole as an immigration partner in New York from Kuck Baxter.
Thomas Lee joined Gruenstein Law as a constitutional law partner in New York from Hughes Hubbard.
Rebecca Davis joined Saul Ewing as an environmental law partner in Atlanta from Arnall Golden Gregory.
Andrew Barrios joined McGuireWoods as an insurance recovery partner in Chicago from Reed Smith.
Ken Weinberg joined Baker Donelson as a shareholder in Birmingham, practicing equipment leasing finance.
Sean Sandoloski, a former U.S. Supreme Court clerk, returned to Willkie in Washington, D.C.
Liz Kramer, former Minnesota Solicitor General, joined Dorsey & Whitney in Minneapolis.
Theresa Lee, Jenny Liu, Julie Park, and Ziyan “Frank” Xue joined K&L Gates as corporate partners across San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Houston from Pillsbury.
Ahmed el-Gaili joined Sullivan & Cromwell from Latham & Watkins to lead its Middle East practice in Abu Dhabi, as the firm opened its first office in the region.
Mark Gregory, former Rolls-Royce general counsel, was appointed chief legal and public affairs officer at BT, as group general counsel Sabine Chalmers prepares to step down.
Corporate Moves Sentiment
The C-suite moves this week reflect two cross-cutting themes likely to generate legal advisory revenue. First, the concentration of CTO, CPTO, and AI officer appointments — at Masco, Conduent, OnTrac, Webflow, and AMCS — signals that mid-market and enterprise companies are investing in technology leadership to operationalize AI, which will drive demand for technology transactions, IP licensing, data privacy, and employment work.
Second, the reshuffling at UBS, Banco Santander, and Silver Point Capital around commodities, credit, and industrial banking suggests that financial institutions are building out advisory and trading capabilities in anticipation of increased capital markets and M&A activity in industrials and energy.
Corporate Moves
Investment Banking
JPMorgan hired Seth Corder as an executive director of VC coverage. He previously was a managing director of Moderne Ventures.
Stifel hired three venture bankers from SVB: Chris Morrison as head of Boston, Matt Scott as head of NYC, and Arianne Perry as head of NYC investor coverage.
UBS hired Matt Parr as vice chairman of global banking Americas and head of Midwest banking, focused on diversified industrials, automotive, and advisory opportunities. The bank also added Adam Reeder as vice chairman of global industrials group from Rothschild.
Warburg Pincus hired Philip Nolan as head of U.S. wealth. He previously was with Neuberger Berman.
Asset Managers
Amulet Capital Partners promoted Sam Brinkley to partner.
Asymmetric Capital Partners hired Roy Kamineni as an investor. He previously was with Summit Partners.
Balderton Capital, a London-based venture capital firm, hired Luca Bocchio as a partner. He previously was with Accel.
Banco Santander created its first dedicated commodities trading head role, appointing Rubén Rincón, previously global head of equity derivatives trading, to the position as part of Santander’s Global Markets division push to expand its commodities business.
Bluegem Capital Partners hired Ibrahim Najafi, former CEO of Froneri, as chief transformation officer.
Constitution Capital Partners hired Rich Schainker as a managing director focused on defined contribution activities. He previously was with WTW.
EIV Capital hired Kristin Kelly as a partner. She previously was a managing director at EIG.
Equitex hired Brian DeFee as a managing director and head of Americas capital formation. He previously was with Capstone Partners.
Gordon Brothers hired Tron Allen as a senior managing director. He previously was with Eclipse Business Capital.
Hunter Point Capital hired William Sonneborn as president and COO. He previously was president of Generate Capital.
Golub Capital managing director Alan George is joining Silver Point Capital as head of credit financing and leverage solutions. George worked at Golub for nearly 18 years and will help develop Silver Point’s financing and debt capital markets capabilities.
NaviMed Capital hired Holly Atallah as CFO and VP of compliance. She previously was with BroadOak Capital Partners.
Partners Group promoted Jennifer Fox Bensimon to head of co-investments.
Periscope Equity promoted Eric Hinkle to partner.
Permira hired Julia Liuson as a Menlo Park-based senior advisor. She is the former president of Microsoft’s developer division.
RoundTable Healthcare Partners hired Ed Jones as an operating partner. He previously was president and CEO of HealthTrust Performance Group.
Sound Point Capital hired Victoria Davies as a managing director and head of Europe for global client solutions. She previously was with King Street.
Sound Ventures hired Roberto Nickson, a tech creator, as a senior advisor.
Strategic Value Partners hired Matt Gibson as president, effective in February. He previously spent more than 25 years at Goldman Sachs.
Vance Street Capital hired Katherine Dowley as head of investor relations. She previously was with W Capital Partners.
Vector Capital Management hired Kiran Rao as a managing director and head of value creation. He previously was with Vista Equity Partners.
Yukon Partners promoted Nathan Weekly to director.
Corporates
AMCS appointed Richard Humphrey as chief product and technology officer, where he will lead the municipal waste software provider’s global product organization. He most recently served as chief product and technology officer at software vendor Contruent.
Conduent appointed Narayanan Sundaresan as chief information and technology officer, effective September 14. He joins from education services provider Strategic Education, where he served as CIO and SVP of digital products and technology.
Equinix appointed DD Dasgupta as CMO, succeeding Adam Berlew. He previously served as VP of product and solution marketing at the company and held similar roles at Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks.
FedEx Freight promoted Michael Rodgers to chief commercial and technology officer, expanding his responsibilities to include sales, customer experience, marketing and communications. He initially joined as CTO in June 2025.
Frame appointed Lloyd Moore as cofounder and CTO. He previously served as acting CTO and VP of engineering at blockchain infrastructure provider Blockdaemon.
Masco appointed Yaron Ben David as chief technology and AI officer, a newly created role. He joins from Standard Industries, where he served as chief digital officer and led enterprise-wide AI, data, cybersecurity, and digital transformation initiatives.
OnTrac appointed Arjun Sainath as CTO. He previously served as CTO at ecommerce and logistics company Cart.com and as corporate VP of platform engineering at Blue Yonder.
PetMeds named Andrew Parry as CTO. He most recently served as SVP and CIO at ODP, the parent company of Office Depot and OfficeMax.
Redrock Strategic Advisors hired Domenic Martinelli as a director. He previously was with CapM Advisors.
Sirius XM Holdings appointed Sean Gibbons as SVP, Chief Product and Technology Officer. Gibbons has been with the company since 2000.
Webflow promoted Utkarsh Sengar to CTO and Jin Lim to chief engineering officer as the SaaS website builder expands its agentic platform.
Workday appointed Sarah Kennedy Ellis as CMO, effective October 5. She most recently served as VP of global marketing at Google Cloud and held senior marketing roles at Adobe. She succeeds Emma Chalwin.
Heard on the Street
JD Journal reported on September 17 that Big Law partner compensation has reached a new extreme, with some partners now receiving $20 million or more in annual pay. The packages are being used to lure lateral talent and retain key rainmakers as firms compete for market share.
Law360 Pulse reported that Big Law firms grew more selective on lateral partner hires in the second quarter of 2026, with associate and counsel moves declining while partner hiring remained elevated. Seventy-five percent of Q2 hires were sourced from within the Am Law 200, up from 60 percent in Q1, suggesting firms are leaning even harder on established Big Law talent.
Pirical data showed that litigation remained the most-hired practice area in Q2 2026, with 286 Am Law 200 partner hires — more than the next two practice areas combined.
Lateral Link noted that M&A and private equity activity has accelerated in 2026, supported by sponsor dry powder, improving financing markets, and a broader rebound in large-cap and middle-market transactions, translating directly into law firm lateral hiring.
Forbes published commentary noting that cross-functional track records matter more than deep functional expertise at the C-suite level, and that AI literacy is moving from a nice-to-have to a baseline requirement for executive hiring across all roles.
That’s the rundown. See you next where law meets the markets.
-The BigLaw Markets Team
*DISCLAIMER: BigLaw Markets analyzes publicly available information, filings, press releases, and news stories published by reputable media sources to deliver content that highlights demand for legal services. Certain production processes may be supported by proprietary AI tools and are subject to human editorial judgement and review.
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