Good morning,

This week’s BigLaw lateral market reflects a clear appetite for specialty practices and strategic platform-building. Gibson Dunn completed its 19-lawyer Paris funds team hire from Clifford Chance, while Kirkland & Ellis pulled the cofounder of boutique Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider to its antitrust bench. Dechert launched a new capital solutions team with two Ropes & Gray partners, and Sullivan & Cromwell opened a German litigation practice with two Hengeler Mueller hires in Frankfurt. Across 32 firms, 57 partners changed addresses this week.

On the executive side, Fortune Brands Innovations named Jesse Singh CEO after reversing an earlier appointment to fend off activist investor Ed Garden. Meanwhile, the CFO carousel is spinning fast. Pfizer’s Dave Denton is headed to Nike, Best Buy’s Matt Bilunas is stepping down after seven years, and Reinsurance Group of America’s Axel André departs for a Partner and CFO role at TPG.

Now, on to what matters for your practice today.

BigLaw Moves Sentiment

This week’s lateral activity signals sustained demand across three revenue-driving themes. First, cross-border platform expansion: Gibson Dunn’s completed Paris funds hire, Sullivan & Cromwell’s German litigation launch, and Morgan Lewis’s European M&A play all point to firms investing in international advisory capacity ahead of expected deal flow.

Second, distressed and special situations work is gaining traction as Dechert builds a dedicated capital solutions team from Ropes & Gray, while Sidley Austin and Troutman Pepper Locke add restructuring talent.

Third, the antitrust bench is heating up with Kirkland pulling a boutique cofounder, suggesting firms are positioning for a continued government enforcement cycle. These moves should generate meaningful legal advisory revenue in M&A, private credit, cross-border restructuring, and regulatory defense.

BigLaw Moves

A few quick patterns worth noting: This week saw 32 firms welcoming 57 new partners. Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani welcomed the most partners this week (8 litigation partners in Northern California), followed by Gibson Dunn (4 partners as part of a 19-lawyer Paris funds team) and Robins Kaplan (4 former federal prosecutors). Executive compensation saw notable movement, with Latham & Watkins poaching Skadden’s exec comp co-head and Paul Hastings picking up a partner from White & Case.

Firms Welcoming Multiple Joiners

-Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani (8): Brett Baer, Janelle Covington, Allison Friedman, Angie Lee, Derek Lim, Rebecca Martino, Vanessa Pouladian, and Stephen Watkins joined as litigation partners across the firm’s Northern California offices.

-Gibson Dunn (4): Xavier Comaills, Marie Preat, Elodie Cinconze, and Pierre Goyat joined from Clifford Chance with 12 associates to launch an investment funds practice in Paris. The move, first announced in April, has now been completed.

-Robins Kaplan (4): Former Minnesota federal prosecutors Allen Slaughter, Lauren Roso, Carla Baumel, and Bahram Samie joined the firm’s fraud, investigations, and recovery practice in Minneapolis.

-Sullivan & Cromwell (3): Steven Hsu joined as a capital markets partner in Hong Kong from Paul Hastings. Philipp Hanfland and Maximilian Bülau joined from Hengeler Mueller to co-lead a new German litigation practice in Frankfurt, with Hanfland also leading European disputes.

-Sidley Austin (3): Restructuring partners Philip Hertz and Melissa Coakley joined in London from Clifford Chance. Carl Hotton joined as an M&A partner in London from DLA Piper.

-Greenberg Traurig (3): Ryan Moore joined as a litigation shareholder in Philadelphia from Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg. Ryan Hayden joined in financial regulatory and compliance in D.C. from Steptoe. Andrew Gray joined in litigation in Orange County from Latham & Watkins.

-Dechert (2): Leonard Klingbaum (New York) and Jennifer Harris (Los Angeles) joined from Ropes & Gray to launch a new cross-disciplinary capital solutions team focused on special situations finance, liability management, and distressed capital markets.

-Cleary Gottlieb (2): Nathan McKinnon joined as a funds partner in London from Fried Frank. Emmanuel Enrici joined as a corporate partner in Paris from Kirkland & Ellis.

-Kirkland & Ellis (2): John Harkrider, cofounder of boutique Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider, and Craig Minerva joined the firm’s antitrust practice.

-Debevoise & Plimpton (2): Andrea Hwang joined in leveraged and corporate finance from Ropes & Gray. Josh Lerner, co-head of WilmerHale’s trade secrets litigation practice, joined amid rising demand for trade secrets and commercial dispute work.

-Littler (2): Richard Reibstein joined as an independent contractor compliance partner from Troutman Pepper Locke. Joe Lewis joined in employment in Walnut Creek from Morgan Lewis.

-Troutman Pepper Locke (2): Lara Nichols joined the energy regulatory practice in Charlotte from Duke Energy Corporation. Rakhee Patel joined the bankruptcy and restructuring practice in Dallas from Sidley Austin.

Firms Adding Single Joiners

-BakerHostetler: Nicholas Carson joined in the business practice group (community development/tax credit transactions) in Chicago from Kutak Rock.

-Cadwalader: Nika Silva joined in capital markets in Los Angeles from King & Spalding. She will lead digital infrastructure finance upon the Cadwalader Hogan Lovells merger.

-Haynes Boone: John Messina, former Barclays director, joined the fund finance and derivatives practice in New York.

-Holland & Knight: Daniel Katz joined in real estate in Century City from Buchalter.

-K&L Gates: Andrew Harper joined in finance (cross-border aviation) in London from Reed Smith.

-King & Spalding: Ron Franklin joined in fund finance in New York from Proskauer.

-Latham & Watkins: Erica Schohn, former co-head of Skadden’s executive compensation practice, joined in New York. This marks the third exec comp addition to Latham in six weeks.

-Loeb & Loeb: Ryan McCaffrey joined in real estate finance from Adler & Stachenfeld.

-McDermott Will & Emery: Olena Tokman joined in investment management in Frankfurt from Linklaters.

-Morgan Lewis: Philip Cheveley joined as European M&A practice lead in London from Covington & Burling.

-Orrick: Lisa Lanham joined with a six-lawyer fintech regulatory team in Miami from Greenberg Traurig. This is Orrick’s biggest Miami hire since launching there in July 2025.

-Paul Hastings: Sasha Belinkie joined in executive compensation in New York from White & Case.

-Paul Weiss: Blake Rohrbacher joined in litigation (Delaware corporate) in Wilmington from Richards Layton & Finger.

-Proskauer: Fabrice Grillo joined in global finance in Paris from Freshfields.

-Seyfarth Shaw: Steven Moore joined in labor and employment litigation in San Francisco from Fox Rothschild.

-Skadden: Brian O’Donoghue joined in mass torts litigation in Chicago from Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum.

-Thompson Coburn: Matthew Brown joined in labor and employment from Milman Labuda Law Group.

-Vinson & Elkins: Michael Jay joined in IP and technology litigation in Los Angeles from DLA Piper.

-Weil, Gotshal & Manges: Fiona Cumming joined in finance in London from A&O Shearman.

-Wiley Rein: Peter Rechter, former senior counsel to the Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, joined in white collar defense and government investigations.

Corporate Moves Sentiment

The Fortune Brands CEO drama, driven by an activist campaign, is the type of corporate governance work that generates significant legal fees across M&A, securities litigation, and proxy advisory.

The CFO shuffle across Fortune 100 companies such as the Pfizer-to-Nike move and the Best Buy vacancy both suggest companies are resetting financial leadership amid shifting consumer and healthcare landscapes.

The wave of CTO appointments at mid-market tech and manufacturing companies (Five9, VulcanForms, Tata Communications, Z Squared) signals technology transformation mandates that drive data privacy, IP, and commercial contracting work for law firms positioned in those sectors.

Corporate Moves

Investment Banking and Financial Services

-David Brisske was named CFO of Goldman Sachs Alternatives.

-Reinsurance Group of America appointed Laura Cockrill as CFO, effective immediately. She previously served as Chief Strategy Officer. She succeeds Axel André, who will leave on July 17 to become Partner and CFO at TPG.

-Intact Insurance appointed Rory Meleniclis as CIO. He previously served as a senior director at Royal Bank of Canada.

Funds and Asset Management

-General Atlantic named tennis star Novak Djokovic as a global strategic adviser. Stephen Krupa joined General Atlantic as a managing director from Morgan Stanley.

-Strategic Value Partners hired JB de Boissieu as a managing director on its European investment team from Davidson Kempner.

-KPS Capital Partners is bringing on Tak Ishikawa as president of its new KPS Asia unit. He previously was with Mitsubishi.

-Venessa Generelli joined Apollo as a partner in credit from Blackstone.

-Ken Wasik was hired as a partner at Cinven from Bain Capital.

-Ralph Guenther joined Main Street Capital as CFO.

-Amundi named Petra Salesny as chief executive of Amundi Alpha Associates.

Corporates

-CACI International appointed Dave Young as EVP and COO. He previously served as VP and General Manager of National Security Space at Lockheed Martin.

-Fortune Brands Innovations named Jesse Singh as CEO, succeeding the reversed appointment of Amit Banati. Singh was previously CEO of The AZEK Company. Fortune Brands launched a fresh CEO search in March to stave off a proxy fight with activist investor Ed Garden.

-Pfizer announced that CFO Dave Denton will leave the company on August 15 to become the next CFO of Nike. Denton previously served as CFO of Lowe’s and CVS Health. Cecile Guegan, Pfizer’s SVP of Finance, will serve as interim CFO. At Nike, Denton will succeed Matthew Friend, who has been with the company for 17 years.

-Best Buy announced that Matt Bilunas will step down as CFO, effective July 31, after seven years in the role. CEO Corie Barry, who is leaving her role on October 31 and previously served as CFO, will provide financial guidance during the search for a permanent successor.

-Harley-Davidson named Gayle Littleton as Chief Legal Officer. She joins from Exelon, as Paul Krause transitions to an advisory role before departing in September.

-Tata Communications named Rupesh Chokshi as CTO and EVP. He joins from Akamai Technologies where he was SVP. He previously held senior roles at AT&T.

-Five9 appointed Niranjan Vijayaragavan as CTO to oversee product engineering, AI automation, and architecture. He joins from Nintex and previously held senior roles at Avalara, Expedia, Microsoft, and BCG.

-VulcanForms appointed Michael Kenworthy as CTO as the 3D printing company expands its manufacturing platform. He previously served as VP of engineering at Relativity Space.

-Accuity appointed Gary Basra as CTO. He joins from ParetoHealth where he was CTO.

-Z Squared named Jeffrey Harris as CTO. He previously founded Paradox Data, which Z Squared agreed to acquire a majority stake in earlier in June.

-Jacob & Co. hired Joseph Forgione as General Counsel from Richemont where he was a commercial and intellectual property lawyer.

-GenNx360 hired Welela Dawit as an operating partner. She previously was CFO of Microsoft South Africa.

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 newsletters that highlight the drivers of demand for legal services.