Good morning,

This week's lateral traffic tells a clear story: restructuring and private equity remain the gravitational centers of BigLaw hiring. Simpson Thacher pulled restructuring talent from Kirkland & Ellis, Akin raided Sidley Austin for four private equity partners across New York and London, and Latham & Watkins added white collar firepower in Chicago. Meanwhile, Morgan Lewis made a statement in European M&A by hiring its new London head from Covington. The theme is convergence: firms are building practices that sit at the intersection of capital deployment, distress, and regulatory risk.

On the executive side, JPMorgan restructured its entire investment banking leadership, naming three global co-heads and a new M&A chief. Citigroup continued its UK build-out, and Golub Capital formalized a leadership succession that signals its next phase of growth. In the Fortune 500, General Mills and Post Holdings both made COO-to-CEO pipeline appointments, while a wave of CTO hires across fintech and services companies reflects the current premium on technology leadership.

Now, on to what matters for your practice today.

BigLaw Moves Sentiment

Private equity and restructuring continue to dominate lateral demand, reflecting the credit cycle's maturation and sustained sponsor activity. The four-partner PE raid by Akin on Sidley signals a platform-building strategy that typically precedes increased fund formation deal flow.

Restructuring hires across multiple firms suggest anticipation of a busier distress pipeline in H2 2026. Energy and infrastructure M&A hires point to continued capital deployment in data centers and the energy transition. Firms investing in London are betting on the expectation of cross-border deal flow driven by the weak UK economy and a post-war stabilization.

BigLaw Moves

Private Equity and Fund Formation

Akin hired Gerald Brant, Jeffrey Kochian, Brittany Harrison, and Jonathon Hamill as partners in its private equity practice in New York and London. All four join from Sidley Austin, representing one of the larger team moves this quarter. Griffin Doty joined Mintz as a private equity-focused member in New York from McDermott Will & Schulte. Josh Frankel joined Proskauer in its Private Funds Group and Secondary Transactions practice in New York. Paul Hastings hired four partners from Covington & Burling for a private equity and real estate team in London.

Restructuring

Jordan Elkin joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as a restructuring partner in New York from Kirkland & Ellis. Josh Sturm joined Proskauer as a restructuring partner in New York. Buffey Klein joined Blank Rome in Dallas from Husch Blackwell. Nikita Kumar moved to Willkie in London from Simpson Thacher. Taha Khan left Milbank to join Seward & Kissel as head of structured credit.

M&A and Corporate

Philip Cheveley joined Morgan Lewis as head of European M&A in London from Covington & Burling. Ivan J. Presant moved to Lowenstein Sandler in New York from Mintz. Nick Rainsford joined White & Case for infrastructure and energy M&A in London from Baker McKenzie. Bryan Ikegami joined Reed Smith as a PE and M&A partner from Winston & Strawn.

White Collar and Investigations

Ryan Rohlfsen joined Latham & Watkins as a partner in its white collar defense and investigations practice in Chicago from Ropes & Gray.

Other Notable Moves

King & Spalding added real estate partner Ray Fang from Goodwin and competition specialist Jade-Alexandra Fearns from Paul Hastings in London. Morrison Foerster added energy and data center partners Andrew Mina and Justin Mirabal from Dentons. Kilpatrick hired patent litigators Seth Herring and Christine Morgan in San Francisco. Quinn Emanuel founder John Quinn is stepping down from firm management while retaining a non-executive chair title.

Corporate Moves Sentiment

JPMorgan's leadership overhaul signals a bet on cross-regional coordination as deal activity globalizes. The bank's move to co-head models across geographies and functions reflects complexity in client coverage. Citi's UK hiring spree indicates the bank is anticipating a recovery in European M&A volumes.

Golub Capital's succession plan, combined with outside hires from HSBC and Goldman, suggests the direct lending giant is preparing for institutional scale beyond its founder-led era. The CTO hiring wave across fintech and services companies reflects boards prioritizing AI integration and deals at the infrastructure level.

Corporate Moves

Investment Banking Leadership

JPMorgan named Dorothee Blessing, Kevin Foley, and Jared Kaye as global co-heads of investment banking. Charles Bouckaert will succeed Anu Aiyengar as global M&A head, with Aiyengar becoming global chair of investment banking and M&A. The bank also named Dwayne Lysaght and Alberto Piana co-heads of EMEA investment banking, with Cassander Verwey as sole head of EMEA M&A.

Citigroup named Stuart Ord head of UK M&A from Deutsche Bank and hired Joe Seifert as vice-chair of UK investment banking. The bank also appointed Andre Ross as South Africa country officer from JPMorgan and brought on Jonathan Alpert as head of insurance and Ryan Willingham for specialty finance, both from Bank of America.

Bank of America hired Richard Hardegree as vice chairman of M&A in Palo Alto from UBS. Morgan Stanley hired Sam Jackson from Jefferies to lead building products coverage. Brian McCabe is leaving JPMorgan for Lazard as head of North American energy banking.

Private Capital and Asset Management

Golub Capital promoted president David Golub to co-CEO alongside his brother Lawrence Golub. The firm appointed Gerry Keefe (ex-HSBC) and Laurence Stein (ex-Goldman Sachs) as co-presidents, with Spyro Alexopoulos also promoted to co-president. CVC hired John Hourican (ex-NewDay CEO) as CFO to succeed the retiring Fred Watt. Blue Owl hired Deva Mishra as head of Insurance Solutions from Prosperity Asset Management. Federated Hermes appointed Carlos Gross as head of European Credit Opportunities.

Fortune 500 and Corporate

Uber promoted CMO Jill Hazelbaker to president and chief corporate affairs officer. General Mills appointed Dana McNabb as COO effective June 1. Post Holdings named Nicolas Catoggio as incoming President and CEO effective October 1, succeeding Robert Vitale. Becton Dickinson appointed Vitor Roque as CFO. Delivery Hero founder Niklas Ostberg will step down as CEO by March 2027 amid activist investor pressure. Boots is expected to name Alex Baldock (outgoing Currys CEO) as its new chief executive ahead of a potential London IPO.

Technology Leadership

A wave of CTO appointments hit this week. Marqeta named Lukasz Strozek (ex-LendingClub). Lightspeed Commerce hired Bhawna Singh (ex-Okta) to drive its AI roadmap. CohnReznick brought on Justin Ricketts (ex-Goosehead Insurance). Code for America appointed Jonathan Porat (ex-CTO of California). Brent Mayo left Newmark to join DigitalBridge, continuing the data center capital markets talent migration.

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.