Neel Sachdev Bullish on Paul Weiss London Growth, New Office

Paul Weiss has resurged as a private equity powerhouse in London in the eight months since snagging rainmaker Neel Sachdev , part of an intensifying recruiting war among elite US firms in the UK.

The firm in August 2023 lured Sachdev, now co-head of its London office, away from rival Kirkland & Ellis. The move came shortly after Kirkland poached the top Paul Weiss partner in the city, Alvaro Membrillera. The shuffling briefly left Paul Weiss down to two partners in the London. That total has since climbed back to 21 partners, along with another 100-plus lawyers.

“We have had a very strong start and have benefited from great client support and helpful market conditions to create an elite English law practice in London,” Sachdev said in an interview. “The trajectory looks amazing—it’s going to be a rocket ship of success.”

The firm is still looking to grow in London, where it leased new West End office space late last year. It’s also launching an office in Brussels, the firm’s first continental European base.

Skadden Leads Big Law M&A Firms as Megadeals Return to the Stage

Skadden is Big Law’s top mergers and acquisitions adviser so far this year, as the lucrative deals market starts to show signs of life.

Lawyers at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom were the principal advisers on $118 billion worth of deals during the first quarter, according to Bloomberg data. Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz followed, advising on transactions valued at nearly $115 billion and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett took the third spot with $79 billion in deals.

Global M&A transactions volume rose by 37% to more than $780 billion in the first three months of 2024, compared with the same time last year. A resurgence in megadeals helped drive the upswing.

“It’s still slower than what M&A practitioners would like, both in terms of the number of deals and the overall size,” said Krishna Veeraraghavan , global co-head of mergers and acquisitions at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, which was among the 10 leading deals advisers.

“Some of the bigger deals, more than $10 billion in size and some north of $20 billion, have come back. That’s giving reason for optimism.”

Shearman Keeps Lid on US Partner Exits Ahead of A&O Merger

Shearman & Sterling has kept its core US roster largely intact ahead of its high-profile merger with London’s Allen & Overy, despite a string of partner exits.

More than 30 partners have left Shearman since the merger was announced last year, according to data from Pirical. But less than half of those moves came in the firm’s US business, which is the centerpiece of the deal.

“With the merger, they want the brand and the footprint in the US,” said Freddie Lawson , head of partner search at UK recruiter Montresor Legal.

A&O was drawn to Shearman’s stateside M&A and litigation practices, which have continued to perform even as the firm’s place among the top revenue generating firms plunged. Shearman’s Texas offices also offer A&O the chance to bolster energy and infrastructure groups already strong outside the country.

A&O Shearman will be among the world’s 10 largest law firms when the merger officially closes next month.

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