The Hires That Made The Headlines in 2024

2024’s London partner hire market was far from run-of-the-mill.

U.S. firms poached from major homegrown firms, homegrown firms recruited from the U.S. firms. B

But the majority of this year’s most-read hire stories described U.S. firms recruiting from other U.S. firms, driven by significant activity in the private equity sector, a rising trend in the U.K. capital.

Here are the hires that got the industry talking in 2024.

George Casey and co

Back in January, Shearman & Sterling’s global co-managing partner George Casey led a five-person team to Linklaters’ New York office ahead of Shearman’s merger with Allen & Overy. It had already been decided that A&O’s leaders would head the newly-merged A&O Shearman, leaving Shearman’s top brass with alternative avenues. Casey’s move expanded Linklaters’ M&A capabilities, after the firm had shown signs of falling behind elite U.K. rivals in the U.S.

Annie Herdman

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison continued its aggressive U.K. hiring strategy into 2024, adding antitrust partner Annie Herdman from Ropes & Gray in February. Prior to her time at R&G, Herdman worked at Kirkland & Ellis. This year’s move allowed her to rejoin former colleagues Neel Sachdev and Roger Johnson, part of a roster of 14 who jumped from Kirkland to Paul Weiss last year.

Christian Iwakso and co.

Three days later, another American firm with designs on London made a move as Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobsen hired a trio of Goodwin Procter private equity partners. Christian Iwakso, Michelle Tong and Priya Rupal were all described by Fried Frank’s London managing partner as “powerful additions to Fried Frank in Europe”.

James King

Paul Weiss’s gutting of Kirkland showed no signs of abating early in 2024. The hire of James King was unique in that it enabled Paul Weiss to establish a whole new funds practice in London. King’s move brought the firm’s London partner headcount to approximately 20, an anticipated expansion prepared for in part by the move to Twitter’s former Soho HQ in October of 2023. Kirkland, on the other hand, was poised to respond.

Paul Hibbert and Emma Serginson

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett added two energy and infrastructure partners in the spring from rivals Weil, Gotshal & Manges. But Paul Hibbert and Emma Serginson were not the first partners of the year to beef up the Simpson Thacher team. In February, litigation expert David Edwards joined from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. This hire, that of the Goodwin trio, and Herdman, all happened within a few days of each other, showcasing the intensity of U.S. firms’ hunt for talent in London.

Vanessa Xu

In April, Kirkland swooped in for leveraged finance partner Vanessa Xu from Allen & Overy. Xu had been at A&O for nearly 18 years, her expertise lying in advising private equity clients on transactions. The hire formed part of Kirkland’s London rebuild, mitigating the effects of the ongoing Paul Weiss raid. In October of 2023, Kirkland added from Simpson Thacher, and in March, from HSF.

Roger Schofield

Yet another private equity-related lateral hire came in the late summer, again by Fried Frank. Partner Roger Schofield made the move after five years at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, bringing his real estate expertise with him. Only a handful of Freshfields London partners had left in recent years, Mark Austin and Bruce Embley among them. Freshfields has itself succeeded with its expansion efforts in the US so far, attracting the best of local talent like Sarah Solum and Damien Zoubek.

Jay Sadanandan and co

Also in August, a five-strong team from Latham & Watkins’ finance practice departed for Sidley Austin. The leaving crew was led by partners Jayanthi Sadanandan and Sam Hamilton, with the others unnamed in the initial announcement. Sadanandan in particular was known for her notable influence in the designation of private equity mandates. Latham also lost six London partners to Milbank that same day, although the blow was likely softened by their own three-strong team-poach from Cahill Gordon & Reindel in May.