U.S. law firm Paul Hastings on Monday said it has hired a large team of finance and restructuring partners from King & Spalding, including its global finance and restructuring practice co-leader Jennifer Daly.
At least 10 other King & Spalding partners are joining Paul Hastings’ offices in Chicago, Houston, New York and Washington, D.C., the firm said.
The moves extend a finance and restructuring hiring streak for Paul Hastings, including teams it acquired from Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, Latham & Watkins and Cahill Gordon & Reindel.
The practices have been top revenue engines for Paul Hastings, a spokesperson said, helping to drive a 20% revenue increase in the first quarter of 2024.
That’s been buoyed in part by recent hires from other firms. Paul Hastings in April disclosed, opens new tab hourly partner rates of up to $2,300 for its work representing creditors in the FTX Chapter 11 case, with the highest rate charged by former Stroock bankruptcy practice leader Kris Hansen.
Hansen, who now co-leads Paul Hastings’ bankruptcy practice, was among a group of more than 40 restructuring lawyers who moved from Stroock to Paul Hastings in 2022. That team accounted for 29% of Stroock’s revenue in 2021, and helped trigger a wave of departures that contributed to Stroock’s collapse last year.
Daly said Paul Hastings’ hiring momentum was “undeniable” and helped attract her from King & Spalding. She also said Paul Hastings had strong relationships with her team’s existing clients.
A King & Spalding spokesperson said the firm wished the departing lawyers well.
Daly and Roger Schwartz, a finance partner also making the move from King & Spalding, declined to identify clients, but they have both represented U.S. investment firm KKR.