Allen & Overy (A&O) has hired a three-partner finance team from White & Case’s New York office in a bid to expand its US presence.
White & Case partners Scott Zemser, Alan Rockwell and Judah Frogel are all exiting the firm for A&O’s leveraged finance practice in New York.
A&O has also hired Proskauer Rose partner Rajani Gupta and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy associate Todd Koretzky, who will join the magic circle firm as a partner.
Zemser has been a partner at White & Case since 2005. Meanwhile Rockwell, who is dual US and UK qualified, joined the US firm in 2006 from Linklaters’ London office.
Frogel was an associate at White & Case from 2005 until 2012, but returned to the firm as a partner last year after working in-house.
The trio will represent banks and other financial institutions as lead arrangers, underwriters and participants across all types of financings. A&O’s finance clients include Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank.
They will be joined by Proskauer partner Rajani Gupta, who has been a member of the firm’s Los Angeles office since 2012.
Milbank associate Koretzy returned to A&O having previously left in 2011 to go to the US firm. He joins A&O as a partner.
The string of hires make good on A&O’s strategy to boost its US finance offering. However it emerged this week the firm will lose former finance head Stephen Kensell, who was in the running to be senior partner earlier this year, to Latham & Watkins in London.
“To be one of the global elite, you need to have a good offering in the US,” A&O managing partner Andrew Ballheimer told The Lawyer last month. “The ultimate ambition means we will have to have an equally strong US offering as in other parts of the practice.”
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