Willkie Farr & Gallagher has hired King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) French investment funds co-head Nathalie Duguay.
Duguay has been a member of KWM’s Paris office since 2001, joining from legacy SJ Berwin where she was an associate.
She advises private equity investment funds, distressed funds and debt funds and will become a member of Willkie’s alternative investment fund formation group, as well as its asset management team.
KWM’s Paris team was understood to have been in talks about moving en masse to another firm, as news broke that KWM China was looking to pick up staff from London, Dubai, Spain, Madrid and Italy.
This came soon after an announcement KWM LLP had filed its intention to appoint administrators in late December.
KWM’s Paris team was depleted after the departure of four partners to Goodwin Procter last April. Finance partner Olivier Vermeulen quit for Paul Hastings earlier in 2016.
The Goodwin moves led KWM to file a High Court claim against the US firm, with the case understood to have related to the latter hiring its lawyers in the UK and France.
Goodwin has also hired a number of KWM funds partners in London, while Willkie took on competition partner Philipp Girardet to launch its antitrust and competition practice in London.
This morning, The Lawyer reported that several KWM suppliers had pulled their contracts with the firm ahead of its Monday administration deadline.
Earlier this week KWM informed 100 staff members that their salaries would not be paid this month. Staff were handed letters on Tuesday (3 January), the first day back at work after the Christmas period, informing them of the pay freeze.
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