Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft’s former chair Jim Woolery has joined King & Spalding as the firm’s new M&A head.
The move sees Woolery return to private practice once more after several switches between banks and law firms.
Having started off his career at Cravath Swaine & Moore, he joined JP Morgan Chase & Co in 2011 as its co-head of North American M&A.
Woolery enjoyed a 17-year career at Cravath, where he established and led the firm’s business development and strategy group.
Returning to private practice again in 2013, Woolery became Cadwalader’s deputy chairman and co-chair of corporate.
It was revealed in 2014 that Woolery would be the next chairman of Cadwalader. However, he left the firm in early 2015 in a shock move to co-found hedge fund Hudson Executive Capital.
The decision saw the firm restructure its management team, with Pat Quinn becoming the firm’s sole chair. Since stepping into Woolery’s shoes Quinn has done a U-turn on his strategy, closing the firm’s unprofitable Asia businesses and leading a refocused charge towards Cadwalader’s core client base of financial institutions and funds.
Back in private practice once more, Woolery will lead King & Spalding’s M&A and corporate governance practice from New York.
Throughout his career, he has worked on transactions including Dell’s acquisition by Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners, as well as the buyout of TXU by KKR and TPG.
King & Spalding’s turnover broke the $1bn barrier at the start of 2016 after its global turnover rose by 9 per cent.
In London, revenue fell over 2016 by a total of 8 per cent. The firm revealed its City operation made $42.6m (£34.5m) amid a global increase to $1.1bn.
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