Daniel Fliman, a longtime restructuring attorney at Kasowitz Benson Torres, left the firm to join Stroock & Stroock & Lavan this week.

Fliman, 39, had practiced at Kasowitz for 12 years, including as a partner for the last six years. He mainly represents hedge fund creditors of distressed companies. In recent years, Fliman has represented bondholders in Puerto Rico bankruptcy proceedings; residential mortgage-backed securities investors in the Lehman Brother's bankruptcy; and creditors in Westinghouse Electric Co. Chapter 11 cases.

In an interview, Fliman declined to comment on whether any of his clients will join him at Stroock. “I look forward to continuing to build out the practice that I started at Kasowitz,” he said.

Fliman called Kasowitz “an excellent firm,” but praised Stroock's reputation and talent in restructuring. Stroock's restructuring group now numbers nearly 50 lawyers, including several new hires in the last year.

Fliman said he joined Stroock because the firm had a broader platform that could offer more services, including transactional restructuring work, for his clients. Traditionally, the Kasowitz firm is litigation-focused, including in bankruptcy matters.

“This is an opportunity to expand what I can offer to clients,” Fliman said.

The Kasowitz firm and its founding partner Marc Kasowitz have frequently been in the media spotlight over the past year—including some negative headlines—amid Kasowitz's representation of President Donald Trump in an investigation into possible Russia interference in the 2016 U.S. election. The firm has seen several partner departures in the last year, including Aaron Marks and Joshua Greenblatt, who joined Kirkland & Ellis in September.

Also in the fall, Kasowitz restructured its management with co-managing partners.

Fliman, who said he left the firm amicably, said on Thursday that the Trump representation and the surrounding publicity was not a factor in his move.