Laura Friedrich of Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Courtesy photo

Laura Friedrich, a Shearman & Sterling partner who led the firm's investment funds team, has moved to Willkie Farr & Gallagher, where she'll be a partner in its private equity fund formation group in New York.

Friedrich, who was at Shearman for 12 years, said Willkie's large private equity fund formation group and the firm's other lawyers who offer transactional and regulatory counsel were a draw for her and her clients, who she said had reacted positively to her move. She said she left Shearman over the weekend and started working at Willkie on Tuesday.

Asked whether her clients had worked with Willkie before, she said many of them were familiar with Willkie, but not necessarily with its asset-management group. "Some of our financial institution clients we've had in common over the years, but [for] many of the private fund managers, it's going to be their first time working with Willkie," she added.

Willkie and Shearman both have well-regarded fund formation teams, but Friedrich said Willkie's "deep bench"—its private equity fund formation group has over 50 lawyers, the firm said—set it apart. She added that she's known and admired certain lawyers at Willkie for years, including Barry Barbash, the former leader of its asset management group; Margery Neale, the group's current chair; and Lior Ohayon, a partner whom she called "a friend and colleague."

"The major change is just to be able to offer my clients a larger-scale practice with a deeper bench of professionals," she said. "Willkie's got a top-tier asset management group. They've got a growing PE fund formation team, which complements their already strong PE transactional practice. I'm most excited about joining this team and being part of this trajectory of growth."

According to Willkie, Friedrich will advise U.S. and international private fund sponsors, distributors and investors on formation, investment and regulatory issues. She said in an interview that about 25% of her practice was investor-side and the rest was sponsor-side, saying it's important to work in both roles to understand the market.

Friedrich has worked on multibillion-dollar funds as well as smaller, middle-market, regional or sector-specific funds across asset categories including buyout, real estate, debt, energy, media and transportation funds. She said one growing area of interest among her clients is ESG investing, which focuses on environmental, social or governance-related outcomes, as well as a financial return.

She declined to discuss any specific client relationships. According to her former profile page on Shearman's website, she has advised clients such as International Finance Corp., IFC Asset Management Co., GTIS Partners, TRG Management, Brown Bros. Harriman & Co., Credit Suisse Asset Management and Citi Private Bank.

Shearman said it wished Friedrich the best and said its fund practice remains strong. The firm said no leader of the investment funds practice has been named but that Nathan Greene, Sean Finley and Jay Baris, among other lawyers in the practice, would keep driving it forward.