A three-partner group from Jones Day's business restructuring and reorganization practice has made a jump to Hogan Lovells in Los Angeles.

Richard Wynne, Bennett Spiegel and Erin Brady joined Hogan Lovells effective Monday, each bringing with them a book of well known clients. Wynne is set to co-lead Hogan Lovells' U.S. business restructuring and insolvency practice along with Christopher Donoho, who is based in New York.

“For my part, it's an opportunity to sort of look at the practice and where I think it's going in the next cycle, the next two cycles, and try to build the right team and right practice to do the best job both on the company side and the creditor side,” Wynne said.

Hogan Lovells' U.S. bankruptcy and restructuring practice until now was concentrated on the East Coast, in New York and Washington, D.C. Monday's hires essentially double the size of the practice in the U.S., Donoho said.

Restructuring matters have typically been centralized in certain jurisdictions, including Delaware and the Southern District of New York, Donoho said, but “the pendulum is swinging back toward less centralized cases.” That makes California a more important place to be, he said.

Wynne is currently representing Mattel in the Toys 'R' Us Chapter 11 case. Mattel is the largest creditor and co-chair of the creditors' committee. Spiegel's clients have included Zsa Zsa Gabor, rock band Motley Crue and movie company Relativity Media.

Wynne and Brady have also represented American Apparel Inc. in its Chapter 11 proceedings. Other clients have included All American Oil and Gas and 20th Century Fox and Universal City Studios.

Wynne, Spiegel and Brady joined Jones Day in 2009 from Kirkland & Ellis along with four other lawyers. Wynne and Spiegel had practiced together before that at boutique Wynne Spiegel Itkin, which Kirkland absorbed in 2001.

“Relationships are at the core of a lot of what you do in life,” Spiegel said, noting that he has known Wynne since 1981 and has known Brady since the beginning of her career. “There are strengths and weaknesses that each person has, and they complement each other.”

Donoho said the addition of Wynne's group opened up new opportunities to work across practices at the firm. And “it's not just bodies,” he said. “It's very well known and well-respected practitioners.”

One of those complementary practices is M&A, particularly involving a group of lawyers in Silicon Valley that Hogan Lovells brought from Weil Gotshal & Manges last year, led by Richard Climan. Wynne said he was especially interested in that group, and that they have some clients in common.

Wynne and Donoho both noted that the current market is relatively soft. Donoho said Hogan Lovells' U.S. restructuring practice has continued to grow in revenue year-to-year despite that, thanks in part to its work on cross-border and international bankruptcies, as well as its work with private equity clients and regulated businesses.

Wynne said his practice has remained strong because of the diverse industries the group serves, and its ability to work on both the creditor and debtor sides.

Legal recruiter Sabina Lippman of Lippman & Jungers helped to broker the trio's move to Hogan Lovells.

Earlier this year, Jones Day also lost the head of its real estate practice, Michael Haas, who has now joined Latham & Watkins to lead that firm's real estate practice, Latham said last week.

A spokesman for Jones Day did not respond to a request for comment.