Freshfields Adds 4 More From Cleary in Wake of Big Partner Hires
Three counsel and an associate are joining the Magic Circle firm's M&A practice in New York, following Ethan Klingsberg and others who left Cleary in October.
December 04, 2019 at 04:04 PM
2 minute read
Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer announced Wednesday that it has hired three mergers and acquisitions attorneys from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton to its New York office, just over a month after four high-profile partners made a similar move.
Andrea Basham, Elizabeth "Leza" Bieber and Zheng "Jonathan" Zhou were all hired as counsel, Freshfields said. The attorneys, who respectively had been counsel, an associate and a senior attorney at Cleary, are also joined by Chase Lax, who moved to Freshfields as an associate, the new firm said.
The moves come after the more high-profile moves by corporate lawyers Ethan Klingsberg, Pamela Marcogliese and Paul Tiger and litigator Meredith Kotler, all partners. Klingsberg, who worked on major transactions for Fortune 500 companies like Starbucks and BASF, was said by a source to have a $30 million book of business.
Some recruiters and other legal industry observers characterized that move as another blow to the lockstep compensation model that still survives at Wall Street firms like Cleary. Most leading firms have created multitier partnerships and decoupled compensation from seniority over the past few decades.
The new hires and the partners who made the move to Freshfields in October worked together closely over the years. Matters they've handled include the defense of Akamai Technologies against a campaign by activist shareholder Elliott Management, the defense of Family Dollar against a tender offer by Dollar General and multiple projects for Alphabet Inc. and its Google subsidiary.
According to Freshfields, Basham has worked on a variety of equity and mezzanine investments in public and private companies. Bieber focuses on shareholder activism and defending against the threat of takeovers. Zhou has worked on numerous high-profile deals, some for billions of dollars. Lax, who joined Cleary out of law school in 2017, worked on transactions, mainly M&A, according to an archived version of Cleary's website.
Read More
Cleary Rainmaker Takes Team to Freshfields in New York M&A Shakeup
Cleary's Firing of Heavyweight Team Raises Eyebrows, Invites Criticism
Lockstep Model Is Doomed, Says Recruiter Behind Cleary Rainmaker Move
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