New York City boutique Chaffetz Lindsey has brought aboard two new partners from Willkie Farr & Gallagher and King & Spalding as it looks to ramp up its bankruptcy practice and build on existing strengths in international arbitration.

Alan Lipkin arrives after 30 years at Willkie, where he founded the Wall Street firm's bankruptcy practice. Caline Mouawad spent the last decade at King & Spalding, and she also has experience in France at Salans, a predecessor to Dentons.

"Bringing in Caline adds further depth and additional expertise to our highly ranked international arbitration practice. With Alan, we add a market-leading expertise our clients have been asking for," founding partner Peter Chaffetz said in a statement.

After three decades at Willkie, Lipkin was pushing against that firm's mandatory retirement threshold. After years at a large firm, he was intrigued about the prospect of practicing at a boutique.

"This lets me try an avenue I never got to do and be part of the smaller partnership environment you can't have at a larger law firm," he said. "Everybody will always talk about the collegial atmosphere at a place, but to some extent there's limits to what you can do on that score at a big firm," he said.

Lipkin, who had heard encouraging words about Chaffetz Lindsey from a former Willkie colleague who had previously made the move, was also drawn in by the opportunity to develop a bankruptcy practice just like he did at Willkie. The firm, founded a decade ago by a group of former Clifford Chance partners, has an existing focus on commercial disputes.

"Alan's deep experience in bankruptcy and restructuring augments financial services work we do for a range of clients," managing partner Charles Scibetta said in a statement. "We've been practicing in bankruptcy court since the firm opened, but Alan brings our capability to a new level."

Mouawad has been lead counsel in commercial and investor-state arbitration disputes spanning the world, including matters from Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. She became a vice chair of the International Chamber of Commerce's Commission on Arbitration and ADR in February 2018.

At Chaffetz Lindsey, she joins a number of her friends from the New York arbitration committee.

"It's an opportunity to be part of a growing practice at a place that's a bit more nimble," Mouawad said. "They're doing high-profile cases and building out their own practice. They needed someone with my investor-treaty arbitration experience."

At King & Spalding, she served as co-chair of the firm's diversity and inclusion committee.

Several members of her former firm offered fulsome praise, including co-head of international arbitration Ed Kehoe.

"Caline is one of the finest lawyers with whom I have had the honor and pleasure to work. I have learned over the past decade that Caline's exemplary skill set and work ethic are matched only by her personality, and the 'presence' that she exudes both inside and outside a hearing room," he said in an email. "Our friends at Chaffetz Lindsay are fortunate that Caline will be joining them, and K&S wishes them all the very best as Caline enters the next phase of her impressive and successful career."

A representative from Willkie did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

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