Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's U.S. head of M&A and global transactions, Mitchell Presser, has left the firm, in a blow to the Magic Circle firm's growth efforts stateside.

A partner at the Magic Circle firm for five years and a senior partner in the firm's New York office, Presser has led the firm's U.S. M&A offering since 2014. He was one of the firm's highest-earning "superpointer" partners, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. 

Before joining Freshfields, Presser spent 17 years at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz before helping to found private equity firm Paine & Partners in 2007. He has experience working on high-value deals including Morgan Stanley's acquisition of U.S. oil pipeline and terminal business TransMontaigne in 2006, and the $15 billion leveraged buyout of Kinder Morgan the same year.

More recently, Presser had a hand in procuring the services of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton rainmaker Ethan Klingsberg—among 2019's most noteworthy lateral hires.

A spokesperson confirmed that Mitchell has left the firm, and said, "We thank him for his contribution and wish him well."

The departure represents a setback for a firm that has placed significant resource behind its U.S. expansion efforts. In addition to the hire of Klingsberg and a team, the firm brought in a former top official, Aimen Mir, of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States as a partner in Washington, D.C. Mir now leads the firm's CFIUS practice.

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