In what was one of the largest single-team lateral moves of the past 20 years, news broke Thursday that a 43-lawyer restructuring team had defected from Stroock & Stroock & Lavan to Paul Hastings, sending shockwaves through the financial services legal community. Not only had Stroock lost a sizable team, but Paul Hastings had effectively tripled its restructuring offering, arguably making it a new destination for clients and talent alike in the practice area.

Heralded a "unicorn" deal by Paul Hastings incoming chair Frank Lopez, the group comprised 18 partners and 25 associates and counsel, led by Kristopher Hansen. Hansen was Stroock's financial restructuring group practice leader, fellow defector Alex Cota led Stroock's specialty finance business unit, and their colleagues Daniel Fliman and Brett Lawrence led its impact litigation unit and distressed M&A offering, respectively.