Chicago giant Kirkland & Ellis has secured a major boost to its New York arm after hiring two high-profile partners from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom to boost the firm's US capital markets practice.

The two partners include Vincent Pisano, one of Skaddens' top-rated capital markets lawyers, with clients including International Paper Company, K-Mart and Cendant.

Pisano is joined by Jonathan Pedersen, who has been a partner at Skaddens since 1993 and worked in the firm's Hong Kong office from 1989 through 2001, where he served as local head before returning to the US.