There's still little sign of insolvency lawyers jumping over to banking

Given current market conditions, the number of partners leaving the law to join the world of finance are unsurprisingly thin on the ground, but last week's news that former Lovells restructuring partner Matthew French is set to join Nomura as co-head of EMEA restructuring has revived the perennial question of how successful lawyers are after moving into commercial roles at banks.

When French announced he was abandoning the law to help build UBS's European restructuring team in March last year, he became one of only a handful of senior restructuring lawyers in the UK to make such a move. This followed in the sizeable wake of former Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft London head Andrew Wilkinson's move to Goldman Sachs a year earlier. And Cadwalader restructuring partner Justin Bickle also took a commercial role at specialist investment house Oaktree Capital Management in 2005. In French's case, the timing wasn't ideal – by the time he joined UBS in 2008 the collapse of Lehman Brothers was only months away and internal problems at the Swiss bank were already attracting widespread public attention. Certainly, the challenge involved in building a team at a time when the bank was laying off staff were self-evident.

It is little wonder then that some suggest neither French nor UBS have been particularly visible over the last year, despite roles on high-profile restructurings such as New Star Asset Management and Icelandic bank Glitnir. UBS itself argues the departure of French – who had four people in his team – will have no significant impact on the bank's efforts to build its restructuring presence; with Giles Borten replacing French as EMEA restructuring head while continuing to lead UBS's leveraged finance team.

Regardless of any criticism levelled against him though, French has clearly impressed Nomura. The Japanese investment house is making a concerted push to make its name in the European restructuring market, with French set to co-head its European team alongside Adrian Fisk, who joined Nomura when the bank took on parts of stricken Lehman. Given Nomura's commitment, law firms working with the Japanese bank are confident the move is a good one for both French and Nomura.

Wilkinson also seems a good advert for restructuring lawyers hoping to find success within banks. At Goldman he secured roles on major restructurings including Premier Foods and on the collapse of several structured investment vehicles. It would take a brave individual to quit a law firm for a position with a bank right now. Even as partnership culls become more common in law, there is still no comparison with the level of upheaval which continues to be commonplace in financial services.

Still, many insolvency lawyers pointed to how the transfer of US insolvency heavyweight James Sprayregen from Kirkland & Ellis to Goldman and back again demonstrates the difficulties lawyers face when making the jump. As one City partner says: "Lawyers add an understanding of the possible, but it's hard to combine the skillsets of lawyer and banker. French is a good hire for Nomura and Nomura is definitely committed but we are unlikely to see a flood of lawyers making the jump. If this doesn't work it will make swaps like this even harder."

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