Magic Circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is bolstering its US litigation offering with the addition of former Sullivan & Cromwell partner Michael Lacovara, The Am Law Daily has learned.

Lacovara, who co-founded S&C's Palo Alto office in 2000 and represented Microsoft in the federal government's landmark antitrust case against the software giant, is due to join the UK-based firm's New York office on Monday.

Freshfields regional managing partner Julian Pritchard called Lacovara's arrival an "important step" in the continuing development of the firm's US litigation practice, which launched in 2009 after the hire of Aaron Marcu and Adam Siegel from Covington & Burling and Benito Romano from the white-collar criminal defense group at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Freshfields's US disputes practice, which also covers international arbitration, now comprises 13 partners and a total of 77 attorneys.

"We're not just trying to have a base of lawyers [in the United States] that can service work from our clients elsewhere-our approach is to build a practice that competes at the highest level of the US market," said Pritchard. "Developing a litigation practice has been one of the most fundamental steps we've taken in achieving that strategy. In other markets, most firms have less substantial litigation capabilities than a typical New York firm, but if you're building a practice over here it's not a bad foot to lead with. It has opened a lot of doors."

Lacovara specialises in commercial litigation and antitrust cases, with particular expertise in the financial services and technology sectors. He was one of four Sullivan partners chosen in 2000 to establish the firm's office in Palo Alto-an area that Pritchard said is also of "strategic importance" to Freshfields. (Pritchard said the firm has no current plans to open an office on the West Coast, but that "it is possible further down the line.")

Lacovara notably spent years representing Microsoft as the lead defense attorney in the company's high-profile antitrust dispute with the federal government. The case saw him face off against renowned litigator David Boies, who had recently departed from Cravath, Swaine & Moore and is now the chairman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner.

Lacovara's profile rose as a result of the litigation-which the parties settled after a trial win for the government that was affirmed on appeal-and in 2003 The American Lawyer named him one of the top 45 lawyers in the country under the age of 45.

Just 12 months later, Lacovara left S&C to join boutique investment banking firm Sandler O'Neill & Partners-first as general counsel, then as co-chief operating officer.

Lacovara says his decision to quit private practice in 2004 was driven by a combination of personal reasonsand the opportunity to work with a longstanding client to which he had developed particularly close ties. (Lacovara helped Sandler O'Neill rebuild after its World Trade Center offices were decimated by the September 11, 2001, attacks.)

After stints as president and chief executive of two other financial institutions-Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group and Courtview Capital, the latter a portfolio company of Warburg Pincus-Lacovara said he could no longer resist the lure of returning to a large law firm.

As for what drew him to Freshfields specifically, Lacovara cited the firm's international strength and his familiarity with Freshfields's US chief operating officer, Andrea Locklear, who previously worked as head of legal recruiting and human resources at Sullivan.

"The short answer is I missed it," he said of private practice. "I missed being part of a true partnership, I missed the challenge and thrill of the courtroom, and I missed the chance to do what I think I do best-to work as an adviser and advocate."

Freshfields' US litigation hire comes after the firm saw two New York energy and infrastructure partners quit for Allen & Overy (A&O), in a rare move between top-tier UK firms in the US.

US energy and infrastructure head Kent Rowey and fellow partner Dolly Mirchandani are both leaving Freshfields to join A&O's base in New York. Mirchandani is also Freshfields' global co-head of pro bono.

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