"This was a high priority when I became chair": Akin Gump's chief on landing the Bingham London group

In one fell swoop, Akin Gump this week radically transformed its City office from relative obscurity into a sizeable City player by taking on one of the largest ever teams of lateral partners. And from a mark-leading practice, no less.

Yesterday (17 September), the firm announced it had hired 22 partners from Bingham McCutchen, including the bulk of the firm's London and Frankfurt offices and two partners from Bingham's Hong Kong base.

Understandably, given the rarity of such a large group of lawyers voting with their feet simultaneously – and the fact that this move is in part motivated by the lawyers' opposition to Bingham's ongoing merger talks with Morgan Lewis & Bockius – the focus has fallen on the departing lawyers.