Int'l Arbitration Trio Leave Kirkland for King & Spalding
Javier Rubinstein leads a team of Latin America experts and will add international arbitration expertise to King & Spalding's growing Chicago office.
February 25, 2020 at 04:56 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The American Lawyer
Photo: John Disney/ ALM
Three international arbitration partners who specialize in Latin America have left Kirkland & Ellis to join King & Spalding, with Javier Rubinstein coming aboard in Chicago on Tuesday and Lauren Friedman and Lucila Hemmingsen signing on in New York.
Rubenstein joined Kirkland in late 2016, after spending a decade as vice chairman and global general counsel for PricewaterhouseCoopers. Hemmingsen and Friedman followed quickly in Rubenstein's footsteps, with the former arriving from Debevoise & Plimpton and the latter from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
"The opportunity really developed with regard to myself in relation to the Chicago market," Rubenstein said.
The Atlanta-based firm has prioritized growth in Chicago since opening an office there in August 2017.
"Javier's presence instantly enhances the depth and breadth of our client offerings in the Chicago office by extending the firm's strong international arbitration practice into Chicago and the greater Midwest," Zach Fardon, managing partner of King & Spalding's Chicago office, said in a statement.
Before his move to PwC, Rubenstein led Mayer Brown's Chicago litigation practice as well as that firm's global international arbitration practice. He focuses on international commercial arbitration as well as investor-state arbitration.
Rubenstein said that some clients would be following him to King & Spalding. He primarily represents multinational corporates, as well as investors, who are from the U.S. and Latin America and have disputes with some connection to the Latin American and Spanish markets. He's also represented U.S. multinationals with disputes in Europe and the Middle East.
Another component of his practice, connected to his time at PwC, involves advising and defending international accountancies.
Like Rubenstein, Hemmingsen is also a native of Argentina. Friedman too is fluent in Spanish, allowing the team to handle disputes conducted in either English or Spanish.
"The geographical and industry knowledge Javier, Lauren, and Lucila have, combined with their language skills and decades of experience being outside and in-house counsel, make them a great addition to our international arbitration team," Andy Bayman, leader of King & Spalding's trial and global disputes practice group, said in a statement.
King & Spalding is now up to 27 attorneys in Chicago, and the firm is preparing to move into its first permanent office in the city in the first quarter of 2021.
"We enjoyed working with Javier and his team and we wish them well at their next law firm," a spokesperson from Kirkland & Ellis said.
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