Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

White & Case on Wednesday announced the hire of a three-partner New York-based capital markets team from Winston & Strawn, a day after adding the former co-chair of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan's national trial practice.

Joel Rubinstein, Jonathan Rochwarger and Elliott Smith all joined Winston in 2016 from McDermott Will & Emery. Their arrival at White & Case comes on the heels of litigator Tara Lee coming aboard in Washington, D.C.

The capital markets trio, who are also bringing along counsel Daniel Nussen in Los Angeles, focus their practice on special purpose acquisition company transactions, a type of deal that has been surging in popularity.

"What we're seeing is the market embracing SPACs as a true alternative to a traditional initial public offering," Rubinstein said.

Like traditional initial public offerings, SPACs raise capital, but they do so specifically for the purpose of acquiring another business, whose identity is unknown at the time of formation. Investors range from well-known private equity funds to the general public.

"SPACs account for more than a quarter of IPO deal volume since the beginning of 2019 and for US$23.4 billion in M&A activity over the same period," White & Case global capital markets practice head John Vetterli said in a statement. "With SPACs playing an increasingly critical role in the market, we are delighted that this team is joining White & Case to continue the growth of their practice."

Rubinstein said demand has remained robust, with only a brief pause in the IPO market in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Right now the market is very strong for these offerings," Rubinstein said.

He said that White & Case was a strong fit for the practice because of the firm's strengths not just in capital markets but in mergers and acquisitions, since his team's work spans both areas. The firm's cross-border capabilities were also appealing, as was its reputation in restructuring and finance.

Capital markets practices have been busy throughout the legal industry as corporations have been taking advantage of low interest rates and assurances from the Federal Reserve to issue new debt.

But Rubinstein said that the discussions about moving to White & Case were underway well before the coronavirus pandemic put and end to most in-person workplace interactions. That also delayed the finalization of the move, but the crucial groundwork had already been laid.

"It was important not only to have a practice fit but also for us to believe that we would enjoy working with the people we met with," he said. "Having multiple conversations over time helps to solidify that."

A spokeswoman from Winston & Strawn did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the group's departure.

Lee, who arrived at White & Case a day earlier, joined Quinn Emanuel in 2016 after seven years at DLA Piper, where she served on the firm's executive committee and held leadership roles for cross-border litigation and global investigations.

"Tara is a nationally recognized first-chair trial lawyer, with strong client relationships and an impressive track record on high-stakes litigations and investigations," said Glenn Kurtz, Head of White & Case's global commercial litigation practice. "Her arrival further expands our litigation capabilities on the ground in Washington, D.C., which will benefit our clients."

Her practice focuses on complex multijurisdictional disputes, class actions, and white-collar prosecutions and investigations. She's worked on matters involving the defense, education, sports, media and telecommunications sectors, among others.

"Tara Lee is a great lawyer and a wonderful person. We wish her the best," said Quinn Emanuel founder John Quinn.

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