Los Angeles-founded global law firm O'Melveny & Myers, continuing a corporate lateral hiring spree, has now taken on a mergers and acquisitions and private equity partner from Ropes & Gray in San Francisco.

C. Todd Boes, who had been at Ropes & Gray for past 25 years, will join as a partner in the firm's corporate group. The firm has already added four other lateral hires to that practice in the last six months. 

"We are focused on adding to our already strong position in the California private equity sector," Bradley Butwin, chair of O'Melveny & Myers, said in a statement. "Todd is a top-flight private equity specialist whose practice fits perfectly with our model and the needs of our clients. It's a great pleasure to welcome him on board."

Boes said O'Melveny's collaborative culture, which he said was key for his clients, and the firm's current push to grow its corporate group were key factors in his decision to make a move. He added that while the circumstances are far from ideal, the COVID-19 outbreak has not done a whole lot to change his onboarding process. 

"It's no news that the financial markets are a challenge and that impacts deal flow for the time being," Boes said in an interview. "Other than that, things are just being done remotely, so it isn't that different."

Boes' practice focuses on M&A work, leveraged buyouts and other direct investment by private funds. 

"The private equity environment in Northern California continues to evolve and become ever-more sophisticated, especially in the middle market sector," Boes said in a statement. "In this environment, O'Melveny provides the ideal platform where lawyers across practices and geographies are truly integrated, and working on the same team, to help guide clients in this fast-changing marketplace."

Boes, who was part of a group of attorneys from Ropes & Gray that moved from Boston to San Francisco in 2010 to open up and grow the firm's PE practice in California, has worked with some recognizable names in the PE space, including Genstar Capital, GI Partners, Bain Capital and Thoma Bravo, to name a few.

He said he was not in a position to comment on whether those names will be following him over to O'Melveny. 

Boes said he believes that PE firms will continue to focus on their portfolio companies during this time, and depending on what industry sector those companies are in, they could be more or less severely affected by COVID-19. 

"I spoke with a client this morning who has some investments in logistics and medical testing," he said. "They are finding opportunities."

Private equity work up 7% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to 2019, according to a report published by PitchBook. But most of that uptick was accomplished prior to the second half of March, which saw a downward trend in both the number of deals and deal value. 

Some in the private equity space are concerned that a lack of federal stimulus money from the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program, which does not allow for companies over 500 employees to access the funds, could pose a problem. Currently, portfolio companies under a PE umbrella are lumped together as one entity, often disqualifying them from those bailout funds. The PE industry has stepped up lobbying efforts since the act passed in late March, in an attempt to get those portfolio companies included, but has seen little success. 

O'Melveny, which reported gross revenue of $853 million in 2019, up 4.3% from 2018, has experienced five consecutive years of growth after down years in 2013 and 2014.

The firm has made a strategic decision to grow its corporate practice, as evidenced by the hiring of four other lateral corporate partners in the past several months, including Jason Kaplan and Terrence Dugan from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in March.

"I know they have a strong focus on growing the practice," Boes said of O'Melveny's recent additions and focus on corporate practice growth. "Private equity is a key part of that, but it is not limited to just private equity. There are new folks in entertainment finance and aviation finance as well. It's a broad spectrum."

Prior to his time at Ropes & Gray, Boes was a clerk for U.S. District Judge Morris Lasker of the Southern District of New York. 

A spokesman for Ropes & Gray said the firm wishes him well in his new role.

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