The exodus of Irell & Manella transactional lawyers continues with two corporate partners joining Reed Smith.

Ashok Mukhey and Mitchell Cohen are two of the newest members of Reed Smith's Global Corporate Group in Los Angeles.

The departures follow Irell's decision to refocus on its intellectual property and commercial litigation practices and largely desert its transactional groups, according to an internal memo authored by a member of the firm's executive committee in February.

Mukhey, a former chairman of Irell's transactions practice, had spent his entire career with Irell. For the last 35 years, he has represented clients in industries such as gaming, hospitality, entertainment, technology and life sciences in mergers and acquisitions, private investment and corporate finance.

"Both Mitch and I are very attracted to the international platform, their very strong middle-market practice and all of the support they can give a complex corporate practice—all the ancillary practice areas that you need in complex transactions—they have all of those areas," Mukhey said.

Mukhey said that Irell's shift away from the transactional practices was what made the opportunity at Reed Smith interesting. "The breadth of Reed Smith's practice, that's something that definitely played a factor in this," he said.

Mukhey said both the partners' practices are growing, and the upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic is creating better-priced opportunities for some of their clients. However, COVID-19 is impacting the timing of deals. "Sometimes it's taking a little longer for transactions to get done, but there are definitely opportunities," he said.

In an email statement, Jonathan Kagan, a member of Irell's executive committee, said "Although these departures are an expected consequence of our strategy to focus on litigation, we will miss working with Ashok and Mitch and wish them the very best as they move on to the next stage of their careers."

James Tandler, chairman of Reed Smith's U.S. Corporate Group, said in a statement that the addition of the two partners is part of the firm's strategy to add "top corporate talent" in key markets such as California.

"Ashok and Mitch have worked with premier clients and financiers on sophisticated matters at the highest levels for decades," Tandler said. "They offer impressive knowledge and extensive experience in our key industry groups, particularly entertainment & media, life sciences and financial services."