Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has hired a partner from Paul Hastings to launch a European real estate practice.
Stephen Nicolas has joined the firm in London with his team of lawyers to establish the practice, in a hire Cleary said underscored its investment in its multidisciplinary private capital offering.
Nicolas is the fifth partner to exit Paul Hastings’ London real estate team in the past few months, following Miles Flynn and Rehan Hanif moving to Milbank last week and Michael James and Edward Meadowcroft departing for Hogan Lovells in September.
“Stephen’s track record is impressive and makes him the perfect fit for our team as we expand our presence globally,” said Cleary’s real estate practice group leader, Daniel Reynolds. “His experience in cross-border transactions and in hospitality and commercial real estate is precisely in line with our clients’ current and future needs.”
Nicolas has spent the past decade at Paul Hastings, where he made partner in 2022. He focuses on corporate and private equity real estate transactions across a range of asset classes. He advises on acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, restructures, complex lease arrangements, franchise agreements and management agreements.
Nicolas’s exit means Paul Hastings no longer has a real estate partner in London, according to its website. It continues a run of senior departures from Paul Hastings’ London office recently, including tax partners Arun Birla and Jiten Tank’s move to White & Case last week and former London co-chair Mei Lian’s move to Linklaters in August.
Commenting on the tax partner exits last week, Paul Hastings told Non-Billable its London revenue was projected to be up 20-25% this year, and that the firm planned to “continue to build in London at the top of the market”.
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