Los Angeles giant Latham & Watkins has hired one of the US’s leading M&A lawyers, Zach Podolsky, from Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz – a rare lateral departure from the New York firm.

Podolsky joins Latham as a partner in New York, where he will sit in the M&A and private equity practice.

He became a partner at Wachtell in 2020 and led $209bn of M&A deals over the next five years, more than any other M&A attorney in the US, according to Deal Point Data. 

He is known for his public company M&A work, especially in energy deals, including advising Hess Corporation on its $60bn acquisition by Chevron and Diamondback Energy on its $26bn merger with Endeavor Energy Resources.

Rich Trobman, chair and managing partner of Latham, said: “Zach is an incredibly prolific M&A lawyer who brings a powerful skill set in complex domestic and cross-border transactions to our practice.

“We are focused on serving the needs of our client base of public companies as they navigate an increasingly complex and competitive landscape, and Zach’s track record of managing sophisticated transactions enhances our position as one of the world’s elite M&A firms.”

Podolsky has joined Latham after a stellar 2024 for the firm, with revenue surging 23% to more than $7bn and profit per equity partner jumping 30% to more than $7m. Last year, it also reportedly adjusted its compensation structure to allow rainmaker partners to earn more than $20m.

The firm has been busily recruiting senior partners recently in New York, where it has grown into an 830-lawyer behemoth capable of poaching talent from Wall Street rivals once considered impenetrable. 

Podolsky is the second Wachtell partner to defect to Latham this year after John Sobolewski joined in February as global chair of liability management, while last November Ray Schrock joined from Weil as global chair of restructuring and special situations and Andrew Parlen joined as head of US restructuring from Paul Weiss. 

Earlier this year, Latham also lured Marc Berger as global co-chair of its white collar defence and investigations practice from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. 

The firm’s M&A practice has shot up the global rankings by deal value over the past decade, moving from just inside the top 10 to consistently sitting among the top three ahead of its Wall Street rivals. 

Last year, the firm was third in LSEG’s M&A rankings by deal value behind Kirkland & Ellis and Skadden after advising on deals worth $408.4bn, having placed second behind Kirkland the year before. Meanwhile, Wachtell fell three places to ninth in 2024 after working on deals worth just over $240bn. 

Wachtell, with a single office in New York and a tightly-guarded partnership of around 85 lawyers, has long been revered as one of the most prestigious law firms in the US.

The firm has historically dominated the PEP metric, which it grew by 6.2% last year to push past the $9m mark for the first time, according to data published by the American Lawyer – second only to Kirkland & Ellis and well ahead of Latham. 

However, it is one of the few law firms that remains wedded to a “pure lockstep” partner compensation model, which can make it harder to hang on to junior partners bringing in large fees but not yet high on the seniority ladder, particularly as firms like Latham adapt their pay models to reward top performers. 

Podolsky said: “Latham’s M&A and corporate practices are rapidly expanding their share of the market’s most consequential transactions, and I look forward to contributing to the continued acceleration of that momentum. The breadth, depth and quality of Latham’s global platform are exceptional, and I believe the firm’s best days remain squarely ahead.”

Latham is not immune to departures, however. Podolsky’s hire comes just a few months after the firm’s former global chair of M&A, Justin Hamill, joined private equity client Silver Lake as managing director and chief legal officer.