Orrick has hired four partners across the US and UK from a trio of rivals, as it continues to build out its transatlantic structured finance offering.
The US firm has added Victor Liang in New York and Brittany Fox in Austin from Morrison Foerster, alongside John Paul Igoe in Charlotte from Mayer Brown. Polly O’Brien will also join in London from McDermott Will & Schulte.
Leah Sanzari, Orrick’s global structured finance group leader, said new arrivals would enable the firm to “meet unprecedented demand for asset-backed securitisation, particularly at the intersection with private credit.”
Their hire follows Orrick’s headline-grabbing raid on Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft last year for a 40-lawyer transatlantic collateralised loan obligation (CLO) and asset-backed lending team that included a top-tier London CLO team led by David Quirolo. The firm hit Cadwalader again earlier this year in London for structured finance partner Suzanne Bell and counsel William Bibby, who made partner on the move.
Liang and Fox advise financial institutions, asset managers, companies, loan originators and servicers in forward flow and acquisitions of asset portfolios, as well as structured financings across asset classes, including consumer and marketplace loans, commercial loans, trade receivables, card receivables and esoteric assets.
Igoe adds experience in cross-border fund finance, subscription credit facilities, net asset value credit facilities and other asset-based lending transactions for financial institutions and private equity sponsors, while O’Brien advises hedge funds and private equity funds on fund finance, leveraged finance and private credit transactions.
“We look forward to Polly joining our team here in London as we continue to execute on our plan to build out the premier transatlantic structured finance practice focused on cross-sector, innovative products,” Quirolo said.
London’s structured finance market has become one of the most active battlegrounds for lateral recruitment among elite law firms, as securitisation has evolved into a priority for firms looking to deepen relationships with the private credit funds now driving global deal flow.
A four-lawyer finance group, including partners Sushila Nayak and James Jirtle, left Orrick’s London office last June to join Dechert, as the latter moved to become a market leader in asset-backed securities.
Last year, Latham & Watkins hired 11 structured finance lawyers from A&O Shearman, including leading CLO partners Franz Ranero and James Smallwood, as it replenished its London finance bench after a wave of departures.
Other firms that have added partners to their London structured finance benches recently include Pinsent Masons, Squire Patton Boggs and Alston & Bird, which recruited a pair of partners from DLA Piper in April.
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