Pallas Partners has hired two partners from Kasowitz Benson Torres in New York, the London-based litigation boutique announced today (4 March).
The team is led by partner Michael Hanin and includes Jill Forster, also a partner, and an associate.
Pallas said the trio would deepen its commercial and financial litigation practice and were expected to play a key role in advising its clients on both sides of the Atlantic at a time when cross-border financial and restructuring disputes are increasing.
Pallas founder and managing partner, Natasha Harrison, said the hires cemented the firm’s position as a litigation boutique “operating on the London and New York axis on the highest stakes cross-border disputes”.
“This team reflects our strategic approach to growing our New York office for the long-term with top industry talent that aligns with our clients’ needs,” she added.
Pallas has operated in New York for nearly three years, opening there in the summer of 2022 just a few months after Harrison founded the firm in London with a team from US litigation firm Boies Schiller Flexner, where she had been tipped as the successor to the then chairman David Boies.
The firm is looking for larger office space in London and New York to accommodate its growing teams, which have reached 18 and 14 lawyers respectively with the latest hires from Kasowitz Benson Torres.
Hanin has joined Pallas after 20 years at his former firm. A trial and appellate lawyer, he advocates for investment funds, companies and high-net-worth individuals in litigation concerning complex financial products, financing, securities, real estate and cryptocurrency.
He also maintains a leading practice representing bondholders in disputes relating to CMBS and other structured credit investments. In the past he has worked with clients including Wall Street investor Carl Icahn and investment firm Waterfall Asset Management.
“Pallas has already made a name for itself in New York and the market is taking notice,” Hanin said. “They have a reputation as a top-tier litigation shop that handles high-end work for clients in both New York and London. What they are building is exciting, and we are thrilled to be a part of such a dynamic firm.”
Meantime, Forster focuses on complex commercial litigation, representing investment funds and commercial real estate owners in contract, commercial tort and bankruptcy litigations involving ABS investments, complex financial products, mortgage loan purchase agreements and CMBS loan agreements.
Pallas also boosted its partnership last month when it promoted financial disputes specialists Kimmie Fearnside and Nick Turvey in London. Its clients have included private equity giant Blackstone and a shareholder of Shell that the firm represented in a pioneering climate change case.
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