Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison has hit A&O Shearman for two partners in 24 hours, as the New York firm continues the rapid build out of its London office. 

The firm announced today (9 May) it had recruited digital infrastructure partner Tom Levine, the day after it hired restructuring partner Nick Charlwood. 

The hires take Paul Weiss’s London partner count to 40, according to its website, up from just three in the summer of 2023 after former office head Alvaro Membrillera exited for Kirkland & Ellis. 

The office began an explosive period of growth with the hire of Neel Sachdev and Roger Johnson – credited as being the driving force behind Kirkland’s rise to the top of London’s legal market – in August alongside three more Kirkland partners. 

Since then, the office has been regularly adding partners from UK and US rivals under the direction of Johnson and Sachdev, building out a top-tier English law practice around private equity. 

Kirkland has been the source of many of its hires, although Paul Weiss has also targeted UK firms Linklaters, Clifford Chance and Macfarlanes for talent, as well as US rivals including Ropes & Gray, Simpson Thacher, Akin and Proskauer Rose.

Last month, the firm also hired Akin’s international head of disputes, Richard Hornshaw, to kickstart a litigation team in London.

For his part, Levine advises clients on complex commercial and regulatory matters, M&A and financing transactions in the telecoms and technology sectors. He joined legacy Allen & Overy (A&O) in 1998, according to his LinkedIn bio, making partner at the firm in 2007. 

Last year, he co-led a team advising EQT Infrastructure on negotiations to acquire a majority stake in satellite company Eutelsat Group’s ground station infrastructure business.

“Tom brings two decades of experience in advising established and emerging players in the TMT sector,” Sachdev said. “His expertise in the sector, combined with the firm’s comprehensive corporate capabilities, will benefit our clients investing in the digital infrastructure space.”

Charlwood made partner at Allen & Overy in 2021, having joined the firm as a trainee in 2009. He focuses on cross-border debt restructurings, insolvencies and special situations financings. In 2023, he co-led the A&O team that advised Dutch shipping company Vroon Group on its landmark $900m restructuring. 

Sachdev said Charlwood was a “key hire” for Paul Weiss’s restructuring group in London that was driven by increasing demand for the firm’s services in the market.

“With Liz Osborne joining last year to lead our European restructuring efforts and the recent announcement that Richard Hornshaw will lead European disputes, Nick’s addition strengthens a team equipped to handle the most complex cross-border restructuring matters,” he added. 

A&O merged with New York firm Shearling & Sterling last May to create A&O Shearman. Last year, it added private equity M&A partners Paul Dunbar and Dan Graham in London from Sidley Austin, although globally the firm has shed dozens of partners recently as part of post-merger cuts that also saw it close its office in Johannesburg and its consulting arm. 

In separate statements, an A&O Shearman spokesperson thanked Levine and Charlwood for their contributions to the firm and wished them well for the future.