Latham Raids Weil Restructuring Team, Names New Group Leaders

Latham & Watkins has hired four restructuring partners from Weil Gotshal & Manges and Paul Weiss, tapping ex-Weil partner Ray Schrock to lead its global practice.

Schrock was co-chair of Weil’s vaunted restructuring group, working on bankruptcy cases involving AMC Entertainment, J.Crew, and Sears Holdings Corp., among others. He joins Latham along with Weil lawyers Candace Arthur and Alexander Welch, the firm said Thursday.

Andrew Parlen also is moving to Latham to serve as head of US restructuring, according to the firm. The Paul Weiss partner has experience on debtor-side representations including Diamond Sports Group, Madison Square Boys & Girls Club, Inc., Revlon, Hexion, and the Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico.

The hires are seen as a major coup, likely to help Latham capture more restucturing work from its private equity clients and beyond. The firm is looking to usurp rival Kirkland & Ellis, which has maintained the largest restructuring practice for years.

“We are committed to building the absolute best restructuring firm in the world,” Latham chair and managing partner Rich Trobman said in a statement. “Adding this outstanding group of partners to our practice marks a significant step toward our ambitious goals and, together with Latham’s unmatched global platform, delivers unparalleled value to our clients.”

Schrock, who also has advised on cases involving CBL Properties and Serta Simmons, replaces Latham partner George Davis atop the firm’s global restructuring practice. Davis will continue to practice at Latham “for many years to come,” according to the firm. He said the group “will be excellent additions to our team.”

Latham has one of the largest private equity practices among Big Law firms. That client base is often seen as a requirement for building a leading restructuring group, as private equity outfits and their portfolio companies often tap restructuring experts.

The new hires have “strong relationships” with major companies and financial sponsors, as well as creditor-side experience, Latham’s New York office managing partner Marc Jaffe said in a release.

“We are particularly excited about the synergy between their experience and our market-leading private equity, private credit, hybrid capital, and liability management capabilities, as well as our vast public company practice,” Jaffe said.

Latham bolstered its restructuring group in August, hiring Joe Zujkowski from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Weil has maintained a premier restructuring team since being credited with introducing the practice at a major law firm decades ago through group founder Harvey Miller. Schrock is the second practice group leader to leave Weil this week after Elizabeth Stotland Weiswasser, global co-chair of the firm’s litigation group, and IP lawyer Anish Desai decamped for Paul Weiss.

Schrock’s expected hire was earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal.