Big Law Firms Battle for Distressed Debt Lawyers in Hiring Spree

Hires that Gibson Dunn and Willkie Farr & Gallagher announced Monday show how competition for lawyers who can advise on out-of-court distressed debt situations has skyrocketed.

Gibson Dunn hired Matthew Roose, formerly a leader in Ropes & Gray’s business restructuring practice, while Willkie added former Winston & Strawn partners Gregory Gartland and April Doxey. Both firms’ announcements mentioned liability management transactions, an increasingly popular type of distressed debt transaction that avoids court.

Roughly a dozen partners with leadership roles in restructuring or liability management practices have moved law firms since late 2024, shuffling practices at firms including Fried Frank, DLA Piper, Wachtell, and Ropes & Gray.

Gibson and Willkie have both been at the forefront of the trend, as they have been responding to major changes in restructuring work that has broadened out from traditional Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings. Gibson Dunn’s restructuring practice has now hired at least six partners since the start of last year.

Gibson has emerged as a top firm for representing creditors in liability management transactions—deals that restructure debt out of court. The firm was retained on the most restructuring engagements of any firm in 2025, according to data from Octus Intelligence.

Activity levels have gone from “really busy to even busier” in the creditor-side restructuring practice at Gibson, said Scott Greenberg, global chair of the firm’s business restructuring and reorganization group. Roose, whom the firm had initially pursued about 18 months ago, will lead the deals work, allowing Gibson to take on more matters, Greenberg said.

“Matt will slide in really well running deals,” he said. “That allows us to go out and have more market share and grab more transactions. For us, it’s an absolute no-brainer.”

Willkie’s Growth

Willkie, meanwhile, has been building up its restructuring practice since hiring Kirkland & Ellis partner Ryan Bennett to lead the group last year.

Gartland and Doxey joined the firm’s finance practice, but their work is often in the restructuring context. Gartland had been co-chair of the financial restructuring practice at Winston and Doxey was co-chair of the private credit practice there.

“Willkie is one of few firms with both the broad capabilities and cross-disciplinary strengths to excel at complex finance and restructuring transactions, including those involving private credit financing alternatives, which has grown tremendously in recent years,” Doxey said in a statement.

Among the top partners that have been making moves since late 2024, three joined Latham & Watkins, which has been aggressively building out its group since hiring former Weil Gotshal & Manges partner Ray Schrock in late 2024.

David Nemecek’s move in February from Kirkland to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett was another major development. Nemecek has led the company-side liability management practice.

Simpson has hired more than a half dozen partners since, including another former Kirkland partner, Jordan Elkin, last week. Kirkland responded last month by hiring Wachtell partner Joshua Feltman.

The rise of artificial intelligence has caused some distress in the credit world as investors fear software companies may be disrupted.

Greenberg said the so-called “SaaSpocalypse” has caused some lawyers to be hired for possible workouts, but little has happened yet. Work begins when companies face liquidity challenges or closer to when their debt matures, he said.

“Absent those two catalysts, there are a lot of these deals that us and our competitors are probably putting in the pipeline,” Greenberg said. “But nothing is going to happen on them yet.”