Clifford Chance Adds Two O’Melveny Partners in New York

Clifford Chance, in a sign it is plowing ahead with its US growth strategy, has hired two partners from O’Melveny & Myers in New York.

The UK-founded firm added private equity partner David Schultz and restructuring partner Matthew Hinker, who’d practiced closely together at O’Melveny. The duo pairs advice on deals and distress issues for private equity clients.

David Schultz

“I look forward to continuing to serve existing clients but also growing and helping Clifford Chance build out its US platform,” Schultz said in an interview. “That’s what really attracted me, being able to leverage the existing brand but also being part of a really exciting growth story in the US.”

Clifford Chance has said it wants to to double its revenue in the US and will turn to the lateral hiring market to accomplish the goal. In its 2023 fiscal year, Clifford Chance recruited 19 US partners and grew its American revenue by 28%.

Its global revenue reached nearly $3 billion in its most recent fiscal year, a record, up roughly 9% from the prior year.

Schultz has previously advised on multiple deals for Palladium Equity Partners, MHR Fund Management and Avenue Capital Group. He’d been at O’Melveny since 2007, according to his LinkedIn bio.

Hinker counsels private equity clients and their portfolio companies on corporate governance matters, value creation, crisis management, operational distress, and risk management.

Matthew Hinker

The pair said Clifford Chance’s global reach and range of practices would help service clients.

That includes advising private equity firms looking to use continuation funds to deliver liquidity to investors amid a slumping deals market, Schultz said. In the restructuring space, Hinker said Clifford Chance lawyers are helping develop liability management transactions in other jurisdictions.

Clifford Chance in March hired restructuring partners Brian Lohan and Maja Zerjal Fink from Arnold Porter Kaye Scholer. Lohan is now head of the firm’s US restructuring and insolvency practice.

“We remain laser focused on recruiting top talent and continuing the momentum of strengthening our US team,” Sharis Pozen, regional managing partner for the Americas, said in a statement.