Cravath Tax Partner Joins Growing Paul Hastings M&A Platform

Cravath partner Andrew Davis jumped to Paul Hastings this week to handle the firm’s growing pipeline of public M&A deals.

Davis’ move marks a relatively rare partner exit from Cravath Swaine & Moore, one of New York’s oldest and most prestigious law firms with a significant presence in public M&A deals. It comes the same week that Cravath partner Benjamin Joseloff decamped for Davis Polk’s national security practice.

Davis spent more than 10 years at Cravath, handling tax aspects of large transactions for some of the firm’s largest clients, including Johnson & Johnson and Disney. The newly minted Paul Hastings tax partner is “hopeful” some of his Cravath clients will find the opportunity to change firms as enticing as he did.

Andrew Davis

Paul Hastings

“I haven’t spoken to any of my clients about the move,” he said in a Dec. 31 interview. “I’m hopeful that some clients will find the opportunity compelling in the way I find it compelling, but that’s not the strategic focus of the move.”

Even if Davis’ larger clients stay put, he’ll have enough work at Paul Hastings’ growing M&A platform. The firm landed on Bloomberg Law’s M&A league tables in the 13th spot for 2025, after not placing in the top 20 the previous year. “Paul Hastings has had an upward trajectory over the last 10 years with a diversified set of practice areas,” Davis said.

“Cravath is a great firm and will remain a great place to work,” Davis said. Cravath, in a statement, said the firm wished Davis well in his future endeavors.

Kirkland & Ellis partner Eric Schiele’s move to the firm in March to serve as the firm’s M&A co-chair caught Davis’ attention, he said.

“I view hiring laterals as a key differentiator for law firms,” Davis said. “Every law firm is going to have hits and misses, but making sure that you have more hits than misses is a real skill.”

Davis was part of a team that advised Johnson & Johnson in forming a separate company for Tylenol maker Kenvue and 2025’s acquisition of cancer treatment developer Halda Therapeutics OpCo, Inc. for more than $3 billion. Last year, Davis advised Disney in subsidiary ESPN’s pending purchase of NFL Network.