Latham & Watkins Hires Four Kirkland Litigators in New York

Latham & Watkins has expanded its complex commercial litigation practice in New York with four lawyers from Kirkland & Ellis, the firm is expected to announce Tuesday.

Joining the firm are Kirkland partners Joseph Serino and Eric Leon, as well as associates Kuangyan Huang and Nate Taylor.

The lawyers are the latest in a string of hires Latham has made in its litigation and trial department, which has been managed by Jamie Wine, a New York partner appointed as litigation chair last year.

Last June, the firm hired Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer executive partner Michael Lacovara after just six months into his tenure in the senior leadership post, a position that tasked him with overseeing the business services functions and operating model, according to Legal Business . Then in February of this year, Latham hired Martin Davies, a London-based litigation partner from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.

Wine said that the Kirkland hires tie into the firm’s efforts to expand its complex commercial litigation department, outside of specialized practice areas in litigation, such as intellectual property, white collar and antitrust.

“We had created a complex commercial litigation practice group a year and a half ago, with the idea in mind that we wanted to feature our trial strengths and capabilities and we wanted to further deepen our expertise with trial lawyers who could try any kind of complex commercial disputes that our folks had,” said Wine. “The strategy of our department is really reflective of the fact that the highest management of our firm right now is supportive of our litigation department and supportive of it growing.”

Serino and Leon are both listed on federal dockets as representing Deutsche Bank AG in both labor law and antitrust litigation, including a class action that alleged DB was one of a number of banks, hedge funds and investment funds that rigged prices on the foreign exchange market between 2003 and 2013, according to a search of Bloomberg Law . In that representation, the lawyers worked closely with Kirkland partner and former Securities and Exchange Commission director of enforcement, Robert Khuzami.

A Kirkland & Ellis spokesperson wished the lawyers well in a statement.

“For me, it was as simple as really a right move at the right time,” said Serino. “I viewed this as a great opportunity because it was apparent to me that Latham’s complex commercial litigation practice was in expansion mode and that’s what I do. So it was music to my ears when I heard that.”

It’s worth noting that last year, Kirkland & Ellis re-allocated shares of equity partners that resulted in pay cuts for a number of litigators, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The American Lawyer first reported the news in December.

Both Serino and Leon declined to comment on Kirkland’s strategy, but Serino said, “I can say, whatever happened last year about the partnership allocation issues you mentioned did not drive my decision to come to Latham. I’m really excited about the trial advocacy work [at Latham]. It was too good to pass up.”

Serino recalled that he was approached about the opportunity last summer by a recruiter.

“I rarely pick up those phone calls but the recruiter did a very good job at convincing me that the firm was interested in growing commercial litigation... and it wasn’t a typical headhunter calling.”

Serino and the firm declined to share the identity of the recruiter.

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