McDermott Will & Emery Appoints New Corporate Head

McDermott Will & Emery has appointed a new global head of its corporate and transactional practice, the firm announced on Monday.

Harris C. Siskind, based in Miami, replaces Ira J. Coleman, who is set to take over as firm chair on Jan. 1, 2017.

In an interview, Siskind said that his most important additional responsibility will be hiring new talent including lateral partners, specifically in New York, Silicon Valley and London.

Siskind was previously co-head of the firm’s international private equity practice.

“The plan is for me not to take on an administrative job full-time but to do it in connection with maintaining my practice,” said Siskind, who represents private equity sponsors in transactions. Past clients have included H.I.G. Capital and Securus Technologies, Inc., according to press clips from McDermott’s website.

Coleman, who is also based in Miami, said that Siskind was chosen by the firm’s management and executive committees, with support from regional corporate practice group leaders.

“We had to ask him to take on the role, it wasn’t like he was volunteering for it,” said Coleman.

Coleman joked of the vetting process: “We did the American Ninja thing. You know, American Ninja Warrior , you go through the whole gauntlet thing.”

In his new role, Siskind will oversee roughly 300 corporate lawyers.

Write to us with news in the legal industry at BigLawBusiness@bna.com.

[caption id="attachment_35477" align="alignnone” width="393"][Image “Competitor Ben Malick poses on the final wall of the challenge during the “American Ninja Warrior” screening and course demonstration In celebration of the show’s first Emmy Award nomination, at Universal Studio, in Universal City, California, on August 24, 2016. / AFP / VALERIE MACON (Photo credit should read VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images)” (src=https://bol.bna.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/GettyImages-595016302.jpg)]Competitor Ben Malick poses on the final wall of the challenge during the “American Ninja Warrior” screening and course demonstration In celebration of the show’s first Emmy Award nomination, at Universal Studio, in Universal City, California, on August 24, 2016. Photo credit: Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images[/caption]

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