Nemecek’s Simpson Move Refuels Bankruptcy Hiring Super Cycle (1)

David Nemecek’s move from Kirkland & Ellis to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is likely to extend a tumultuous period of partner transfers across Big Law’s restructuring and liability management practices—risking unsettling an important practice at even more firms.

Simpson Thacher committed to building out its traditional restructuring practice in its bid to land Nemecek, the liability management pioneer, according to two sources familiar with the discussions who were not authorized to discuss them publicly.

Lawyers in the space anticipate other Kirkland partners who worked on Nemecek’s transactions will follow him to Simpson Thacher. He is also expected to hire more partners to Simpson Thacher’s more traditional Chapter 11 practice, which can be the next step in a distressed company’s life cycle following out-of-court debt deals.

The moves, should Nemecek jar loose prominent partners leading restructuring practices at other firms, will keep the momentum going for a “super cycle” of high-end restructuring partner hires across the legal industry. Aggressive poaching over the last 18 months has created waves of hiring, with firms whose bankruptcy leaders bolt filling those positions through new lateral recruits of their own.

“In over 25 years of legal recruiting, I’m hard-pressed to think of another time when we saw this amount of high-level movement in the restructuring practice,” said Jon Truster, a New York-based partner at legal recruiting firm Macrae. “And it looks like it will continue.”

At least nine partners with leadership roles in restructuring or liability management have moved law firms since late 2024, shuffling practices at firms including Fried Frank, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher, Ropes & Gray, and Debevoise.

In a statement to Bloomberg Law, Nemecek said the firm was “laser focused” on building out its new capital structure solutions practice by hiring lawyers with expertise in liability management, creditor representations, and Chapter 11.

Why Now?

One reason for the increased activity is the way liability management transactions have changed the business model for Big Law restructuring practices.

Liability management exercises are a way for companies to restructure their debt out of court. Typically, the company gets new money while forcing its lenders to accept writedowns or be placed lower down in the debt repayment order.

The deals have become a common precursor to traditional Chapter 11 filings. Clients who work with law firms on liability management deals are likely to hire the same firms for future in-court restructuring, lawyers in the industry say.

Nemecek’s hire means Simpson now has the leading practitioner in liability management exercises. He is widely credited with popularizing those deals and led clients on some of the most aggressive transactions.

Still, Simpson Thacher has not yet hired a company-side Chapter 11 professional to replace Sunny Singh, who departed for Weil shortly after that firm lost bankruptcy heavyweight Ray Schrock in late 2024 to Latham & Watkins.

Alden Millard, Simpson Thacher’s chair, said in an interview with Bloomberg Law that the firm was “committed to the space.” Nemecek said Chapter 11 services would be part of the broader capital solutions practice the firm launched with his hire.

Another driver of the increased restructuring practice moves has been Latham’s aggressive buildout of its capabilities.

Shortly after hiring Schrock, Latham brought on John Sobolewski, a liability management leader, from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. It more recently snagged Ropes & Gray’s former restructuring leader, Ryan Preston Dahl, along with other partners.

Ropes responded this month by hiring Rachel Strickland from Fried Frank—who herself had moved from Willkie to Fried Frank about 18 months ago. Willkie rebounded by hiring Kirkland partner Ryan Bennett in October.

Debevoise this month hired Rachel Ehrlich Albanese to co-chair its restructuring practice from DLA Piper, where she was chair of the U.S. restructuring practice.