Paul Hastings Poaches Simpson Thacher Finance Partner Duran

Paul Hastings has hired New York lawyer Ismael Duran from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as the firm continues to stockpile finance partners.

Duran joins the Paul Hastings banking and finance and private credit practices, the firm said Monday. His clients include JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Barclays, major financial institutions that his new firm has also advised.

“We serve the same clients,” said Duran. “I’m going to be able to offer [my clients] a lot of synergies with other practices at Paul Hastings, and it’s going to reinforce the firm’s existing relationships with banks.”

His move comes as Paul Hastings has been growing its finance roster. The firm in June hired a team of 11 King & Spalding finance and restructuring partners. It added eight energy-focused finance partners in Texas from Vinson & Elkins in February.

Duran’s recent work includes guiding JPMorgan in providing up to $5.4 billion in committed financing for II-VI Incorporated’s Coherent acquisition. He also steered Citi in debt financing for Vertiv’s $1.8 billion acquisition of E&I Engineering Group.

Total private credit assets are expected to reach $2.2 trillion by 2027, according to London-based investment data company Prequin Ltd. In August, Ares Management Corp. raised nearly $34 billion for its direct lending fund, the largest dedicated pool to private credit.

Firms are still looking for avenues to put that money to work, Duran said.

“Where to deploy that capital is yet to catch up to fundraising,” he said. “There’s going to be more discussion about other assets where raised capital can be deployed.”