Proskauer Continues Busy Lateral Year with Kirkland Partner Hire

Proskauer Rose is picking up Kirkland & Ellis’ Christopher Robinson as a partner in its private funds group in New York as it seeks to build on core strengths in areas like asset management during a challenging time for the broader legal market.

Robinson is the eleventh lateral partner Proskauer has recruited so far in 2020. The global firm has continued to add attorney firepower, even as the coronavirus pandemic has prompted a broader slowdown in lateral hiring elsewhere.

Robinson’s practice focuses on all aspects of the secondaries market from the purchase and sales of fund interests to complex GP-led transactions, including fund recapitalizations, tender offers, and restructurings. He also works with private fund managers on fund formations.

He began his career at Clifford Chance before heading to Kirkland in 2011. In 2014 he went in-house at Prudential Financial Inc., as the primary legal advisor for the Alternative Assets Group, before rejoining Kirkland.

He’s since been a partner in its investment funds group, where he has represented the likes of 50 South Capital, Audax Group, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, OMERS Private Equity and Starwood Capital Group.

Robinson has worked on numerous transactions across the table from Proskauer over the years. He said he made the move to his new firm because he is looking to build out his practice in the growing private equity secondaries market, a core strength for Proskauer.

Proskauer advised on roughly $20 billion of secondaries deals in 2019, placing it just behind Kirkland in annual deal volume, according to Secondaries Investor’s annual survey of market activity.

“I thought it was an excellent opportunity for us to join forces and I think it’s going to be an excellent move in the marketplace to continue to build on their strength,” Robinson said.

Robinson’s addition fits right into Proskauer’s strategy of aligning its businesses and focusing on balancing its asset management strategy and when those opportunities present themselves, “those are the kind of opportunities that we are going to really go after pretty aggressively,” said firm chairman Steven Ellis.

Doubling Down

Ellis, who also co-leads the firm’s private credit group and is a long-time member of the firm’s executive committee, took over as Proskauer’s managing partner earlier this year succeeding its long-serving leader Joseph Leccese.

As the economic impact of the coronavirus has forced some firms to place lateral hiring on the back burner, other firms, like Proskauer, have used the downturn as a chance to build on their strengths and expansion plans.

“[Proskauer] have really looked to build on their strengths,” Robinson said. “I think during this time it’s incredibly important to double down on the areas that you consistently excel at or where you are top of the market… it’s been really exciting in the short term to see that and be a part of that.”

The firm this year has expanded its real estate practice in Boston with the additions of Keith Barnett, Sean Boulger, and Robert Burke from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. It also picked up James Lee, co-leader of K&L Gates’ private equity practice, and partner Jae Woo Park in New York.

Earlier this month the firm added a six-lawyer team from Schulte Roth & Zabel to its private credit group, that included the chair of its finance group Frederic Ragucci, as well as partners Michael Mezzacappa, Marc Friess, and Ji Hye You.

Ellis said that Proskauer is taking a long view with its lateral hires, planning for the next 10 to 15 years. The firm will continue to target hires that support its core strategy representing asset managers and their operating companies, he said.

“We’ve created a very diverse firm, so we have an effective corporate practice, contentious [litigation] practice, restructuring, so that has served us really well as we go through this time,” Ellis said. “I think it was the right strategy and its proving itself out.”