Linklaters Hires Casey, Five Shearman Lawyers Ahead of Merger

Linklaters has hired George Casey and a team of five mergers and acquisitions lawyers from Shearman & Sterling ahead of the planned closing date of Shearman’s merger with UK firm Allen & Overy.

Casey, who was a partner at Shearman for more than 20 years, will join Linklaters as its global co-chair of the corporate practice. Linklaters also poached Heiko Schiwek, who will join the firm as one of its global leaders of the chemicals sector.

Greg Gewirtz, who was counsel at Shearman, will join Linklaters as a partner. The other three lateral hires are counsel Yiting Du, senior associate Wendy Suh and associate Michael Lomtevas.

Partners at A&O and Shearman approved the plan to merge the two firms in October. The deal is expected to close by May. The combined entity, called A&O Shearman, will have roughly 3,900 lawyers and a combined gross revenue of $3.4 billion, based on 2022 figures.

“Upon the imminent completion of our transformative merger with Allen & Overy, A&O Shearman is expected to have more than 180 M&A partners who, together, will provide unparalleled capability to global businesses,” Shearman said in a statement. “We thank George and Heiko for their contributions and wish them well.”