Kirkland & Ellis debt finance heavyweight Neel Sachdev has resigned from the firm alongside three other partners to join US law firm Paul Weiss in London.
Sachdev and fellow debt finance partners, Kanesh Balasubramaniam, Matthew Merkle and Deirdre Jones resigned from the firm on 13 August, according to people familiar with the situation.
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They are set to join rival US law firm Paul Weiss, the people said.
A Kirkland spokesperson said: “We appreciate their contributions to the partnership. We wish them the best at their new firm.”
Paul Weiss was contacted for comment.
Their move follows Kirkland’s hire of Paul Weiss’s London head Alvaro Membrillera, who the firm said it had hired on 2 August.
Kirkland also kicked out private equity M&A star Roger Johnson earlier this month after it discovered he was in talks with rivals. Johnson is yet to resurface at a new firm.
READ MORE: Kirkland M&A star leaves after leak
Debt finance lawyer Sachdev is one of the biggest names in the London legal market and one of Kirkland London’s longest-serving partners.
His private equity sponsor clients include Apollo, Bain Capital, Carlyle, Centerbridge and Warburg Pincus, according to his profile on Kirkland’s website.
Sachdev spent more than 20 years at Kirkland, joining as an associate from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in 2003 and making partner at the firm in 2006, according to his LinkedIn profile.
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From Financial News
https://www.penews.com/articles/kirkland-ellis-finance-heavyweight-leads-team-to-rival-paul-weiss-20230814
