Kirkland & Ellis grabbed two competition lawyers from Weil to beef up their London antitrust squad. Nafees Saeed made the jump as a partner, and Chris Thomas got bumped up to partner from counsel. Saeed does work for private equity shops and corporates on massive global deals, and he spent time at the UK's Competition and Markets Authority back in 2019 running merger reviews. Thomas handles EU and UK competition stuff with a focus on merger control and foreign investment checks after spending six years at Weil.
The firm has 17 antitrust partners between London and Brussels after these hires. Law firms have been fighting over competition talent because regulators are crawling all over deals these days, and US shops keep expanding their London offices. Kirkland lost partner Sally Evans to Paul Hastings a few months back, so they needed to rebuild.
The firm has 17 antitrust partners between London and Brussels after these hires. Law firms have been fighting over competition talent because regulators are crawling all over deals these days, and US shops keep expanding their London offices. Kirkland lost partner Sally Evans to Paul Hastings a few months back, so they needed to rebuild.
