Akin boosts PE bench with four-partner Sidley team across London and New York

Akin has hired a four-lawyer private equity team across New York and London from Sidley Austin as the US firm continues to build out its sponsor-side offering.

The group includes New York partners Gerald Brant, Jeffrey Kochian and Brittany Harrison, alongside London partner Jonathon Hamill.

Brant, Kochian and Harrison are all returning to Akin, with Brant also taking on the role of head of the firm’s US private equity practice.

PE expansion

The hires add further depth to Akin’s private equity capabilities across the US and London, particularly around sponsor-led deals, M&A and capital solutions work.

In London, Hamill joined Sidley in 2021 from Vinson & Elkins and spent time in-house at Apollo during his stint at the firm. He was promoted to partner in 2024 and advises sponsors on leveraged buyouts, carve-outs and hybrid capital transactions.

The move continues Akin’s broader push into private equity in London, where the firm has around 50 partners. At the end of last year, it hired private equity partners Dan Oates and Angela Becker from Ropes & Gray.

Akin co-chair Abid Qureshi described the latest hires as a “defining addition” for the firm’s private equity platform.

“Private equity has become a multi-dimensional business, and the firms that lead will be those with the scale and integration to advise sponsors across strategies and structures. Gerald, Jeff, and their team massively accelerate our private equity growth strategy,” he added.

Akin alumni return

The arrivals also continue a notable trend of former Akin lawyers returning to the firm.

Brant, Kochian and Harrison are among 10 lawyers to rejoin Akin this year, part of a broader pattern understood to have seen more than 30 lawyers return to the firm since the start of 2024.

Most recently, the firm announced the return of restructuring partners Neil Devaney, Lois Deasey and Matt Benson in London from Weil.