Akin rehires Weil restructuring trio, names new head

Akin has hired three restructuring partners from Weil in London, including Neil Devaney, co-head of Weil’s London restructuring practice.

Devaney is joined by partners Lois Deasey and Matt Benson, all of whom left Akin for Weil between 2019 to 2022, and will now return as a team. They have worked together for more than a decade on pan-European restructurings.

Devaney has been named head of London financial restructuring at Akin, where he will advise creditor groups, credit funds and institutional investors on restructurings, alternative investments and distressed situations.

‍London moves

The departures add to a run of partner exits from Weil’s London office.

Around this time last year, Sidley made a London funds play with a triple hire from Weil, while Sullivan & Cromwell recently poached finance partners Chris McLaughlin and Alastair McVeigh, as well as Jenny Choi. Paul Hastings also hired senior corporate tax partner Jenny Doak from Weil in November.

Akin has been steadily adding senior talent in London, with private equity duo Dan Oates and Angela Becker joining from Ropes & Gray at the end of last year, followed by leveraged finance partner Adrian Chiodo from Covington & Burling and tax partner Sam Riesenberg from Mayer Brown.

What they said

Akin co-chair and financial restructuring partner Abid Qureshi said: “Their return strengthens our entire creditor‑side franchise, from restructuring to special situations, capital solutions and hybrid capital, and ensures we can serve the same clients seamlessly across jurisdictions and the full spectrum of stressed and complex capital structure work.”

Barry Russell, senior partner of Akin’s London office, said “Private credit has reached institutional scale in Europe,” emphasising that the firm has maintained a top-ranked restructuring practice in London for 20 years.