Clifford Chance adds two Orrick partners in Paris, including Europe head

Clifford Chance has hired two energy and infrastructure partners from Orrick in Paris, as it looks to strengthen its private capital offering.

Patrick Tardivy and Paul Loisel join the firm. Tardivy is a senior M&A and private equity partner with deep experience in the energy and infrastructure sector, having spent a decade at Orrick where he sat on the management committee and served as partner in charge of Europe.

Loisel is a project finance specialist who joined Orrick from White & Case in 2023.

The hires come after Clifford Chance lost a three-partner Paris energy private equity team to Latham & Watkins earlier in the year, in a move led by private equity dealmaker Benjamin de Blegiers.

Active Paris market

The move lands against the backdrop of an increasingly active lateral market in Paris, particularly in private capital and infrastructure.

US and international firms have been competing aggressively for talent in the City. Ropes & Gray recently hired an eight-lawyer M&A team from Latham, while earlier this year it also added a 10-lawyer funds and tax group from Linklaters.

Proskauer and White & Case have also been active, with much of the hiring focused on private capital work.

Proskauer took a three-partner private equity team from Hogan Lovells in February, while White & Case hired a three-partner corporate real estate team from DLA Piper with particular experience in the rapidly-growing data centre sector.