Latham’s hiring spree at Wachtell hits five partners

Wachtell has lost another partner to Latham & Watkins, the latest in a series of departures from the prestigious New York staple to the LA-born revenue machine.

Executive compensation specialist Erica Aho joins Latham after over 12 years at Wachtell, where she became a partner in 2020.

Aho will start in the New York office, with plans for her to relocate to Los Angeles later on. 

Her practice encompasses executive compensation and benefits matters in the context of high-profile public company mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, and other corporate deals.

Aho said Latham’s deep bench across the US and the world “provides an excellent platform for me to grow my practice”. 

Not so lateral-proof

With just one, tight-knit office in New York, Wachtell has long had a reputation for being largely immune to poaching.

But a slew of exits to Latham and other rivals has brought its culture of loyalty - and its traditional lockstep compensation structure - under the spotlight. 

Aho is the fifth partner to jump from Wachtell to Latham in the past 18 months. In February, finance partners Emily Johnson and corporate partner Mark Stagliano made the move. Both of them had spent their whole careers at the Wachtell.

Last year, star dealmaker Zack Podolsky made the same jump, as did restructuring partner John Sobolewski.

Kirkland, meanwhile, recently lured Wachtell’s restructuring head Joshua Feltman with a blockbuster compensation package understood to be worth as much as $80 million over three years. 

Despite the departures, Wachtell’s economics remain formidable. The firm recorded average partner profits of $12.5 million last year, according to the latest Am Law 100 rankings, keeping it ahead of Kirkland, which posted PEP of roughly $11 million.

What they said

“Erica is widely regarded as one of the foremost executive compensation and benefits lawyers in the country with strong credibility among boards and senior executives, and we are thrilled to welcome her to Latham,” said Marc Jaffe, Latham’s New York managing partner. 

“Her insights and judgment as a trusted advisor to public companies on a range of sophisticated matters perfectly aligns with Latham’s platform.”