Paul Weiss boosts PE bench with hire of Kirkland M&A partner

Paul Weiss has added more firepower to its private equity bench with the hire of M&A partner Francesca Storey-Harris from US rival Kirkland & Ellis in London.

Storey-Harris joined Kirkland as a partner in 2021 from Slaughter and May. Her experience includes advising on multiple mandates from PE firm Thoma Bravo, including its $5.3 billion take-private of UK cybersecurity company Darktrace in 2024 - one of the year's most high-profile deals.

She also advised insole maker OrthoLite - owned by PE firm Trilantic - on its sale to FTSE-listed Coats Group in July.

At Paul Weiss she will reunite with former Kirkland heavyweights Roger Johnson and Neel Sachdev, whose headline-making exits in 2023 triggered shockwaves across the London market and helped ignite the latest round of talent wars at the top of Big Law.

A competitive market

The move comes as Paul Weiss continues to scale its presence in the City, where US firms continue to compete aggressively for senior private equity and M&A talent as private equity workflow remains strong.

It also marks another recent exit for Kirkland in London. Over the past two months, private equity partners Nick Appleton and Hamesh Khatkar moved to Simpson Thacher and Willkie, respectively, competition partner Sally Evans jumped to Paul Hastings, and restructuring heavyweight Kon Asimacopoulos joined Sullivan & Cromwell.

What they said

Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp said Storey-Harris' "significant experience representing leading private equity firms and private and public companies will further strengthen our ability to advise our clients on their most consequential matters in the UK, Europe and beyond."

Roger Johnson, global co-chair of the M&A practice and co-head of the London, said: "I am excited to once again work alongside Francesca when she joins our growing London team. She will bring notable expertise across corporate transactions, having advised on some of the most critical European M&A and private equity deals of the last few years."