Ropes & Gray raids Latham for eight-lawyer M&A team in Paris

Ropes & Gray has hired an eight-lawyer M&A team from Latham & Watkins in Paris, as it continues an aggressive expansion drive across Europe.

Partners Denis Criton, Gaetan Gianasso and Michael Colle are expected to join the firm alongside a counsel and four associates, adding private equity firepower in a key continental market. The move was first reported by The Lawyer.

Criton and Gianasso both spent more than two decades at Latham, while Colle had been with the firm for around 10 years.

Ropes declined to comment on the hires when approached by Non-Billable.

Paris push

The hire marks the latest step in Ropes’ buildout in Paris, which has quickly become a focal point of its European strategy.

The firm opened in the city in March last year with a team from Clifford Chance, before adding a 10-lawyer funds and tax group from Linklaters earlier this year. Its Paris office currently has five partners and 22 lawyers, according to its website.

The move also continues a pattern of hiring from Latham as the firm expands in Europe. Last year, it recruited a three-lawyer team from Latham to launch its Milan office, led by private equity partner Aldo Piccarreta.

Transatlantic growth

The Paris raid comes amid a wider hiring push on both sides of the Atlantic for the firm this year.

In London, Ropes has added senior private capital talent, while in New York it this week made its ninth lateral hire of the year with the addition of Freshfields’ co-head of leveraged finance.

The firm has made clear that Europe is a central pillar of its growth strategy, particularly in private capital. For more on that strategy, listen to our recent conversation with London partners Rohan Massey and Ruchit Patel on The Non-Billable Podcast.

Paris has emerged as a key battleground. US firms have been actively recruiting in the city in recent months, with Latham itself hiring a private equity energy team from Clifford Chance. Proskauer and White & Case have also added teams, much of it focused on private capital work.