In the dizzying churn of lateral hires every month, it is
easy to understate the significance of individual moves.
But the magic circle’s hires of high-yield partners in the
last year, including Kevin Muzilla’s move to Allen &
Overy, Mark Hageman’s move to Linklaters and Gil
Strauss’s move to Freshfields respectively, was lost on
no-one. It was the first time magic-circle firms laterally
hired a high-yield partner in London. It signified to bank
counsel in particular that they were open for business for
high-yield work.
But while impressed that the magic circle is finally making
an effort, bank counsel say that it’s merely a starting
point. They’re far behind the US firms in London in terms
of relationships, know-how and resources, and have a lot of
work to do to break into the market.
Changing focus
During the boom...