Private Equity Growth Continues at Paul Hastings with Hire of Transatlantic Team in London and Washington D.C.

July 17, 2019

London—Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that a three-partner transatlantic private equity team will join the firm in London and Washington D.C. from Hogan Lovells. Ed Harris, who currently leads Hogan Lovell’s Private Equity practice in London, and Leanne Moezi will join as partners in London. Adam Brown, currently a partner in Northern Virginia, will join Paul Hastings’ Private Equity practice in the Washington D.C. office.

“We’re continuing to grow our market-leading Private Equity practice, expanding the firm’s ability to help clients navigate increasingly complex, global transactions,” said Seth Zachary, chair of Paul Hastings. “The addition of this global team is another example of the calibre of talent our Private Equity practice attracts and our commitment to our clients,” he added.

“The focus that Paul Hastings has to grow its corporate, funds, and private equity practices in London is impressive,” said Harris. “I found the firm and practices’ trajectory, together with the entrepreneurial spirit and excitement for the future at Paul Hastings, incredibly attractive,” he added.

“Paul Hastings’ momentum in the PE space is very appealing,” said Brown. “I’m looking forward to working with my current and future partners to further develop the global Private Equity practice.”

Harris advises on a broad range of corporate transactions, with particular focus on private M&A, joint ventures, co-investments, secondaries and leveraged buyouts. He acts for private equity houses, institutional investors and corporates across a range of sectors.

Brown focuses on securities and investment transactions for private equity funds and their portfolio companies. He represents domestic and international private fund sponsors on their formation, regulatory compliance, and fundraising activities.

Moezi advises private equity houses, companies, financial institutions and management on all aspects of corporate finance, M&A and private equity deal work. She was named a ‘star PE associate’ by The Lawyer in February 2014.

The news of this Private Equity team’s arrival follows the 2018 private equity partner additions of Anu Balasubramanian in London, Kfir Abutbul in Houston, Ira Kustin in New York, and Alex Kaufman’s arrival in Palo Alto in March 2019.

The Private Equity practice advised on more than 150 deals globally in 2018 alone, and in excess of 400 private equity sponsor financing transactions in the last four years. The practice was also shortlisted for Private Equity Deal of the Year and Private Equity Dealmaker of the Year by The Deal Middle Market Awards 2019.

In the past 12 months, the London office alone has advised private equity sponsors (including Abry Partners, Oakley Capital, Francisco Partners, Astorg and Vector Capital) on numerous closed deals, with a total transaction value in excess of €6 billion. The firm won both “Private Equity Team of the Year” and “M&A Team of the Year (Large Deals)” at the recent Transatlantic Legal Awards 2019.

The London office has doubled in size and revenue in the past five years, and was also named “Finance Team of the Year” at The Lawyer Awards 2018, “Restructuring Team of the Year” at the British Legal Awards 2018, and “Europe Law Firm of the Year – Transactions” at the Private Equity Real Estate Awards 2018; and our CLO team, along with their colleagues in the U.S., was named “Top Global CLO Counsel” for 2018 by Creditflux.

At Paul Hastings, our purpose is clear — to help our clients and people navigate new paths to growth. With a strong presence throughout Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the U.S., Paul Hastings is recognized as one of the world’s most innovative global law firms.