Shearman & Sterling's London office is to lose its high-profile head of corporate Peter King (pictured) to US rival Weil Gotshal & Manges.
King, who joined Shearman in 2003 from Linklaters, will join Weil Gotshal at the end of the month, as the firm moves to bolster its mainstream M&A practice in the capital.
He will work as part of a team including office head Mike Francies and partner Ian Hamilton and will advise on mainstream corporate and M&A work, as well as helping to improve links with financial institutions.
Weil Gotshal has made a number of strategic hires into its private equity practice, including a team from Lovells led by Marco Compagnoni, and earlier this year bolstered its City finance and restructuring practices. However, its mainstream corporate practice has not seen the same recruitment.
Francies said: "We see this time as a great opportunity to invest in our practice and steal a march on the competition. We have myself, Marco and Mark Soundy on the private equity side, but where we need to strengthen is mainstream M&A, and Peter brings more strength and depth.”
King’s move will be seen as a blow to Shearman’s London corporate practice, which has suffered a number of high-profile departures in recent years with Jonathan Coppin moving to Hogan & Hartson in 2006 and Adrian Knight joining Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom in 2005.
The office also lost tax partner Michael McGowan to Sullivan & Cromwell in April this year.
Shearman finance partner Anthony Ward, who took over from as head of the London office from Kenneth MacRitchie in April, told Legal Week: “Peter is a talented lawyer and we wish him well in the future. His departure will not change our strategy in London as we have a strength in depth of M&A practitioners who will continue to work on the market-leading deals in the region.”