Paul Hastings snags Willkie finance leader in N.Y.

(Reuters) – Paul Hastings has hired the New York-based vice chair of Willkie Farr & Gallagher’s finance practice, the firm said Tuesday, just a month after Willkie poached a finance partner from Paul Hastings in New York.

Jeffrey Goldfarb, who has been with Willkie for more than 16 years and served as a partner for over a decade, is joining Paul Hastings as a partner in its leveraged finance and private equity practices.

“I was happy at Willkie. I could have stayed there for the rest of my career and I certainly considered it, but Paul Hastings has a very dynamic finance practice,” Goldfarb said, touting the Los Angeles founded firm’s “top-end” leveraged finance practice and “growing” private equity practice.

“The mix of those two really fit very nicely with my practice and what I hope to achieve,” he said.

Goldfarb has focused his practice on complex debt transactions for borrowers and lenders, with a particular emphasis on leveraged acquisition financings and debt restructuring.

His clients include private equity funds and their portfolio companies, public corporations, alternative lenders, hedge funds and investment banks. According to his LinkedIn profile, Goldfarb was an associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett for about five years before joining Willkie in 2005.

Paul Hastings has more than 100 lawyers in its leveraged finance practice.

A representative from Willkie did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. The firm last month brought on Paul Hastings partner Andres Mena to co-chair its finance practice from New York.

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Reporting by Xiumei Dong