Sidley Austin has bolstered its private equity practice with the recruitment of two partners from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Bloomberg Law reported that David D’Urso, formerly head of Akin’s US private equity and mergers and acquisitions practice, and Elazar Guttman have joined Sidley’s New York office.
- D’Urso was a prominent figure at Akin, having represented an array of clients that include private equity sponsors, financial institutions and family offices. Notably, he led the legal team representing Alden Global in its $633 million acquisition of Tribune Publishing Co. in 2021. D’Urso, who has a nearly 28-year career, shared the appeal for him to move to Sidley was its deep bench strength across key practice areas and regulatory space.
- Guttman, who joined Akin from Kirkland & Ellis in 2019, brings with him extensive experience working with clients in the likes of Altaris Capital Partners, Brookfield Asset Management, and Sentinel Capital Partners. He expressed excitement about joining Sidley Austin, particularly highlighting the firm’s commitment to private equity and M&A at both large and middle market levels.
The Chicago-based law firm has roughly 500 lawyers engaged in private equity work globally and advised on 109 global private equity deals worth more than $42 billion in 2023.
Even amidst the market challenges like high interest rates and economic uncertainty, which caused deal activity to decline in 2023, Sidley remains committed to its private equity practice. As quoted from Brian Fahrney, Sidley’s global co-leader of M&A and private equity, “This is the long game and we’re continuing our investment.”
Besides the duo from Akin, Sidley’s recent hires also included Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison partners Ramy Wahbeh and Kaisa Kuusk in London, and a four-lawyer private equity team in New York.
The transition of D’Urso and Guttman to Sidley Austin was facilitated by Sabina Lippman, partner and co-founder of global legal recruitment firm Lippman Jungers.