Cadwalader to Hire a Top Adviser on Executive Pay

Months after hiring a prominent deal maker as deputy chairman, the law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has lured in another prominent lawyer to help bolster its business.

The firm is expected to announce on Wednesday that it has hired Steven G. Eckhaus, a specialist in executive compensation packages, as a partner. Mr. Eckhaus is joining from the law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman, where he served as the head of that firm’s executive employment practice.

The addition of Mr. Eckhaus, as well as some colleagues from Katten, will give Cadwalader a new presence in the world of executive compensation. “Our corporate and financial services sector clients will undoubtedly benefit from Steve’s unparalleled depth of experience and strategic insight,” W. Christopher White, Cadwalader’s chairman, said in a statement.

The move is the latest by Cadwalader as it continues rebuilding from the layoffs it made during the financial crisis, while seeking to climb into the top ranks of advisers. That campaign began in February with the hiring of James C. Woolery, a former senior deal maker at JPMorgan Chase who was previously a partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

Mr. Woolery has said that he plans to help attract top legal talent to Cadwalader, with a special focus on certain corporate law practices like mergers and antitrust. Bringing in Mr. Eckhaus will introduce a lawyer who estimates having negotiated more than $5 billion in employment contracts and other agreements. Among his clients are the head of the New York Stock Exchange and Morgan Stanley‘s president of wealth management.

Top practitioners in the world of executive compensation can be in high demand. Adam Chinn, a star in that world who inspired the phrase “Chinn-up,” left the high-powered firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in 2007 to become a founding partner of the boutique investment bank Centerview Partners.

Cadwalader is betting that a new level of access to top executives could help open the door for Cadwalader’s other practices.

“Steve’s practice is strategic to the model the firm is implementing,” Mr. Woolery said in a statement. “He has a ‘decision maker’ practice. Every C.E.O. is focused on talent.”

For his part, Mr. Eckhaus said: “I have long admired Cadwalader’s reputation as a top tier highly focused firm with depth of expertise in the financial services and corporate sector.”