A month and a half ago, Barry Wolf sat down for dinner at Babbo in London’s tony Mayfair district with two of his partners at the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
Joining them was Andrew Wilkinson, one of Goldman Sachs‘ top restructuring experts in Europe. And as the four men tucked into upscale Italian food, they quickly came to the realization that Wilkinson would make an ideal addition to their team.
On Monday, Weil plans to announce that it has hired Mr. Wilkinson as the newest high-profile member of the firm’s vaunted corporate restructuring and bankruptcy practice, serving as a partner in the London office.
The poaching signals Weil’s latest effort to maintain its status as one of the biggest bankruptcy legal advisers in the world, one that already counts among its members prominent veterans like Harvey R. Miller and Marcia L. Goldstein.
The firm ranked second among restructuring law firms last year, according to The Deal, having advised on cases representing $1.03 trillion in assets.
“When you can get someone this talented, it always makes sense, no matter how strong you are, to make the move,†Mr. Wolf, Weil’s executive partner, told DealBook in a telephone interview.
The hiring of Mr. Wilkinson also comes at a potentially opportune time for European restructuring practices. While Chapter 11 filings in the United States remain exceptionally low â€" low interest rates have helped many companies stave off their reckoning for some time â€" companies on the East side of the Atlantic Ocean have increasingly moved to reorganize their balance sheets and operations.
The move also represents a coming home of sorts for Mr. Wilkinson. Before joining Goldman in the spring of 2007, he was a practiced bankruptcy lawyer, having founded the practice at Clifford Chance and then served as the head of European restructuring group at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.
Other bankruptcy lawyers have made the trip from the law to banking and back again. Mr. Miller went to the investment bank Greenhill & Company for five years before returning to Weil in 2007. And James H. M. Spraryregen tried his hand at Goldman for three years before heading back to Kirkland & Ellis in late 2008.
According to Mr. Wolf, Mr. Wilkinson had also wanted to resume practicing bankruptcy law and approached Weil a little over a month ago.
Already in Europe for a business trip, Mr. Wolf was able to bring in for recruiting help two of his London-based partners: Michael Francies, the managing partner of the office and a former colleague of Mr. Wilkinson’s at Clifford Chance, and Adam Plainer, the head of Weil’s restructuring practice in the office.
“Clearly, given our reputation in the global restructuring area, we were a top choice,†Mr. Wolf said. “It was a great match right from the beginning, and an easy decision for both sides.â€
