Linklaters hires Shearman dealmaker as ‘magic circle’ jostles for US foothold

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UK “magic circle” law firm Linklaters has hired a global managing partner of US outfit Shearman & Sterling to lead its corporate practice, as competition heats up between Britain’s elite legal advisers to gain a better foothold in America.

George Casey, a veteran dealmaker at Shearman who has advised some of the world’s biggest companies — from miner Anglo American to Dow Chemical — will join Linklaters in New York this month as global co-chair of corporate. Casey’s departure comes ahead of a $3.5bn merger between Shearman and Linklaters’ magic circle rival, Allen & Overy, which is set to be completed by May.

Casey was one of two global managing partners at Shearman — part of the firm’s executive leadership team — from 2018 until his departure.

The Linklaters hire, which includes a team of five more Shearman lawyers, is the latest sign of intent from a magic circle firm to try to expand its US presence.

The UK group of elite firms, which also includes Clifford Chance and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, has long struggled to make headway in America against the top domestic law firms that dominate the US market. The decision last year by Allen & Overy to merge with the 150-year-old Shearman — the first tie-up between a “magic circle” firm and US rival in more than two decades — has put pressure on peers to respond.

Linklaters, along with most of the group, has abandoned its pure “lockstep” pay model — where partners’ individual share of the firm’s equity increases with seniority — in recent years to give it more flexibility with hiring as it tries to compete with outsized pay packages on offer from American rivals. US firms often reward their partners according to how much business they generate in a model known as “eat what you kill”.

“Growing our M&A capability in the US is a strategic priority for us and George and the team coming on board is a transformational step in our US growth strategy,” Aedamar Comiskey, Linklaters senior partner, told the Financial Times.

“We now have the firepower to attract and retain top talent in all the major financial centres,” she added, referring to the firm’s decision to change its lockstep model.

Casey, a Ukrainian native who has spoken out about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has acted on more than $300bn of deals in his career, including the $130bn megamerger between US chemical giants Dow Chemical and DuPont agreed in 2015 and the subsequent spin-offs.

Other notable deals include acting for pharma giant GSK on its $5.1bn acquisition of US biotech Tesaro, announced in 2018, and for chemical company Celanese on its $11bn acquisition of DuPont’s mobility and materials arm in 2022.

M&A partner Heiko Schiwek is among the team joining Linklaters with Casey.

“Upon the imminent completion of our transformative merger with Allen & Overy, A&O Shearman is expected to have more than 180 M&A partners who, together, will provide unparalleled capability to global businesses,” Shearman said in a statement, which also thanked Casey and Schiwek for their contributions.

Linklaters has made several hires in the US in recent years in its energy, financial regulation and tax practices as part of its strategy to grow in the region.