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Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison has hired Asda co-owner TDR Capital’s top lawyer as the US elite law firm continues its hiring spree in London.
The British private equity outfit’s general counsel, David Holdsworth, will join Paul Weiss in the coming months, the law firm told the Financial Times. Holdsworth’s appointment is one of dozens made by the US-founded firm in the past year, which has grown nearly tenfold in Europe by beefing up its presence in the UK capital and opening an office in Brussels.
Holdsworth joined TDR, which has investments in companies from health club chain David Lloyd Leisure to PizzaExpress, in January 2023, after more than two decades in private practice at firms including Linklaters and Kirkland & Ellis.
Paul Weiss has shaken up the London legal market over the past 12 months, hiring a team of top private equity lawyers from Kirkland and expanding from 20 lawyers in London last August to about 190 across the City and Brussels. The New York-based group has poached partners from rivals including UK “magic circle” firms Linklaters and Clifford Chance, as well as making further raids on Kirkland. Some hires are yet to start.
The hiring frenzy has added to an already hot recruitment market in London, as top firm’s jostle for talent. Seen as a key hub for private equity investment, as well as a useful jumping off point for US companies to access Europe, both US and UK-founded firms have been hiring large numbers of partners over the past year, as well as raising salaries for associates to compete for staff.
The number of senior moves in the London market reached a high point in 2023 with 510 partner hires, which included non-partners joining the partnership, according to legal recruiter Edwards Gibson. Kirkland & Ellis and Paul Weiss made the largest number of hires across the year.
Before joining TDR, which was a long-standing client of Holdsworth’s, his client roster included Blackstone and Thoma Bravo.
Neel Sachdev, co-head of Paul Weiss’ London office said: “We have hired and promoted a group of the most elite partners in London and Brussels to which we are delighted to add David.”
Blair Thompson, partner and chief operating officer at TDR, said in a statement that Holdsworth “will continue to be a key member of the broader team” as the private equity house works with Paul Weiss.
