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Another Partner Loss for Skadden, This Time to Latham
The American Lawyer
May 20, 2009
D.J. (Jan) Baker, a New York-based partner in the restructuring group at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, is leaving the firm to join Latham & Watkins, where he will head up its restructuring practice.
The lateral move comes on the heels of two lateral departures from Skadden's M&A practice reported on Friday -- partners David Fox and Daniel Wolf have joined Kirkland & Ellis.
But Skadden executive partner Eric Friedman sees no connection between Baker's lateral move and that of Fox and Wolf. When asked whether the three departures allude to any larger issues at Skadden, Friedman simply responds, "none whatsoever."
Friedman framed Baker's move in the context of past departures from the firm's restructuring practice. "We are a bit of an incubator of high-quality restructuring talent," Friedman says. "We have had other restructuring partners leave over the years and go and do other things." He adds, "This is very typical of the industry." (As previously reported here, one of those restructuring moves happened in December, when practice co-head Timothy Pohl announced his departure to join Lazard.)
Friedman also says Baker's departure will have minimal impact on Skadden's restructuring practice, highlighting that the firm has more than 100 restructuring lawyers in New York, Los Angeles, London and Wilmington, Del. Recently, Skadden has handled restructuring matters involving Circuit City Stores Inc., Hartmarx Corp. and Delphi Corp. "The strength of our practice is something we are very proud of," Friedman says.
Over the course of his career, Baker has handled matters for FoxMeyer Drug Co., Micro Age Inc. and RCN Corp. Recently, Baker led Skadden's representation of Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. in a restructuring.
Baker was unavailable for comment at the time of this post.
Latham & Watkins spokesman Frank Pizzurro refused to confirm or deny the move. "We don't comment on any move until it becomes official, so at this juncture there is nothing to report," he says.
The move was first reported Tuesday night on The New York Times' Deal Book blog.
This article first appeared on The Am Law Daily blog on AmericanLawyer.com.
