Sidley Austin kicked off the workweek with a major East Coast hire, adding the head of Shearman & Sterling’s global leveraged finance group at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has shaken up the market for buyouts and fueled demand for veterans in the practice.

Chicago-based Sidley announced Monday that Joshua Thompson, who was also the head of Shearman’s private capital group, will be joining its ranks in New York. Thompson’s practice centers around representing private equity and private capital clients in complex transactions involving debt.