Linklaters has secured corporate and finance partner Michel Frieh from the respected Paris office of New York’s Willkie Farr & Gallagher to plug the gap left by the departure of private equity expert David Aknin.

Frieh, a leveraged buy-out (LBO) expert, will boost the magic circle firm’s 25-partner French practice following the defection of Aknin, who quit for the local arm of Weil Gotshal & Manges in November.