Ringing in the new year with prominent laterals, Sidley Austin has lured two partners from competitors Davis Polk & Wardwell and Clifford Chance.

John Butler, who was previously at Davis Polk, joins as a partner and a member of Sidley’s mergers and acquisitions and private equity practice in New York. Steven Kolyer, who joins from Clifford Chance, is a partner in Sidley’s global finance practice, also in New York.