Graham Robinson, the top biotech and technology lawyer, will leave Skadden ARP for Kirkland & Ellis as competition among large law firms continues to heat up despite slowing transactions.
People said Robinson is a senior Scadarden partner who advises listing biotech and high-profile customers, including Wework, to inform the company about its plans to leave.
People say Robinson will set out with senior Skadden partners Laura Knoll and Chadé Severin, who will order a salary of $20 million a year.
The move highlights how the war on talent remains hot in top law firms, despite slowing trade rates since U.S. President Donald Trump has lowered the return of animal spirits.
Elite law firms have been trapped in a series of bidding wars, raising the salary of trading lawyers to a level comparable to celebrity athletes with a handful of lucrative practices such as mergers and acquisitions and private equity.
Robinson joined Skadden from Wilmerhale in 2012 and grew into one of the company's highest-paid generators.
Scadarden, Kirkland, Robinson, Norr and Seiflin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Robinson has been the highest M&A lawyer with transaction value and quantity since 2016, according to transaction point data. The most famous biopharma deals he suggested include the $11.4 billion sale of Array Biopharma to Pfizer and Alpine Immune Sciences to the largest Biotech deal last year, with a $4.9 billion sale to Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
This year, Robinson provided a $7.2 billion acquisition by minority shareholder Emerson to Aspen Technology, a special committee of the Industrial Technology Group. Robinson also paid billions of dollars in deals for the turmoil that was listed before bankruptcy and raised capital for WeWork.
Scadarden's partner was told Monday of Robinson's departure, people added. Robinson and two other partners will join Kirkland after their gardening leave as Kirkland hopes to grow its client base from private equity to strategic clients.
Skadden has lost a range of top corporate lawyers over the past two years, although it remains the top law firm for listed companies to acquire.
David Hepp and Sven Mickisch advise large U.S. banks and asset managers, respectively, leaving rivals Paul Weiss and Simpson Thacher, respectively.
Additionally, high-tech consultants Peter Jones and Mike Ringler recently offered Elon Musk’s AI group XAI a merger with his social media platform X to exit with Sullivan & Cromwell for $45 billion.