Paul Hastings has added three partners from Sidley Austin and Mayer Brown to expand its insurance industry work. 

Insurance M&A partners Kirk Lipsey and Chad Vance have joined from Sidley in New York and Chicago respectively, while insurance regulatory partner Sanjiv Tata has joined in New York from Mayer Brown. 

Firm chair Frank Lopez said the hires would “continue to build our global M&A practice with market-leading transactional and regulatory experience for corporates and private equity sponsors in the insurance and reinsurance industry”.

“We’re excited to welcome the group to Paul Hastings and look forward to gaining more M&A and broader corporate market share at the top of the market,” he added. 

Lipsey advises on corporate transactions including M&A and joint ventures in the insurance and financial services sector, Paul Hastings said, and has worked with clients including Prudential Financial, Allstate and MetLife. 

Meantime Vance’s practice covers corporate, securities, reinsurance and regulatory matters relating to the insurance and financial services industry. His clients have included Venerable Insurance and Annuity, AIG and Apollo Capital Management.

Tata advises insurance and investment companies on regulatory and corporate matters, and has counted State Farm, The Hartford and Nippon Life as clients, Paul Hastings firm said.

Historically Paul Hastings has not been a major player in the insurance market, though Lipsey told Reuters the firm was looking to build an insurance-related practice and has strengths in relevant areas including tax and M&A. 

“The strategic growth at Paul Hastings has been remarkable and we believe that we will contribute to that growth while continuing to serve our clients,” Lipsey said. “We are excited to add a deeper insurance M&A and regulatory capability to the firm’s M&A practice and look forward to partnering with our new colleagues.” 

The trio’s arrival continues a run of corporate and transactional hires as Paul Hastings, particularly in New York. This year the firm has added M&A partner Jon Kubek from Willkie, a three-strong finance team from Cahill, a capital markets and public company advisory team from Goodwin and a fintech and payments duo from Perkins Coie.

The firm grew revenue 6% to $1.67bn in 2022, according to data from The American Lawyer, while profit per equity partner rose 4% to hit a new high of $4.89m.