Latham & Watkins Hires Two M&A and Finance Partners in New York
The law firm Latham & Watkins has hired Emily Johnson and Mark Stagliano as partners in its New York office. The two esteemed finance and public M&A specialists will join the firm's corporate and finance practice. Their addition is intended to enhance the firm's capabilities in advising on sophisticated and transformative transactions.
- Both partners were hired from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, a direct and elite competitor in the New York legal market. - Emily Johnson specializes in the financing aspects of complex corporate deals, including mergers, acquisitions, and spin-offs, and will join the firm's Banking & Private Credit and Capital Markets Practices. - Mark Stagliano focuses on mergers and acquisitions, securities matters, and corporate governance and will be part of the Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice. - The hires align with a broader trend in New York's legal market, where top firms are aggressively pursuing experienced lateral partners to handle an anticipated increase in high-value M&A transactions. - This move complements Latham & Watkins' recent internal growth, which saw the firm elect 40 associates and 22 counsel to its partnership in early 2026. - The addition of these partners is a strategic move to strengthen the firm's capabilities in public company M&A and transactions across the entire capital structure, according to Latham's Chair and Managing Partner Rich Trobman. - While M&A activity was moderate in 2024, analysts expect a potential resurgence, with the technology, energy, and healthcare sectors likely to see high levels of activity.
