Paul Hastings Targets Big-Ticket Public M&A with Key Hire from Kirkland

Paul Hastings has recruited Eric Schiele, a prominent dealmaker from Kirkland & Ellis, to serve as global co-chair of M&A, underscoring the firm's focus on expanding its large-cap public M&A practice. Schiele, who previously worked for nearly 20 years at Cravath Swaine & Moore, offers a distinguished career portfolio with $1.2 trillion in announced deals. Notable transactions he guided include Anheuser-Busch InBev's massive $123 billion acquisition of SABMiller and the largest M&A deal of 2024, Kellanova's sale to Mars worth $35.9 billion. Paul Hastings’ chairman, Frank Lopez, emphasized the strategic importance of Schiele's addition to bolster the firm's public M&A platform. Eric Schiele joins other recent high-profile recruits in line with Paul Hastings’ substantial effort to grow its corporate, finance, and restructuring practices, contributing to a revenue increase of 22% in fiscal 2024. Paul Hastings has been aggressive in securing top talent to enhance its competitive edge in the legal market, as evidenced by recent partner additions from major firms and investment in growth strategies across key practice areas. Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis, while still the world's largest law firm by revenue with $7.2 billion, acknowledges Schiele's exit amid competitive partner recruitment.