Paul Hastings adds London restructuring firepower with senior partner hires. Bevis Metcalfe and Kieran Sharma join from Hogan Lovells Cadwalader and Sidley Austin respectively as US firm rebuilds City restructuring bench 10 August 2026 Krisztian Miklosy Paul Hastings has added senior restructuring partners in London from Hogan Lovells Cadwalader and Sidley Austin, respectively, as the US firm continues its multi-practice hiring spree in the City. Bevis Metcalfe, who was co-chair of the financial restructuring group at legacy Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft prior to its merger with Hogan Lovells in July, has joined alongside Kieran Sharma, who previously led the London restructuring team at Sidley. The duo boost Paul Hastings' senior restructuring bench in London following practice co-chair Mei Lian's exit for Linklaters last year and European restructuring chair William Needham's defection to Sullivan & Cromwell earlier this year. Paul Hastings said Metcalfe and Sharma furthered its aim to develop a global restructuring platform that builds on its top-tier practice in the US. They take the firm's City restructuring team to around 20 lawyers, as part of a global group of more than 110. Advertisement Firm chair, Frank Lopez, pointed to the duo's experience and relationships across the market. "Their practices are a strategic priority as we build a premier London and Europe special situations and restructuring platform," Lopez said. "Their track record advising on complex, multijurisdictional matters will enable us to continue to take market share at the top of the market." Metcalfe brings a creditor-focused practice representing banks, CLOs, multi-strategy asset managers and private credit funds in in-court and out-of-court restructurings, distressed M&A and capital solutions transactions. He was a partner at Baker McKenzie for several years before joining Cadwalader in 2022. Sharma represents clients across the capital structure in stressed and distressed situations, including liability management transactions, in-court restructurings, out-of-court restructurings, formal insolvency processes and distressed M&A transactions. He joined Sidley as a partner, having earlier spent three years on the European investment team at Strategic Value Partners, working on distressed and special situations transactions. LAW OVER BORDERS COMPARATIVE GUIDES Enforcement of Judgments Law Guide This comparative guide offers a practical overview of the enforcement of judgments and arbitration awards across multiple jurisdictions... | 2mos. The hires continue an aggressive hiring streak by Paul Hastings' London office that fuelled 25% revenue growth in the year to 31 January 2026, making it a star performer in a year when the firm's global revenue rose 20% to $2.7bn. The firm has added more than a dozen lateral partners in London in recent months, including former Cooley private equity specialist Ferish Patel and ex-Slaughter and May corporate partner Mark Zerdin, who both joined in February. There have also been hires across the firm's high-yield, fund finance, private equity and real estate, tax, antitrust, structured credit, investment funds and employee benefits practices. Sidley Austin declined to comment on Sharma's move. The firm made its own splashy restructuring hires in London last month when it added Philip Hertz, global co-head of Clifford Chance's restructuring and insolvency group, alongside the firm's London restructuring head, Melissa Coakley.

Corient welcomes $21 billion Summit Trail Advisors in supersize deal. Kurt MacAlpine, founding partner and chief executive officer of Corient. The acquisition deepens the mega-RIA and largest non-bank wealth manager's push into ultra-high-net-worth advisory as 2026 consolidation hits record levels. AUG 05, 2026 Corient, which has built up a strong claim as the world's largest multi-family office and non-bank wealth manager focused on ultra-high-net-worth clients, announced Tuesday that it is adding a New York-based registered investment advisor with more than $21 billion in assets under management to its growing roster. The deal to add Summit Trail Advisors marks Corient's latest and largest US move in a run of acquisitions that has made it one of the most prolific consolidators in the RIA space over the past 18 months. Founded in 2015, Summit Trail is an independent advisor built to serve ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families whose complex financial needs have outgrown traditional wealth management, acting as an outsourced family office and chief investment officer across public and private markets. "The decision by a firm of Summit Trail's caliber to join Corient serves as meaningful validation of our firm's quality and the differentiated value of our private partnership structure and business model," said Kurt MacAlpine, founding partner and chief executive officer of Corient. "Summit Trail is an exceptional firm, with exceptional people. With their deep experience in ultra-high-net-worth advisory, the Summit Trail team will be a strong addition to our partnership, extending our expertise and broadening our client relationships across the country." Jack Petersen, managing partner of Summit Trail, pointed to Corient's structure as the deciding factor for the firm and its clients. "What drew us to Corient was its partnership model - the only one of its kind in wealth management - and the collaboration it fosters across the organization," Petersen said, while also highlighting Corient's "culture of shared ownership" and its "extensive capabilities, deep resources and global scale to deliver an even better experience to sophisticated clients." Ardea Partners LP is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Summit Trail, while Seward & Kissel LLP was its legal counsel for the deal. Goldman Sachs is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Corient, which tapped Sidley Austin LLP as legal counsel. A firm built from a Barclays breakaway. Summit Trail was founded by Petersen along with Dave Romhilt, Tom Palecek, John Scarborough and Peter Lee, several of them former Barclays advisors who went independent after Barclays sold its U.S. wealth management unit to Stifel Financial in 2015. The firm has since grown to more than 100 employees across 10 U.S. cities, including New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Seattle, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Newport Beach, California, and Portland, Oregon. Last year in May, the firm brought in Jeff Ringdahl, a 14-year veteran of Resolute Investment Managers, as president and chief operating officer to help institutionalize its operating structure as it scaled its family office and estate planning offerings. That appointment proved short-lived as Ringdahl was hired away to become president at Raymond James Investment Management in December. Upon closing, expected in the third quarter of 2026, Summit Trail's principals will become Corient partners. Corient, established in 2020, operates under a client-first, fee-transparent model built on a private partnership structure similar to those used by leading professional services firms - a design meant to give clients access to the full breadth of the firm's expertise rather than depending on a single advisor. The firm has grown to more than 300 partners and over 2,700 employees managing approximately $556 billion globally on behalf of ultra-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals, families and businesses. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Part of a broader dealmaking spree. The Summit Trail deal is the latest in a string of transactions for Corient this year. Last month, the firm added Seven Bridges Advisors, a $5 billion New York multi-family office serving entrepreneurs and tech executives. In May, Corient entered Oklahoma with its acquisition of Capital Advisors, a Tulsa-based RIA managing $7.8 billion in assets, and the firm has separately moved to expand its footprint overseas through acquisitions in the U.K. and France. Corient's expansion is playing out against a backdrop of record industry-wide consolidation. DeVoe & Company's most recent RIA M&A Deal Book found that the first half of 2026 produced 167 transactions industrywide, surpassing the prior first-half record of 148 deals set the previous year, with Corient ranking among the ten most acquisitive firms tracked in the report. Echelon Partners' 2025 RIA M&A Deal Report separately credited the firm with seven transactions in the $1 billion-plus deal segment.

Hartford-Equitable deal signals carrier race for SME benefits scale. Two carrier acquisitions in 30 days show where the competition for small and midsize employer benefits is heading. The Hartford has agreed to acquire Equitable's employee benefits business in a transaction covering approximately $500 million in premium, the Connecticut-based insurer announced. The deal is the second major carrier acquisition in the small and midsize employer benefits market within a month. Equitable's employee benefits portfolio spans group life, disability, paid family and medical leave, supplemental health, dental, and vision products. The roughly 300 employees who support the business will join The Hartford at closing, expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction advances The Hartford's strategy of expanding in what it calls its priority business segment, targeting employers with under 500 lives. The Hartford's 2025 Future of Benefits Study found seven in 10 employers believe they should offer additional benefits to remain competitive in the small and midsize market. Technology drives the deal rationale. The Hartford cited Equitable's employee benefits technology as a material part of the acquisition rationale. The platform offers unified digital capabilities and real-time API integrations designed to streamline enrollment and administration for employers, employees, and brokers. Mike Fish, head of employee benefits at The Hartford, said the technology would make it easier for small and midsize business customers to access and manage their benefits. Fish's comments signal that the deal is as much about platform capability as it is about premium volume. That direction is consistent with how other carriers are competing in the segment. Principal Financial Group announced an agreement in July to acquire Beam Benefits, a cloud-native dental, vision, and ancillary benefits platform serving more than 25,000 small businesses with approximately $175 million in premiums. It cited similar rationale around digital distribution and scale. Scale shifts the conversation. For brokers with clients placed on Equitable's group benefits products, the transaction represents a carrier transition. The Hartford said the two companies will work together to support mutual customers through the closing process. For brokers distributing through The Hartford, the acquisition adds product lines, premium volume, and a technology platform in a segment under active consolidation. Employee benefits agencies focused on the SME market are the highest-multiple insurance category in M&A, trading at 9 to 12 times EBITDA according to CT Acquisitions, a signal of sustained capital interest in the segment from carriers and brokers alike. (AC) Rothschild & Co and Sidley Austin LLP advised The Hartford. J.P. Morgan and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP advised Equitable.