Brown Rudnick makes latest Bear Stearns hire

Brown Rudnick has become the latest firm to benefit from a string of departures from fallen banking giant Bear Stearns.

The US firm’s London office has taken on former Bear in-house lawyer Sonya Van de Graaff as a partner in the bankruptcy and corporate restructuring group.

Brown Rudnick has now hired three new partners in London this year. Roger Gregory, former head of private equity at Nabarro, joined the corporate group in May (TheLawyer.com, 6 May), while insolvency partner Louise Verrill joined from Addleshaw Goddard in January (The Lawyer, January 14).

Van de Graaff was a managing director principal at Bear Stearns. She works with hedge funds, banks and corporations that are active in distressed markets.

Brown Rudnick CEO Joseph Ryan said: “Sonya’s broad finance experience, particularly in relation to distressed and insolvent situations, complements the work of our London team.”

Earlier this week, Bingham McCutchen recruited two former Bear Stearns lawyers, Kenneth Kopelman and Gerard Russello, in New York (TheLawyer.com, 3 September).

In June, K&L Gates snared Philip Cedar, a former Bear managing director, in New York (The Lawyer, 16 June).