Fried Frank faces loss of Deutsche as Kandel leaves

Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson's London office is set to lose Deutsche Bank as a client following the departure of its only UK-qualified banking partner to Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft.
As revealed on www. thelawyer.com/lawyernews, Christopher Kandel, who is joining Cadwalader today (23 September), is also believed to be taking a significant proportion of work from BNP Paribas after completing a number of high-yield deals for the investment bank.
Kandel has had a long relationship with Deutsche Bank, stretching back to the late 1980s when, at O'Melveny & Myers, he acted for Bankers Trust which was subsequently taken over by the German investment house.
Last year it is understood that Deutsche Bank spent approximately $700,000 (£450,000) at Fried Frank's London office. Overall, Kandel is believed to have billed around $4.5m (£2.9m) during 2001.
However, fees from Deutsche Bank could swell significantly at Cadwalader since Stephen Mostyn-Williams, head of London and the international banking and finance practice at the firm, has also acted for the bank for a number of years.
Sanford Kreiger, senior partner of the London office at Fried Frank, said: "We would always hope to keep clients with us and continue to work with them, as I'm sure Chris would hope to continue working with them at his new office. It will be a bit of a horse race."
Following Kandel's departure, Fried Frank's London office will have no UK-qualified partners, despite the firm breaking off its alliance with Simmons & Simmons two years ago in a move to build up its English law capability.
Whether or not Fried Frank will attempt to replace Kandel through making lateral hires is not yet clear, since the firm is still engaged in merger talks with Ashurst Morris Crisp.
Krieger said: "We are keen to have a capability with which to serve our UK clients."
Kandel was unavailable for comment.