K&L Gates poaches three-partner team from Sidley

Kradjian was reunited with finance partners Matthew Duncan and Paul Matthews on Monday after the pair left the firm for K&L Gates earlier this summer. The trio worked together while at Sidley and were hired as a team, with different start dates down to notice periods and ongoing client assignments, according to a spokesperson for the firm.

Prior to joining Sidley’s London office in June 2003, Kradjian worked in the firm’s New York office. She was elected to partnership alongside Matthews in 2007, three years after Duncan was elected to partnership in 2004.

K&L Gates has focused heavily on its City finance practice this year. As well as the Sidley trio, the firm named Norton Rose’s senior associate Sean Crosky as finance partner in March.

Tony Griffiths, the administrative partner of K&L Gates’ London office, said in a statement: “The growth of our London commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) structured finance capability has made a significant contribution to the office’s 18 per cent revenue growth over the past two years.”

Overall, the US firm reported gross revenues of $1bn (£636.4m) and average profit per partner of $890,000 for the 2011 financial year.