Boies Schiller Flexner has hired a pair of bankruptcy lawyers to gear up for an expected rise in bankruptcies and litigation as the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic becomes more severe.

Lawrence Brandman and Neil Pigott join as partners and will be based in New York and London respectively. Brandman arrives from Lehman Brothers Holdings, where he was head of bankruptcy strategy for derivatives, while Pigott returns to Boies Schiller following a stint at Nomura working on distressed special situations.

Nick Gravante and Natasha Harrison, the firm’s co-managing partners, said in a joint statement: “We identified bankruptcy as a key practice area for the firm last year, and this has become even more important since the pandemic struck in March. Larry and Neil are exactly the right lawyers to help us meet this challenge.”

Brandman and Pigott’s arrival comes as yet another Boies Schiller lawyer departs for King & Spalding. Antitrust partner and former Boies Schiller US executive committee member Robert Cooper is the latest senior figure to leave the firm. It follows the exit last month of Damien Marshall, a former member of the firm’s four-person management committee, who was joined by partners Andrew Michaelson, Leigh Nathanson and Laura Harris. Around 20 lawyers have made the switch since April.

Brandman’s appointment marks a return to private practice after nearly three decades in the banking sector. Before his time at Lehman Brothers—where he spent 10 years helping unwind the bank’s derivatives book after the financial crisis—he served for nine years at Goldman Sachs and eight at Credit Suisse First Boston. He started his career as an associate at Shearman & Sterling.

Gravante said: “Larry is an exceptional lawyer. His experience will be invaluable to our clients as they navigate the fallout from the coronavirus, whatever that might be.”

Pigott returns for his second spell at Boies Schiller having previously spent 18 months as counsel in the firm’s London office between 2017 and 2018. Prior to that he had spells in-house at BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley, as well as in private practice at Brown Rudnick, Mandel Katz & Brosnan, Shearman & Sterling, and Allen & Overy.

Harrison said: “I had the pleasure of working with Neil when he was at the firm in 2017 and 2018, and he embodies the best-in-class lawyer who can serve our clients’ needs at the highest level in what are likely to be turbulent times.”