Clifford Chance has hired private equity partner Vince Ferrito in New York from O'Melveny & Myers, the third partner it has recruited from the US firm in the past month as it targets US growth. 

Ferrito's arrival follows private equity partner David Schultz and restructuring partner Matthew Hinker joining the firm in New York last month from O'Melveny, where they had worked closely together. 

His hire continues a concerted recruitment drive by CC in the US, where the firm has made 34 senior lateral hires since the start of last year and now has more than 400 lawyers across New York, Washington DC and the Houston office it opened last year to target energy and infrastructure work. 

The firm does not report its US revenue specifically but said its revenue for the Americas, which includes its 12-lawyer São Paulo office, had grown 28% in the year ending 30 April 2024 and accounted for 15% of its global turnover of £2.3bn.  

For his part, Ferrito has spent the past eight years at O'Melveny, before which he was a corporate associate at Cravath Swaine & Moore. He advises on M&A, joint ventures, restructurings, recapitalisations, minority investments, divestitures and corporate governance matters. As well as representing private equity sponsors and other corporate clients, his prior work includes advising buyers and sellers of sports franchises in professional leagues such as the NFL, NHL and MLS.

Jonny Myers, Clifford Chance's global head of private equity, said: "Vince adds further depth to our US private equity team and reinforces our ability to offer a global perspective on developing private equity trends and issues. His hiring is also part of our strategic and focused plan to further build out our US PE practice."

The firm has also been busy building the Houston office it opened in 2023 to target energy and infrastructure work, adding tax partner Todd Lowther from legacy Shearman & Sterling in May and capital markets lawyer Om Pandya as a partner later in the summer from Latham & Watkins. 

Clifford Chance's hiring drive is part of a wider push for US growth by leading UK firms, including its international Magic Circle rivals like Allen & Overy, which grew its US bench dramatically earlier this year through its merger with Shearman & Sterling to around 650 lawyers. 

That pushed A&O Shearman well past the rest of the Magic Circle in terms of US size, despite their growth efforts, with Freshfields currently boasting a similar number of lawyers in the US as Clifford Chance – around 400 – and Linklaters around 180.