Paul Hastings has added a veteran partner from Weil Gotshal & Manges to its global finance team in New York. 

Morgan Bale has joined the Los Angeles giant after 24 years at Weil and during his time with the firm has represented clients including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citi in major deals. 

“Morgan is an elite finance lawyer with a superb reputation,” said Paul Hastings chair, Frank Lopez. “He represents a cross-section of leading banks and corporates in the highest profile, most complex finance transactions by some of the most prestigious companies in the world.”

Bale advises clients on acquisition finance and other event-driven lending transactions, encompassing investment-grade, leveraged cash flow and asset-based syndicated credit facilities, as well as loan restructurings, debtor-in-possession financings and exit financings. 

Deals on which Bale has worked include representing Goldman Sachs in connection with CVS Health Corporation’s $78bn acquisition of Aetna; Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse in connection with the $45bn merger of International Flavors & Fragrances with the Nutrition & Biosciences business of DuPont and Citi in connection with Occidental Petroleum Corporation’s $55bn acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum.

His arrival at Paul Hastings follows a string of senior hires in the firm’s finance practice, among them a four-partner team from Latham & Watkins in London in the summer that included Latham's former global banking co-chair and the former co-chairs of its London finance department.

Meantime the firm’s New York office headcount is on track to hit 400 by the end of the year, according to a statement. The office's growth trajectory has been aided by the hire of a three-partner projects and infrastructure team from Shearman & Sterling and the arrival of an 18-partner restructuring team from Stroock & Stroock & Lavan earlier this year. 

The firm also announced the hire of Gibson Dunn’s global M&A co-chair, Eduardo Gallardo, in New York in June, in a move former chair Seth Zachary characterised at the time as an ‘important milestone’ for the practice.

Paul Hastings recorded a 20% increase in global revenue to hit $1.57bn in 2021 against a 20.5% increase in profit-per-equity partner; the positive results were the last set to come out during Zachary’s time at the helm prior to his stepping down in October after seven terms as chair. 

The firm announced toward the end of last year that he was to hand over the reins to Lopez, a leveraged finance partner who previously led the capital markets practice in New York.