Fried Frank Poaches Willkie Restructuring Chief in New York (1)

Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson is picking up a trio of partners from Willkie Farr & Gallagher, including restructuring department chair Rachel Strickland.

Strickland is joining Fried Frank as the new global chair of its restructuring practice, along with partners Daniel Forman and Andrew Mordkoff in New York, the firm announced on Monday.

Strickland works with distressed companies in complex chapter 11 cases and out-of-court restructurings. She’s advised the likes of Clovis Oncology, Inc., Momentive Performance Materials, NanoString Technologies, Inc., Near Intelligence, Rue 21, Adelphia Communications, and others on their restructurings.

She also recently represented Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss—election workers in Fulton County, Georgia—in claims related to Rudolph Giuliani’s bankruptcy case. The pair in December won a $148 million lawsuit against the former New York mayor for promoting conspiracy theories about them.

Fried Frank is also bringing aboard Benjamin Schrag, who will serve as chief operating officer for the restructuring department. Schrag previously served as chief growth officer at financial advisory firm Kroll and was co-founder of bankruptcy claims administrator Prime Clerk. Kroll acquired Prime Clerk in 2019.

“Adding remarkably talented and experienced partners like Rachel, Dan and Andrew to our restructuring team allows us to best serve clients’ most complex restructuring needs,” said Kenneth I. Rosh, Fried Frank chairman and head of the firm’s Private Equity Funds Group in a statement.

Fried Frank has been steadily building out its core practice areas. It picked up Goodwin investment funds partners Amy Johnson and Audra Cohen in New York as well as a three-partner private equity team in London. It also added Monica Thurmond, former deputy co-chair of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison’s corporate department.