The Am Law Daily (February 3, 2015) - DLA Piper has been active on the lateral hiring front this year, but the global legal giant saw three finance lawyers leave its robust ranks this week for Clifford Chance and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.

Also on the move are DLA Piper project finance partner Nicolai Sarad and of counsel Fernando Rodriguez-Marin, who have joined Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman as partners in New York. Both lawyers had been at DLA Piper for more than a decade, where they represented developers, financial institutions, investors and government agencies on project development and finance matters.

Sarad cites Pillsbury’s international expertise in the energy and infrastructure space—the firm picked up two partners in the space from Dewey & LeBoeuf in 2012 and brought on two more partners in Tokyo last year—as complementing his practice. Sarad, who says he was advised by Cathy Michaelson of New York based legal recruiting firm Michaelson Associates on his move from DLA Piper, also praises Pillsbury for its lenders’ side finance and debt capital markets and tax work.