O’Melveny private funds exodus continues

O’Melveny & Myers‘ private equity funds group has lost two more members, including the chair of its investment funds practice.

Partner John Daghlian and counsel Mary Lavelle are joining Akin Gump as partners, according to a statement from the Washington, DC-headquartered firm. They reunite with former O’Melveny colleagues Daniel Quinn and Aleks Bakic, who joined Akin Gump in March.

O’Melveny is merging with London-headquartered Allen & Overy.

The firm’s London funds team now has eight partners across private equity and hedge funds, said Prakash Mehta, co-head of Akin Gump’s investment management practice.

Private funds group chair Daghlian has nearly three decades of experience in private equity and extensive experience in secondaries, the statement noted. He has advised on private equity spin-outs from financial institutions and led the first $1 billion European secondaries deal.

Mary Lavelle was featured in Secondaries Investor‘s Young Guns Class of 2018 ranking of the most impressive secondaries professionals under 35. She was praised for her work with Coller Capital, for which she acted on 35 deals.

Akin Gump advised on around $2 billion worth of secondaries deals that closed last year, according to Secondaries Investor‘s April law firm survey. Among these were two single-asset restructurings and one preferred equity deal.