September 10, 2015

LOS ANGELES DAILY JOURNAL
By Deirdre Newman

ORANGE COUNTY – Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP snagged M&A partner Deepak Nanda from Foley & Lardner LLP’s Los Angeles office, where he served as managing partner, the firm announced Wednesday.

Nanda will join Gibson Dunn in its Orange County office. As an attorney with an international book of business, Nanda said he was seeking a well-developed international platform and Gibson Dunn fit the bill.

“Gibson Dunn is regarded by clients as one of the premier law firms in the world,” he said. “Their significant depth, on top of their reputation, in key markets including New York, London and Hong Kong, support the ability of clients to affect business internationally, so this was the right fit for me and my clients.”

Legal recruiter Larry Watanabe of Watanabe Nason LLC, who brokered the move, called Nanda, 45, “a young corporate star.” Watanabe also noted how rare it is for Gibson Dunn to make lateral partner hires, especially in California. “The firm is incredibly profitable and firmly positioned,” Watanabe said. “They are extremely selective in their lateral efforts.”

Jeffrey H. Reeves, partner-in-charge of Gibson Dunn in Irvine, said hiring lateral partners is especially rare for the firm in Orange County, as Nanda is only the fourth lateral partner hire in the office’s 51-year history.

Reeves lauded Nanda’s international reach and credibility, pointing out that he has clients in half a dozen or more countries around the world.

“Orange County is populated with dozens of international, publicly-traded companies, as well as privately-held corporations, that can benefit from his expertise,” he said.

Nanda joined Foley & Lardner in 2000 and became managing partner of the Los Angeles office in 2010. One of his most significant transactions there in the past year was leading a team that did a series of acquisitions across Central and South America for the Italian medical device company Sorin Group. Nanda’s expertise with the medical device industry and international experience was instrumental to the deals, he said.

Stanley S. Jaspan, managing partner of the global Foley firm, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.