Gibson Dunn Hires Jones Day Real Estate Partner in London as US Firms Continue to Build City Transactional Benches
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has hired a real estate and private equity partner from Jones Day in London, making him the firm's fourth real estate hire in London since the beginning of 2025. The new joiner is Chris Slack, who joins as Gibson Dunn builds on a series of real estate and funds hires in its London office. The hire reflects a sustained campaign by elite US firms to deepen their transactional capability in London across real estate, private equity, and funds. Gibson Dunn's London real estate build-out — four partners in roughly 16 months — is notable for its pace and signals that the firm is positioning its London office to compete for real estate private equity mandates that have historically been the preserve of Magic Circle and established US firms with longer London histories. The broader context is a London lateral hiring market that remains intensely competitive. Kirkland & Ellis made headlines on the same day with its four-partner antitrust team hire from Cleary Gottlieb. Meanwhile, King & Spalding is relocating two international arbitration partners from the US to Singapore, illustrating that elite US firms are simultaneously building London and Asia-Pacific dispute resolution capacity. The pattern points to a structural shift: US firms are no longer treating their London offices as single-practice or referral outposts, but as full-service platforms capable of originating and leading complex multi-jurisdictional transactions independently.
Why this matters
The continued investment by US firms in London transactional practices — particularly real estate and private equity — compresses the talent pool available to UK and Magic Circle firms and intensifies competition for mandates on the largest City deals. Gibson Dunn's four-partner real estate build in 16 months is consistent with a strategy of reaching critical mass quickly rather than growing organically, which is the most effective way to capture mandates from institutional clients. The King & Spalding Singapore arbitration move reflects the same dynamic in disputes: US firms are investing where deal and dispute flow is concentrated, and both London and Singapore are clear priorities. For law students, this competitive intensity at the top of the market creates a more fluid career landscape — with greater lateral movement and higher compensation pressure across all elite firms.
On the Ground
A trainee on a real estate private equity transaction at a firm like Gibson Dunn's London office would assist with cross-border legal opinion coordination, instructing local counsel in the relevant European jurisdictions and reviewing their responses against the agreed form. They would also prepare due diligence summaries on title, planning, and licence conditions for target real estate assets, and assist with Companies House filings on completion.
Interview prep
Soundbite
US firms building four-partner London real estate benches in 16 months are competing for the same mandates as Magic Circle — not just for talent.
Question you might get
“How do US firms building London transactional practices change the competitive dynamics for Magic Circle firms competing for real estate private equity mandates, and what does that mean for client choice of counsel?”
Full answer
Gibson Dunn has hired its fourth London real estate partner since early 2025, adding a Jones Day lateral to a team that is being built at pace as the firm seeks to originate real estate private equity mandates from its London platform. This is part of a well-documented trend of elite US firms deepening City transactional practices beyond their traditional London strengths in leveraged finance and M&A. The 'why now' trigger is a combination of strong deal flow expectations in real estate private equity as rates stabilise, and the availability of senior partner talent following restructuring at competitor firms. For Magic Circle and Silver Circle trainees, this matters because it changes the competitive landscape for the largest mandates — US firms are now pitching for work that UK firms have historically owned, which tightens margins and raises the bar for client service across the board.
Sources
My notes
saved