- United States
- Lateral moves
- New York
- Disputes
An 11-lawyer complex commercial litigation team led by Sheron Korpus has left Kasowitz for Choate Hall & Stewart's New York office, the New York Law Journal reported on 1 October. Korpus, a Kasowitz litigation partner of more than 20 years, is now co-head of business and financial litigation at Choate.
The group is sizeable. Choate said it brings six partners, including Korpus, Seth Davis, Seth Moskowitz, Andrew Schwartz, Jordan Beltz and Sarah Gibbs Leivick, counsel David Max and Alycia Regan Benenati, and associates Elliott Wolf, Emily Lowe and Daniel Furey. The team's matters include the antitrust case Comcast Corp. v. Behrend at the U.S. Supreme Court and a $420 million Teva Pharmaceuticals securities settlement.
Choate breaks a 120-year single-office Boston model for New York
Choate built its reputation on staying small. The firm has run a single-office Boston model for more than 120 years, cutting its practice areas from about 30 to five and concentrating on complex trial litigation, private equity and M&A, and financing and restructuring. That discipline produced figures Mestel reported as profit per equity partner of roughly $2.3 million and 184 percent revenue growth.
A standing New York litigation team is a departure from that model. Choate framed the hire as "accelerating its growth in New York," with co-managing partner Rob Kole citing the team's record on consequential litigation and Korpus calling the firm's transactional strength "a natural fit."
Kasowitz loses another New York litigation group after a year of exits
The Korpus departure follows a run of senior losses. Kasowitz Benson Torres shortened its name to Kasowitz LLP in June 2025 after co-founder Dan Benson left, amid broader senior attrition addressed by Marc Kasowitz, who told Law.com the firm had "experienced some attrition — all law firms do."
Other litigators have gone in different directions. New York boutique Pallas Partners hired Kasowitz partners Michael Hanin and Jill Forster; litigation partner Jonathan Algor moved to Lowenstein Sandler's New York office; and Herschmann, Bowen and Benson launched their own firm. The exits sit alongside litigation over the firm's finances: a December 2025 suit by Eric Herschmann alleged mismanagement, falling profits and undisclosed debt taken on to fund partner distributions, and a second former partner sued in late December.
Litigation led Am Law 200 lateral hiring through 2026
The work the team carries is the most contested in the market. Litigation led Am Law 200 lateral partner hiring in the first quarter of 2026, with 388 litigation-focused partners hired, and again in the second quarter with 286. New York recorded 358 lateral partner moves in the first half of 2026, its highest first-half volume yet and a third consecutive first-half of growth.
The team's book sits squarely in that demand: securities and antitrust class actions, structured finance and lender liability disputes, real estate finance litigation and internal investigations. Choate says the hire lets it offer a "single, integrated team" pairing that litigation with its private equity and finance transactional work, a pitch aimed at sponsors, funds, lenders and boards.
Hiring in the senior ranks is largely firm-to-firm across the US lateral market. Sixty percent of first-quarter Am Law 200 lateral hires came from within the Am Law 200, with New York the busiest at 203 hires.
Choate's break with its Boston model lands in 2026's busiest practice
A litigation team that Choate valued enough to break a century of single-office practice came from a firm managing public disputes over its finances and a steady outflow of partners. The group's work falls in the practice leading lateral hiring across 2026, in the market absorbing the most lateral movement. The move pairs Choate's transactional base with litigation strength in the city where that competition is sharpest.
