Sullivan & Cromwell has hired Patrick Clancy, a former Shearman & Sterling partner, as counsel in London to strengthen its derivatives and structured finance offering. Clancy spent almost 20 years as a partner at legacy firm Shearman & Sterling. While his long-term platform was Shearman, his move to Sullivan & Cromwell is effectively from A&O Shearman as most recently, he worked as a consultant through Peerpoint, the A&O Shearman consultancy arm. In his new role, Clancy will look to advise a broad client base including financial institutions, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds, investment funds, private equity sponsors and managers, corporates, and financial infrastructure providers. According to the firm’s website, Sullivan & Cromwell now has 88 lawyers in its London office, ahead of New York rival Davis Polk & Wardwell, which lists 80. The news comes at an expansive time for the firm, which is also launching an office in Houston, Texas, Law.com revealed on Thursday. Clancy’s hire is the latest in a series of additions as Sullivan & Cromwell continues to build out its London presence. In September, the firm announced the arrival of restructuring partner Kon Asimacopoulos, who joined from Kirkland & Ellis after nearly two decades. Asimacopoulos became office co-head and co-head of restructuring alongside Mike Francies, who retired in early 2024. Asimacopoulos now serves as U.K. co-head together with John Horsfield-Bradbury. The firm has also made a number of associate hires, predominantly within its financial services group. Three new associates joined from A&O Shearman in October, having previously worked as part of London financial services partner Barnabas Reynolds’ team at Shearman & Sterling. Commenting on Clancy’s appointment, Reynolds said: “I have worked with Patrick for many years. He is one of the leading experts in his field, especially on the most innovative structured finance transactions.” Sullivan & Cromwell said its financial services practice advises financial institutions—both U.S. and non-U.S.—as well as fintech and other startups and industry groups. The team works across areas including mergers and acquisitions, bank regulation, capital markets, digital assets and fintech, economic sanctions and financial crime, commodities, futures and derivatives, consumer finance, and investigations and litigation. In December, the firm also hired private equity partner Aprajita Dhundia and tax partner Ian Fereira from Kirkland & Ellis. In a September interview with Law.com, firm leaders said they aim to grow Sullivan & Cromwell’s London office broadly in line with New York, while not seeking to expand at the same scale or pace as some competitors, including Kirkland & Ellis. A&O Shearman declined to comment.