Kirkland & Ellis’s hire of two rising stars from Freshfields last week marks a changing of the guard in the US law firm’s London private equity team.

Keir MacLennan and Vincent Bergin’s hires from Freshfields were announced by the firm on 11 October, in Kirkland’s latest raid on the Magic Circle law firm’s private equity ranks. The pair join Kirkland as full share partners at the bottom of the firm’s equity ladder, which starts north of $2m according to two people familiar with the matter.