Key Takeaways
- • Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough recruited a three-partner team from Arnall Golden Gregory, with Jeff Friedman and Matt Brohm joining the Atlanta office and Damon McLean joining Raleigh, to strengthen private equity and portfolio company representation capabilities.
- • The incoming team specializes in representing private equity sponsors and portfolio companies across manufacturing, consumer products, and business services, with particular healthcare industry expertise through Brohm's 15+ years of sector experience.
- • Nelson Mullins positioned the hire as a strategic expansion of its M&A and investment management practices, which the firm identifies as core growth areas, with leadership noting private equity has become an increasingly significant focus within the M&A practice.
- • Corporate practice group chair Doug Spear characterized the integration as "plug and play," indicating the teams perform comparable work and can operate seamlessly within Nelson Mullins' existing infrastructure and client relationships.
- • The firm signaled plans to replicate this model across its national footprint, leveraging the recruited team's addition to accelerate growth in both sponsor representation and add-on acquisition work for portfolio companies.
Summary
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, an Am Law 100 firm, completed a lateral partner hire on September 15, 2026, recruiting three partners from Arnall Golden Gregory to expand its private equity and portfolio company practice. The move brings Jeff Friedman and Matt Brohm to Nelson Mullins' Atlanta office and Damon McLean to its Raleigh location, representing a deliberate expansion of the firm's capabilities in sponsor and portfolio company representation.
The incoming team brings specialized experience representing private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies across multiple sectors, including manufacturing, consumer products, and business services. Brohm's practice carries particular depth in healthcare, built on more than 15 years of industry experience, positioning Nelson Mullins to serve buyout sponsors with sector-specific M&A and operational support. According to a firm spokesperson, the lateral move grants the three partners "access to a national platform" unavailable within their previous firm structure.
Doug Spear, chair of Nelson Mullins' corporate practice group, emphasized the operational seamlessness of the integration, stating the incoming partners "do the same thing we do, so it's pretty much 'plug and play.'" Michael Hollingsworth, co-chair of the firm's mergers & acquisitions and investment management groups, characterized private equity as a strategic priority and noted that the practice has grown into a "flywheel" for the M&A group over recent years. Hollingsworth specifically highlighted Nelson Mullins' existing strength in representing funds on platform acquisitions and providing portfolio companies with comprehensive service offerings, including add-on transaction work.
The hire reflects Nelson Mullins' deliberate effort to deepen its institutional private equity capabilities. Hollingsworth indicated the firm views this lateral team as a replicable model for expansion across multiple markets within its geographic footprint, suggesting additional geographic hires may follow to scale private equity practice capacity nationwide.
The incoming team brings specialized experience representing private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies across multiple sectors, including manufacturing, consumer products, and business services. Brohm's practice carries particular depth in healthcare, built on more than 15 years of industry experience, positioning Nelson Mullins to serve buyout sponsors with sector-specific M&A and operational support. According to a firm spokesperson, the lateral move grants the three partners "access to a national platform" unavailable within their previous firm structure.
Doug Spear, chair of Nelson Mullins' corporate practice group, emphasized the operational seamlessness of the integration, stating the incoming partners "do the same thing we do, so it's pretty much 'plug and play.'" Michael Hollingsworth, co-chair of the firm's mergers & acquisitions and investment management groups, characterized private equity as a strategic priority and noted that the practice has grown into a "flywheel" for the M&A group over recent years. Hollingsworth specifically highlighted Nelson Mullins' existing strength in representing funds on platform acquisitions and providing portfolio companies with comprehensive service offerings, including add-on transaction work.
The hire reflects Nelson Mullins' deliberate effort to deepen its institutional private equity capabilities. Hollingsworth indicated the firm views this lateral team as a replicable model for expansion across multiple markets within its geographic footprint, suggesting additional geographic hires may follow to scale private equity practice capacity nationwide.
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