By Sara Merken

Feb 9 (Reuters) - The leaders of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft’s global litigation group have departed the law firm for rival Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo ahead of Cadwalader’s planned merger with Hogan Lovells, citing client conflicts.

Mintz said on Monday that Cadwalader litigation co-chairs Philip Iovieno and Nicholas Gravante joined the firm as partners in New York alongside former Cadwalader partners Sean O’Shea, Michael Petrella and Matthew Karlan.

Iovieno said Cadwalader’s upcoming merger with global firm Hogan Lovells prompted the team’s move. The lawyers represent a group of companies that are the plaintiffs in antitrust cases involving alleged price-fixing of meat products, and Hogan Lovells represents one of the defendants in two of the cases, presenting a conflict, he said.

Cadwalader, Wall Street's oldest law firm, and Hogan Lovells said in December that they agreed to merge, creating a firm with $3.6 billion in annual revenue. The proposed deal is subject to a partnership vote.

“While we have been very pleased with the minimal conflicts arising from our planned merger, we expected that a few would be inevitable in the process of creating a global firm with more than 3,100 lawyers,” a Cadwalader spokesperson said in a statement. Hogan Lovells declined to comment.

Gravante and Iovieno joined Cadwalader in 2021 from Boies Schiller Flexner, where Gravante served as co-managing partner. O’Shea and Petrella also previously worked at Boies Schiller, while Karlan joined Cadwalader from Cleary Gottlieb, according to their LinkedIn accounts.

Iovieno will co-lead Boston-founded Mintz’s antitrust practice. His clients have included BJ’s Wholesale Club, DuPont and Philip Morris, according to Mintz’s website. Gravante's clients have included Texaco, Authentic Brands Group and former AIG chief executive Maurice “Hank” Greenberg.

(Reporting by Sara Merken in New York)