Law.com and the Wall Street Journal Law Blog discuss Cravath, Swaine & Moore’s hiring of Richard Levin from Skadden Arps to jump start a Bankruptcy practice. More important, at least for Bankruptcy lawyers, is the expected boost in Chapter 11 cases –

And today, with Chapter 11 filings at multi-year lows, law firms are ramping up their restructuring practices in anticipation of a turn in the cycle. Skadden says it plans to add 24 lawyers to its practice, bringing it to 120. Kirkland & Ellis says it’s boosted its department to 85 lawyers, an increase of 25% from last year. And Weil Gotshal says it expects to add up to a dozen lawyers over the next year; in March, Harvey Miller — one of the pioneers of Big Law bankruptcy work — left investment bank Greenhill & Co. to rejoin Weil.

Hopefully some of the work will trickle down South.

Updated to add: O’Melveny & Myers, LLP announced an expansion of its Bankruptcy practice.

NEW YORK, May 10, 2007 – O’Melveny & Myers LLP announced today that Michael J. Sage, formerly the co-chair of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP’s Financial Restructuring Group, along with fellow former Stroock partners Gerald C. Bender, Doron Lipshitz, and Patricia M. Perez, have joined O’Melveny’s New York office. Michael Sage will be co-head of O’Melveny’s Business Restructuring and Reorganization Group, along with San Francisco-based partner Suzzanne Uhland.