In a move that further strengthens its asset-backed finance and complex securitization offering, Paul Hastings LLP announced that premier structured finance lawyer Brian Maher has joined as a partner in London.
Maher advises banks, credit funds, and private equity firms on a broad range of structured finance matters, including all forms of securitization and asset-based lending, CLOs, performing and non-performing loan portfolio acquisitions and financings, development loans, restructurings, warehouse facilities, and secured loan transactions. He joins from Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.
“Brian is an elite structured finance lawyer with a synergistic practice that bolsters our expanding asset-backed financing and capital markets securitization capabilities,” said firm Chair Frank Lopez. “His arrival adds further strength to our top-of-market finance platform and enhances our capacity to handle complex alternative financing transactions for our clients.”
Maher regularly advises prominent funds and financial institutions including Apollo, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Haydock Finance, and Redding Ridge on various bespoke asset-backed finance transactions. He reunites on the Paul Hastings platform with former Weil structured finance colleague and co-chair of the Paul Hastings asset-backed finance practice, Shawn Kodes, a go-to counsel for large asset manager clients such as Apollo, Blackstone, Carlyle, Group 1001, and Libremax Capital, who joined the firm in New York in April alongside partner Matthew Nemeth.
“Paul Hastings is a major force in the global structured credit market. This is an incredible opportunity to bring my highly complementary practice to the Paul Hastings platform, collaborating with colleagues to continue building our premier offerings in asset-backed finance, securitization, derivatives, and related financial products,” said Maher, an IFLR1000 UK “Rising Star” for Structured Finance and Securitization and Legal 500 “leading individual” for Securitization.
The Paul Hastings structured credit practice excels in securitization and other asset-backed and specialty finance products, including CLOs, for which it is Chambers Band 1-ranked.
In addition to Kodes and Nemeth, in 2023 the firm also added structured credit partners Nicholas Robinson and Tracy Feng, and derivatives partner Jaime Madell, all in New York, and, in 2022, derivatives partner Jason Brooks in London. Last year, the London group advised CVC Credit in the establishment of its largest yet CLO equity fund, one of the largest fundraisings of its kind globally.
Paul Hastings is posting yet another year of strong financial performance, including in its London office, which had a record Q1 FY24, driven by the premier talent added across several practices, including restructuring partners Helena Potts from Shearman & Sterling LLP, and William Needham, KKR & Co., Inc.’s former European head of restructuring, top-ranked infrastructure and energy partners Jessamy Gallagher and Stuart Rowson from Linklaters LLP, ESG partner Ruth Knox from Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and esteemed litigation duo, Stuart Alford KC and Oliver Browne from Latham & Watkins LLP, among others.
This news story was originally published on the firm’s website.