The New York law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft announced that 9 attorneys have been elected to the firm’s partnership, effective January 1, 2022. In addition, the firm promoted 23 attorneys to special counsel and counsel, creating the largest partner, special counsel and counsel promotion class in 15 years.
Cadwalader is one of the top financial services law firms, serving financial institutions, funds, Fortune 500 companies and other leading corporations, and individual private clients
“This is another exceptional group of new partners, along with our special counsel and counsel,” said Pat Quinn, Cadwalader’s Managing Partner. “Each has demonstrated the ability to serve as a trusted business advisor to our clients and has led or contributed to numerous complex and high-profile matters.”
“The size of this promotion class represents not only the exceptional work that these and all of our attorneys have been doing on behalf of our clients but our continued confidence in our firm’s growth and success today and in the years to come,” he added.
The firm’s new partners are as follows:
Nicholas Brandfon, Finance, New York – Brandfon’s practice is concentrated in the area of real estate finance. He represents clients in a variety of transactions, including the origination of mortgage and mezzanine loans, construction loans, syndication, and loan restructuring. His experience spans many segments of the marketplace, such as office, hotel, condominium and retail properties. Brandfon received his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law and his B.A. from Williams College.
Erica Hogan, Corporate, New York – Hogan’s practice is concentrated in the area of corporate law, with an emphasis on securities law, public company reporting, general corporate advisory and corporate governance. She represents public and private companies, underwriters and investment managers in a broad range of complex transactional matters, including initial public offerings, secondary offerings, tender offers, securities reporting and compliance matters and other corporate transactions. Hogan received her J.D., with high honors, Order of the Coif, from The George Washington University Law School and her B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame.
Sabah Nawaz, Capital Markets, London – Nawaz focuses on advising banks, funds, sponsors and corporate borrowers on a wide range of cross-border and esoteric structured finance, asset-backed securitization, debt capital markets, refinancing and restructuring transactions, including, CMBS, CRE CLOs and CRE warehouse financings. She received an LPC from Nottingham Law School and an LL.B. from the University of Liverpool.
Nick Ramphal, Corporate, New York – Ramphal’s practice focuses on U.S. and cross-border acquisitions of both public and private companies, leveraged buyouts, takeover and defense preparedness and proxy contests, as well as corporate governance, securities, corporate finance and general corporate representations. He regularly advises a broad array of clients, including public companies, private equity firms, financial institutions and investment funds, in some of their most significant and complex transactions. Ramphal holds an LL.M. in corporate law from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D. from the RAND Corporation, and received his LL.B., summa cum laude, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
Catherine Richardson, Tax, London – Richardson advises clients on all aspects of UK and international tax (both direct tax and indirect tax) and has experience advising on a variety of different types of corporate M&A transactions, international capital markets transactions and general banking and finance matters. She received Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws degrees (BCom/LL.B.) from the University of Queensland, Australia and an MSc in Taxation at Oxford University.
Adam Risell, Capital Markets, Washington, DC – Risell represents issuers, underwriters and commercial banks in CLOs and securitization finance facilities backed by pools of middle market loans, broadly syndicated corporate loans, student loans, equipment leases and asset-backed securities. His practice also involves structuring and organizing onshore and offshore hedge funds and other investment vehicles, developing, negotiating and documenting a wide variety of financial products, and providing advice to clients with respect to compliance with securities laws and regulations. Risell received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and his B.S. from Lehigh University.
Casey Servais, Financial Restructuring, New York – Servais’ practice is concentrated in the areas of bankruptcy litigation, distressed municipal finance, and financial restructuring. He has represented creditors in many of the major Chapter 11 and municipal bankruptcy cases of recent years and is also experienced at representing counterparties to swaps and other derivatives contracts. Servais received his J.D. from Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, a Ph.D. from Cornell University and a B.A. from the University of Chicago.
Kevin Sholette, Finance, Charlotte – Sholette’s practice is concentrated in the areas of real estate finance and securitization. He primarily represents financial institutions in connection with the origination of mortgage loans secured by commercial office buildings, retail properties, hotels, warehouses and multifamily housing, including multi-state, multi-property pooled transactions. He also has experience in the origination of mezzanine loans, the servicing, syndication and sale of mortgage and mezzanine loans, and repurchase facilities. Sholette received his J.D., cum laude, from Cornell Law School and his B.S. from Ithaca College.
Taylor Speers, Capital Markets, Washington, DC – Speers’ practice focuses on the residential mortgage space, representing clients with respect to purchases and sales of mortgage servicing rights, purchases and sales of whole loans, repurchase and other warehouse financing facilities (including those collateralized by mortgage servicing rights, as well as residential and consumer loan assets), servicing advance facilities, servicing and origination platform acquisitions, acquisitions of excess servicing strips and other related matters. He regularly advises on residential mortgage loan financing, agency residential mortgage servicing rights financing, and securitizations of Ginnie Mae and Fannie Mae mortgage servicing rights. Speers received his J.D. from Cornell Law School and a B.S., summa cum laude, from Oklahoma State University.
The following attorneys have been promoted to Special Counsel and Counsel:
Dante Amenta, Counsel, Capital Markets, New York – Amenta’s practice is concentrated in the area of structured finance, with an emphasis on commercial mortgage-backed and CRE CLO securitization transactions. He represents financial institutions in both public and private offerings of mortgage-backed securities and other structured finance products. Amenta received his J.D. from the George Washington University Law School, a M.T.S. from Harvard University and a B.A. from Wheaton College.
Douglas Arborio, Special Counsel, Capital Markets, Charlotte – Arborio’s practice is concentrated in the area of structured finance, with an emphasis on representing issuers, underwriters and mortgage loan sellers in public and private commercial mortgage-backed securitization transactions. He received his J.D. from Emory University School of Law and his B.B.A. from Emory University.
Cassandra Best, Special Counsel, Finance, New York – Best’s practice is concentrated in the area of fund finance, and she represents banks and financial institutions as lenders in structuring, negotiating and documenting subscription credit facilities for private equity funds. She received her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School and her B.A. from Westminster College.
Patrick Calves, Special Counsel, Financial Services, New York – Calves counsels clients on a variety of bilateral and syndicated financing structures, including term loans, liquidity lines, NAV facilities, subscription facilities, hybrid facilities, margin loans and repurchase, securities lending and prime brokerage facilities. He received his J.D. from Columbia Law School and his B.A. from Muhlenberg College.
Tyler Carson, Special Counsel, Corporate, New York – Carson’s practice is concentrated in the area of corporate law, advising clients on mergers and acquisitions, private equity and capital markets transactions, representing both public and private companies, financial sponsors and investment managers. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and his B.A. from Yale University.
Danyeale Chung, Special Counsel, Finance, Charlotte – Chung’s practice is concentrated in the area of fund finance, and she represents lenders in structuring, negotiating and documenting credit facilities. Chung received her J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law and her B.A. from the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
Avis Edwards, Counsel, Capital Markets, Charlotte – Edwards’ practice is concentrated in the area of structured finance, with an emphasis on commercial mortgage-backed securitization transactions. She represents financial institutions as mortgage loan sellers in public and private CMBS transactions. Edwards received her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and her B.S. from Pepperdine University.
Kate Foreman, Special Counsel, Capital Markets, New York – Foreman primarily represents issuers, underwriters and loan sellers in commercial mortgage-backed securitization transactions, and she also has experience in non-CMBS transactions, including pharmaceutical royalty financing transactions. Foreman received her J.D. from University of Chicago Law School and a B.A. from Northwestern University.
Emma Gallagher, Counsel, Capital Markets, London – Gallagher has acted on a wide range of debt capital markets and cross-border structured finance transactions. She received B.A. and LL.B. degrees from Victoria University of Wellington, Australia.
Duncan Grieve, Special Counsel, Global Litigation, London – Grieve advises a range of organizations, including multinationals, both on internal corporate investigations and during investigation or prosecution by regulatory bodies such as the Serious Fraud Office, the Financial Conduct Authority, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He earned his GDL and LPC from BPP Law School, Manchester and his B.A. from University of York.
Mark Highman, Counsel, Financial Services, New York – Highman focuses on the regulation of broker-dealers, investment advisers, commodity pool operators and commodity trading advisors. He provides guidance on regulatory issues, develops compliance and supervisory procedures, assists clients in responding to regulatory inquiries, and advises on commodity pool issues applicable to structured investment products. Highman received his LL.M., magna cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law and an M.A. from The Queen’s College, Oxford University.
Molly Lovedale, Special Counsel, Finance, Charlotte – Lovedale primarily represents financial institutions in connection with the origination of mortgage loans secured by commercial office buildings, retail properties, hotels, warehouses, and multifamily housing, including many multi-state, multi-property pooled transactions. She received her J.D., summa cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and a B.A., cum laude, from Davidson College.
Michael Lynch, Special Counsel, Finance, Charlotte – Lynch’s practice focuses on leveraged finance and other bank loan transactions, including asset-based lending, commodities financings, hedge fund financings and acquisition financings. He received his J.D. from the University of Southern California and his B.A., cum laude, from Dartmouth College.
Jefferson Mabrito, Special Counsel, Capital Markets, Charlotte – Mabrito represents banks and other financial institutions in matters relating to master repurchase agreements, fund finance and other secured lending transactions. He received an LL.M. from The University of Edinburgh, a J.D. from The University of Texas at Austin School of Law and a B.A. from Southern Methodist University.
Matthew McManus, Special Counsel, Finance, New York – McManus’s practice is focused on the area of real estate finance, and he represents global investment banks and other large financial institutions in the origination of complex mortgage and mezzanine debt, loan acquisitions, construction loans, loan modifications and related secondary market transactions. He received his J.D. from Emory University School of Law and his B.A. from Vanderbilt University.
Katie McShane, Special Counsel, Finance, New York – McShane represents major banks and financial institutions in the structuring, negotiation and documentation of subscription credit facilities. She also has experience representing investment banks and private equity groups in their role as issuer, underwriter and mortgage loan seller in both public and private securities offerings. McShane received a Bachelor of Business and Law from University College Dublin, Ireland, and a Masters in Finance from The Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business, Ireland.
Christopher Montgomery, Special Counsel, Finance, Charlotte – Montgomery represents lenders and lead agents in fund finance transactions to private equity and other funds. His practice focuses on the due diligence, structuring, negotiation and documentation of both bilateral and syndicated subscription credit facilities. Montgomery received his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and a B.A. and M.A. from Washington University.
Mathan Navaratnam, Special Counsel, Finance, London – Navaratnam is a member of the fund finance practice, advising banks and fund managers regarding cross-border debt financing solutions and structures involving various types of investment funds, including private equity, secondary, real estate, credit and fund of funds. He graduated from the University of Leeds with LL.B. (Hons).
Andrea Nixon, Special Counsel, Capital Markets, New York – Nixon represents financial institutions and other capital market participants in repurchase, warehousing, financing and other secured lending facilities backed by residential, commercial and multifamily mortgage loans, single-family rental properties, servicing rights, student loans and other asset classes. She received her J.D. from William & Mary Law School and her B.S. from Cornell University.
Michael Powell, Special Counsel, Global Litigation, New York – Powell handles patent litigation in a variety of technology areas, including medical devices, wireless telecommunications, consumer products, and computer hardware and software. He also counsels clients with respect to IP licensing and transactions, offensive and defensive patent analyses, standards essential patents, and invalidity and noninfringement opinions. Powell earned his J.D., cum laude, from New York University School of Law and his B.A. from University of California, Berkeley.
Matthew Stempler, Special Counsel, Finance, Charlotte – Stempler’s practice involves the representation of commercial banks, investment banks, hedge funds and other financial institutions in a variety of financing transactions, including syndicated finance, commodities finance and sales and purchases of distressed bank debt in the secondary loan trading market. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and his B.A., cum laude, from the University of Richmond.
Skyler Walker, Special Counsel, Capital Markets, Charlotte – Walker represents investment banks and other institutional lenders and underwriters in secured commercial lending transactions (both syndicated and bilateral) and CLOs. She also represents financial institutions as lenders and lead agents in subscription credit facilities. Walker received her J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law and her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Joseph Zeidner, Special Counsel, Finance, Charlotte – Zeidner’s practice focuses on a broad range of fund finance transactions at all levels of the capital structure and every phase of a fund’s existence. He represents major U.S. and foreign banks and other financial institutions as agents, lead arrangers and lenders in structuring, negotiating and documenting subscription credit and capital call facilities, as well as NAV-based, hybrid and other nontraditional facilities and lending arrangements. Zeidner received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Drexel University’s Kline School of Law, his M.B.A., summa cum laude, from Drexel University and his B.S. from Duke University.
