14 March 2008

Four partners join global finance practice

Leading banking lawyers Maurice Allen and Mike Goetz will be joining international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer as partners in the firm’s international finance practice, the firm announced today. They will be based in London.

‘Maurice and Mike are well regarded in the market as top quality practitioners and dedicated client lawyers, and we are delighted that they will be joining our firm. They will further strengthen our lender capabilities as well as fitting in well with our highly regarded restructuring and insolvency group,’ said Perry Noble, joint leader, global finance group, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

They will be joined by Freshfields’ senior associates Tazim Hall and Alex Mitchell, who have been made banking partners in the latest round of internal appointments, from 1 May.

‘We have set ourselves the ambition of creating first rate banking and restructuring practices in the world’s leading capital markets which complement our market leading FIG, corporate and private equity practices. The addition of Maurice, Mike, Tazim and Alex represent an important milestone on the path to achieving that ambition,’ Perry added.

Profiles

Maurice Allen is a senior figure in the UK banking and finance arena with 25 years experience in the London finance market across a broad range of banking products and sectors. He has vast experience of cutting edge transactions and complex cross border financings, regularly representing major banks across the full range of banking products, including acquisition finance, telecoms financings, structured/illiquid credits, restructuring and workouts.

One of the City’s leading finance lawyers, he currently co-heads the banking and capital markets group in London for US law firm White & Case, as well as the firm’s global bank finance group. Maurice joined White & Case in May 2000 after founding the London office of another leading US law firm. He was previously a partner for eight years at a leading UK law firm.

Maurice has an MA (Jurisprudence) from University College Oxford and was admitted in England and Wales in 1980.

Mike Goetz is one of the leading US-trained banking lawyers in the City. His practice primarily involves representing major commercial banks and investment banks in a variety of complex financing transactions, with an emphasis on leveraged lending, acquisition finance and structured/illiquid credits. He regularly represents leading investment banks and their affiliates in providing senior, second lien, mezzanine and bridge to high yield financings for borrowers operating in a variety of industries.

Mike has been based in London since 2000, after 14 years practising in New York with US firm White & Case, which he joined in 1986. He co-heads White & Case’s banking and capital markets group in London with Maurice Allen, and has extensive experience in the area of reorganisation and bankruptcy-related financing, as well as detailed knowledge of Chapter 11, the US bankruptcy regime.

Mike studied at Ohio State University (BA Photography & Cinema, cum laude) and has a J.D. magna cum laude from Boston University School of Law where he was the article editor of the Law Review 1986. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1988.

Tazim Hall. After graduating from St John’s College, Cambridge, Tazim joined Freshfields’ London office and in 1996 went to New York as a trainee. On her return to London, she qualified into the banking team where she has developed a broad practice gaining experience in a number of different practice areas acting for banks, corporates and private equity sponsors. Tazim now specialises in advising lending banks and financial sponsors, with an emphasis on acquisition and leveraged finance and restructurings.

Alex Mitchell joined Freshfields in 1999 after reading law at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He spent part of his training contract in Freshfields' New York office and qualified into the banking team on his return to London. He has a broad practice acting for the firm’s financial institution, sponsor and corporate clients on a range of banking and finance transactions, particularly domestic and cross-border acquisition and infrastructure financings and debt restructurings.

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