Milbank Elects 17 New Partners

Milbank LLP is pleased to announce that 17 attorneys have been elected to the firm’s partnership effective January 1, 2023, marking one of its largest new partner classes. The new partners are based in the United States, Europe and Asia across nine of the firm’s practice areas.

“We are extremely proud to welcome this talented group of lawyers to our partnership,” said Scott Edelman, Chairman of Milbank. “Their technical excellence, commitment to client service and insightful approach reflect the best of our firm and our values.”

Jared S. Axelrod is a member of the Alternative Investments Practice. He counsels US and international asset managers and issuers across a wide variety of collateralized loan obligation transactions (“CLOs”), as well as other complex structured credit financing arrangements and secured lending facilities. Mr. Axelrod has represented asset managers in connection with tens of billions of dollars of CLOs over the past several years.  Mr. Axelrod also has significant experience advising CLO clients in regards to commercial deal terms and rating agency criteria, as well as various regulatory regimes, including the Investment Advisers Act and US risk retention rules. He graduated cum laude from Brooklyn Law School and he received his B.A. from Rowan University. He is based in New York.

James Beebe is a member of the Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Group. He counsels public and privately held companies, financial institutions, corporate executives, and creditors committees on a broad array of executive compensation and employee benefit matters. Mr. Beebe has experience designing, implementing, operating and terminating various compensation and benefit arrangements. He also advises clients on SEC disclosure requirements and tax rules. He received his J.D. from Seattle University School of Law, his LL.M from New York University School of Law and his B.A. from the University of Washington. He is based in New York.

Laura Bonamis is a member of the European Leveraged Finance/Capital Markets Group. She represents both lenders and borrowers on a wide range of complex domestic and cross-border financing transactions, including leveraged acquisition and public-to-private financing transactions, refinancings and restructurings across the full spectrum of products. Ms. Bonamis received her Master of Law magna cum laude and her Bachelor of Law cum laude from Université libre de Bruxelles. She is based in London.

Claire Bridcut is a member of the Alternative Investments Practice. She has broad experience with structured finance and derivative transactions, in particular working on collateralized loan obligation and bespoke structured lending deals, together with portfolio total return and credit default swaps and other significant risk transfer trades. Ms. Bridcut also advises on the related EU/UK regulatory framework, focusing on the EU/UK risk retention regime as it applies to both EU/UK and US securitization transactions. She received her L.P.C. from BPP University Law School, her G.D.L. from City University, London and her B.Mus. from Royal Holloway University of London. She is based in London.

Erin Dexter is a member of the Litigation & Arbitration Group. Ms. Dexter’s practice focuses on restructuring, bankruptcy and distressed situations. She has represented debtors, creditors’ committees, lenders, funds, and borrowers in all aspects of financial restructuring, both in and out of bankruptcy court. Select chapter 11 experience includes Avianca Airlines, Talen Energy, OneWeb, FirstEnergy, and Pacific Gas and Electric Corporation. Experience outside of chapter 11 includes the debt adjustment process for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its public corporations as well as international restructuring matters. She received her J.D. from Georgetown Law and her B.A. from Stanford University. She is based in Washington, DC.

Lowell Dyer is a member of the Corporate Group. He focuses on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, and securities and capital markets transactions. Mr. Dyer represents private equity clients in all aspects of their investment in portfolio companies, from acquisition through exit, and has represented clients in both private and public mergers and acquisitions, including traditional purchase and sale transactions, strategic mergers, joint ventures, and restructurings and recapitalizations. He earned his J.D. cum laude from Tulane University Law School and his B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is based in New York.

Katherine Kelly Fell is a member of the Litigation & Arbitration Group. Her practice includes complex commercial, securities, antitrust, and bankruptcy litigation, as well as government and internal investigations. She represents clients in the fields of finance, banking, media and entertainment, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, energy, and real estate.  Ms. Fell has extensive experience with class action and multi-jurisdictional litigation. She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and a member of the board of editors of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, and her B.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania. She is based in New York.

Bijan Ganji is a member of the Transportation and Space Group and Global Risk & National Security Practice. Mr. Ganji advises clients operating or investing across borders on global commerce and foreign investment matters in a variety of contexts, including leveraged, project and vendor financings, public offerings and high yield debt issuances, financial restructurings and reorganizations and general corporate and strategic activities, including mergers & acquisitions and joint ventures.  He also advises on project development, purchase and leasing transactions and related services agreements involving aircraft, aerospace, space infrastructure, satellites, launch services and other high-value assets. He earned his J.D., with honors, from The George Washington University Law School and his Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service, cum laude, from Georgetown University. He is based in Washington, DC.

Maya Grant is a member of the Direct Lending & Specialty Finance Group. She focuses on bespoke, strategic financing solutions for direct lending transactions, rescue and distressed credits, in- and out-of-court restructurings and other special situations. She represents both borrowers and lenders, including financial institutions, credit funds, hedge funds and ad hoc creditor groups. She received her J.D. cum laude from New York Law School, where she served as a Law Review editor, and her B.A. cum laude from New York University. She is based in New York.

Andrew Harmeyer is a member of the Financial Restructuring Group. He has substantial experience representing creditors and debtors in complex chapter 11 cases, restructurings, and other distressed situations in the United States and internationally.  Mr. Harmeyer’s recent major engagements include representing ad hoc committees of creditors in Nordic Aviation Capital, RentPath, Cirque du Soleil, and Windstream, the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in Talen Energy, bank agents and aircraft lessors in LATAM Airlines Group and SAS AB, plan sponsors in Garrett Motion, and the debtors in OneWeb Global.  He received his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a Stone Scholar, and his B.S. from the University of Arizona. He is based in New York.

Meir Hornung is a member of the Leveraged Finance Group. Mr. Hornung represents banks, direct lenders, funds and other financial institutions in their capacities as arrangers, lenders, agents and borrowers in connection with leveraged finance transactions, acquisition finance transactions, working capital facilities, corporate finance and other secured and unsecured lending transactions. His representation includes advising finance parties in direct lending, syndicated credit facilities (Term Loan Bs or TLBs), asset-based loans (ABLs), bilateral credit facilities, Term Loan As (TLAs), cross border financings and bridge loans. Mr. Hornung also advises creditors with respect to pre- and post-bankruptcy planning, strategy, foreclosure, restructuring and workout matters. He received his J.D. cum laude from Fordham University School of Law and his B.S. summa cum laude from Touro College. He is based in New York.

Munib Hussain is a member of the Global Project, Energy and Infrastructure Finance Group. Mr. Hussain has advised on numerous innovative and “market-first” transactions around the world. He has significant expertise in advising sponsors, lenders, private equity funds and sovereigns on international projects, energy and infrastructure project and acquisition financings, restructurings and investments in the oil and gas, power (including renewables) and mining sectors. In particular, Mr. Hussain focuses on multi-sourced financings involving ECAs and multi-laterals, as well as debt capital markets, private equity funds and direct lenders. He received his B.V.C. from Nottingham Law School and his LL.B. from University of Leicester. He is based in London.

Christopher Kwan is a member of the Leveraged Finance Group. He represents banks, direct lenders and other financial institutions and investment funds, as well as corporate borrowers, in a variety of senior financing transactions. Mr. Kwan counsels clients in domestic and cross-border leveraged financings, acquisition financings, asset-based and cash-flow working capital facilities, secured and unsecured loan and bridge commitments, syndicated exit financings and other senior secured and unsecured financing transactions. He received his J.D. magna cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis, where he served as Executive Editor of the Washington University Law Review, and his B.S. cum laude from Northeastern University. He is based in New York.

Matthew Laroche is a member of the Litigation & Arbitration Group. His practice focuses on white collar defense, regulatory investigations, complex civil litigation, and cross-border litigation. A former federal prosecutor, Mr. Laroche has extensive experience as a trial and appellate lawyer. His experience in the government informs his representation of corporations, financial institutions, boards of directors, and executives conducting sensitive internal investigations and facing high-stakes interactions with governments and private actors in the United States and abroad. He received his J.D. from Albany Law School, where he graduated salutatorian and was editor-in-chief of the Albany Law Review, and his M.A. and B.A. summa cum laude from the University at Albany. He is based in New York.

Sarah Levin is a member of the Financial Restructuring Group. Ms. Levin’s practice focuses on debt restructurings, reorganizations and contingency planning. She has extensive experience representing clients in complex, cross-border restructurings and workouts in Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom, with a focus on transactions that straddle the Atlantic. Her clients include financial creditors, ad hoc creditor committees, companies, bidders and other stakeholders of stressed and distressed companies. Ms. Levin is qualified to practice in England and Wales and in New York. She received her J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School and her S.B. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is based in London.

Terrence O’Donnell is a member of the Global Capital Markets Group. Mr. O’Donnell’s practice focuses on securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions. He advises a wide range of capital markets transactions, including initial public offerings, private placements, high yield, investment grade and equity-linked offerings and complex liability management and restructuring matters. He also advises on acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, pre-IPO financings, going-private transactions, and PIPEs, as well as other general corporate matters including US securities law compliance, SEC and regulatory reporting, corporate governance and other compliance matters. Mr. O’Donnell has in-depth experience advising on matters in the Southeast Asia and Greater China markets across many industries including consumer products, financial institutions, healthcare, metals, mining, power and energy, manufacturing, real estate, technology, telecommunications and transportation. He received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. He is based in Singapore.

Sean O’Neill is a member of the Project, Energy and Infrastructure Finance Group. His experience includes the representation of project sponsors and financial institutions in a range of domestic and cross-border project and structured financings and investment transactions across industrial sectors, including oil and gas, power and renewable energy, transportation, airports, water and telecommunications. Mr. O’Neill received his J.D. from Columbia, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and an editor for the Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy, his M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and his B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania. He is based in New York.