Kavita Shah > Watson Farley & Williams LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile
Watson Farley & Williams LLP Offices

15 APPOLD STREET
LONDON
EC2A 2HB
England
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Kavita Shah

Work Department
PARTNER IN THE ASSET FINANCE GROUP
Position
Kavita specialises in international, structured, asset and project finance and leasing transactions in the maritime sector.
She acts for a number of financial institutions and international corporations as well as shipping companies.
Kavita has a wide range of experience including the structuring of shipping finance, lease and other credit-wrapped structures, export credit backed products and project financing transactions involving a variety of maritime and offshore assets. She has also advised on the sale and/or purchase of portfolios of performing and non-performing shipping loans.
Kavita joined WFW in 2001 and has spent time in the firm’s Singapore, Paris and Athens offices, as well as on secondment with Lloyds TSB Bank in the shipping section of the Structured Asset Finance department.
She is recommended as an expert shipping finance lawyer by The Legal 500 UK which described her in 2018-19 as “attentive, methodical and user-friendly”.
Career
Trained WFW; qualified 2003; partner 2013.
Languages
Gujarati, Hindi.
Lawyer Rankings
London > Finance > Transport finance and leasing
‘Very well-resourced, experienced and efficient’ across the panoply of transportation asset classes, both out of London and globally, Watson Farley & Williams LLP has the underlying sector knowledge and the financing expertise to be able to provide ‘commercially pragmatic’ advice to stakeholders across a tremendous range and volume of deals. Unsurprisingly in light of recent market headwinds, a good deal of the recent work has been in the context of restructuring matters, where the firm has not only been at the forefront of transactional work but also provided a useful and well-received online tool – Global Aviation Restructuring Index – which delivers a comparative index of restructuring processes, enabling creditors and debtors to view in advance of instructing a law firm which restructuring procedure/jurisdiction would be most beneficial. The ‘bright, very commercial and pragmatic’ Jim Bell continues to succesfully guide the firm’s aviation finance team, picking up work for lenders and lessors who are impressed by his ability to provide ‘creative and sui generis solutions’. ‘Experienced, very practical and easy to deal with’, Chris Mitchell is also a key resource in the aviation sector, particularly in relation to complex, structured cross-border deals, including asset-backed securitisations, warehouse financings and portfolio transactions. George Macheras now heads the shipping group, following Lindsey Keeble‘s recent appointment as managing partner, and continues to successfully guide banking and operator clients through a challenging market. Other recommended practitioners include the ‘responsive and efficient’ Louise Mor, who is the firm’s primary contact for rail finance matters; ‘very pragmatic and solutions-oriented’ Patrick Moore, who excels in drafting complex, often bespoke structures to facilitate financings in the aviation and maritime sectors; and Kavita Shah, who ‘provides sound legal advice, while keeping commercial considerations in mind’ on international, structured, asset and project finance and leasing transactions in the maritime sector.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: mid-market
- Real estate > Environment
- Finance > Transport finance and leasing
Firm Rankings
- Dispute resolution > Commodities disputes
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Power (including electricity, nuclear and renewables)
- Industry focus > Hospitality and leisure
- Corporate and commercial > M&A: lower mid-market deals, £50m-£500m
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Oil and gas
- Transport > Shipping
- Finance > Trade finance
- Transport > Aviation
- Real estate > Construction: contentious
- Real estate > Construction: non-contentious
- Corporate and commercial > Equity capital markets – small-mid cap
- Employment > Immigration
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Projects, energy and natural resources > Mining and minerals
- Real estate > Planning
- Corporate and commercial > Private equity: transactions - mid-market deals (up to £250m)
- Transport > Rail
- Corporate and commercial > Corporate tax
- Real estate > Property litigation
- Employment > Employers
- Corporate and commercial > EU and competition
- Real estate > Property finance