Mr Barry Russell > Akin Gump LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Akin Gump LLP has ‘a deep bench of knowledgeable partners and associates that understand the debt product very well, specifically the private debt product‘ with one client noting that it is ‘easily the go-to firm for private debt and restructurings‘. The firm’s key areas of focus are the representation of institutional investors in new issuances of debt in cross-border private placements and acting for issuers in emerging markets transactions. Robert Aulsebrook leads the issuer and emerging markets side of the practice, while Tom O’Connor is head of the newly reorganised London finance group and leads on cross-border private placements. O’Connor acted for PGIM on the purchase of €40m in unsecured notes issued by Antares Vision.  Key partners Barry Russell and Michael Gustafson are ‘excellent and great to work with – reliable, available and super on-point‘.

Co-headed by James Roome and ‘doyen of the bankruptcy market’ Barry Russell , the ‘well-established and experienced‘ team at Akin Gump LLP contains a slew of ‘exceptional creditor-side lawyers’, many of whom have advised on some of the most significant cross-border restructurings in the market. Bondholder work is the team’s forte and in this regard it is ‘particularly skilled in looking after the interests of insurance companies and private placement holders’. A core overarching sector strength of the firm as whole, energy-related instructions continue to account for a significant proportion of work for the restructuring group – particularly in light of the recent oil price volatility. Indeed, the firm once again secured a key role on Sea Drill’s recent bankruptcy filing, this time advising an ad hoc group of new secured noteholders (having had a role for the unsecured bondholders on the original Chapter 11 filed in 2017). The ‘commercial and strategic’ James Terry  led on this matter and is also known for his specialism for energy and offshore sector issuers in the Nordic high yield market. The ‘calm and composed‘ Emma Simmonds  ‘works very well with other advisers’ and is a key member of a team that also includes the ‘very hardworking’ Liz Osborne  , who is ‘super smart and a great advocate for her clients’ and the ‘thorough, knowledgeable and responsive’ Tom Bannister. Lois Deasey left for Weil, Gotshal & Manges (London) LLP.