Ian Schuman > Latham & Watkins LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile

Latham & Watkins LLP has a market leading reputation across the debt and equity capital markets fields. It has invested in significantly expanding its department over the last decade and successfully focused on growth markets such as tech and life sciences; it has developed substantial teams in Silicon Valley, Boston and other emerging company centers. Silicon Valley partner Richard Kline, chair of the firm’s technology industry group, who was hired in 2020, is one figure who has made a big contribution to the expansion of the practice. Gregory Rodgers is another key figure in Los Angeles and remains noted for direct listings. Nathan Ajiashvili is rated for life sciences offerings, while Ian Schuman is global head of capital markets. Vice chair Stelios Saffos, Marc Jaffe and Michael Benjamin are also prominent members of the team. All named lawyers are based in New York unless stated otherwise.

Latham & Watkins LLP is an international leader in global offerings, handling a large pipeline of debt, equity and equity-linked issuances every year. It represents both issuers and underwriters, and continues to be at the forefront of life sciences and tech offerings. It is growing its presence in Latin America transactions, and is also noted for Europe and Middle East offerings; it has deep connections to Israeli issuers and their underwriters, in particular. Marc Jaffe and Ian Schuman are giants of the capital markets arena and frequently advise on bulge-bracket global offerings. Nathan Ajiashvili is another prominent figure in global offerings, particularly in the life sciences sector.

Latham & Watkins LLP is one of few firms operating at the top of the capital markets arena in both issuer and underwriter engagements, including in the high-yield space. Beyond its core team of high-yield experts in New York, it has specialists in multiple offices across the country, including in Houston, Washington DC, Chicago and various California offices. The firm has deep connections to private equity houses and sponsor-backed issuers, public companies and various banks, and its steady pipeline of deals include numerous M&A and buyout-related debt offerings. It continues to expand and invest in its capital markets practice, bringing in prominent leveraged finance and high-yield debt expert Corey Wright and rising talent Lisa Collier from Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP in January 2023. They join a sizeable team which includes New York office managing partner Marc Jaffe, global chair of the capital markets group Ian Schuman, Keith Halverstam, vice chair Stelios Saffos, Senet Bischoff, Erika Weinberg and Washington DC’s Rachel Sheridan. All named partners are based in New York unless stated otherwise.

Latham & Watkins LLP is at the forefront of DCM with an outstanding record in high-yield debt and a fast growing presence in investment grade debt. The firm is a clear leader in issuer-side engagements, though is one of the major players on underwriter-side mandates. With a strong core team in New York, it has prominent capital markets specialists across numerous US offices, including Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, Houston and Boston. The New York team was further enhanced by the hire of leading capital markets practitioner Corey Wright from Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP in January 2023. New York managing partner Marc Jaffe is rated for both debt and equity offerings, while New York-based global capital markets head Ian Schuman is noted for equity, convertible debt and high-yield debt offerings. Los Angeles partner Gregory Rodgers is at the forefront of convertible debt. Stelios Saffos is also a vice chair of the capital markets team.

The nationwide group at Latham & Watkins LLP includes former SEC senior officials and experienced corporate practitioners, who focus on highly specialized SEC matters involving complex disclosure and compliance issues under the US federal securities laws. Co-chairs Ian Schuman, Keith Halverstam, and Jenna Cooper in New York are key figures in the team and are well supported by Julia Thompson in Washington DC, who focuses on securities regulation. ESG issues are a key area of work for the team, which takes a multidisciplinary approach to a wide range of matters, including responsible investment, sustainability, and corporate integrity issues. Vice-chairs Stelios Saffos  and Jeffrey Lawlis are also key names.