Jeffrey Katz > Ropes & Gray LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile

With activities spanning the breadth of the debt finance area, the team at Ropes & Gray LLP is particularly noted for its prolific record advising its borrower clients on complex transactions. The firm’s borrower-side practice, led by New York-based leveraged lending expert Stefanie Birkmann alongside Boston’s Michael Lee, is distinguished by its flexibility and ability to handle high-value and sophisticated loans involving complex and novel structures. The firm routinely assists private equity firms and their portfolio companies with complex or uniquely secured acquisition financings and leveraged buyouts, including transactions with cross-border elements as well as deals involving unitranche or annual recurring revenue (ARR) structures. Boston-based Byung Choi is a key contact for advice on acquisition financing, while New York’s Alexander Zeltser is highly recommended for his ‘excellent understanding‘ of cross-border lending matters. The firm also maintains an active lender-side practice, led by Boston’s Jeffrey Katz and New York’s Leonard Klingbaum, which stands out for assisting major private credit clients with financings involving borrowers in highly-regulated industries. The firm’s lender offering in Los Angeles was expanded with the arrival of Jennifer Harris from Milbank in early 2022.

One of the standout features of Ropes & Gray LLP‘s practice is its cross-disciplinary nature, with the group regularly operating in tandem with teams from the M&A, litigation, capital markets and corporate governance practices at the firm. Group head Jeffrey Katz, who works out of the firm’s Boston office, is also co-head of the firm’s special situations practice, and regularly assists clients with private and public activist campaigns and proxy contests. Emblematic of the group’s broader investor-side expertise, his recent work includes advising funds on how to bolster their defenses against activist campaigns by investors. New additions to the team include Jackie Cohen in New York, who joined from Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in November 2022 and has strengthened the team’s public company capabilities.