Geoffrey R. Kass > Vedder Price > Chicago, United States > Lawyer Profile

Fielding ‘an outstanding group with great competences‘, Vedder Price‘s global transportation finance team handles a broad range of aircraft finance work. Its coverage includes sizeable M&A transactions, aircraft-related asset-backed securities matters, portfolio debt financings, structured multi-aircraft financings, and sale and leaseback transactions. The group also advises on individual aircraft and parts sales, as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul agreements. Focused on structured financings in the aviation transportation sector, Geoffrey Kass leads the team from Chicago, where Adam R. Beringer is a highly regarded commercial aircraft finance specialist. Also in Chicago, Michael E. Draz‘s broad experience includes representing investors in establishing strategic joint ventures and new leasing platforms for aviation assets; and Mark J. Ditto advises on significant commercial aircraft and large-value equipment transactions. In New York, Jeffrey Veber has an enviable track record in high-stakes aviation financings, while Cameron A. Gee is ‘a go-to partner‘. Also integral to the practice are Los Angeles-based aircraft finance deal specialist Raviv Surpin, along with Chicago’s James Kilner and the ‘very strong‘ Justine L. Chilvers in New York – both were elevated to shareholder status in April 2022.

Vedder Price‘s sizeable transportation asset finance and securitization practice is consistently sought out by lessors, lenders, manufacturers, government agencies, equity investors and operators for major transactions, including complex railcar portfolio securitizations, and railcar purchases and sales. The team also fields experts in domestic and international leasings and debt financings of rail assets, in addition to advising both borrowers and lenders on railcar warehouse and term loan facilities involving bankruptcy remote borrowers. Among the department’s several experienced partners, rail finance structuring specialist Michael E. Draz ‘provides great counsel‘, New York-based Jeffrey Veber routinely represents lenders in transportation finance matters, and Clay C. Thomas in Los Angeles advises on acquisition, leasing and financing deals. Also integral to the group is John T. Bycraft, who is an expert in structured finance transactions involving rolling stock portfolios, while Geoffrey Kass chairs the firm’s global transportation finance practice. Within the enviable associate pool, Joel R. Thielen is experienced in representing private equity and hedge funds, commercial banks, operating lessors and manufacturers in railcar financing structures, and Jillian S. Greenwald‘s practice covers a range of transactions involving rolling stock portfolios. All practitioners listed are based in Chicago unless otherwise stated.

As ‘one of the go-to firms in the industry‘, Vedder Price‘s global transportation finance team regularly acts for lenders, borrowers, lessors, lessees, shipbuilders, marine terminal operators, owners and charterers on structuring major maritime and offshore finance deals. The group advises on a broad range of maritime and offshore assets, including cargo and passenger transportation vessels, intermodal containers, chassis, barges, terminal facilities, ferries, and offshore construction and oil exploration vessels. It also has extensive experience in workouts and restructurings, and is additionally sought out for its expertise in maritime and offshore construction contracts, and ship registration and mortgage recordation laws in the US, the Marshall Islands, Liberia and Vanuatu. In New York, John Bradley is a specialist in cross-border marine finance structures, the ‘responsive and experienced‘ John Imhof Jr is experienced in a range of financings, and associate John Geager consistently advises on large-scale vessel financings and refinancings. Geoffrey Kass chairs the firm’s global transportation finance group from the Chicago office.

Vedder Price has a wealth of experience advising leasing companies and airlines on operating lease transactions across Southeast Asia Pacific as well as Japan, South Korea, and India, counting a large number of well-known lessors as its key clients. Praised for its ‘pragmatic and market-driven approach‘ and leveraging its strong ties with its US offices, the team is well-equipped to advise on English and New York law and on cross-border financing transactions as well as operating lease restructurings for airliners. The team is jointly led by Singapore-based Ji Woon Kim who is ‘armed with global and in-depth knowledge and experience in the aviation industry‘, notably in transactions, financings, JOLCOs, and sales and leasebacks, and Geoffrey Kass who is based in its Chicago office.