Mr John McGrath > Dechert LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

The Dechert LLP global finance team offers a range of commercial real estate finance services, including securitisation, restructuring, and acquisition financing. Practice head Aparna Sehgal is well-versed in the purchase of European commercial real estate secured loans as well as purchasing and repurchasing facilities. John McGrath specialises in handling sophisticated structured financings, such as repo financings and the securitisation of European real estate loans. Richard Pugh acts for lenders and borrowers on various securitisation transactions.

Dechert LLP is a prominent adviser to fund managers on derivatives, though it handles both buy-side and sell-side work. The department acts for investment banks, commercial banks, private equity funds and credit funds in structured finance matters. Fund formation specialist Gus Black, who is co-chair of the firm’s global financial services group, oversees the work of key partners John McGrath, whose work encompasses the enforcement and restructuring of derivatives, securitisations and other structured financings, and Karen Stretch, who focuses on transactional and regulatory derivatives matters.

Dechert LLP is ‘very responsive, always going the extra mile to make sure they get the full extent of the answers for their clients‘. Head of structured finance and real estate Aparna Sehgal oversees the London office’s securitisation team, which is active in CMBS, RMBS, CLOs, loan-on-loan deals, repo securitisations and other structures. Aaron Scott, who joined from Paul Hastings LLP in 2023, boosts the firm’s structured credit and CLO practice. He advises CLO managers and arrangers, and recently handled the issuance of €409m in notes for an asset manager. He joins experienced partners John McGrath and Richard Pugh, who act for both banks and buy-side clients.