Weil, Gotshal & Manges (London) LLP

Drawing upon a ‘strong bench of talent’ within its core restructuring team as well as being able to leverage expertise in adjacent areas including banking and litigation, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP provides ’flexible and creative’ advice to debtors and creditors across the full spectrum of distressed mandates, from advice on out-of-court restructurings, and distressed investing through to formal restructuring and insolvency procedures. As well as his fee-earning work, which has recently included some high-profile transactions for bondholders on sovereign debt restructurings, the ‘very experienced and seasoned’ Andrew Wilkinson is recognised as a thought leader. Although he does handle some debtor mandates, including for institutional firmwide sponsor clients, the ’deeply respected’ Neil Devaney, who co-heads the team alongside Wilkinson, is best-known for his sophisticated offering for funds as fulcrum creditors on complex pan-European restructurings. The ‘super bright’ Lois Deasey regularly works alongside Devaney for ad-hoc noteholders, with both recently advising on several large situations involving UK restructuring plans. Gemma Sage and Mark Lawford are key members of the team, with the ’pragmatic’ Sage excelling in restructurings and formal insolvency procedures for debtors and creditors, and Lawford regarded as a ‘real expert in court led restructurings, particularly those with complex and contentious issues’.