Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP continues to demonstrate strong visibility in the U.S. funds market, advising a broad roster of sponsors on the formation of large and structurally complex investment vehicles. The firm is regularly engaged on flagship and successor fundraisings, where its experience in handling intricate structuring, governance, and investor negotiation dynamics remains central to its market position. Barrie Covit, Jonathan Karen, and Michael Wolitzer co-lead the practice combining sponsor-side transactional expertise with regulatory, compliance and fund management capabilities, and regularly advising clients such as Blackstone, Centerbridge and Silver Lake. Lauren King is a key contact on liquidity solutions and fund transactions, while Thomas Wuchenich has been active on the formation and fundraising of flagship, lower middle market and real estate funds. Other than Wuchenich is Los Angeles, the team operates from the firm's New York office.
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Accolades
Client satisfaction: Sector knowledge
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘Tom Wuchenich is our relationship partner at Simpson and he is outstanding. It is no surprise that he has the position at Simpson that he does. He embodies the notion of trusted adviser -- knowledgeable, responsive, realistic, reassuring, sober-minded, and having very sound judgment. It is great to have Tom on our side, whether it is a one-off thorny question or for the long haul on a prolonged fundraise. ’
- ‘Simpson Thacher has an outstanding funds formation team, beginning with the funds team itself and extending to all of the associated specialists necessary to raise a fund -- regulatory, ERISA, tax, etc. We have always received uniformly excellent advice from Simpson in general, and from Thomas Wuchenich in particular.'
- ‘Tom Wuchenich is incredible. He knows the industry and provides best in class service’
- ‘STB has one of the best private funds groups in the world. They are familiar with almost all sophisticated fund investors worldwide. They also know the pulse of what other investment managers are doing.'
- ‘They are all very intelligent, solution-oriented and pleasurable to work with.'
Key clients
- American Industrial Partners
- Arlington Capital Partners
- Benefit Street Partners
- Blackstone
- The Carlyle Group
- Intermediate Capital Group
- InterVest Capital Partners
- KSL Capital
- Lexington Capital Partners
- Millennium Management
- Pretium
- Prime Finance
Work highlights
Represented Carlyle in connection with the formation and fundraising of its tenth U.S. real estate opportunity fund, Carlyle Realty Partners X (CRP X), which raised approximately $9 billion. CRP X will continue to target Carlyle Realty’s opportunistic U.S. real estate investment strategy, and is a successor fund to Carlyle Realty Partners IX (CRP IX) which raised close to $8 billion in commitments in 2021.
Advised Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, the private infrastructure investment team within Morgan Stanley Investment Management, in the formation and raising of North Haven Infrastructure Partners IV. North Haven Infrastructure Partners IV closed at $4.1 billion.
Advised Painswick Capital Management LP (“Painswick”) in the establishment and raising of Painswick Capital Fund I LP (the “Fund”) and related entities, with total commitments of approximately $1.5 billion. The Fund exceeded its initial target of $750 million and marks Painswick’s first-ever fund since its founding in 2024.
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
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Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Practice head
Barrie Covit; Jonathan Karen; Michael Wolitzer
Other key lawyers
Lauren King; Thomas Wuchenich