Lawyers Archive

Katherine Marquart is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Los Angeles office and is the Firm’s Pro Bono Chair. In this role, Ms. Marquart manages and coordinates the Firm’s pro bono efforts globally, which have totaled more than 1.5 million hours valued at more than $1 billion under her leadership. She also maintains an active practice in areas including criminal justice, civil rights, constitutional law, and immigration. Ms. Marquart previously spent seven years as a litigation associate at the Firm, where her practice focused on complex business litigation, transnational litigation, and internal investigations and regulatory inquiries.

Since taking the helm of Gibson Dunn’s pro bono practice in 2013, Ms. Marquart has played an integral role in many of the Firm’s most significant pro bono engagements. In addition to personally representing clients in a variety of litigation matters—including lawsuits focused on civil rights, immigration, and the First Amendment—Ms. Marquart has spearheaded the Firm’s efforts to respond to some of the most pressing issues of the day. In this role, she liaises with corporate clients and nonprofit community partners to collaborate on pro bono matters, including facilitating and overseeing numerous partnerships in the areas of criminal justice, racial justice, and immigration, among other sectors of public interest law.

Recent representative matters include:

Abuse of Material Witness Statutes: Representing a young woman who was wrongfully incarcerated under Louisiana’s material witness statute—despite being accused of no wrongdoing and agreeing to testify voluntarily regarding the crime she witnessed—in lawsuit arguing prosecutors violated her Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
Justice for Women and Girls: Launched a new initiative bringing together attorneys from across the Firm to advance justice and equity for women and girls through (1) educational equity; (2) access to healthcare; (3) legal and social equity; (4) economic empowerment; and (5) prevention of violence against women.
Jones v. City of Los Angeles: Co-lead counsel in Deon Jones v. City of Los Angeles (C.D. Cal.), a historic civil rights victory over an LAPD officer who shot Mr. Jones in the face while he was peacefully protesting in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder. After a 7-day trial, a federal jury determined that the officer had violated Mr. Jones’ Fourth Amendment rights and awarded Mr. Jones $375,000 in compensatory and punitive damages. The City of Los Angeles ultimately settled Mr. Jones’ civil rights claims for $860,000.
U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California: Successfully represented “Dreamers” in litigation challenging the government’s rescission of the DACA program, resulting in the Supreme Court decision holding that DHS’s decision to terminate DACA is subject to judicial review and violated the Administrative Procedures Act.
Ramirez-Medina v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Security (9th Cir.): Represented “Dreamer” in appeal challenging the denial of his DACA renewal application and secured a preliminary injunction requiring the government to maintain his DACA status.
IRAP v. Kelly: Represented Afghan family of five wrongfully detained and separated by Customs and Border Patrol in the wake of the 2017 Travel Ban, leading to the family’s admission as lawful permanent residents of the United States.
COVID-19 Response: Supervising and coordinating global pro bono efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout, including the Firm’s efforts to assist small businesses in navigating PPP/EIDL loans; leasing, contract, and employment issues; and corporate governance and bankruptcy matters. Also spearheading efforts to represent medically at-risk immigrants in detention facilities across the country who are seeking to be released due to the increased risk inherent in the detention facilities during the pandemic.
Police Reform Task Force: Launched a new Police Reform Task Force, which builds on previous Firm efforts to identify best practices to reform policing and is now reexamining a variety of critical issues, including dismissal policies, police unions, transparency, and excessive militarization of police.
Family Reunification Efforts: Managed and supervised the Firm’s response to the U.S. family separation crisis, including representation of parents detained in Texas and separated from their children, assisting with a nationwide project to locate the parents of nearly 300 “lost” children, working with formerly separated families seeking asylum, and filing Federal Tort Claims Act claims on behalf of more than 20 formerly separated families seeking damages.
Travel Ban Response: Spearheaded an effort to deploy Gibson Dunn attorneys to airports around the U.S. to monitor incoming flights, observe the activities of relevant officials and government agencies, and work with legal partners to provide meaningful pro bono assistance to those in need—including working with corporate clients whose employees were directly impacted by the 2017 Travel Ban.

In 2024, Ms. Marquart received Human Rights First’s Marvin E. Frankel Award for Pro Bono Service, in recognition of her leadership in advocating for Afghan refugees in the United States. Under Ms. Marquart’s leadership, Gibson Dunn is consistently recognized for its outstanding commitment to pro bono and significant pro bono victories. Among other accolades, the Firm is a repeat recipient of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association Beacon of Justice Award and has received the 2023 Kids in Need of Defense Pro Bono Attorneys of the Year Award, the 2023 Sanctuary for Families Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Award, the 2022 TrustLaw Powered by Pro Bono Award, the 2021 Giffords Law Center Pro Bono Partner Award, the 2021 Neighborhood Defender Service Corporate Social Responsibility Award, the 2020 Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs Outstanding Achievement Award, the 2019 Legal Aid Society Pro Bono Publico Award, the 2018 Who’s Who Legal Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year Award, the 2018 Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition Impacting Justice Award, the 2017 Public Counsel Law Firm Pro Bono Award, and the 2017 Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network Pro Bono Service Award.

In 2010, Ms. Marquart was honored with Gibson Dunn’s Frank Wheat Award for her pro bono work on behalf of children with autism living in the East Los Angeles area. In that matter, she spearheaded a class action lawsuit that resulted in over 2,000 children diagnosed with autism getting their state-funded treatment programs reinstated on a permanent and ongoing basis, after those services had been wrongfully terminated. Ms. Marquart also received Public Counsel Law Center’s Volunteer of the Year Award in connection with the same case.

Ms. Marquart is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and the States of California and New York.

Jane Horvath is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn. She is a Co-Chair of both the firm’s Tech and Innovation Industry Group and the Privacy, Cybersecurity and Data Innovation Practice Group, and a member of the Administrative Law and Regulatory, Artificial Intelligence, Crisis Management, Litigation and Media, Entertainment and Technology Practice Groups. Having previously served as Apple’s Chief Privacy Officer, Google’s Global Privacy Counsel and the DOJ’s first Chief Privacy Counsel and Civil Liberties Officer, among other positions, Jane draws from more than two decades of privacy and legal experience, offering unique in-house counsel and regulatory perspectives to counsel clients as they manage complex technical issues on a global regulatory scale.

In recognition of her expertise and contributions to the field, Jane has received several accolades. Jane was recognized in 2025 by The Best Lawyers in America© for Privacy and Data Security Law. She was also named to Legal 500’s Hall of Fame in 2024 for Media, Technology, and Telecoms. Jane has earned rankings as a top lawyer in Privacy & Data Security from both Chambers USA and Chambers Global guides for 2024-2025. Lawdragon named her among its 500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers guide (2024-2025) and included her in its 100 Leading AI & Legal Tech Advisors list (2024-2025). The Future of Privacy Forum honored Jane with their Career Achievement Award, which is awarded to “private sector leaders who have made major contributions to advancing the values of data protection.” Politico included Jane as one of the top Rulemakers in the Tech28, their annual ranking of the 28 power players behind Europe’s tech revolution.

Jane returned to Gibson Dunn after serving as Apple’s Chief Privacy Officer, where she led the company’s regulatory, policy and product strategy on all privacy- and cybersecurity-related legal matters. In this role, Jane shaped and implemented worldwide data protection laws, including in jurisdictions with omnibus privacy laws, such as the European Union, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China and Japan, as well as jurisdictions considering similar laws, such as the United States and Vietnam. Jane’s practice focuses on counseling involving privacy, cybersecurity and data strategies – particularly those at the forefront of new regulation – and advocacy and strategy with global regulators and policy makers on these same issues. She brings hands-on practical experience building privacy, cybersecurity and data solutions at the edge of innovation and at a global scale. Jane has extensive knowledge regarding encryption and related global laws and has been deeply involved in providing comments in response to the European Union Digital Markets Act and pending competition legislation in the United States, Japan and Australia. She has extensive experience implementing encryption into different product applications and defending encryption against U.S. and global government access requests – issues that are top of mind right now for technology companies. Additionally Jane has an immense understanding of government surveillance and data localization laws.

Recent experience includes:

advising clients, management and product teams in developing product and business strategies that involve privacy and data architecture, encryption and offensive security and data localization and advocating for the adoption of those strategies with key regulators and policymakers around the globe;
implementing networks, data solutions and technology in China and navigating Chinese privacy laws and the interaction with U.S. and global national security, privacy and regulatory considerations;
developing global strategies and solutions for companies in relation to pending competition, AI, privacy and other regulation in the UK, EU, Japan and other global markets;
advising companies on the implementation of the European Union’s Digital Markets Act;
advising companies on cybersecurity oversight and risk, along with other critical risk areas, such as managing data storage and workforces in China and global data network architecture and localization; and
drafting key privacy legislation, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and related amendments.

Before joining Apple, Jane was Global Privacy Counsel at Google from 2007 to 2011. Jane served as the U.S. Department of Justice’s first Chief Privacy Counsel and Civil Liberties Officer from 2006 to 2007, and, in that capacity, worked on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, an executive agency established in the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007. While at the DOJ, she was also a member of the High-Level Contact Group and leader of the U.S. delegation of experts tasked with exploring common ground between the European Union’s Third Pillar data protection principles and U.S. federal privacy laws. From 1995 to 2001, Jane was the General Counsel of Digital City Inc., an America Online, Inc. (AOL) subsidiary, and Assistant General Counsel to AOL, where she helped draft the company’s first privacy policies. Jane started her legal career as an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in 1991.

Jane is a recognized thought-leader in the areas of privacy and technology, frequently appearing as a keynote speaker and on panels hosted by global regulators and leading policy organizations. She is routinely sought out by public boards, executives, and policy makers for strategic advice on privacy and cybersecurity matters. Jane was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland as a Special Advocate for the Data Protection Review Court (DPRC), part of a process reviewing complaints about U.S. signals intelligence collection violating applicable U.S. law. Jane currently serves as a board member on the board of directors for the Future of Privacy Forum, an organization that serves as a catalyst for privacy leadership and scholarship, advancing principled data practices in support of emerging technologies. Jane is also a member of the Aspen Global Cybersecurity Group, an organization committed to preserving peace and freedom online and addressing pressing international cybersecurity challenges.

Jane received her J.D. from the University of Virginia and her Bachelor of Science from the College of William and Mary.

Jessica Egbebike is a corporate associate in the New York office of Gibson Dunn.

Jessica earned her Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 2023, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and the Executive Financial Officer of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review and A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual. While at Columbia, she worked as a student attorney for Columbia’s Lawyering in the Digital Age Clinic, a legal extern at Cadre, and a legal intern for the Tenant Defense Unit at The Legal Aid Society. Jessica served as a student senator for the Columbia Law School Student Senate, the Treasurer and 3L Representative for the Black Law Students Association, and the Secretary for OutLaws. She also received certification in Sustainable Capitalism and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law in 2020.

Jessica received her Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in Political Science from the University of Florida in 2018.

Jessica is admitted to practice in the State of New York.

Nicholaus Mills is a senior litigation associate in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Nick’s practice centers on complex commercial disputes, with a particular focus on high-stakes litigation and appeals involving technology and media companies, investment and financial firms, M&A disputes, and contractual disputes. Nick also routinely advises on regulatory, contractual, and other strategic matters in advance of litigation.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Nick served as a law clerk to Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh of the Supreme Court of the United States, Judge Don R. Willett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Fifth Circuit, and Judge Rachel P. Kovner of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Nick also practiced with the firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, where he advised public and private companies on complex M&A transactions and corporate governance matters, for two years.

Nick earned his J.D./M.B.A, summa cum laude, from Cornell Law School and the Cornell SC Johnson School of Management. Nick graduated first in his class from Cornell Law School, was elected to the Order of the Coif, and was awarded the Boardman Prize—award for best academic work through second year—and the Henn Memorial Prize—award for the highest annual grade in business organizations. While in law school, Nick served as an editor on the Cornell Law Review, a member of the Federalist Society and the Black Law Students Association, a teaching assistant to three acclaimed professors, and an intern to the General Counsel of Tompkins Financial Corporation and to the General Counsel of Cornell University.

Prior to law school, Nick worked for a non-profit located in Jerusalem, Israel. Nick received his Bachelor of Science, cum laude, from Oral Roberts University, where he competed on the Division One soccer team.

Nick is a member of the New York bar. He is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Nick is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Co-Chair of Gibson Dunn’s Energy (Power and Renewables) Practice Group. Nick is also a member of the Finance Practice Group.

Nick focuses his practice on domestic and cross-border energy-related transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, financings of all types, project development, construction and operation, and restructurings. He has particular experience in wind power, solar power and other renewable technologies. He represents developers, sponsors, strategic investors and lenders in connection with these transactions. Nick has led numerous first-of-its-kind and industry-awarded transactions in the sustainability space, including complex project financings, project and platform equity investments, and royalty structures.

Nick is ranked nationally as a leading Energy lawyer by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business, and The Legal 500. Chambers notes that he is “just a brilliant guy who is as much a businessperson as a lawyer,” “the perfect balance of legal and commercial knowledge,” and “really adds value to negotiations with practical solutions.” In addition, Nick is recognized as a top energy and environmental lawyer in Euromoney’s Expert Guides’ Energy and Environment Guide and recommended by Who’s Who Legal in its Project Finance guide.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Nick was Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel of a publicly-traded, vertically integrated energy company focused on the renewable power industry.

Nick received his Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 1986. He graduated magna cum laude and with distinction in economics, from Duke University in 1983. He is admitted to practice in New York and California.

Selected Representations:

Berkshire Hathaway Energy: Represented Berkshire Hathaway Energy in connection with its acquisition by MidAmerican Wind LLC of the tax equity investment in the 298MW Kingfisher wind power project located in Oklahoma.
Saguaro Power Company: Represented Saguaro Power, the owner of a cogeneration electric power facility in Henderson, Nevada, in connection with a long-term $300 million secured natural gas hedge provided by Merrill Lynch Commodities. The hedge included a novel pre-approved shared lien structure that will enable the Company to raise additional secured debt in the future.
MidAmerican Renewables, LLC: Represented MidAmerican Renewables in connection with its acquisition of the 550 MW Topaz solar power project.
MidAmerican Renewables, LLC: Represented MidAmerican Renewables in connection with its acquisition of a 49% interest in the 290 MW Agua Caliente solar power project.
Topaz Solar Farms LLC: Represented Topaz Solar Farms in connection with its $850 million senior secured note offering and $345 million letter of credit facility.
Goldman Sachs: Represented Goldman Sachs as lead underwriter and arranger of the $1.15 billion construction and term financing of the Kleen Energy Systems gas-fired power plant in Middletown, Connecticut. Awarded “North American Power Deal of the Year” by Project Finance Magazine.
BP: Represented BP in connection with financing of 400 MW of wind plants in Kansas.
BP and Sempra: Represented joint venture of BP and Sempra in connection with financing of 440 MW of wind plants in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Colorado.
BP and Dominion: Represented joint venture of BP and Dominion in connection with financing of 300 MW wind plant in Indiana. Awarded Project Finance Magazine’s “North American Renewables Deal of the Year.”
Terna Energy: Represented Terna Energy in connection with financing of 160 MW of wind plants in Oregon and Idaho.
Edison Mission Energy: Represented Edison Mission Energy in the financing of its 150 MW Cedro Hill wind farm.
Tax equity investors: Represented tax equity investors in connection with $800 million equity financing of Vento II wind project portfolio.
Tax equity investors: Represented tax equity investors in connection with the $250 million equity financing of PPM wind project portfolio.
Orion Energy: Represented Orion Energy in connection with a spin-off of its projects in construction and subsequent sale of the company to BP Alternative Energy.
Astoria Energy: Represented Astoria Energy (sponsor/owner) in connection with all aspects of the development, debt and equity financing and sell-down of a 1000 MW gas-fired power plant in Queens, NY. First term loan “B” construction financing ever done. Awarded “North American Power Deal of the Year” by Project Finance Magazine.*
Construction lender: Represented a construction lender and subsequent equity investor in financing an 800 MW combined-cycle gas-fired generation plant located in Mississippi, including restructuring of EPC and off-take arrangements.*
Equity investor: Represented an equity investor in financing an 800 MW combined-cycle gas-fired generation plant located in Louisiana, including restructuring of EPC and off-take arrangements.*
Lessor: Represented lessor in connection with single-investor lease financings of three geothermal plants located in California.*
Sole equity investor: Represented sole equity investor in a 325 MW Noble New York wind project, including leveraged pay-as-you-go structure and long-term financial hedge.* Awarded “Americas —Environmental Deal of the Year” by Project Finance International.
Sole debt and equity capital provider: Represented sole debt and equity capital provider in a 150 MW Camp Grove wind project.*
Sole debt and equity capital provider: Represented sole debt and equity capital provider in a 30 MW Tawhiri wind project.*
Sole equity investor: Represented sole equity investor in 200 MW Storm Lake and Lake Benton wind project, including pay-as-you-go structure and comprehensive project restructuring related to Enron bankruptcy.*
EcoElectrica: Represented EcoElectrica, the developer/owner, in all aspects of development and financing of a 500 MW LNG-fired power plant, LNG storage facility and related desalinization facility located in Puerto Rico.*
ConEd Development: Represented ConEd Development in connection with the $350 million construction and term synthetic lease of a 500 MW power plant in Newington, New Hampshire, developed by ConEd.*
Innogy/National Windpower: Represented Innogy/National Windpower (U.K.-based utility) in connection with the placement of tax-structured equity and debt for a portfolio of wind plants operating in the United States. Transaction value $125 million.*
ING (U.S.) Capital: Represented ING (U.S.) Capital as lead arranger and underwriter in providing the $600 million debt component of structured lease equity investments made by Southern Company and its affiliates.*

*Representations were made by Mr. Politan prior to his association with Gibson Dunn.

Presley is a partner in the London office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and is a member of the firm’s Business Restructuring and Reorganisation, and Finance practice groups.

Presley advises financial institutions, private equity firms, and corporate clients on a wide range of cross-border financing and restructuring transactions.

Presley advises on complex private equity transactions, supporting both sponsors and lenders in navigating leveraged buyouts and public-to-private deals in the U.K. and Europe. His expertise includes structuring financing solutions across various instruments, such as first and second lien, PIK, and hybrid debt, as well as managing leveraged recapitalizations, senior credit facilities, bridge financings, and distressed debt arrangements.

Corporate transactions include advising corporates and lenders on event-driven investment grade financings and build-out transactions. Restructuring transactions include advising bondholders, financial institutions, and corporate and private equity-owned debtors on restructurings in the U.K., Europe, and the Middle East.

Presley’s clients have included Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Apax, and Hellman & Friedman. Mr. Warner’s corporate clients have included Stellantis N.V., Ferrari N.V., and Amgen Inc.

Presley is consistently recognised by Chambers Global, Chambers UK, and Chambers Europe (2006 – 2023). His expertise has also been recognised in The Legal 500 UK (2014 – 2024), and he has been consistently ranked as highly regarded in IFLR1000 (2015 – 2024). While at his previous firm, he was shortlisted for Transatlantic Dealmaker of the Year (Finance) by The American Lawyer / Legal Week (2016).

Presley serves as a professional member of the City of London Law Society Financial Law Committee, Insolvency Lawyers Association, City of London Law Society Committee on AI, American Statistical Association, American Association for Cancer Research, American Association of Immunologists, American Society of Human Genetics, and Institution of Engineering and Technology. Presley is a member of the AI Technical Committee of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. Presley is also a member of the 2024 cohort of the American Course on Drug Development and Regulatory Sciences (School of Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco)

Prior to joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Presley was a partner in the Restructuring and Finance practice groups at another major international law firm and was head of that firm’s European Credit and Leveraged Finance practice. Presley is admitted to practice in England and Wales, New York, Ontario (Canada) (inactive) and Massachusetts (inactive).

Presley’s experience includes: *

Private Equity and Other Leveraged Transactions

FGS Global in connection with KKR’s $775 million acquisition of WPP’s full equity position in FGS
Carlyle funds on the financing of Caffe Nero
Lion Capital in connection with its subsidiary, JVUK Holdco Limited’s acquisition of certain assets of John Varvatos UK Limited from U.K. administration, in connection with the U.K. business of John Varvatos
Rhône Capital on English law financing aspects of its acquisition of Zodiac Pool Holding SA from a fund affiliated with the Carlyle Group for approximately $1.2 billion
A consortium comprising APG Asset Management N.V., Arcus Infrastructure Partners LLP, Brookfield Infrastructure Group and Public Sector Pension Investment Board on the acquisition of TDF
Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division on the high yield bond offering supporting its investment in Hastings Insurance
Société Générale on various film leasing transactions and other structured leveraged products
Goldman Sachs on financing matters in connection with the sale of 64% of Rothesay Holdco U.K. Ltd to the Blackstone Group, GIC Private Limited and Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company
Barclays, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and other underwriters in a bridge-to-bond acquisition finance transaction for CVC’s acquisition of the Domestic & General insurance business
A consortium including Carlyle, Citic Capital, Fountainvest and China Everbright on the $2.5 billion leveraged acquisition of Focus Media – the largest LBO in Asia

Corporate

A major shareholder on making an emergency loan to an English publicly-listed company
Amgen on its $28.5 billion financing for the public takeover of Horizon Therapeutics
ZIM Shipping Market Investments on its tender offer to purchase outstanding 3.0% Series 1 Notes and 5.0% Series 2 Notes of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd.
Capital Product Partners L.P. on the $1.65 billion combination of its tanker business with DSS Holdings L.P.
ZF Friedrichshafen AG on the €12.5 billion financing of its acquisition of TRW Automotive Holdings Corp.
Apollo Tyres on financing aspects of its acquisition of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, valued at approximately $2.5 billion
Citibank as mandated lead arranger on various syndicated investment-grade financings, including for Heineken, Nestlé, XL Capital, Commercial Risk Reinsurance, and Clearstream
Kabel Deutschland GmbH on various financings aggregating in excess of €2 billion
treasury facilities and acquisition financing for the purchase of Akka Technologies
Philips and Lumileds on the financing for the sale of a majority interest (80.1%) in Lumileds, a combined LED components and automotive lighting business, to a consortium led by GO Scale Capital
Goldman Sachs International, J.P. Morgan Securities plc and BNP Paribas on the financing of Tele Columbus Group’s acquisition of PrimaCom Holding GmbH, for a total consideration of €711 million and pepcom GmbH for €608 million C.banner International Holdings Limited on its acquisition of Ludendo Enterprises UK Limited
Altran Technologies on its definitive agreement and plan of merger pursuant to which Altran agreed to acquire Aricent from a group of investors led by KKR for a total enterprise value of $2.0 billion, in an all-cash transaction.

Restructuring

Fidera, as the largest creditor in the Part 26A restructuring plan of the Project Fürst development in Berlin
Diebold Nixdorf in a series of transactions to refinance certain debt with near-term maturities and provide Diebold Nixdorf with $400 million in new capital
Barclays Bank Plc as administrative agent and sole bookrunner to Cineworld plc in its Chapter 11 restructuring which involved a $1.935 billion Debtor-In-Possession credit agreement
Certain Senior Lenders to Danaos in connection with its debt restructuring and NatWest Group on the disposal of its shareholding in Danaos in an off-market privately negotiated share sale to Danaos
Eurazeo as significant shareholder to Europcar on Europcar’s €307 million financing related to COVID-19, consisting of a €220m new term loan, 90% guaranteed by the French State; €67m new financing facilities, 70% guaranteed by the Spanish State; and a €20m Incremental RCF guaranteed by Eurazeo
The shareholders of Four Seasons Healthcare in connection with its debt restructuring
Pacific Drilling, an offshore ultra-deepwater drilling company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, on its refinancing and restructuring of its $3 billion long-term high-yield bank debt governed by English-and New York-law
Ad hoc committee of Towergate Insurance Group senior secured creditors in connection with Towergate’s successful restructuring
A steering committee led by Citibank on the restructuring of Gerling Global Reinsurance and its $800 million letter of credit facility
Metrovacesa, the largest real estate company in Spain, on the restructuring of its syndicated and bilateral bank facilities aggregating over €6 billion
Zim Integrated Shipping Services on the restructuring of its financing and capital markets financings, which was the largest restructuring in Israeli history. This involved financings governed by English, New York, German and Israeli law, as part of its $2.3 billion debt restructuring and debt for equity swap. The transaction has won a number of awards, including “Restructuring Deal of the Year” at the M&A Advisor 2014 Dealmakers Awards, and the Marine Money Awards 2015.
Endemol on its restructuring, as well as advising one of its shareholders, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, both in its capacity as senior lender and as shareholder in Endemol
Delek Group Real Estate on the restructuring of an £800 million stake in NCP, the U.K.’s largest private car park operator
The Committee of Unsecured Noteholders on the $3 billion global restructuring of Algeco Scotsman, Inc.
The Committee of Senior Secured Noteholders on the restructuring of Brighthouse Group Limited
The lenders to GulfMark Americas in respect of its debt restructuring
The Co-ordinating Committee of Creditors on the global restructuring of Abengoa, a Spanish renewables company operating in more than 80 countries across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Middle East
EurotaxGlass’s Group in the refinancing negotiations as they exit a restructuring
Royal Bank of Scotland as senior secured lender of Dubai World, and other minority secured lenders, in connection with the $25 billion landmark restructuring of Dubai World

*Some of these representations occurred prior to Presley’s association with Gibson Dunn.

Presley’s recent publications include:

AI for restructuring professionals, in Global Turnaround, January 2024
“Restructuring Law and Practice: Third Edition,” LexisNexis, 2022
“Defaults and Restructurings: What Happens When it all Goes Wrong,” A Practitioner’s Guide to Syndicated Lending, Sweet & Maxwell, 2010
“Negative Pledges,” PLC Magazine, 1999

Raquel Babb is an associate in the New York office of Gibson Dunn and a member of the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group.

Raquel earned her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Barnard College.

Raquel is admitted to practice law in the State of New York.

Melissa Farrar is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Her practice focuses on white collar defense, internal investigations, and corporate compliance.

Melissa represents and advises multinational corporations in internal and government investigations on a wide range of topics, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the False Claims Act, anti-money laundering, export controls compliance, and accounting and securities fraud, including defending U.S. and global companies in civil and criminal investigations pursued by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). She also has experience representing U.S. government contractors in related suspension and debarment proceedings.

Her defense and investigations work has included successful representation of companies across a variety of industries, including those in the pharmaceutical, telecommunications, technology and software-as-a-service (“SaaS”), manufacturing, consumer products, rail transportation, oil and gas, and defense spaces, among others.

Melissa also routinely counsels corporations in these and other industries on the design and implementation of their corporate ethics and compliance programs and in connection with transactional due diligence, with a particular emphasis on compliance with anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws. She frequently leads corporate compliance program assessments and has experience in all areas of corporate compliance, including policy and procedure and code of conduct development, program governance and structure design, risk assessment planning and implementation, and the conduct of internal investigations, among others.

She has been recognized by the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for Criminal Defense: White-Collar. She was named by Expert Guides in its 2021 and 2022 Rising Stars Guide, which recognizes the brightest and most talented practitioners under 40 in the area of business law and related practices.

Representative matters include:

Defended a rail-based transportation company in a DOJ investigation under the False Claims Act of allegations relating to hours of service reporting.
Conducted an internal investigation for a major global SaaS company relating to apparent U.S. export control violations, including development of disclosures to, and representation before, the U.S. Department of Commerce (BIS) and DOJ.
Represented a multinational pharmaceutical company in negotiating resolution of whistleblower-driven FCPA investigations by DOJ and the SEC in three countries. This representation resulted in non-public declinations by both agencies.
Defended a civil engineering company in a False Claims Act investigation by DOJ relating to allegations of inadequate employee qualifications.
Conducted a post-monitorship anti-corruption compliance review and assessment for a global conglomerate and industrial manufacturing company.
Conducted pre-acquisition anti-corruption due diligence for a multi-billion dollar acquisition of an international e-commerce company.
Completed two Independent Examinerships for Swiss financial institutions participating in the DOJ Tax Swiss Bank program.

Melissa received her law degree with high honors from the George Washington University Law School in 2013, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif. While in law school, she was a member of the George Washington Law Review. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2004 from Dartmouth College.

Melissa is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Virginia.

Kevin Simmons is a litigation associate in the Houston office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He has significant experience in every phase of a dispute, from initial investigation to trial to defense on appeal, in federal and state courts across the country. Kevin’s experience includes representing the world’s largest technology, oil and gas, and finance companies, among others.

Representative Matters Include: *

Represented a leading technology company in a lawsuit in which the State of Texas demanded $300 billion for privacy violations.
Represented a leading debit card company in a lawsuit brought by another leading debit card company alleging Sherman Act violations.
Represented a leading cellphone producer in its defense against product liability claims.
Represented a leading investment bank in investigating potential violations of non-compete agreements.
Represented an oil and gas producer at trial and in arbitration against an oil major in a contract dispute over a subsea pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico.
Represented an oil and gas producer at trial and on appeal to the Fifth Circuit in a complex dispute involving the intersection of federal bankruptcy law, a Louisiana statute, and Texas and Louisiana contract law.
Represented a major investment bank in its $200 million contract dispute against foreign banks regarding currency exchange rates.
Represented multiple debtors in adversary proceedings, evidentiary hearings, and other litigation during their Chapter 11 bankruptcies, concerning contractual, statutory, regulatory, and constitutional claims.
First-chaired a bench trial on behalf of a woman from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in her application for asylum after she was tortured for her political activity.
Represented a Jewish all-girls school at the trial court and on appeal to the Second Circuit against a town for its abuse of its zoning laws against the school.

*Includes representations prior to Kevin’s association with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Before joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Kevin clerked for the Honorable Eva Guzman of the Supreme Court of Texas.

He graduated from Duke Law School, where he served as managing editor of the Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law. He earned his Masters of Bioethics and Science Policy from Duke Graduate School. He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Dallas with a double major in Philosophy and Classics.

Kevin is admitted to practice in the State of Texas.

Ioana Burtea is an English-qualified associate in the London office of Gibson Dunn and a member of the firm’s Privacy, Cybersecurity and Data Innovation Practice Group and Technology Transactions Practice Group.

Ioana’s practice has a strong focus on technology advisory work, bringing expertise on a broad range of regulatory areas including data protection and privacy, artificial intelligence, online safety and cybersecurity. Ioana also has experience advising clients on complex commercial transactions and large-scale outsourcings.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Ioana worked in the London office of another major law firm. She also spent six months’ in-house at Ford Motor Company and easyJet, advising on a range of privacy and commercial technology matters.

Sasha H. Kawakami is an associate in the New York office of Gibson Dunn, where she currently practices in the firm’s Litigation Department. Her experience includes a range of complex corporate, commercial, and transactional litigation, as well as government investigative proceedings and civil litigation.

Sasha received her Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law, where she served as Executive Articles Editor for the NYU Annual Survey of American Law. She graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature with distinction.

Sasha is admitted to practice in the State of New York.

Publications

The Full Promise of Liberty: A Place for Identity in Post-Bostock Jurisprudence, 77 N.Y.U. Ann. Surv. Am. L. 1 (2021).

Josh Barringer is a corporate associate in the Dallas office of Gibson Dunn. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, investment funds, private equity, and general corporate matters.

Josh earned his Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 2023, where he participated in the inaugural Franke Global Business Law Fellowship Program. He received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University, where he graduated summa cum laude with a major in History and minors in Spanish and Sociology.

Josh is admitted to practice in Texas.

Maxwell Ball is a partner in the New York office of Gibson Dunn. He is a member of Gibson Dunn’s Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice Groups. Maxwell represents private equity sponsors (including their portfolio companies) and strategic clients (both public and private) in connection with all aspects of their domestic and cross-border M&A activities, including acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, minority investments, restructurings, and recapitalizations.

Maxwell’s representative private equity matters include transactions for Investcorp, Littlejohn & Co., Trilantic Capital Partners, Antin Infrastructure Partners, Macquarie Infrastructure Partners and certain of their respective portfolio companies. Maxwell’s representative strategic matters include transactions for Hologic, PAR Technologies, ModivCare, Visa, and Stanley Black & Decker.

Maxwell received his Juris Doctor in 2015 from Harvard Law School, where he served as an editor of the Harvard Negotiation Law Review and conducted clinical work for the Project on Predatory Student Lending at the Harvard Law School Legal Services Center. Maxwell received his Bachelor of Arts degree, with honors, from the University of Maryland in 2010.

Maxwell is admitted to practice in the State of New York.

Alisa Balderas is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson Dunn. She currently practices in the firm’s Transactional Department.

Alisa earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif. While earning her degree, she served as staff of the Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal and as vice president of the Latino Law Students Association. Prior to law school, Alisa earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

She is admitted to practice in the State of California.

James is a partner in the London office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and specialises in structured and asset finance. He is Co-Chair of the Transportation and Space Group and a member of the Finance Practice Group.

James has extensive experience representing investment banks, lessors, financiers, equity investors, private equity, hedge funds, manufacturers, operators and arrangers on a variety of corporate, asset- and receivables-backed financing and leasing transactions involving aircraft, ships, oil rigs, rolling-stock, power turbines, military assets and other moveable equipment.

James has advised clients on a wide array of structured asset and corporate financing solutions, including capital markets transactions, asset-backed securities (ABS), enhanced equipment trust certificates (EETC), operating leases, structured tax-based financings, export-credit transactions, restructurings, securitisation, and portfolio deals such as leasing company acquisitions, M&A asset portfolio sales and purchases, joint ventures, Islamic financing projects, Japanese leasing, and default and restructuring matters.

James has conducted numerous lectures on structured asset and corporate finance and has contributed articles to several respected industry journals. James is ranked as a Band 1 asset finance practitioner by both Chambers UK and Chambers Global. He is also distinguished as a “Leading Partner” by Legal 500 UK, a notable practitioner in IFLR1000, and holds rankings in both Who’s Who Legal and Legal Experts.

Chambers UK 2025 notes that James “has a terrific team, is highly regarded for being market-savvy and is very strategic” as well as being “excellent in terms of industry and market knowledge as well as getting things resolved quickly, pragmatically and efficiently.” Further, it is noted that “He has excellent client service and is fantastic at organising a large and very capable team.” In previous years, clients have noted that “Jim is exceptionally client-focused. He’s also a strong negotiator with a huge amount of commercial awareness.“

Legal 500 UK 2025 highlights that “James Cameron has excellent knowledge of the industry and is great for large transactions which involve a strong team of associates.” In previous years, clients have noted that “Jim Cameron is an excellent negotiator and deal maker and a great individual to have in your corner when a transaction needs to get done. He brings a wealth of experience and practical nous to any deal he works on.”

James is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, serves as a trustee for multiple charities, including Laureus Sport for Good, and is the chairman of the School of Hard Knocks.

Prior to joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, James was a partner in the Asset Finance practice group at another major international law firm. James is admitted to practice in England and Wales.

James’ experience includes:*

Aircraft Finance and Leasing

Advised the finance parties in connection with the financing of up to $71 million relating to a portfolio of aircraft on lease to AAB and its affiliates registered in Malaysia and Thailand
Advised a consortium of banks (Citibank, Societe Generale, RBC and NordLB) in connection with an amend, extend and restatement of a 2019 facility for TrueNoord under which 17 aircraft were refinanced, with further new aircraft to be added
Advised the finance parties in connection with the refinancing of up to $161 million relating to a portfolio of Aircraft on lease to AAB and its various affiliates registered in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines
Advised CMB Financial Leasing in relation to its sale and leaseback acquisitions of four Airbus A320-251N aircraft to Frontier Airlines, Inc.
Advised Elix Aviation Capital on its purchase of ten new ATR42-600S aircraft from ATR
Advised volofin in connection with a senior secured limited recourse loan facility with ACS, financing aircraft engines. The portfolio consisted of an initial nine engines with scope for further engines to be financed. The finance documents contain a committed and uncommitted facility totaling $50 million
Advised Citibank, Société Générale, Royal Bank of Canada and NordLB as Lenders and arrangers in connection with a secured credit facility for up to $640,000,000 for TrueNoord for the financing of the acquisition of an initial portfolio of 10 identified aircraft, (including 4 ATR42-600 and 6 E2-195 aircraft), and further aircraft to be identified in the future
Advised MUFG on a $82 million JOL secured limited recourse financing of two A321-200NX Aircraft on lease to Wizz Air Hungary
Advised ORIX on competition law matters with respect to its acquisition from Merx of their 50pc share in SORA Airlease DAC
Advised Credit Suisse as lender on a $50 million bilateral facility for International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A.
Advised ORIX on the sale and leaseback with United for 15 new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft
Advised Muzinich & Co in respect of finance leases for two Boeing 737 aircraft with the TUI Airlines
Advised SMBC AC in connection with the negotiation of leases for, and the deliveries of, two A321 LR aircraft to Air Transat
Advised CMB Financial Leasing as seller on the sale of two narrowbody aircraft to Lunar Aircraft Holdco
Advised Oaktree Capital Management on the merger of Elix (owned by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management) and Adare Aviation Capital to form the new leasing company Abelo
Advised Citibank, SMBC, Goldman Sachs and CACIB on the provision of a $750 million bridge loan to British Airways secured over a portfolio of Boeing and Airbus aircraft
Advised Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Citi, Morgan Stanley and Investec in relation to the refinancing of various facilities with Falko
Advised Goldman Sachs in relation to a $400 million sale and leaseback financing with Falko and Delta
Advised BNP Paribas and CACIB on the provision on a $300 million secured aircraft warehouse facility to a joint venture entity owned by Airbus and JP Lease
Advised AerCap on a sale and leaseback with United Technologies of a portfolio of 90 Pratt & Whitney engines related to various Airbus aircraft owned by AerCap or its affiliates and leased to various airlines
Advised TUI in relation to its arrangements with Boeing regarding its 737-max
Advised Elix Assets I Limited as borrower and Elix Aviation Capital as guarantor in its $350 million secured warehouse facility from a syndicate of lenders including Deutsche Bank, Citibank, BNP Paribas and Nomura for the refinancing of its portfolio of ATR and Bombardier turboprop aircraft of difference vintages and leased to a variety of lessees
Advised BNP Paribas and Nomura for the refinancing of its portfolio of ATR and Bombardier turboprop aircraft of difference vintages and leased to a variety of lessees
Advised TUI Travel on the order of 60 aircraft from Boeing valued at $6.1 billion, as well as purchase options for a further 90 aircraft
Advised Vueling in its purchase agreement for the purchase of 62 narrow-body passenger jets with a total value of $5.4 billion, as well as options to purchase a further 58 aircraft from Airbus
Advised Investec on the financing of a portfolio of aircraft acquired by Investec Global Aircraft Fund

Corporate Finance, Joint Venture and M&A

Advised Chorus Aviation Inc. on the sale of Falko Regional Aircraft Limited, together with Chorus’ equity interests in certain aircraft investment funds managed by Falko and its affiliates, to investment funds managed by HPS Investment Partners, LLC, in a transaction valued at $1.9 billion
Advised Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) Ltd on the acquisition, through one of its affiliates, of a portfolio of 64 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft from a wholly owned subsidiary of China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited
Advised SMBC Aviation Capital in relation to its acquisition of Goshawk Aviation Limited, which included a portfolio of approximately 160 owned aircraft and 15 managed aircraft
Advised Fortress Investment Group LLC and certain of its managed funds on the sale to Chorus Aviation Inc. of Falko Regional Aircraft Limited, together with other asset owning entities managed by Falko, in a transaction valued at approximately $855 million (including debt assumed)
Advised SMBC Aviation Capital in relation to its acquisition of Goshawk Aviation Limited
Advised Fortress Investment Group LLC and certain of its managed funds on the sale to Chorus Aviation Inc. of Falko Regional Aircraft Limited, together with other asset owning entities managed by Falko, in a transaction valued at approximately $855 million
Advised ORIX Aviation in connection with its $2.2 billion acquisition of a 30% stake in Avolon from Bohai Capital
Advised AWAS and its owners Terra Firma and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board on an agreement to sell a portfolio of 90 aircraft to Macquarie Group Limited for a total consideration of $4 billion
Advised Oaktree on the establishment of Elix, and its turboprop and regional jet venture
Advised the shareholders of TrueNoord on the establishment of its turboprop and regional jet business
Advised Oaktree on the establishment of Meta -a leasing platform for military and technology assets
Advised SMBC in its acquisition of RBS Aviation Capital. The portfolio comprised 210 Aircraft with a further 90 on order, with a sale price of $7.3 billion. This transaction was at the time the largest M&A transaction in the aircraft leasing sector
Advised Goldman Sachs as underwriting counsel on the sale of RBS’ Aircraft Loan Book, $4.5 billion
Advised Investec and Shawbrook Bank on the purchase of the Lombard offshore leasing business of $225 million
Advised Adare Aviation Capital on the establishment of its aircraft leasing business
Advised the financiers in the acquisition of Cobham by Advent International
Advised Investec on the acquisition of Masterlease, General Motors’ car leasing business
Advised Magnetar on its joint venture with Orix
Advised Airbus on its Aviateur joint venture with KfW, CIT and a group of banks
Advised Commerzbank, Credit Suisse and other banks as a joint venture acquiring a company that owns a North Sea oil rig and on the subsequent refinancing of that company
Advised the financiers to a joint venture between KKR and Deucalion for the acquisition financing of aircraft and on the subsequent sale of Deucalion

Capital Markets

Advised Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC as placement agents for British Airways Plc in relation to a private placement EETC offering of approximately $299,569,000 sustainability-linked Notes for the financing of two Airbus A320neo aircraft, two Airbus A350-1000 aircraft
Advised Citibank and the joint bookrunners, in connection with the $1,004,621,000 British Airways 2020-1 EETC offering, to finance BA’s purchase of 14 aircraft
Advised Citibank and the joint bookrunners, in connection with the $806,879,000 British Airways 2019-1 EETC offering, to finance BA’s purchase of 8 new aircraft
Advised Citibank and the joint bookrunners, in connection with the $608,551,000 British Airways 2018-1 EETC offering, to finance BA’s purchase of 11 new aircraft
Advised Citibank as lead structuring agent for a group of international banks in the first-ever issuance of an EETC for British Airways raising $927 million. The securities were intended to finance BA’s purchase of 14 new aircraft, including six Boeing Dreamliners
Advised the syndicate of 28 lenders in the $1.075 billion replacement for the British Airways 2012 revolving credit facility
Advised Elix Aviation Capital in connection with its $411 million debut ABS deal. This was the first ABS to be 100% secured against turboprops
Advised Aldus Aviation Limited on the $540 million asset backed securitisation for Aldus Aviation Limited
Advised Citi on the $807 million asset backed securitisation for Bank of China Aviation
Advised the bookrunners on the $328 million EETC financing secured against three new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft for Turkish Airlines -the first EETC issuance by a Turkish
Advised Doric on the first non-US EETC, with Goldman Sachs as underwriters and Emirates as lessee of four A380 aircraft, $586 million

ECAs

Advised Citibank in connection with its participation in an EXIM backed loan to be advanced to KLM for the acquisition of a Boeing Model 787-10 Aircraft
Advised Export Development Canada in over 100 financings for the acquisition of corporate jets by VistaJet
Advised JP Morgan on the financing of 18 A320 Aircraft for the Air Asia Group, $604 million
Advised financial institutions, banks and investment banks including HSBC, Bayerische Landesbank, KFW, CACIB, BNP and JP Morgan on numerous European ECA supported aircraft financings
Advised BNP in relation to COFACE-supported financings for ATR
Advised JP Morgan on an 18 Aircraft, $605 million ECA financing for Air Asia
Advised a syndicate of 42 lenders in relation to an ECA-backed financing to GECAS for 10 Air Canada Aircraft
Advised a syndicate of banks and ECAs in relation to the restructuring of Swissair / Flightlease
Advised on project financing transactions for JBIC
Advised K-Sure in relation to various maritime financings

Rail and Rolling Stock Finance

Advised Commerzbank on the €1 billion refinancing of a portfolio of SNCF trains
Advised National Express on the ScotRail Franchise
Advised Eversholt Rail on the South-Central Refranchising
Advised Eversholt Rail on the sale of a portfolio of locomotives to various European buyers
Advised Commerzbank on the refinancing of Eurostar and Eurotunnel assets
Advised Angel Trains on a joint venture with Hyundai
Advised Porterbrook on financing structures outside its main financing arrangements to fund the acquisition of new rolling stock including the funding of pre delivery payments in connection therewith

Shipping and Offshore

Advised Ambassador Cruise Line in respect of the secured financing of two vessels pursuant to a two tranche Euro Loan, which was structured as a Cayman Stock Exchange debt listing. The proceeds of the financing will be used to finance upgrades to the vessels and other working capital requirements
Advised Vantage Drilling International, an international offshore drilling company, in connection with its $350 million offering of senior secured first lien notes due 2023
Advised Citibank and other financing banks with respect to a portfolio financing program of up to $2 billion and Société Générale on a $200 million sustainability linked loan (based on the Poseidon Principles framework) which was subsequently upsized to $250 million with syndication made available to a subsidiary of Seaspan Corporation to refinance approximately 40 vessels. The financing program provides for a common collateral pool to secure bank financing as well as private placement notes
Advised an investment bank in connection with the potential purchase of a participation in $500 million loan facilities made available to an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management to finance shipping loans purchased from Nord/LB
Advised a joint venture between KKR, Oak Hill Advisors and Borealis Maritime in connection with a financing from a large investment bank. The joint venture fund was established for the purpose of financing vessels and purchasing vessels to be leased to vessel operators
Advised TCW Asset Management Company LLC on the provision of a first lien facility to Grand Circle Corporation and its affiliates secured over a portfolio of real estate, IP and cruise ships owned by the obligors
Advised Morgan Stanley, the global financial institution, in its loan to CVI Ocean Transportation Inc., an affiliate of CarVal Investors, LLC, initially secured by mortgages over, amongst others, six bulk carriers subject to long term charter to Cargill International S.A.
Advised Goldman Sachs on US$1bn financing for McDermott, a company focused on designing and executing complex offshore oil and gas projects
Advised the lenders on the financing of an FPSO for the Brazilian field Tiro and Sidon, US$300m
Advised Bank of America on its acquisition and financing of five tankers
Advised Korea Line Corporation on the structured refinancing of three vessels
Advised Commerzbank, CSFB and Lehman Brothers in their joint acquisition of the UK owner of a North Sea oil rig
Advised Lloyds Banking Group on the financing of three oil rigs
Advised Goldman Sachs Lending Partners as sole lead arranger and sole bookrunner in a $300 million senior secured first-lien term loan facility for McDermott Finance, a subsidiary of McDermott International, Inc.: and Goldman, Sachs & Co. as sole book-running manager in an offering of $500 million of senior secured second-lien notes by McDermott and an offering of tangible equity units by McDermott generating gross proceeds of $287.5 million
Advised the lenders on the financing of an FPSO for the Brazilian field Tiro and Sidon, $300 million

Restructuring

Advised the single largest secured lender to Nordic Aviation Capital in connection with EQT’s equity investment in NAC
Advised Investec on the restructuring of LATAM
Advised the shareholders in in relation to the Philippine Airlines restructuring
Advised a hedge fund on the restructuring of Norwegian Air Shuttle
Advised ORIX Aviation in relation to the restructuring of and litigation with Hong Kong Airlines
Advised the ad hoc committee of bondholders of Thomas Cook group on certain airline group related issues in connection with the attempted recapitalisation of Thomas Cook
Advised the creditors in connection with the restructuring of a shipping company based in Germany
Advised the Ad Hoc Group of New Lenders, consisting of circa 25 investment banks, investment funds and other lenders on the highly complex $1.4 billion restructuring of TORM A/S, the listed Danish shipping company
Advised the Ad Hoc Group of Creditors in the restructuring of Ocean Rig UDW Inc. (ORIG) group of companies and a related exit financing to be entered into with the ORIG group following its restructuring
Advised Citibank and Soc Gen in connection with the restructuring of a secured aircraft warehouse facility provided to a subsidiary of Airborne
Advised Deutsche Bank, Soc Gen and CACIB in in connection with the restructuring of a secured aircraft warehouse facility provided to a subsidiary of Airborne
Advised Buona Sorte Holdings, Inc.in connection with the restructuring of Philippine Airlines Inc.
Advised DNB Bank ASA, Singapore Branch (as agent), for the MLA lenders in an exit financing that is related to the restructuring of shipping financing facilities of PT Berlian Laju Tanker Tbk (BLT)
Advised on Garuda’s $500 million debt restructuring
Advised the banks on the Air Canada in its bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings

*Some of these representations occurred prior to James’ association with Gibson Dunn.

Alisa Babitz is of counsel in Gibson Dunn’s Washington, D.C. office. She is a member of the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Group. She advises public and private companies on a wide range of general corporate, securities and M&A matters including: acquisitions, dispositions and other business combinations; strategic alliances and joint ventures; public offerings and private placements of equity and debt securities; and venture capital investments.

Alisa has co-authored several articles on various corporate and securities law topics, as well as the “Securities Law Issues” chapter of The M&A Practice Guide, LexisNexis and chapters in Partnership, Joint Ventures & Strategic Relationships, Law Journal Seminars-Press.

She earned her law degree, cum laude, in 1993 from Harvard Law School. Alisa received a bachelor of arts degree, magna cum laude, in history from Columbia University in 1990. She is admitted to practice in the State of New York and the District of Columbia.

Selected M&A representations include the following:

CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP) in its acquisitions of Apartments.com for $585 million and Apartment Finder for $170 million
Independent directors of Media General, Inc. (NYSE: MEG) in the merger of Media General with Young Broadcasting
Apex Tool Group, a joint venture between Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR) and Cooper Industries (NYSE: ETN), in its $1.6 billion sale to Bain Capital
Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) in the spin-off of Marriott Vacations Worldwide (NYSE: VAC), which operates Marriott’s vacation ownership business
Watson Wyatt in its $3.5 billion merger of equals with Towers Perrin, which resulted in the formation of Towers Watson (NASDAQ: TW)
Neustar, Inc. (NYSE: NSR) in its acquisition of several private companies and its acquisition of the Numbering Solutions business from Evolving Systems (NASDAQ: EVOL)
EaglePicher Corp. in the sale of several portfolio companies totaling approximately $500 million
Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) in its $210 million acquisition of a hotel management company from Gaylord Entertainment Company (NYSE: RHP)
Summit Materials (NYSE:SUM) in its $180 million acquisition of an aggregates and ready-mix concrete company

Selected joint venture representations include the following:

Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. (TYO: 5401) in the formation of a $3.4 billion steel manufacturing joint venture with BlueScope Steel (ASX: BSL)
Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) in the formation of a joint venture with IHG, Wyndham, Choice & Hyatt to create RoomKey.com, a hotel booking website
SAFANAD, a private equity firm, in the formation of a joint venture with Formation Capital to recapitalize and operate a $900 million health services company
Synthetic Genomics in the formation of research & development joint ventures with each of BP British Petroleum and Asiatic Centre for Genome Technology
Hamilton Lane, a private equity management firm, in the formation of a private equity fund as a joint venture with BNP Paribas (PA: BNP)

Magdalena Auge is an associate in the London office of Gibson Dunn. She is a member of the Private Equity, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Capital Markets Practice Groups.

Magdalena has experience advising a range of clients in transactions relating to mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, banking, finance, securities filings, and multiple Rule 144A and Regulation S offerings. She has also handled general corporate and commercial matters.

Before joining Gibson Dunn, Magdalena was an associate in the capital market practice of another international law firm in New York City.

Selected experience:*

Represented Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited in its $5 billion sustainability-linked senior notes offering and its concurrent tender offer to purchase $4 billion of outstanding senior notes. This was the largest-ever sustainability-linked bond offering and the first ever for a generic medicines company.
Represented Torrid Holdings Inc. in its $231 million initial public offering.
Represented PrimeSource Building Products in its acquisition of NWI Enterprises and related Financing.
Represented Frontier Communications Corporation in connection with its $1.65 billion DIP-to-exit financing, including $1.15 billion DIP-to-exit first lien notes.
Represented Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. in its £1.08 billion sale of The Priory Group to Waterland Private Equity.
Represented Leslie’s Inc. in its $680 million initial public offering.
Represented Norwegian Cruise Line in its $2.4 billion transaction involving four different capital markets products, the first-ever four-tranched marketed financing.
Represented Fox Corporation in its $1.2 billion senior notes offering.
Represented Bain Capital and Dealer Tire in the $1.1 billion acquisition of Dent Wizard International and related financing.

*Some of these representations occurred prior to Magdalena’s association with Gibson Dunn.

Paniz Arab is an associate in the New York office of Gibson Dunn.

She graduated summa cum laude from UCI Law in 2022, where she served as an Executive Editor on the UC Irvine Law Review, and the Diversity and Outreach Chair on the Journal of International, Transnational, and Comparative Law. Paniz received a Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies from UCLA in 2017.

Paniz is admitted to practice in the State of New York.

Nikita (Niki) Aneja is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson Dunn. She currently practices in the firm’s Transactional Department.

Representative Transactions:

Platinum Equity in its carve out acquisition of Rehlko (formerly known as Kohler Energy), a global leader in distributed energy solutions, from Kohler Co.
Candle Media, a Blackstone-backed media company led by Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, in its acquisition of Hello Sunshine, Reese Witherspoon’s production company.
Frontier Media Group in its acquisition of a premier digital media and news subscription service.
Endurance Partners in its strategic investment of Westwood Professional Services, Inc., a leading multi-disciplined AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) industry professional services provider.
Avoya Travel in its strategic investment from Certares Management LLC, a global travel, tourism, and hospitality investment firm.
Lowe Hospitality, Inc. in its acquisition of Hyatt Hotel Corporation’s vacation rental management business, currently known as Destination Residential Management.
BDT & MSD Partners in its minority investment in Auberge Resorts Collection, the manager of an award-winning portfolio of luxury hotels, reports, residences and private clubs.
Aurora Capital Partners in its capital raise in connection with its acquisition of Sharps Compliance, a full-service national provider of comprehensive waste management solutions including medical, pharmaceutical and hazardous waste.
McGraw-Hill in its acquisition of Achieve3000, a recognized leader in differentiated instruction and learning acceleration for PreK-12 students.
McGraw-Hill in its acquisition of Boards & Beyond, a producer of digital video educational materials for medical students.
DreamBox Learning, a PK-12 education technology provider, and its investors, including Elliott Investment Management and TPG, in the sale of DreamBox to Discovery Education, a global education technology company backed by Clearlake Capital Group, L.P.
myDigitalOffice in its strategic investment from Cove Hill Partners.

Niki earned her law degree from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, where she served as a Senior Editor of the Southern California Law Review. While in law school, Niki was Vice President of the Public Interest Law Foundation, Vice President of the South Asian Law Students Association, and a member of the Post-Conviction Justice Project.

Prior to law school, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Davis.

Niki is admitted to practice in the State of California.

William B. Altabef is an associate in the Dallas office of Gibson Dunn. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, and advising on general corporate matters.

William earned his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School, where he served as Comments Editor for the Chicago Journal of International Law. He received his undergraduate degree with honors from Northwestern University. Prior to joining the firm, William clerked for the Honorable Patrick E. Higginbotham of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. During law school, William interned for the Honorable Barbara M. G. Lynn of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Prior to law school, he worked in marketing for a multinational financial services corporation.

William is admitted to practice in Texas.

Representative Matters

Counsel to Pioneer Natural Resources Company in its $65 billion merger with Exxon Mobil Corporation
Counsel to AT&T in connection with the sale of its interest in DIRECTV.
Counsel to Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. in its $5.4 billion combination transaction with NexTier Oilfield Solutions Inc.
Counsel to an affiliate of Lone Star Funds in its acquisition of CentroMotion, a leading designer and manufacturer of highly engineered products and systems for the industrial and transportation markets.
Counsel to CenterOak Partners LLC in its acquisitions and divestitures of numerous businesses.
Counsel to Trive Capital in acquiring its stake in Mo’ Bettahs Hawaiian Style Food.

Publications

The Legal Man in the Moon: Exploring Environmental Personhood for Celestial Bodies, 21 Chi. J. Int’l L. 476 (2021).