Kirkland & Ellis Adds Leading Attorney Michael Urschel to Structured Finance & Structured Private Credit Practice
Kirkland & Ellis announced today that Michael Urschel has joined the Firm as a partner in the Debt Finance Group, where he will lead the Firm’s Structured Finance & Structured Private Credit Practice.
“Michael is a preeminent name for complex matters in the structured finance area,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. “His experience and leadership will be particularly valuable as we continue to see greater demand for structured products across private equity, credit, infrastructure, fund finance and other core areas of our transactional practice. We are thrilled to welcome Michael to Kirkland.”
Mr. Urschel advises sponsors, credit funds, initial purchasers, institutional investors, investment banks and borrowers on a broad array of structured finance transactions. Throughout his career, he has focused on securitizations, structured private credit and private placements for many alternative asset types. His work has covered complex sectors ranging from whole business securitization to digital infrastructure and energy asset securitization. Mr. Urschel has designed many of the prevailing structures in the securitization market today and has led many first-in-asset-class transactions.
“Kirkland has an outstanding reputation at the cutting-edge of private equity and funds, which is an area that has seen a growing interest in securitized products,” said Mr. Urschel. “The opportunity to join the Kirkland platform and a highly integrated and collaborative team was very attractive and I am excited to further build out the Firm’s structured finance offerings.”
Mr. Urschel is ranked in Band 1 in Whole-Business Securitizations by Chambers USA and also as a Leading Lawyer by The Legal 500 U.S. He has served on the Structured Finance Committee of the New York City Bar Association and the Legal Counsel Committee of the Structured Finance Association. He is also the editor of The Securitisation Law Review.
With more than 300 dedicated lawyers, Kirkland’s debt finance practice is the largest in the world and serves more than 500 private equity clients. According to Bloomberg, Debtwire and Refinitiv, Kirkland consistently handles more transactions for borrowers than any other law firm in the world and, for the last five years, has led the market in U.S. borrower transactions. The practice is recognized by Chambers & Partners, Legal 500 and other publications for its work on complex, high-profile transactions; exceptional commercial understanding of U.S. and international financing markets; and excellence in client service.
