Transport finance and leasing
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Dentons
Nick is the Chair of Dentons' Global Aviation group. His main areas of practice are cross-border aircraft finance and leasing structures with tax-based elements, ECA-supported financings and aircraft operating leasing.He has been recognised as a Legal Expert for Aviation Finance and Asset Finance and Leasing by Legal Business, The Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners guides to the legal profession for over 20 years and is listed in the Who's Who Legal for Aviation. He has spent time working in France and, in particular, spent 18 months on secondment with Airbus working on manufacturer-supported financings in the early 1990s.Over the last 30 years, Nick has been involved in all manner of aircraft financings, leasing and purchase structures. In this time he has represented many of the major European, American and Japanese banks for aircraft deliveries to some of the world's leading airlines. More recently, Nick has worked with some of the most active European airlines in their fleet development programs and with a number of the leading aircraft leasing companies on portfolio acquisitions and sales.
Dentons
Paul Holland is based in London but has spent many years working in the Middle East and much of his work continues to be linked with the area with which he maintains close ties.Paul is a partner in the Asset Finance department, where he principally deals with the financing of aircraft. He acts for a range of clients including export credit agencies, commercial banks, operating lessors and airlines. He has wide experience of the various structures used commonly to finance aircraft, including both US Exim and European ECA supported transactions.Due to the time Paul spent in the Middle East, he also has great interest and experience in Islamic finance and used to be head of the firm's Islamic Finance practice. Paul retains a great interest in Islamic finance and is a frequent speaker at conferences and other events.
Watson Farley & Williams LLP
She specialises in structured finance and leasing within the maritime space, with a focus on transactions benefitting from export credit support and project financing transactions across a variety of maritime and offshore assets and in the ports and infrastructure space.
She advises both borrowers and financiers and is especially highly regarded for her expertise in the cruise and LNG sectors.
In November 2021 Lindsey was yet again named as one of leading maritime sector publication Lloyd’s List’s Top 10 Maritime Lawyers, an accolade she was also named in 2019 and a highly prestigious ranking spanning private practice lawyers, in-house counsel and barristers worldwide. In June 2021, Lindsey was also named Women in Business Law’s ‘Shipping and Maritime Lawyer of the Year’.
Lindsey is recognised as a leading shipping finance lawyer by legal directories Chambers UK, Legal 500 UK and IFLR 1000. In 2021, Chambers reported clients as saying: “She is one of the most talented lawyers I have come across. In addition to being highly experienced, commercial and solution-orientated, she is great fun to work with”, while Legal 500 styled her “very pragmatic and solutions-oriented”.
She joined the firm in 1999 and led its English law finance practice in Paris for four years.
Stephenson Harwood
Ian is a partner and head of our ship finance group. He is an expert in the asset finance sector, specialising in ship, offshore and superyacht finance. Ian has broad experience of various financing transactions, from conventional debt, private equity and Islamic finance to leasing and restructuring. He provides quality advice in a commercial context with exceptional levels of service. Ian is recognised in The Legal 500 UK 2023 guide as a leading individual and in Chambers UK 2023 guide as a notable practitioner.
Ian has a wealth of experience in complex financing structures, including export credit backed new building financings, financing of receivables pursuant to pool agreement, seller's credit transactions, Islamic financings and sale and lease back transactions. He has also led teams involved in the disposal and acquisition of loan portfolios for a number of high profile financial institutions.
Ian acts for a mixture of financial institutions, ship-owners and operators, joint ventures, funds, private equity groups and shipbuilders in a broad variety of transaction types, which allows him to anticipate the issues that his counterparts will raise and enable him to offer commercial solutions.
Ian has been involved in the restructuring of a number of high profile financings in varying stages of distress, and has also advised in respect of a number of transactions that have involved enforcement action including the arrest and auction of vessels in a number of jurisdictions.
Highly regarded by his clients, Ian is commended for being sharp, quick on his feet, well prepared and able to argue any case clearly and convincingly. He has also contributed to the fourth edition of the leading ship finance industry handbook, Shipping Finance.
Ian is a core member of the Stephenson Harwood yacht and superyacht team and regularly advises on non-contentious matters in the sector.
Watson Farley & Williams LLP
Louise has significant expertise in the rail and aviation sectors. Her transactional experience includes portfolio, secured debt, common terms platform, ECA-supported and Islamic financings, leasing company and asset acquisitions, operating leases and sales.
She has represented several of the world’s largest leasing companies, operators and banks and has recently acted for Alpha Trains, Ermewa, NatWest, ECGD, Euler Hermes and Goshawk.
Prior to joining the firm, Louise spent 12 years with White & Case, including three years in their Paris office. During this time, Louise was seconded to Angel Trains, where she advised on numerous aspects of their corporate and financial restructuring, prior to their sale by RBS in 2008, as well as on their day-to-day operational matters.
She is recommended for her expertise in the rail sector by legal directory Legal 500 UK.
Wikborg Rein
The focus of Beatrice's practice is the finance and development of projects in the shipping, offshore, travel and aviation sectors taking projects from the planning and construction phase through to full operation. Having spent time in-house with UKEF, she also has particular expertise with ECA or other state backed projects and their implementation within domestic and international frameworks. Her clients are some of the leading owners, operators and contractors, as well as some of the major financiers to the industry, including banking syndicates, banks, funds and other alternative finance providers.
Dentons
Serge Sergiou specialises in all areas of asset finance and leasing with a particular emphasis on aircraft transactions. He advises lenders, lessors, manufacturers and operators of aircraft, rolling stock and other assets in respect of all aspects of acquisition, sale, financing (including pre-delivery financing), tax-based leasing and operating leasing.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Mr Tyler is the leader of the law firm’s London office finance practice and is a member of the transportation finance team. He is a recognised expert in aircraft finance and regularly advises clients that include airlines, financial institutions and lessors on the procurement of new and used aircraft and engines and the cross-border leasing and financing of those aircraft and engines, utilising a variety of structures including operating leases, finance leases, export credit supported transactions, Islamic finance and tax-based and structured finance products.
Stephenson Harwood
Jonathan is a ship finance expert with a focus on complex, cross-border transactions and restructurings in shipping. Clients value his commercial and pragmatic approach coupled with his broad experience. Jonathan heads our Chinese ship finance practice.
He has extensive experience of ship finance and commercial shipping matters including complex loan financings, operating and finance leasing, sale and purchase, sale and leaseback, shipbuilding and construction contracts and corporate acquisitions. Jonathan advises on "big ticket" asset finance transactions worldwide. He represents a broad range of financial institutions (including export credit agencies), major international ship owners and shipyards. He has particular experience in Europe and the Far East. Jonathan has considerable restructuring experience and has advised lenders on the Omega Navigation Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, and major restructurings for Torm, Genco, Maritime Equity Partners and Bourbon Offshore.
He has been recommended in The Legal 500 for his work within shipping.
Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP
Reed Smith LLP
Reed Smith LLP
James Cameron
MilbankNick Swinburne
MilbankJim Bell
Watson Farley & Williams LLPNext Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Hogan Lovells International LLP
Richard Goss has a comprehensive cross-border asset finance practice with particular emphasis on aviation finance. He represents an array of industry participants including operating lessors, airlines, financial institutions, and manufacturers on a diverse range of multijurisdictional transactions. These include sale and leasebacks, operating leases, portfolio trading, export credit, and PDP financings for fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. He has also advised clients in a variety of airline restructurings, insolvencies, and aircraft repossessions.
He brings a solution-focused and pragmatic approach, which reflects more than 15 years of experience in the aviation sector and his position at the heart of the industry. Richard builds deep client relationships and is a trusted advisor to whom clients return time and again for support on their most challenging transactions.
Earlier in his career, Richard spent six months on secondment to Standard Chartered Bank's aviation finance team based in Dublin, gaining valuable insights from an operating lessor perspective. He is regularly seen at aviation finance conferences and has lectured to the Irish Law Society's Diploma course in Aviation Finance and Leasing.
Active across a number of pro bono and community activities, Richard put his knowledge and experience in the helicopter sector to charitable use as part of Hogan Lovells' citizenship activities. He played a key role advising London's Air Ambulance on a pro bono basis on its acquisition and financing of a second helicopter to provide crucial emergency support for the people of London.
Will Alete
Norton Rose FulbrightLeading associates
Rising stars with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Chris is a senior associate in the London office of Pillsbury’s Asset Finance Group. His practice focuses on acting for banks, lessors, airlines and export credit agencies on a wide range of high-value, cross-border aircraft and engine finance transactions. Chris’ extensive transactional experience spans sale and leasebacks, finance and operating leases, OEM purchase agreements, novations, PDP financings, engine maintenance and support agreements, loan/mortgage transactions and ECA supported deals. In 2016, Chris undertook a six-month secondment at Emirates in Dubai advising on a range of delivery, redelivery and ad hoc matters.
Reed Smith LLP