Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Firm overview: Established in New York in 1792, Cadwalader is a trusted advisor to many of the world's leading financial institutions, corporations and investment funds, with more than 225 years of experience crafting innovative solutions for our clients' most complex legal issues.

Main areas of practice
Capital markets: The team is widely recognized as a premier global legal advisor in securitization and structured finance. It represents investment banks, issuers, funds and private equity sponsors in structuring and executing transactions across a broad array of structured products and asset classes, including ABS, CLOs, CMBS, CRE CLOs, RMBS, structured workout financings and whole loan sales.

Corporate: Cadwalader represents companies, financial institutions, private equity firms and other investors across the full spectrum of complex negotiated and hostile corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures and spinoffs, as well as public and private debt and equity securities offerings, both shareholder activism and takeover preparedness, and related corporate governance and securities law matters.

Finance: Cadwalader advises financial institutions, private equity sponsors and corporate borrowers in a wide variety of financing transactions, including acquisition, leveraged and other syndicated financings; senior secured, second lien and mezzanine loans; asset-based lending transactions; commodities financings; the financing of financial assets; and rescue financing, workouts, debtor-in-possession financings and exit financings.

Financial restructuring: Cadwalader regularly advises agents, noteholders, official creditor committees, ad hoc creditor committees and various other creditor constituencies, as well as debtors, in bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings in the US and abroad. It also counsels strategic investors and market participants on bankruptcy issues related to financings and acquisitions involving distressed entities.

Financial services: The firm advises clients on statutory and regulatory requirements, including those governing broker-dealers, securities and futures exchanges, banks, investment advisers and funds. It advises hedge funds and asset managers on structuring funds and raising capital. It also represents issuers, dealers and end-users on complex derivatives and structured products transactions.

Fund finance: The firm’s market-leading team represents financial institutions as lenders and lead agents on the full range of fund finance products, including subscription credit facilities, hybrid facilities, leverage facilities, management fee and GP lines of credit, equity commitment facilities and credit-enhanced corporate loans, for private equity funds sponsored by many of the world’s preeminent fund sponsors.

Litigation: Cadwalader’s full-service, transatlantic litigation team handles all aspects of dispute resolution, including negotiation, mediation and arbitration. Its trial practice helps clients successfully navigate enterprise-threatening litigation with confidence. It protects and defend our clients in a broad range of strategic areas, including antitrust, corporate and financial services litigation and regulation, and intellectual property.

Private wealth: Cadwalader is a leading authority on international and domestic private wealth matters, with a long history of advising US and multinational high net-worth individuals and families regarding tax efficient structures for their US and global holdings, with emphasis on governance, the minimization of taxation, the management of holdings, and their transfer to family members, entities, trusts and charities.

Real estate: Our premier real estate finance team represents financial institutions and investors in the origination of securitized and balance sheet mortgage and mezzanine loans, syndicated loans and construction loans secured by virtually all property types, including hotel, office, retail, healthcare, multi-family and industrial properties, ranging from single, trophy assets to multi-asset, multi-state and whole-company transactions, as well as the sale of mortgage and mezzanine loans in the secondary market, co-lender and intercreditor agreements, servicing and loan workouts, and restructurings.

Tax: Cadwalader’s tax practice is notable for its sophistication and expertise in complex, tax-advantaged transaction structures that have been employed in the most complex public and private mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, Reverse Morris Trusts (RMTs), divestitures, joint ventures, restructurings and foreign tax planning strategies. It is a leader in structuring sophisticated securitization vehicles and have had a primary role in virtually every type of mortgage-backed and asset-backed securitization in the market.

White-collar defense and investigations: The team has extensive experience in white-collar defense and investigations, cybersecurity and data protection, FCPA enforcement, pharmaceutical regulation, securities enforcement, and the full spectrum of related compliance issues.