One client of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP remarks that 'the service, standard of advice, industry knowledge, efficiency and turnaround time is above and beyond any other law firm'. The firm has invested heavily to grow its workload for private equity-backed issuers. 'Uniquely talented' head of European capital markets Matthew Merkle; key adviser to private equity sponsors, issuers and investment banks Deirdre Jones; and Nicolò Ascione, who handles high yield debt offerings and other leveraged buyout instruments, joined in late 2023 from Kirkland & Ellis International LLP. They join corporate partner Matt Friedman, who is also a member of the capital markets and hybrid capital and special situations practices.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘We followed Matthew Merkle and Deirdre Jones from K&E to PW. PW itself is clearly a newly established and quickly evolving practice. It is not cheap, however the service, standard of advice, industry knowledge, efficiency and turnaround time is above and beyond any other law firm we have previously used. It has been quite simply exceptional in every regard. ’

  • ‘I can't think of a single thing that Deirdre Jones or Matthew Merkle could have done better.’

  • ‘Paul Weiss' team led by Matt Merkle did an exceptional job on our bonds and prepared documentation in an extremely short timeframe. The quality of their advice and support is outstanding.’

  • ‘Matt Merkle is a uniquely talented, efficient and client-friendly lawyer. He is always available, immediately answers questions at any time of the day, always calm, cool and collected. He leads a team of great quality and expertise. Matt is our go-to expert for any finance-related questions and a great person to work with.’

Key clients

  • Lottomatica Group S.p.A.
  • Bain Capital
  • BC Partners
  • Altor Equity Partners
  • The Ardonagh Group
  • Fedrigoni S.p.A
  • Guala Closures S.p.A
  • Investindustrial
  • Madison Dearborn Partners
  • United Group B.V.
  • Apollo Global Management
  • Transcom Holding AB
  • HPS Partners
  • KPS Capital Partners
  • Radius Global Infrastructure, Inc.
  • Intelligent Packaging Limited Partnership
  • Reno de Medici S.p.A.
  • Ahlstrom Oyj
  • House of HR N.V.
  • Vallourec S.A.

Lawyers

Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Matthew Merkle, Deirdre Jones, Matt Friedman

Other key lawyers

Nicolò Ascione