(Philadelphia, PA, January 9, 2003) Reed Smith an international top 20 law firm has added Lisa D. Kabnick and James S. Lawlor as partners in its financial services practice in the firm’s Philadelphia office, where Ms. Kabnick will be the Head of Financial Transactions. Both joined the firm from Philadelphia-based Pepper Hamilton, where there were partners in the Finance Practice Group, which Ms. Kabnick chaired.
Ms. Kabnick is considered one of the top transactional attorneys in the region. She has focused her practice on the representation of financial institutions and borrowers in syndicated credit transactions in healthcare, communications and large corporate transactions and workouts, as well as on representing non-U.S. entities making investments in the United States. Mr. Lawlor's practice is also transactional and includes representation of lenders and borrowers in commercial finance matters and of issuers, underwriters and credit enhancers in taxable and tax exempt debt offerings.
"Lisa and Jim are well-positioned to play important roles and make outstanding contributions to this high profile practice group," said Robert A. Nicholas, Reed Smith's Philadelphia market managing partner. "With their extensive backgrounds and strong client following, they are definite assets for the Philadelphia office and the firm as a whole."
Ms. Kabnick and Mr. Lawlor had each been at Pepper Hamilton since graduating from law school. Ms. Kabnick joined Pepper from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in l980 and Mr. Lawlor joined Pepper from Villanova University School of Law in 1987.
In addition to her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh, Ms. Kabnick holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. At Pitt she was executive articles editor of the University of Pittsburgh Law Review, graduated magna cum laude and was selected for the legal honor society, The Order of the Coif.
Ms. Kabnick serves as a trustee of Marlboro College, sits on the Corporate Partners Board of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and on the Board of Directors of Living Beyond Breast Cancer. Ms. Kabnick is also known for her extensive efforts on behalf of local and state bar associations, including serving as Philadelphia's delegate to the Pennsylvania Bar Association House of Delegates, past chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association's banking and financial institutions committee and former member of the Philadelphia Bar Association's business law section executive committee.
"Reed Smith provides an exceptional platform for expanding services to my existing clients, as well as for building a national and international financial services practice," Ms. Kabnick said. "I've worked on multiple transactions with attorneys from Reed Smith over many years and hold them in high regard. I am excited to be on the same team with Reed Smith because of the firm's commitment to the global financial services industry."
Mr. Lawlor graduated magna cum laude from Cabrini College in 1982 and had a career in journalism before entering law school in 1984. At Villanova he was a member of the editorial board of the Villanova Law Review, graduated cum laude and was also selected for The Order of the Coif. He has extensive and diverse transactional experience in commercial, public, securitized and project financings. He has served as bond, underwriter's, bank's and borrower's counsel in bond issuances, and as both lender's and borrower's counsel on syndicated bank credit agreements. A significant portion of Mr. Lawlor's practice involves finance transactions in the healthcare, commercial office and communications industries.
Mr. Lawlor is past chair of the Uniform Commercial Code Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Business Law section and a past member of the Board of the Pennsylvania Economy League's Eastern Division. He has published a chapter in the Handbook of Joint Venturing and an article regarding liens on regulated assets in the Journal of Commercial Lending.
"I look forward to continuing and expanding my public finance practice in Pennsylvania, as well as to taking advantage of Reed Smith's substantial commitment to the financial services industry to expand the scope of my practice on behalf of commercial lenders and investment banks in all types of transactions, wherever located." said Mr. Lawlor.
Reed Smith, a leading global law firm with nearly 1,000 lawyers located in 16 U.S. and two U.K. cities, represents Fortune 100 as well as mid-market and emerging companies. Clients include technology companies and entrepreneurs, financial services firms, life sciences companies and health care providers and insurers, communications companies, manufacturers, universities, non-profit organizations, real estate developers, and municipalities throughout the United States and in 40 countries. For more information, please visit reedsmith.com.