May 18, Washington, D.C. – Reed Smith LLP today announced the addition of Michele D. Ross as a Financial Industry Group partner in Washington, D.C. She was formerly a partner at Emmet, Marvin & Martin LLP.
“Michele brings a wealth of experience in corporate trust transactions in the United States and around the world,” said Tamara Box, Chair of Reed Smith’s Financial Industry Group. “She will play a key role in the expansion of the corporate trust transactional practice, bringing additional New York law capability to our more than 12-strong London corporate trust transactional team, and significantly enhancing the U.S. corporate trust and loan agency transactional team that is currently spread across our New York, Philadelphia, D.C., Houston and San Francisco offices.”
Ross represents and advises financial institutions providing financial intermediary and agency services to capital markets, concentrating on the representation of corporate trustees and all other financial intermediary roles. She has participated in every facet of global finance, representing issuers, underwriters, trustees, and credit enhancement providers in all types of capital market debt. Ross also has extensive experience handling domestic and cross-border debt securities and securitization transactions, as well as substantial experience in domestic and cross-border project finance. She regularly advises major money center banks acting as trustee, collateral agent, security trustee or security agent, and administrative agent in connection with distressed and defaulted domestic and cross-border transactions, as well as related insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings.
“I have worked with Reed Smith’s structured finance and corporate trust lawyers for many years and I am looking forward to becoming a part of this outstanding team,” said Ross. “Coupling my front end corporate trust capabilities with the firm’s already existing strong restructuring and corporate trust default practice is a combination that will be attractive to many of the firm’s clients. The firm’s global platform and its worldwide reputation are second to none in the financial services sector.”
A 1983 graduate of The University of San Francisco Law School, Ross received her Masters Diploma in International Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Ross has recently been lead counsel in two transactions that were awarded the Deal of the Year by the International Financial Law Review.
“We welcome Michele to our Washington, D.C., office, where the firm’s financial sector strength continues to grow,” said the firm’s D.C. Office Managing Partner Gary Thompson. “With our global footprint from here to Hong Kong, our office has one of the strongest financial services offerings in the D.C. region.”
Ross is the third new financial services partner to join Reed Smith recently. In New York, George Pavlenishvili joined the Corporate & Securities practice from Stoel Rives LLP in April and Ilene Froom joined FIG in New York from Jones Day.
Reed Smith’s Financial Industry Group of more than 240 lawyers is one of the largest practices dedicated to clients in the financial sector, advising domestic and global banks, insurance companies, credit card companies, mortgage bankers, investment banks, and investment management companies and advisors. It represents nine of the 10 top U.S. banks, the top 10 banks in Europe and the top 10 banks in Asia, leveraging the skills of financial litigation, finance and lending, investment management, financial regulatory, commercial restructuring and bankruptcy, and M&A practices to serve clients in multiple jurisdictions.
About Reed Smith
Reed Smith is a global relationship law firm with more than 1,800 lawyers in 25 offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Founded in 1877, the firm represents leading international businesses, from Fortune 100 corporations to mid-market and emerging enterprises. Its lawyers provide litigation and other dispute resolution services in multi-jurisdictional and other high-stakes matters; deliver regulatory counsel; and execute the full range of strategic domestic and cross-border transactions. Reed Smith is a preeminent advisor to industries including financial services, life sciences, health care, advertising, entertainment and media, shipping and transport, energy and natural resources, real estate, manufacturing and technology, and education. For more information, visit reedsmith.com.
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