Orrick London Expands International Structured Finance Team

LONDON, October - Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe announced today that Jim Waddington has joined Orrick as a partner in its Structured Finance Group, resident in the firm's London office.

Waddington joins Orrick from the Paris office of US firm Proskauer Rose LLP, where he was a partner. He was previously a vice president at Bankers Trust and, before that, spent seven years in the New York and London offices of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton.

He will focus on U.S. and international asset-backed and structured finance transactions and has been in the forefront of the development of asset-backed securitizations of both U.S. and international financial assets. He also has significant experience in cross-border European corporate finance transactions and of international capital markets particularly equity and debt offerings for leading U.S. issuers and underwriters.

Waddington's appointment follows the recent announcements that Adrian Harris has joined the London office to build a European corporate restructuring practice and that Carl Leiderman and Yomi Akinjide have also joined the firm to develop the corporate and M&A team in London. These additions further Orrick's continuing strategy to develop a significant English law capability in its core practice areas. Waddington's European practice and experience will also support Orrick's soon-to-open Paris office with high-level U.S. and international structured and corporate finance expertise.

Commenting on the appointment, Michael Bacon, Orrick's Partner-in-Charge of International Offices, said, "Jim's appointment continues our pan-European growth strategy to build London in tandem with the development of other European offices. This will allow us to fully support global clients and to undertake complex cross-border transactions in the key markets in Europe, the United States, and Asia. A significant English and international capability in London is crucial to our global ambitions to be considered as one of the world's premier law firms."

Jim Waddington added, "I am delighted to be joining Orrick at this key stage in the firm's international development. There is a natural fit both in terms of Orrick's core values and the U.S., European and Asian markets in which Orrick operates. The firm's leading position in the U.S. finance markets and its growing international reputation for structured finance transactions will allow me to further develop my international practice. Orrick's plans to develop its London and European business, matched my own focus".

Jim Waddington
Jim Waddington earned his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law school in 1985 and is a member of the New York Bar. He was an associate in the London and New York offices of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton and then spent two years as Vice President at Bankers Trust Company. He then joined Whitman Breed Abbot & Morgan and in 1996 joined Proskauer Rose LLP as a partner in New York before transferring to their Paris office. He is fluent in French.