Shearman & Sterling Announces Election of 10 New Partners

Global law firm Shearman & Sterling announces its election of 10 new internally promoted partners, effective July 1, 2023.

The new partners represent eight of the firm’s practices, spanning five of its offices including Dallas, Hong Kong, London, New York, and Toronto. The breadth of these new partners’ practice areas includes Bank Finance, Capital Markets, Derivatives, Funds, International Arbitration, Intellectual Property Transactions, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) and Project Development & Finance.

“We are delighted to welcome this exceptionally talented group of lawyers to our partnership. They have built deep relationships with clients, developed a wealth of experience, and will be wonderfully valuable additions to our partnership,” said Adam Hakki, Shearman & Sterling’s Senior Partner. “These new partners will enhance the Shearman & Sterling global platform immediately and are equally well-positioned to contribute significantly upon the completion of our planned merger with Allen & Overy to form A&O Shearman.”

• JB Betker is a member of the Intellectual Property Transactions practice in New York, where he advises clients on the intellectual property, technology, and data protection aspects of transactional matters, including licensing and technology development arrangements, mergers and acquisitions, corporate financings, and capital markets offerings. He obtained his B.S. in physics and B.A. in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame and his J.D. from Washington University School of Law.

• Sara Couling is a member of the Derivatives & Structured Products practice in London, with extensive experience of the full range of English law derivatives transactions, together with experience in bank finance, structured finance, and debt capital markets. She obtained her LL.B from The University of Exeter.

• Kerri Durso is a member of the Derivatives & Structured Products practice in New York, with extensive experience representing buy-side, sell-side, derivatives clearinghouses and other end-user market participants in the structuring and documentation of complex over the counter and exchange-traded derivatives transactions, as well as negotiating triparty arrangements for purposes of segregating collateral. She obtained her J.D. from Pace University School of Law.

• Anil Motwani is a member of the Investment Funds practice in Hong Kong, where he focuses on advising Asia-based sponsors on the formation and operation of private funds, including private equity funds, venture capital funds, real estate funds, as well as hedge funds. He is experienced in structuring funds that invest across China, India, and other Asian markets, as well as globally. Anil is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and obtained his J.D. from Columbia Law School.

• Robert O’Leary is a member of the Project Development & Finance practice in New York. He advises on limited recourse, corporate and acquisition financings and project development in the energy, infrastructure, and natural resources sectors, both domestically and internationally, with a focus in Latin America. He is fluent in Spanish and obtained his J.D. from New York University School of Law.

• Frank Oliver is a member of the Finance practice in New York, where he focuses on a wide variety of financing transactions, including leveraged and investment-grade acquisition financings, syndicated bank loans, private credit loans and asset-based finance. He regularly advises major financial institutions, private credit funds and domestic, foreign and multinational companies. He obtained his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

• Kyle Park is a member of the M&A practice in Dallas, where he focuses on national and international M&A, private equity, special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), general corporate and securities matters, and private equity. He obtained his J.D. from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.

• Jason Pratt is a member of the global Environmental practice in New York, where he focuses on the impact of environmental and climate change laws and regulations on commercial transactions. He obtained his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law.

• Ryan Robski is a member of the Capital Markets practice and based in Toronto. Ryan advises issuer and investment bank clients on a broad range of capital markets matters with a particular expertise in cross-border transactions. He obtained his J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University.

• Edward Taylor is a member of the International Arbitration practice in Hong Kong, where he represents and advises companies, States and State-owned entities in commercial and investment treaty disputes. His practice includes disputes related to energy, private equity, M&A, joint ventures, TMT, digital assets, and infrastructure. He obtained his LL.B from King’s College London.