Firm Profile

Finn Dixon & Herling LLP

USA Guide 2023

Ranked departments
Ranked lawyers
USA

Finn Dixon & Herling LLP

Finn Dixon & Herling LLP

Contact number

+1 203 325 5000

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About

Provided by Finn Dixon & Herling LLP
USA

Founding Partners: Harold B Finn III, Brett W Dixon, Michael J Herling

Number of partners: 31

Number of other lawyers: 43


Firm Overview:

Finn Dixon & Herling LLP provides a broad spectrum of business legal services to a diverse group of regional, national and international clients. Since its founding in 1987, the firm has been committed to providing the highest level of excellent, efficient and responsive client service and practical, solution-oriented advice to its clients grounded on a thorough understanding of each client’s business and objectives.


Main Areas of Practice:

Mergers & Acquisitions/Private Equity:

Represents buyers, sellers and investors in various transactions, including mergers and other business combinations, leveraged acquisitions and recapitalizations, growth capital investments, ”add-on” acquisitions, PIPEs and transactions involving public companies. The firm has made serving the needs of private equity clients a principal focus since its inception, and works with its clients in all aspects of leveraged acquisitions, growth equity investments and other private equity transactions, including fund formation.

Venture Capital/Emerging Companies:

Represents venture capital firms, family offices and other growth investors in start-up, early-stage and growth capital investments, and in the formation, organization and operation of venture capital funds. Represents growth oriented companies in matters including financing transactions, compensation and benefits issues, tax issues, acquisitions and other strategic transactions, and governance issues.

Government & Internal Investigations:

Represents individuals and companies, investment advisors, and broker-dealers in white collar criminal and regulatory investigations initiated by U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the Criminal and Antitrust Divisions of the U.S. Department of Justice, the enforcement staffs of the SEC and CFTC, state agencies and attorneys general as well as self-regulatory organizations.Given our white collar partners’ extensive public sector experience, the firm also conducts internal independent investigations on behalf of corporations, boards of directors, audit and special investigative committees, private equity investors, and non-profit institutions, including universities and hospitals.

Commercial Litigation:

Represents clients, from large public corporations to smaller privately held companies, in complex commercial litigation and arbitration cases, involving M&A, contract disputes, securities fraud, business torts, unfair trade practices, corporate governance issues and employment conflicts, in federal and state courts throughout the country.

Debt Financing:

Represents banks and other financial institutions (including SBIC funds) in their capacities as agents, arrangers and lenders, as well as private equity firms, their portfolio companiesand other corporate borrowers in lending and other credit transactions. The debt group has extensive experience, across all levels of the capital structure, in numerous areas, including leveraged acquisition financings, asset-based/working capital facilities, cash flow transactions and recapitalizations.The group works seamlessly with the firm’s bankruptcy practice, advising on restructurings, workouts, debtor-in possession loans and exit facilities.The firm’s representation ofsenior and mezzanine lenders (and related intercreditor issues) and borrowers providesthe group the experience to understand the expectations and requirements of each party to a transaction, and the group prides itself on providing practical legal advice and solutions to support the business objectives of the firm’s clients.

Bankruptcy & Corporate Reorganizations:

Provides counsel to clients regarding all aspects of corporate bankruptcy and business reorganizations. By virtue of a fully integrated, cross-disciplinary approach to any representation, the firm is able to offer advice and guidance in both out-of-court and in-court workouts. The firm’s lawyers have extensive experience in pre-packaged, pre-negotiated and ‘free fall’ bankruptcy scenarios, in 363 sales and in the protection of unique interests in complex workouts.

Securities & Public Companies:

Represents a wide range of companies in public and private securities offerings and securities law compliance, and represents investors in connection with investments in, and securities law issues associated with their holdings of, public company securities.

General Corporate:

Assists many clients, including portfolio companies of private equity firms, in addressing a wide variety of operational and strategic issues on a continuous basis, including consultation on choice of entity, protection and coordination of the rights of owners, commercial real estate transactions, employment matters (including executive compensation, severance arrangements, stock options and employee benefits), debt and equity financings, leasing, licensing and strategic alliance and joint venture arrangements, and compliance with regulatory requirements.

Fund Formation and Capital Raising

Advises sponsors throughout the entire lifecycle of private equity, venture capital, hedge, and other private funds, from term sheet to final closing and beyond. The firm’s concentration on closed-end funds—together with our firm-wide focus on the private equity and venture capital industries—enables the firm to provide informed advice on fund structuring, market terms, tailoring disclosures, and investor negotiations, among other areas. The firm represents sponsors with a broad range of strategies, including commodities, real estate, debt, insurance-dedicated, multi-manager, collective investment trusts, and hybrid fund products. Representing both sponsors and investors, the firm has a thorough understanding of market terms as they evolve and change, benefitting all clients. The fund formation practice works closely with other groups within the firm, including tax, employment, bankruptcy, and debt finance.

Family Offices & Institutional Investors

The firm has had long-standing relationships with family office and multi-family office clients since its formation, drawing on various practice areas within the firm. In addition to family offices, the firm also represents institutional investors in connection with their investment programs. Such institutional investors include asset allocators, wealth managers, private funds, public and private pension funds, foundations, and others. The firm provides its clients with insight into the legal nuances of complicated investment structures, tailoring our advice to their particular regulatory, compliance, and operational needs. The firm has extensive experience negotiating the terms of private fund, co-investment, and other investment vehicles’ operating agreements on behalf of our family office and institutional investor clients.

Independent Sponsors & Co-Investments

Assists independent sponsors and private fund managers with co-investment opportunities in structuring fundraising vehicles, marketing, and negotiating with prospective investors and other sources of funding. While similar in many ways to fund formation, independent sponsor and co-investment vehicles give rise to a unique set of concerns for sponsors and investors, including governance, minority rights, and reporting. The firm’s extensive experience in private equity and venture capital transactions, as well as representing institutional investors in their investment programs provides deep practical knowledge of current market terms and practices. The firm also assists independent sponsors and sponsors of co-investment with post-formation acquisitions, refinancings, and other transactions. In addition, we regularly advise institutional investors on their participation in co-investment transactions. The firm advises on individual opportunities as well as their involvement in, and structuring of, co-investment programs with multiple investors.

Regulatory Registrations and Compliance

Advises investment advisers and broker-dealers through critical legal issues at the start of their business journeys and continue to support their success throughout their lifecycles. For each of the firm’s regulated clients, we offer a broad spectrum of legal services. This begins with an analysis of their proposed activities, clients, and jurisdictions to determine whether and where to register, and the availability of any exemptions from registration. In preparing registration, exemption, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, other state and federal regulators, and self-regulatory organizations, the firm tailor the scope of its services based on client needs. For the firm’s regulated clients (and many unregulated clients), the firm works with their principals, compliance teams, and outside consultants to create and implement policies and procedures tailored to their operations, assets, personnel, and particular risks. The firm also advises investment adviser representatives and registered representatives or broker-dealers on the licensing process, changes in employment, and disciplinary matters.

Tax:

Offers structuring and other tax advice to its transactional clients, as well as advice in connection with federal and state taxation of the ongoing activities of its corporate, partnership and limited liability company clients.

Executive Compensation, Benefits & Employment:

Works closely with the firm attorneys to provide creative and practical advice in the transactional context and as issues arise in clients’ ongoing operations. The group has broad experience working with the firm’s corporate and individual clients.

International Practice:

Represents a diverse group of international clients with business interests within the United States. The firm represents both US and foreign clients in a variety of international matters including cross-border merger and acquisition transactions, foreign investment, joint ventures, international restructuring and branch operations.

Ranked Offices

Provided by Finn Dixon & Herling LLP

USA - Head office

Contributions

Latest contributions provided by Finn Dixon & Herling LLP

In-Depth Overview
Charles J Downey III
David I Albin
Authored by
Charles J Downey III, David I Albin, Jared S. Dinkes
Article • Jun 2023

Finn Dixon & Herling LLP rankings

USA Guide 2023
Filter by
Connecticut
Corporate/M&A
1 Department
8 Ranked Lawyers
Department
Corporate/M&A
1
Corporate/M&A
1
Band 1
Lawyers
Harold B Finn III
S
Harold B Finn III
S
Senior Statespeople
David I Albin
1
David I Albin
Head of Corporate/M&A
1
Band 1
Charles J Downey III
2
Charles J Downey III
Head of Corporate/M&A
2
Band 2
Michael J Herling
2
Michael J Herling
2
Band 2
Christopher M Mozingo
3
Christopher M Mozingo
3
Band 3
Jason R Boyea
3
Jason R Boyea
3
Band 3
Richard Kohlberger
4
Richard Kohlberger
4
Band 4
Neil Ruben
U
Neil Ruben
U
Up and Coming
Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
1 Department
3 Ranked Lawyers
Department
Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
1
Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
1
Band 1
Lawyers
Deirdre Daly
1
Deirdre Daly
1
Band 1
Andrew Calamari
2
Andrew Calamari
2
Band 2
Jeffrey Plotkin
2
Jeffrey Plotkin
2
Band 2