Nikki Smythe

Nikki is a finance and restructuring practitioner with extensive experience advising on complex domestic and cross-border financing, debt restructuring and insolvency transactions. Nikki acts for private credit funds, private equity funds, alternative investment funds, corporates, investment banks and other financial institutions on a broad range of financing, restructuring & insolvency matters including special situations lending, structured finance, complex real estate financing transactions, securitisation, rescue finance and restructurings, and distressed loan portfolio sales.

Nikki is highly experienced across a broad range of financing products and across multiple sectors, including real estate, financial services, mining, mining services, aviation, logistics, tech and healthcare, and uses this experience to help clients find innovative and bespoke financing solutions that meet the needs of their specific situations.

Nikki is the current Chair of the NSW Committee of the Turnaround Management Association. Prior to joining Clifford Chance, Nikki was a partner in the Sydney office of Herbert Smith Freehills.

University of New South Wales, BA/LLB, 2004

Admitted in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, 2005

Herbert Smith Freehills, Partner (2018 – 2024)

Clifford Chance, Partner (2024 – present)