Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP has announced the expansion of its private equity practice with the addition of a six-lawyer transactional team led by Christopher Machera. Machera has joined the firm’s Private Equity M&A Group within its Corporate Department as a partner in New York, while Timothy Burns, Noah Beck, Amanda Rotkel, Andrew Lawson, and Dylan Hans are expected to join in the coming weeks.
The expansion strengthens Paul, Weiss’s capabilities across private equity mergers and acquisitions, tax, and executive compensation, bringing together attorneys who have worked on hundreds of transactions for some of the world’s largest private equity firms and alternative asset managers.
Burns and Hans will join the Private Equity M&A practice, while Beck and Lawson will join the Tax practice. Rotkel will join the firm’s Executive Compensation practice. The combination of these capabilities is intended to support private equity clients across multiple aspects of complex transactions.
Over the past several years, the incoming team has executed hundreds of transactions for dozens of private equity clients, including Blackstone, Brookfield, Citation Capital, Coatue, Cornell Capital, CVC Capital Partners, GHK Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, GrowthCurve Capital, KSL Capital Partners, Motive Partners, Point72, Providence Equity Partners, The Visualize Group, TPG, TruArc Partners, and Warburg Pincus.
The addition expands Paul, Weiss’s transactional capabilities and reinforces its focus on advising private equity sponsors on significant investments, acquisitions, and other corporate transactions. The incoming lawyers bring experience representing a broad range of alternative asset managers, from established global investment firms to specialized private equity sponsors.
By adding lawyers across M&A, tax, and executive compensation, Paul, Weiss is expanding the resources available to clients navigating transactions that involve multiple legal disciplines. These capabilities are particularly relevant to private equity transactions, where acquisition structuring, tax considerations, and management compensation arrangements frequently intersect.
The expansion also reflects the firm’s continued investment in its global private equity platform. Paul, Weiss has advised alternative asset managers for decades, with its Private Equity Group providing legal services to sponsors across multiple aspects of their businesses.
The firm has more than 1,500 lawyers globally and maintains practices spanning corporate transactions, litigation, and restructuring. Its client base includes major public and private corporations, asset managers, and financial institutions.
KEY QUOTES:
“The Paul, Weiss private equity platform speaks for itself, and the response from our clients has been literally overwhelming since I arrived.”
Christopher Machera, Partner in the Private Equity M&A Group at Paul, Weiss
“This group is one of the most talented teams of private equity lawyers in the marketplace, and shares our commitment to lawyering excellence and client service. Advising private equity clients in their most important transactions is one of our core missions, which makes this team a perfect fit.”
Scott A. Barshay, Chairman of Paul, Weiss
