King & Spalding Launches European Restructuring Practice With the Addition of Partner Werner Meier in Frankfurt

FRANKFURT, GERMANY--(Marketwired - Apr 15, 2014) - Getting the launch of its European restructuring practice off to a speedy start, King & Spalding has recruited Werner Meier as a partner in its Frankfurt, Germany office. Dr. Meier joins King & Spalding from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Frankfurt, where he was a finance and restructuring partner. 

"Werner is one of the leading restructuring lawyers in Europe with an excellent reputation and considerable connections to major financial institutions, and we are very pleased that he has joined our firm," said Mario Leissner, managing partner of King & Spalding's office in Frankfurt am Main. "Based both in our Frankfurt and London offices as head of restructuring in Europe for the firm, he will have a central role in the further growth and development of the financial institutions practice in our expanding Frankfurt office and in other European markets, particularly in London. In addition, we expect Werner to make a substantial contribution to the further growth of the firm's finance practice in Germany, working closely with King & Spalding lawyers in Frankfurt, London and our other offices."

Garry Pegg, King & Spalding's London office managing partner, added, "Werner's arrival in Frankfurt, an office with which we already work closely, brings an added dimension to our financial institutions practice in London."

Dr. Meier's practice spans German and international restructuring, financing and capital markets transactions, with a focus on German debt and corporate restructurings, as well as syndicated loans, securitizations other structured finance and high yield transactions. He is distinguished as one of Germany's leading finance and restructuring lawyers by Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, European Legal 500, Legal 500 Deutschland and JUVE. Besides his German legal education at the Law School of the University of Bielefeld, where he also obtained a German doctorate degree in law (Dr. iur.), he holds an LL.M. degree from Columbia University and an M.B.A. (Diplom-Kaufmann) from the Business School of the University of Bielefeld. He is a member of the bars in Frankfurt am Main and New York. 

"Werner's practice concentrates heavily on financial institutions, and his excellent relationships on the restructuring side with private equity firms, investment banks, hedge funds and other investors along with his close relationships with both borrowers and lenders that regularly retain him for financing transactions provides a strong complement to our existing offering in Frankfurt and elsewhere in Europe," said Richard T. Marooney, co-leader of King & Spalding's financial institutions practice. "We look forward to Werner's role in helping us bring on board additional finance and restructuring talent to our team in Europe."

King & Spalding's financial institutions practice is comprised of more than 100 lawyers worldwide with expertise in complex financings, private equity, fund formation, litigation, investigations, Islamic finance, real estate capital markets, tax and regulatory matters. The firm has a preeminent financial restructuring practice covering all segments of the economy.

Dr. Meier said: "I am delighted to be able to continue to build my practice at King & Spalding. The firm's priority on developing its financial institutions and financial restructuring practices, as well as its culture of collegiality, makes this a perfect fit for me."

About King & Spalding
Celebrating more than 125 years of service, King & Spalding is an international law firm that represents a broad array of clients, including half of the Fortune Global 100, with 800 lawyers in 17 offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The firm has handled matters in over 160 countries on six continents and is consistently recognized for the results it obtains, uncompromising commitment to quality and dedication to understanding the business and culture of its clients. More information is available at www.kslaw.com.