Sutherland Expands Financial Services Practice

NEW YORK (August 20, 2013) — Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP announced today that the firm is continuing the expansion of its insurance and financial services practice in New York with the addition of capital markets partner Brian G. Barrett, who was most recently at Goldman Sachs as a Vice President in the Global Liquidity Products group, where he focused on financing transactions.



Mr. Barrett augments Sutherland’s financing practice with his broad securities and derivatives market experience with property casualty and life insurers, banks, broker-dealers, private funds and U.S.-registered investment companies. He has advised these clients on both asset- and liability-side transactions; on a wide variety of securitizations, financings, derivatives and collateral management transactions; and on regulatory issues under the Dodd-Frank Act, Basel 3 and the U.S. securities laws. Previously, Mr. Barrett was a Managing Director at HSBC Bank, where he developed the insurance linked securities (ILS) business and led a number of strategic AXXX/XXX transactions. Mr. Barrett received his J.D. from Columbia Law School and his B.A. from Yale College. He began his legal career at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. 



“Brian brings more than 20 years of experience in financial transactions as a lawyer, inside counsel and banker,” said Sutherland Managing Partner Mark D. Wasserman. “His diverse experience, including years as an investment banker serving the financial services industry, complements our nationally recognized Insurance Team and furthers our strategic growth in this important practice and in New York.”



“With both investment banking and legal experience, Brian understands the commercial and business opportunities and challenges that our clients face on a daily basis,” said Jeffrey H. Mace, a Sutherland partner whose practice focuses on Lloyd’s and the London and Bermuda insurance markets. “Brian’s background, particularly in the growing ILS and alternative reinsurance markets in Bermuda, Europe and the U.S., enhances the comprehensive legal and strategic advice we provide to insurance industry clients.”



“I am thrilled to join Sutherland’s market-leading practice and become part of a group with such unique capabilities and a strong commitment to excellence and client service,” said Mr. Barrett.



Sutherland’s addition of Mr. Barrett is the latest step in the firm’s expansion of its insurance and financial services practice in New York and in Washington D.C. Sutherland, one of the premier insurance and financial services firms in the country for decades, now has more than 125 attorneys serving insurance and financial services sector clients. The recent additions to the team include 19 lawyers from the highly regarded insurance practice at the former LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & McRae LLP (a predecessor to Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP) plus senior lawyers from the Securities and Exchange Commission and state insurance departments.

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SUTHERLAND ASBILL & BRENNAN LLP


Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP is a law firm with global reach known for solving challenging business problems and resolving sophisticated legal issues for many of the world’s largest companies. Founded in 1924, the firm handles matters throughout the United States and worldwide. Seven major practice areas—corporate, energy and environmental, financial services, intellectual property, litigation, real estate, and tax—provide the framework for an extensive range of focus areas, allowing Sutherland attorneys to serve a diverse client base that ranges from small and medium-sized start-up businesses to a significant number of Fortune 100 companies