Debevoise Named to The American Lawyer's 2018 'Dealmakers of the Year' List

Corporate and Finance partner Whitney Debevoise has again been named to The American Lawyer's "Dealmakers of the Year" list for his innovative legal work. He was previously recognized in 2015.

The special report, which commends "creative lawyering" and "novel issues of law," featured Debevoise's sovereign finance work for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The profile notes that Debevoise's work, which helped Nigeria become the second country in sub-Saharan Africa to register bonds with the SEC and the first to obtain approval in both the US and the UK for a single prospectus to offer a low-denomination sovereign bond, "covered new ground" for sovereign financing deals involving developing countries.

In 2015 Debevoise was named to the prestigious list for his innovative work in helping the International Capital Markets Association develop a new sovereign bond model in the wake of a 2012 appellate ruling that gave a problematic reading to the so-called "pari passu" clause, which was supposed to place all creditors on an equal footing.