Structured finance is a heavily involved financial instrument presented to large financial institutions or companies with complicated financing needs who are unsatisfied with conventional financial products.

DLA Piper announced today that Jay Williams has joined the firm as a partner in its Structured Finance practice, based in New York City.

Williams represents issuers, underwriters, investors and other market participants in a wide variety of structured finance transactions – including CLOs; secured lending facilities backed by loans, CRE assets and other asset classes; re-securitisations; and synthetic securitisations – as well as swaps, derivatives and repurchase agreements.

He has extensive experience with regulatory capital relief transactions and other types of synthetic risk transfers and also advises private funds and their sponsors with respect to investments in distressed assets.

Williams is dual-qualified, practicing both New York and English law.

“We are continuing to build our wider finance practice, including structured finance, in New York and across the firm, and Jay’s skillset and experience providing guidance to highly sophisticated clients across multiple asset classes is an important part of that strategic initiative,” added Richard Hans, managing partner of the firm’s New York City office.

“The addition of Jay to our structured finance team will greatly enhance our ability to continue to strengthen our position among the market leaders in United States and European CLOs, as well as other important asset classes,” said Rich Reilly, head of DLA Piper’s Structured Finance practice.

Williams joins from Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP.

He received his J.D. from Wake Forest School of Law, his LL.M., with distinction, from Georgetown University Law Center, his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and his B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.