Karen Howard

James Fisher is a partner in the Finance Group in Alston & Bird’s London office, focusing on debt capital markets, structured finance, securitisation, and derivatives transactions, with a particular specialty in advising corporate trust, agency, and issuer clients across a broad spectrum of cross-border and domestic financings.

Anna Nolan is counsel in the Financial Restructuring & Reorganization Practice in Alston & Bird’s London office. With over 10 years of experience, Anna assists a wide range of clients including hedge funds, special situations investors, trustees, providers of rescue and exit finance, issuers, sponsors, bondholder committees, administrators, and debtors with distressed transactions, conducting corporate, and financial restructurings and general insolvency matters.

Ceyda Knoebel is an English-Turkish dual-qualified solicitor and Of Counsel in the London office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She is a member of the firm’s Dispute Resolution and International Arbitration Groups. Ms. Knoebel advises on a wide range of disputes involving public international law and general commercial matters in common and civil law jurisdictions. She has experience in both commercial and investment treaty arbitration proceedings under the UNCITRAL, ICSID, ICC, VIAC a...

Sandro de Bernardini is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Mergers and Acquisitions Law. Sandro, who practices law in London, United Kingdom, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Sandro is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Aymen Mahmoud is the co-head of the London Finance, Restructuring and Special Situations Group. He focuses his practice on complex debt financing transactions for private equity funds and their portfolio companies, hedge funds, corporate borrowers and issuers and other financial institutions including banks, direct lenders, family offices and other alternative sophisticated capital. His experience includes acting in respect of direct lending, leveraged buyouts, domestic and cross-border syndi...

Zaneta Wykowska is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Securitisation Law. Zaneta, who practices law in London, United Kingdom, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Zaneta is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Mark's practice covers cross border inward investment, syndicated lending, structured export credit finance, structured trade and commodity finance, debt restructurings and asset finance. Mark is recognized in The Legal 500 UK as "excelling" in structured export credit transactions and is praised for his "commercial and user-friendly approach."Mark advises on ESG financings including hospitals, clean energy and transportation.Mark also advises on financial crime, modern slavery, bribery and c...

Graham Defries is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Life Sciences Law. Graham, who practices law in London, United Kingdom, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Graham is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

David Birchall advises clients on the full range of energy transactions in the mid- and downstream fields, including types of commodity trading matters, conventional, renewables and clean-tech projects, energy and infrastructure projects, regulation and waste, including waste-to-energy schemes. Having practised as an energy corporate, regulatory and projects lawyer since 1993, he also worked from the start of the renewables and physical commodities trading legal market, in the UK, throughout ...

Paul Maher serves as a Vice Chair of Greenberg Traurig. He concentrates on corporate law, particularly cross-border public and private mergers and acquisitions. He advises a wide range of domestic and international clients in numerous sectors, including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, life sciences, financial services, information services, retail and communications. Paul is highly recommended by both of the leading independent guides to the legal industry. In its 2020 edition, Chambers UK stated...