Alston & Bird has expanded its London finance practice with the addition of James Fisher as partner. Fisher arrives from Reed Smith LLP, where he was a structured finance partner representing corporate trustees and agents on the full range of financial products, both cross-border and domestically.

“James’s arrival takes us from strength to strength in corporate trust services, where we already are a leader and one of the largest practices serving corporate trust clients in the U.S.,” said Shanell Cramer, Alston & Bird partner and co-head of the firm’s Finance Group. “His addition continues the expansion of our global finance practice and reinforces our strategy to grow our London office with practices such as corporate trust that are strategically valuable to our clients and where our transatlantic brand readily transfers to result in seamless collaborative client service.”

Fisher focuses his practice on advising corporate trust and agency clients and others – including arrangers, issuers, swap counterparties, and investors – across a broad range of transactions: securitizations, collateralized debt and loan obligations, repackagings, derivatives, medium-term note and master trust programs, debt capital markets, residential mortgage backed and commercial mortgage backed securities, and other structured products.

He advises corporate trust and agency institutions in all their capacities, including as note and security trustee, cash manager, custodian, paying agent, and collateral administrator across the life-time of the transaction, with a focus on post-closing matters such as restructurings, defaults, remediations, and exercises of discretion.

Fisher also has broad in-house industry experience, having been seconded to The Bank of New York Mellon, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity International, Dresdner Kleinwort, and Lehman Brothers, where he worked in both front-office and legal roles providing cross-jurisdictional and inter-departmental counsel.

“James is an outstanding addition to our accomplished and growing London finance team,” said Rich Willis, partner in charge of Alston & Bird’s London office. “He is a marquee attorney who attracts high-value mandates and whose strong client relationships will be paramount as we work to build our corporate trust practice as a leader both in Europe and the U.S.”

Alston & Bird opened in London in 2019. With Fisher’s arrival, the firm now has five London partners, three of whom are in finance and two in payments.