Paul Hastings Lures Cadwalader, Haynes Team for Charlotte Launch

Paul Hastings recruited more than 15 fund finance lawyers from Cadwalader and Haynes Boone to open a Charlotte office, marking Big Law’s third new entrant into the banking hub since September.

The team includes Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft partner Danyeale Chung and Haynes Boone partner Holly Loftis, according to a Paul Hastings statement. The duo leads a group of 15 to 20 lawyers, mostly Charlotte-based, from their firms, Paul Hastings said.

“We thought this was a great opportunity because we are strong but smaller in scale in fund finance,” Paul Hastings chair Frank Lopez said in an interview. There are only “two or three” law firms that dominate fund finance, and the additions “bring leaders from those two or three firms together,” he said.

The moves continue Big Law’s entrance into Charlotte, one of the most concentrated cities for banking and finance in the US. Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Proskauer Rose opened offices in the city, the home to Bank of America and Truist, last fall by recruiting teams of finance lawyers from Cadwalader.

Cadwalader, with a strong pedigree in capital markets, has been a primary target of rivals’ expansion into the city. Hogan Lovells, through an upcoming merger with Cadwalader, also seeks a presence in the city, according to the firms’ December announcement.

“Combining with Hogan Lovells will cement our status as the global leader in this space and create an unmatched platform for our clients,” Cadwalader said in an email statement.

Lawyer Expertise

Loftis represents banks and private credit lenders in fund-level financing arrangements, she said, adding that she and Paul Hastings fund finance chair Eric Schwitzer share several clients. Loftis will be joined by Haynes Boone partners Aleksandra Kopec and Mark Nesdill, Paul Hastings said.

“The fund finance market has changed quite drastically over the last four to five years,” Loftis said. “Multiple areas of finance have started to converge and Paul Hastings is one of the few firms that has expertise in those areas.”

Chung is at least the sixth Cadwalader partner to announce a departure this year. She didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The lawyers’ arrivals will be staggered in the coming weeks and they will work out of temporary office space, Paul Hastings said in the statement.

Lopez said his firm already represents “virtually every” major bank and credit fund in the world, and the additions will expand the firm’s relationships with lenders. He noted the fund finance market is approaching a $2.5 trillion valuation by 2030, based on a 2024 report by investment manager Ares.

Going Strong

Haynes Boone and Cadwalader echoed Lopez’s sentiment: They maintain a dominant position among fund finance legal practices, they said in response to a request for comment on the moves.

“Haynes Boone has built one of the most respected fund finance practices in the world, and we continue to lead the market, as evidenced by the interest our attorneys are garnering,” Albert Tan, global fund finance head at Haynes Boone, said in a prepared statement.

Cadwalader hired more than 20 lawyers last year to feed growing demand in the practice, which has originated $1.5 trillion in commitments since 2018, the firm said. The leader of the firm’s fund finance practice, Wes Misson, was named co-managing partner of the firm in the second half of 2025 after more than 30 partners firmwide had signaled their exit.

“Cadwalader’s fund finance team is the largest and deepest in the market, with over 100 lawyers and professionals on both sides of the Atlantic,” the firm said in a statement. “The long-term growth trend in fund finance continues uninterrupted, with 2025 performance up about 25% from where we were at this point three years ago.”