Winston & Strawn Expands Leveraged Finance Team with Kramer Hire

Winston & Strawn is adding Sanjay Thapar of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel as co-chair of the global leveraged finance team in the latest signal the firm is delivering on its expansion plan.

Thapar, who joined Kramer Levin in 2017 from Paul Hastings, has worked with investment banks and direct lenders, including Bank of America Corp., Barclays Plc and Bank of Montreal. His work includes leveraged buyout financings, restructurings and syndicated, direct lender, and club transactions.

“Sanjay’s arrival underscores Winston’s continued growth as designated lender counsel to investment banks and direct lenders in the both the mid-cap and large-cap markets,” said Mats Carlston, managing partner of Winston’s New York office and co-chair of the firm’s finance practice, said in a statement.

The Chicago-founded firm is expanding its footprint geographically and beyond its litigation roots, Winston chair Tom Fitzgerald said in an interview last year. The firm this year added corporate partners Justin Hoffman from Baker Botts in Houston and Sean Hilson from Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago.

The firm also brought on life sciences partner Amy Kearbey in Washington this year, and it expanded its global leveraged finance team in 2021 with Kirkland partner Rachel Gray in New York.

Winston also opened an office in Miami in May, adding several partners from Greenberg Traurig, including the former co-chair of its regulatory and compliance practice and blockchain digital assets group Carl Fornaris and the former chair of its litigation department in Miami Adam Foslid.