International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is strengthening its US securities practice with the addition of Linda Hesse as a partner based in its Paris office.
Ms Hesse is currently European Counsel with US firm Shearman & Sterling, and has been based in Paris for the last nine years. She brings with her extensive experience in US and international securities law matters, representing issuers and underwriters in cross-border equity, equity-linked and debt securities offerings and ongoing corporate compliance matters.
‘There is substantial current activity and expected activity in the French securities market, with much of it requiring significant US involvement,’ said Patrick Bonvarlet, partner and head of the Paris Corporate Group.
‘Our team has been extremely busy and is still, and Linda will help us to consolidate our market position in this key area. She has been involved in many of the highest profile French deals and we are very much looking forward to welcoming her to our team’.
Linda Hesse will be a member of the international US securities group, which offers integrated US and European securities expertise.
According to Freshfields partner and head of the US corporate group Sarah Murphy, ‘Linda will enable us to offer clients a high quality fully integrated French/US service based in Paris, building on the model that has worked successfully for us in London, Frankfurt, Milan and Hong Kong. Her extensive French market experience and presence, alongside Patrick Bonvarlet and Arnaud Pérès, will create a first-class capital markets offering in Paris’.
Profile
Linda Hesse, 41, graduated from The George Washington Law School in Washington, DC as Juris Doctor, with high honours, May 1994 where she was a member of the Law Review and Order of the Coif. She joined Shearman & Sterling as an associate in the New York office (1994-95) before transferring to the Paris office in 1995, where she was made European Counsel in 2003. Ms Hesse’s practice focuses on US and international securities law matters, representing issuers and underwriters in cross-border equity, equity-linked and debt securities offerings and ongoing corporate compliance matters.
Ms Hesse also holds a Master of Arts, French Language and Civilization from New York University (1991); a Certificate of Political Studies from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, France (1988); and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) History and French from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ (1985).