McDermott Appoints Robert Rizzo Global Co-Head of Private Equity Group

McDermott Will & Schulte has appointed Robert Rizzo Global Co-Head of its Private Equity Group as the firm continues to expand its sponsor-side private-capital practice.

Rizzo joins from Weil, Gotshal & Manges and brings more than two decades of experience advising private equity sponsors, funds and asset managers.

His work spans leveraged buyouts, mergers and acquisitions, growth investments, recapitalizations, carve-outs, divestitures and other transactions across the private-equity investment lifecycle.

Why senior private-equity lawyers matter to private wealth

At first glance, a senior legal appointment at a global law firm may appear remote from private wealth.

In practice, large family offices are increasingly active in many of the same transactions as private-equity sponsors.

They may co-invest alongside funds, acquire businesses directly, participate in growth capital rounds or sell family-owned companies to institutional buyers.

Those transactions require legal advice extending across M&A, finance, tax and regulation.

As family offices professionalize their investment capabilities, their external adviser networks often become more institutional as well.

Sponsor expertise becomes increasingly transferable

Private-equity lawyers work across the full lifecycle of investment ownership.

That may include acquisition structures, management incentives, financing arrangements, add-on transactions, refinancing and eventual exits.

Family capital investing directly in businesses faces many of the same issues even where its holding period or governance model differs from a conventional private-equity fund.

Rizzo's appointment strengthens McDermott's senior capability in that market.

The firm has also significantly expanded its New York operations, positioning itself more deeply within one of the world's principal centres for private capital.

Private capital's expanding professional ecosystem

The growth of private markets has not only increased the number of investment managers.

It has also expanded the professional infrastructure around them.

Law firms, administrators, fund-accounting providers, lenders, consultants and technology businesses all play roles in supporting increasingly sophisticated private investment structures.

For substantial family offices, selecting advisers capable of handling that complexity can become an important part of institutionalizing an investment operation.

Rizzo's move therefore sits within a larger story: as private capital grows, so does competition among the professional firms serving it.