Claire E. James

Head of New York Private Equity Claire James has been selected to the Private Markets: 50 Women Leaders 2025 list by The Hedge Fund Journal. The annual list honors senior women working for asset managers, allocators and service providers. Claire serves as a strategic partner to clients offering guidance on transactions including mergers and acquisitions, minority investments, corporate governance and capital solutions. Her clients include large cap and middle market private equity funds, publicly traded and privately owned companies and banks. Learn more about Claire and her practice here. Learn more about our private capital practice here.

Oct 23

1 min

Freshfields announced today that Ryan Blicher has joined the firm as a private capital and M&A partner based in New York. Ryan’s experience spans a broad range of sectors, including global private equity firms and their portfolio companies on leveraged buy-outs, investments, and formative U.S. and cross-border M&A transactions. Global Co-Head of Private Capital Neal J. Reenan stated: “Ryan is an incredibly impressive lawyer with a stellar track record of advising premier private equity sponsors through the most complex transactions. His wide range of experience coupled with his entrepreneurial spirit will be a great addition to our team.” U.S. Managing Partner Sarah Solum added: “We are thrilled Ryan has chosen to join Freshfields to complement our strong and growing U.S. private capital team.” Ryan noted: “Freshfields has a reputation for top lawyers representing top private capital sponsors. I look forward to working with Freshfields’ extraordinary team and being a part of the firm’s continued expansion of its market-leading private capital practice.” Freshfields is a globally recognized market leader for private equity. Over the past two years, the firm has expanded its private capital offering with a number of strategic appointments in private equity, leveraged finance and private funds and secondaries across the U.S., Europe and Asia. In the U.S., those additions include New York-based Global Co-Head of Private Capital Neal J. Reenan, Head of U.S. Private Capital Ian N. Bushner, Head of New York Private Equity Claire James, Head of U.S. Leveraged Finance Allison Liff, Global Co-Head of Private Funds and Secondaries Timothy J. Clark , Head of U.S. Private Credit & Capital Solutions Damian Ridealgh, as well as partners Ivet Bell and Eva Mak.

Nov 11

1 min

Claire James, Head of New York Private Equity, received the President's Pro Bono Service Award from the New York State Bar Association at the 2025 Pro Bono awards. Claire was selected as the recipient for the First Judicial District (Manhattan) in recognition of her pro bono with Volunteers of Legal Services including helping mothers who are incarcerated, asylum seekers and the homeless. She also counsels non-profits on maintaining good governance practices. The Pro Bono Awards bring judges and lawyers from across the state to celebrate service to others. Law Day is celebrated annually on May 1 to recognize those attorneys committed to doing legal work for no compensation. Read here to learn more about the recognition.

May 16

1 min

Global law firm Freshfields is advising CVC on the acquisition of Equine Network, the largest for-profit equestrian-based sports league in the U.S., from Growth Catalyst Partners. This investment will be the first new league investment into CVC’s Global Sport Group. Learn more about this transaction here. The Freshfields team is led by U.S. partners Claire James and Michael Palermo and includes associates D. Andrew Rondeau, Josephine Bryan and Ruth Levy. The team is also supported by partners Charlie Hayes and Maria Ledeneva and senior associates Ted Haxby and Alex Collins in London. Partner Lori Goodman, senior associate Jeffrey Anand and associate Emily Shaw are advising on executive compensation and employee benefits matters; partners Bruce McCulloch and Marin Boney, special counsel Charles Ramsey and associate Andrés Betancor are advising on antitrust matters; counsel Jeremiah Nelson and associates Kate Koudouna and Tosin Owoka are advising on real estate matters; partner Allison Liff, counsel Sean McClay and associates Edina Cobaj and Alex Kennedy are advising on leveraged finance matters; partner Mena Kaplan, senior associate Daniel Spencer and associates Rhea Khakhria and Josh Rudd are advising on intellectual property matters; partner Brock Dahl and associate Jackson Myers are advising on data privacy matters; partner John Rousakis is advising on environmental matters; and partner Joe Soltis and associate Shahab Pournaghshband are advising on tax matters.

Jan 30

1 min

Global law firm Freshfields today announced that Michael J. Palermo has joined the firm as a Private Capital M&A partner in Boston. Michael’s practice focuses on advising private equity sponsors and strategic investors on the structuring and negotiation of investments and divestitures. He advises private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies on a broad range of corporate matters including corporate governance, regulatory compliance and equity and equityholder arrangements. Michael’s experience spans industries, including consumer products, retail, infrastructure, business services, healthcare and technology. Matt Goulding, Managing Partner of Freshfields’ Boston Office and Partner in Freshfields’ Private Capital group said: “Michael has consistently been the go-to advisor for some of the most demanding private equity clients, executing complex transactions at the highest levels. His depth of experience is exceptionally rare and will be a major asset for our growing Boston office. His client-centricity comes through effortlessly, earning trust and repeat engagements over many years. We’re thrilled Michael has chosen to join our practice.” U.S. Managing Partner Sarah Solum noted: “Michael has cultivated strong client relationships while commanding confidence in high-stakes situations. We are delighted that he has chosen to join forces with our Private Capital team.” Michael's arrival follows private capital additions across the U.S. including Global Co-Head of Private Capital Neal Reenan, Head of U.S. Private Capital Ian Bushner, Head of New York Private Equity Claire James, Ivet Bell and Ryan Blicher in New York, as well as Eva Mak in Silicon Valley/San Francisco and Matt Goulding in Boston. Michael added: “I'm looking forward to joining the firm and collaborating with the Private Capital team and the broader group of Freshfields partners focused on client service and commercial advice. The global strength of the private capital practice provides a uniquely compelling platform for significant growth in Boston and beyond.” Freshfields is regularly recognized across league tables where it excels in cross-border, U.S., Europe, Asia, MENA and private equity markets. Freshfields is also the only firm with Band 1 rankings from Chambers Global 2025 in the following worldwide transactional, regulatory and risk practices: Private Equity, M&A, Antitrust, Dispute Resolution, International Arbitration, Tax and Public International Law.”

Nov 24

2 min