McDermott Will & Schulte, a global law firm

Your investment platform needs more than execution – it needs structures that hold up under pressure and perform across market cycles. Our investment management lawyers help you design, launch, and manage investment vehicles that align with your goals and stand up to regulatory and investor scrutiny. We shape structures that work in practice, so you are better positioned to move capital with fewer disruptions and greater control over risk.

With more than 150 lawyers around the world, we provide integrated fund, tax, and regulatory advice across the fund life cycle. Our fund formation capabilities span private equity and credit, hedge, venture, infrastructure, and other specialized strategies. Our experience across credit and hybrid strategies positions us to address investor constraints, product design, and cross-border structuring considerations.

We combine fund formation capabilities with sophisticated tax, ERISA, and regulatory advice to structure vehicles for complex investor bases and cross-border operations. When sponsors face regulatory scrutiny, enforcement actions, or disputes, we provide strategic counsel aimed at protecting both the fund structure and the broader management platform.

We also help you navigate US and global regulatory requirements, from Advisers Act compliance to cross-border frameworks, and advise on management company formation, compensation structures, and strategic transactions involving investment managers.

Our investment management lawyers provide integrated legal and business advice at every stage, including:

• Fund formation and structuring
• Capital raising
• Investment transactions, including add-ons and restructurings
• Portfolio management and value creation
• Liquidity solutions, including secondaries and exits

Your ability to raise, deploy, and return capital depends on how your platform is structured. Our investment management lawyers help you integrate strategy, structuring, and compliance across the fund life cycle – so your fund can operate effectively under changing market conditions.

Managing substantial personal, family, and business wealth requires careful coordination across family dynamics, governance considerations, competing interests, and evolving legal and regulatory frameworks. Our lawyers help you navigate that complexity so you can preserve and grow your wealth and protect your legacy across generations.

Our private client lawyers advise individuals, families, and family offices across the full spectrum of private wealth matters. From tax planning to succession, we help you structure and manage wealth in alignment with your long-term goals. Our lawyers represent key stakeholders, including:

• Entrepreneurs, executives, and investment principals
• Closely held and family-controlled enterprises
• Multigenerational families and family offices
• Fiduciaries and private trust companies
• Philanthropic and charitable organizations

We advise on wealth structures that span borders, asset classes, and generations. Our private client lawyers coordinate across the firm’s global tax, corporate, real estate, litigation, and regulatory practices to deliver integrated, cross-border guidance. We also incorporate your philanthropic priorities into your broader strategy to support the legacy you want to build.

Our lawyers help you manage diverse assets, including closely held and international businesses, real estate holdings, marketable and private investments, digital assets, intellectual property, and other complex holdings. When business ownership and personal wealth are closely linked, we align business strategy with long-term wealth planning and succession goals.

For sophisticated wealth structures, tax planning is critical to preserving value. We develop domestic and international tax strategies designed to minimize tax exposure and facilitate efficient wealth transfer. We also help you navigate evolving regulations, cross-border obligations, and complex financial structures to support compliance and reduce operational disruption.

When disputes arise, we guide you through sensitive family, business, fiduciary, and regulatory matters with discretion. We pursue resolutions that de-escalate conflict through negotiation and mediation, while remaining prepared to defend your interests in court when necessary.

Our private client practice supports you through every stage of wealth creation, growth, and transition. We develop strategies informed by the interconnected nature of business interests and family dynamics. Our lawyers help you preserve your wealth, support continuity, and protect your legacy over the long term.

Private equity firms operate in high-stakes environments where speed, execution, and risk directly impact investment returns. Our private equity lawyers advise sponsors and their portfolio companies throughout the investment life cycle. We help you execute transactions, manage risk, and address the legal, commercial, and regulatory issues that impact how your investment performs.

Our private equity team includes more than 150 lawyers in 20+ offices worldwide. Working across disciplines including finance, tax, antitrust, investment funds, restructuring, and litigation, we provide integrated guidance to support domestic and cross-border investments across industries and asset classes.

We advise you on acquisitions, dispositions, recapitalizations, carve-outs, minority investments, joint ventures, and other strategic transactions. Our private equity lawyers structure deals and negotiate terms to help you manage risk, create value, and support performance across all stages of your investment – from fundraising to exit.

Competing stakeholder interests often lead to disputes. Disagreements over governance, deal terms, and post-closing obligations can create significant exposure for private equity firms and portfolio companies. Our litigators work alongside deal teams to help you navigate disputes while preserving enterprise value. We represent you through mediation, arbitration, and litigation in state and federal courts, including the Delaware Court of Chancery.

With one of the most active transactional practices in the US, we understand how complex deals are structured, negotiated, and executed. By combining deep market knowledge with cross-disciplinary capabilities, our private equity lawyers help you mitigate risk and advance your strategic goals throughout the life cycle of your investment.

Market-leading team assisting high-profile hedge and private equity fund clients in compliance with regulations. Experienced in matters involving the SEC, CFTC, and National Futures Association.
– Chambers USA

Schulte is a full-service law firm with industry-leading practices in financial services, including the area of regulation & compliance. With a client base of more than 300 financial services firms, including investment banks, commercial banks, hedge funds, private equity funds, mutual funds, closed-end funds, business development companies and employee benefit plans, we have an in-depth knowledge of industry terms and practices and a breadth of experience that few other firms can equal.

Our regulatory & compliance practice consists of more than 50 lawyers, including over 30 partners, all with extensive regulatory and compliance experience and many of whom have prior experience working at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or in U.S. Attorneys’ offices.

“They technically understand the law but also understand what we’re trying to achieve.” – Chambers USA