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.

Disputes can disrupt your operations, drain resources, and create uncertainty that affects business performance. Our litigation and dispute resolution lawyers help you navigate high-stakes disputes while reducing uncertainty, managing risk, and protecting your long-term business interests.

Our litigation and dispute resolution practice is comprised of experienced litigators and trial lawyers throughout the US and Europe. Working across practices, we provide integrated counsel tailored to complex disputes. By combining industry- and practice-specific knowledge with trial and appellate experience, we assess how disputes are likely to evolve and adapt your strategy accordingly.

Our lawyers guide you through every stage of a dispute – from early case assessment through litigation, trial, and appeal. With a dedicated appellate practice that has handled hundreds of appeals, including matters before the US Supreme Court, we approach cases with trial and appellate strategies aligned from the outset.

When litigation is not the most effective path forward, we partner with you to resolve disputes through arbitration and mediation. Our lawyers represent you in proceedings before the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), and other arbitral bodies – helping you control risk, maintain confidentiality, and preserve business relationships.

In addition to commercial disputes, we advise you on sensitive investigations and government enforcement actions. We conduct internal investigations involving allegations of misconduct, compliance issues, and potential regulatory violations. We also represent you in proceedings involving the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), self-regulatory organizations, stock exchanges, and other state and federal agencies.

Our litigation and dispute resolution lawyers understand how disputes can affect your business and reputation. By combining litigation experience with practical business insight, we help you assess risk, reduce uncertainty, and determine the most effective path forward – whether through litigation or strategic resolution outside the courtroom.

As asset managers face increasing scrutiny from federal, state and non-US regulators, it is critical to design and implement effective compliance programs, with policies and procedures that keep pace with evolving legal guidance and help you reduce risk. Our team has the skill and experience to represent you in a variety of legal, regulatory and compliance issues, and we can advise on best practices as you pursue your business objectives. We also have the ability to move quickly to defend your interests against legal actions when needed.

We partner with you to address any challenge, from creating custom compliance programs and in-house trainings to handling internal investigations into allegations of financial fraud, accounting irregularities and gender or racial discrimination. Drawing on years of experience in both private practice and government agencies, our litigators are also well positioned to defend you against the spectrum of securities regulatory and enforcement activity, including portfolio company disclosure questions, valuation disputes and employment-related issues. We also assist with parallel proceedings, private class actions and derivative litigation.

Our work with investment funds, their advisers and their boards of directors spans issues related to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Dodd-Frank Act, the USA PATRIOT Act and beyond. In defending against enforcement actions, our understanding of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s rules, practices and specialized units, along with our close working relationships within the Enforcement Division and Office of General Counsel, helps us deliver favorable outcomes.

A superb group. [They] do a fantastic job; what I value is their deep knowledge of the hedge fund market and their clarity in communicating what they know.
– Chambers USA

McDermott Will & Schulte has unparalleled experience advising hedge fund managers in the United States, the United Kingdom and around the world. With market-leading experience and an appreciation of both legal and business perspectives, we provide comprehensive support to hedge fund managers on all aspects and stages of their operation, from fund structuring and tax matters to compliance and litigation.

Types of Funds Represented

We represent more than 400 hedge fund, private equity fund and fund-of-funds managers and thousands of investment funds globally.

• Activist
• Commodities
• Credit and high-yield
• Credit Opportunity
• Distressed
• Emerging markets
• Energy
• Event-driven
• Global macro
• Hybrid
• Lending
• Leveraged buyout
• Long/short equity
• Multi-manager
• Multi-strategy
• Principal protected
• Private Equity
• Quantitative
• Real estate
• Relative value
• Venture capital

We are also one of only a few law firms with a dedicated group of lawyers who focus on regulatory and compliance matters particular to hedge funds. With this specialized knowledge and our long history in the market, it is no surprise that we serve as principal counsel to many of the leading domestic and international funds and fund managers.

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