Ropes & Gray Bolsters Asset Management Practice with Addition of Warren Goodworth, Leading Private Funds Lawyer

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May 01, 2023, 17:09 ET

CHICAGO, May 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ropes & Gray announced today that Warren Goodworth, a leading private funds lawyer, has joined the firm as a partner in the firm's more than 300-lawyer global asset management practice. Warren's practice is focused on advising closed-end fund sponsors on complex fund formations, and he has advised sponsor clients that implement a broad array of strategies including private equity, growth, credit, venture capital and secondaries.

Warren's arrival is another piece to the firm's global growth in private funds, adding depth and geographic reach with his particular focus on serving clients in the western United States.

Over two decades, Warren has advised clients in the formation and management of funds that are varied in their industry focus and diverse in their size. In 2022 alone, Warren closed several of the industry's largest and most notable private funds, including:

Symphony Technology Group in its successful $4.2 billion Fund VII
Arsenal Capital Partners in its $4.3 billion Fund VI
Arsenal's $1.1 billion Growth Fund

"Warren is an exceptional fund formation lawyer, and his track record with clients and knowledge of private funds is impressive. He'll add to our private fund strength, including through his focus on the western U.S.," said Julie Jones, the firm's chair.

"Our private funds practice is at the top of the industry and fills a critical need for our clients, and we are continuing to grow our practice with market-leading talent," said David Djaha, managing partner.

Warren is the latest addition to a growing, global private funds team. The firm has added four private funds partners – Tom Alabaster and Emily Brown (both in London) and Bryan Hunkele and Eric Requenez (both in New York) – and elevated seven private funds attorneys to partner since 2020. By expanding a strong, existing team, Ropes & Gray has positioned itself as the world's leading platform for private funds.

Bryan Chegwidden, chair of the firm's global asset management practice, said: "We have a private funds team that is operating at the absolute highest tier. Warren's arrival, and our other significant additions, underscore our leading market position and our commitment to aggressively expand our private funds, and specifically, closed-end fund sponsor practice."

"Ropes & Gray's team of stellar private funds lawyers and roster of clients led me to the firm," Warren said. "I am looking forward to helping to strengthen the practice and serve the needs of the firm's industry-leading clients."

Consistently recognized by Chambers USA for its outstanding work on fund formation, investment funds, including funds focused on private equity buyout, growth, credit, real estate, venture, crypto, funds of funds, hedge funds, among other funds, as well as related regulatory and compliance, Ropes & Gray attorneys are strategically advising asset management firms on all aspects of their expanding businesses. Warren is one of 18 private funds partners and counsel across the United States, London and Asia to either join Ropes & Gray or be promoted in the past 24 months, bolstering the firm's global private funds offerings, known across the asset management industry for excellence in guiding clients in ambitious and complex fund work.

About Ropes & Gray's Asset Management Practice
More than 300 Ropes & Gray lawyers in the United States, Asia and Europe focus on advising a global client base of asset management firms across the entire spectrum of private and registered fund structures, investment strategies, and asset classes. Our deep asset management experience enables Ropes & Gray to identify significant commercial, regulatory and economic issues, understand emerging trends, and craft innovative solutions that are unique to the concerns of clients throughout the industry and in jurisdictions around the world.

About Ropes & Gray
In 2022, Ropes & Gray, a preeminent global law firm, was named The American Lawyer's "Law Firm of the Year," ranked No. 1 on The American Lawyer's A-List and No. 1 on Law.com International's UK A-List—an unprecedented achievement for a law firm in a single year. The firm has approximately 1,500 lawyers and legal professionals serving clients in major centers of business, finance, technology, and government. It has offices in Boston, Chicago, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. The firm has consistently been recognized for its leading practices in many areas, including asset management, private equity, M&A, finance, real estate, tax, antitrust, life sciences, health care, intellectual property, litigation & enforcement, privacy & cybersecurity, and business restructuring.