Paul Hastings Strengthens Fund Finance Practice With London Partner

LONDON – In a move that further expands its global fund finance offering and London platform, Paul Hastings announced today that premier fund finance lawyer Jennifer Passagne is joining the firm as a partner.

Passagne focuses on fund finance structures for private equity and venture capital entities, including Net Asset Value facilities, Separately Managed Accounts deals, hybrid facilities, General Partner support lines and capital call facilities. She also brings lender-side experience in leveraged and acquisition finance. Passagne joins from a Chambers-ranked practice at Haynes Boone and previously practiced at Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

“Our top-ranked Global Finance practice is a market leader in terms of volume, capabilities and quality, and we are constantly looking to adapt and support our clients as the markets evolve,” said firm Chair Frank Lopez. “The global fund finance market is expected to grow from approximately $1.2 trillion to more than $2.5 trillion by 2030, similar to the recent growth trajectory of private credit, and we have made it a strategic priority to be a leader in the space with premier talent like Jennifer.”

The addition of Passagne strengthens Paul Hastings’ ability to deliver fully integrated service across the fund lifecycle and aligns closely with many of the firm’s core strengths, including private equity, private investment funds, leveraged finance, private credit, structured credit, capital markets, M&A, real estate finance and tax.

Passagne joins the firm during a period of robust growth in the London office, with revenue projected to be up 20-25 percent year-over-year and 70 percent over the past two years. She arrives on the heels of other recent additions in London, including tax partners Jenny Doak and Catherine Richardson and structured credit partner Tom Picton.

Passagne has extensive experience advising on complex cross-border financings including bespoke fund finance solutions for funds across diverse industry sectors and asset classes, leveraged buyouts, public-to-private takeovers and syndicated senior, second lien and mezzanine lending. Her representative matters include advising a global private credit fund on various NAV facilities to global real estate and infrastructure funds, a European private equity fund on its syndicated multi-currency hybrid NAV facility, a global private equity firm on its acquisition of a European healthcare company and European private equity firms on deals such as the acquisition of a holiday parks operator.

“It’s an exciting time to join so many talented partners across Paul Hastings’ global platform,” said Passagne. “It’s been impressive to watch the firm gain market share in high-end transactions, especially in private equity and finance, and I’m looking forward to working with my new colleagues to build on the momentum the firm has already established.”

For the second consecutive quarter, Paul Hastings ranked No. 1 in Q3 2025 across a wide range of categories in the global finance league tables. The firm claimed more than 39 percent of the market for lead bank’s counsel for U.S. middle-market loans — nearly five times more than the second most-active firm. The practice continues to be ranked by Chambers UK for Banking & Finance: Lenders: Big-Ticket and has been recognized as Banking Law Firm of the Year by Chambers.

One of the world’s leading legal advisers for leveraged finance, fund finance and private credit, Paul Hastings represents virtually every top investment bank and direct lender, including Apollo, Atlas, Bank of America, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, Franklin Templeton, KKR, Morgan Stanley, Nuveen, PIMCO and Wells Fargo, among others.

About Paul Hastings
With widely recognized elite teams across 17 core practices, Paul Hastings is a premier law firm with a culture of excellence focused on providing intellectual capital and superior execution globally to the world’s leading investment banks, asset managers and corporations.