Cathleen E McLaughlin

Partner, Corporate Department

New York

T 1(212) 318-6620

F 1(212) 319-4090

Cathleen McLaughlin is a partner in the Corporate Finance practice at Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s New York office. Ms. McLaughlin focuses on cross border financing in Latin America and Europe. Ms. McLaughlin’s U.S. capital markets experience includes varied transactional and advisory securities experience relating to SEC-registered and unregistered (Regulation S and Rule 144A) debt and equity offerings by U.S., Latin American, and European issuers. She has extensive experience in sovereign, corporate, and infrastructure-related financings involving Latin American and European borrowers. Before joining Paul Hastings, Ms. McLaughlin was at another international law firm where she was the head of their New York International Capital Markets practice, and founded and co-headed the firm’s Latin America practice. She is a native English speaker and has a working knowledge of Spanish.

Accolades and Recognitions

Named one of “Latin America Top 100 Lawyers” by Latinvex, 2020
Named to IFLR1000’s inaugural “Women Leaders” guide recognizing 300 of the world’s top female lawyers working in financial and corporate law, 2018.
Named one of “Latin America Top 100 Lawyers” by Latinvex, 2015-2018
Named one of “Latin America’s Top 50 Female Lawyers” by Latinvex, 2013
Named “Latin America’s Legal Stars” and “Latin America’s Top 50 Businesswomen” by Latin Business Chronicle, 2012
Ranked in Chambers Latin America since 2010 for Capital Markets, Banking & Finance and M&A. Chambers says, “Cathleen McLaughlin is ‘extremely knowledgeable in all aspects of complex finance matters’.”

Speaking Engagements and Publications

Speaker, Biennial IBA Latin American Regional Forum Conference, Living in Interesting times: How to Find the Opportunities While Avoiding the Pitfalls, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (March 2016)
Speaker, National Associate of Women Lawyers Annual Meeting & Awards Luncheon, It’s Time to Jump in the Pool , New York, NY (July 2015)
Featured in Inside Counsel article, ‘Navigating Latin America, Project Finance and Risk’ (June 2015)
Speaker, Financial Times Live, Investing in the New Bolivia Summit, New York, NY (October 2015)
Speaker, Biennial IBA Latin American Regional Forum Conference, Sao Paulo, Brazil (November 2014)
Speaker, ABA Section of International Law Fall Meeting, Buenos Aires, Argentina (October 2014)
Speaker, Penn Law’s Latin Law Students Association (LALSA), Is Latin America the Next Frontier for Top 250 Law Firms?, Philadelphia, PA (February 2014)
Speaker, Penn Law European Society, Trailblazing Penn Law Women: Past, Present, and Future, Philadelphia, PA (May 2013)
Speaker, Inter‐American Development Bank (IDB) and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, New Developments in Sovereign Debt Restructuring, Washington DC (April 2013)
Speaker, German-American Lawyers’ Association, Annual Conference on German and American Law, New York, New York (October 2012)
Speaker, World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), Law, Justice and Development Week, Washington DC (November, 2011)

Education

University of Pennsylvania Law School, J.D., cum laude (Order of the Coif), 1988
University of Pennsylvania, B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1984

Rankings & Awards

Recognized among IFLR1000's Top Women Leaders in Transactional Law (2020)
Cathleen McLaughlin was listed in IFLR1000’s 2020 “Women Leaders” guide recognizing 300 of the world’s top female lawyers working in financial and corporate law. This is the third straight year Cathleen has been recognized with this accolade, and is one of only 37 lawyers listed who are based in the United States.
June 23, 2020

Law Firm of the Year - Leading International Counsel in Latin America for Project Finance
Paul Hastings was named Project Finance Law Firm of the Year for Latin America by Chambers at the Chambers Latin America Awards 2019, held in Miami on November 22. The award follows the practice's rise to Band One in Latin America - Projects, of which Chambers noted the firm's "leading capabilities in the Latin American project finance market. Highly sought after by major international financial institutions and corporate developers to advise on key projects throughout the region, most notably in Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Possesses a deep bench of practitioners with superb knowledge of loan and securities financing for renewable energy, oil and gas and transport infrastructure projects."

Law Firm of the Year Project Finance

November 25, 2019

Recognized among IFLR1000's Top Women Leaders in Transactional Law (2019)
Cathleen McLaughlin was listed in IFLR1000’s 2019 “Women Leaders” guide recognizing 300 of the world’s top female lawyers working in financial and corporate law. This is the second straight year Cathleen has been recognized with this accolade, and is one of only 37 lawyers listed who are based in the United States.

July 19, 2019

Recognized by Chambers Global 2019
Chambers Global 2019: The World’s Leading Lawyers listed the firm in 37 research areas and named 59 firm lawyers to its rankings of leading lawyers and law firms adept in complex international work and with strong cross-border capabilities.
February 14, 2019

Recognized among IFLR1000's Top Women Leaders in Transactional Law (2018)
Cathleen McLaughlin was listed in IFLR1000’s inaugural “Women Leaders” guide recognizing 300 of the world’s top female lawyers working in financial and corporate law. Cathleen was one of only 35 lawyers listed who are based in the United States.
June 06, 2018

Recognized by Chambers USA 2018
Chambers USA 2018: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business listed the firm in 45 research areas and named 112 firm lawyers to its rankings of leading lawyers and law firms in the United States.
May 15, 2018

Recognized by IJGlobal for the representation of Concesión Ruta al Mar - the Latin American Transport Deal of the Year
IJGlobal recognized Paul Hastings’ Energy and Infrastructure Practice for its representation of Concesión Ruta al Mar, which was acknowledged as Latin American Transport Deal of the Year. Ruta al Mar is the first 4G toll-road project in Colombia developed as an iniciativa privada, a concession proposal unsolicited by the Colombian government.
March 15, 2018

Recognized by Bonds & Loans magazine for representing parties to the Infrastructure Finance Deal of the Year, Structured Finance Deal of the Year, and Structured Bond Deal of the Year
Bonds & Loans recognized the work of our Latin American and Energy & Infrastructure practice on behalf of clients to the Infrastructure Finance Deal of the Year, Structured Finance Deal of the Year, and Structured Bond Deal of the Year.
February 16, 2018

Paul Hastings advises on Three PFI Award-winning Deals
Paul Hastings has advised on three of Project Finance International's “Deals of the Year”, announced as part of the PFI Awards:
* Mexico City Airport Trust’s offering of $4 billion of debt securities was named “Americas Transportation Deal of the Year,”
* The $640 million financing of the Norte III 907 MW gas-fired power project in Mexico was named “Americas Power Deal of the Year,” and
* The Italy-France Power Interconnector won “Europe Power Deal of the Year."
December 21, 2017

Recognized by Chambers USA 2017
Chambers USA 2017: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business named 46 of the firm’s practice areas and 112 individuals to its ranking of leading lawyers and law firms in the United States.
June 05, 2017

Latinvex - Latin America's Top 100 Female Lawyers for 2017
Paul Hastings is honored that four women in the firm's premier Latin America practice have been recognized as Latin America's Top 100 Female Lawyers. LatinVex. Named among the Top 100 were Joy Gallup, Taisa Markus, and Cathleen McLaughlin, each of New York, as well as São Paolo-based Roberta Bassegio. With four partners recognized, Paul Hastings has as many attorneys on the LatinVex 100 as any other firm.
May 24, 2017

LatinVex - Latin America's Top 100 Lawyers for 2017
Camilo Cardozo, Arturo Carrillo, Michael Fitzgerald, Joy Gallup, Robert Karthaiser, Taisa Markus, and Cathleen McLaughlin were named to LatinVex’s Latin America's Top 100 Lawyers list for 2017. With seven partners recognized, Paul Hastings has more attorneys on the LatinVex 100 than any other firm.
February 21, 2017

Recognized by Chambers USA 2016
Chambers USA 2016: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business named 47 of the firm’s practice areas and 112 individuals to its ranking of leading lawyers and law firms in the United States.
June 08, 2016

Latinvex - Latin America's Top 100 Female Lawyers for 2016
Joy Gallup, Taisa Markus, and Cathleen McLaughlin were named to Latinvex’s list of Latin America's Top 100 Female Lawyers for 2016.
April 01, 2016

LatinVex Latin America's Top 100 Lawyers
Arturo Carrillo, Michael Fitzgerald, Joy Gallup, Robert Karthaiser, Taisa Markus, and Cathleen McLaughlin were named to LatinVex’s Latin America's Top 100 Lawyers list for 2016. With six partners recognized, Paul Hastings has more attorneys on the list than any other firm.
January 15, 2016

LatinVex's "Latin America's Top Female Lawyers 2015" List

Joy Gallup, Taisa Markus, and Cathleen McLaughlin were included in LatinVex's "Latin America's Top 50 Female Lawyers 2015" list. Joy was ranked in the banking and finance category, while Taisa was ranked in the capital markets and the corporate/M&A categories. Cathleen was also ranked in the capital markets category.

April 16, 2015

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Cathleen E McLaughlin

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