Brett Moskowitz

Associate, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

40 Under 40 Category: Legal Services

Biography:

Brett E. Moskowitz focuses his practice on representing banks and other financial institutions, private equity sponsors and corporate borrowers in a variety of complex financing transactions, including secured and unsecured credit facilities, asset-based loans, investment-grade financings, domestic and cross-border syndicated financings, first and second lien credit facilities and acquisition financings. Additionally, Brett is experienced handling real estate matters, particularly real estate finance transactions.

Brett was selected as a “Rising Star” in Super Lawyers magazine, Georgia Super Lawyers in 2018. He is a member of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), the Buckhead Business Association and is Community Service Chair of the Associates Committee of the Atlanta Greenberg Traurig office. Greenberg Traurig is also a member of the Secured Finance Network.

Brett received his J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center in 2011 where he served as the administrative editor of The Georgetown Law Journal. Brett received his B.A. in political science from Emory University in 2007.

What is the best professional advice you have been given and how have you implemented it?

This is a simple one for me. The best professional advice I have been given was from my father: hard work pays off. He always told me that I did not need to be the smartest person in the room, but I could always be the hardest working person and that is what matters. Throughout my years in college, law school and my professional career, there was always someone smarter but rarely someone who worked as hard. Throughout my career as an attorney, hard work is what has defined my career and I will always remember this very simple but accurate and effective advice.

How do you think the commercial finance industry can attract more young professionals?

Well, I think the commercial finance industry attracts young professionals, but it needs to attract a more diverse set of young professionals. Diversity is key to any industry, including finance. It is important to not only hire a more diverse set of young professionals but also for the industry to be able to retain those individuals. I think the key is to make sure young professionals know that the finance industry, while complex and requires hard work, is also exciting, fun and rewarding.  

How would you define what a good leader is, and what can you do to reflect those characteristics as you progress in your career?

A good leader always communicates with their people. I always try to over-communicate, whether it is with a junior person or a supervisor. A good leader is honest in his or her communication, whether the information is good, bad or indifferent. I believe this is the best policy to build trust with the people you are managing or with the people that are managing you. Everyone is going to make mistakes but how those mistakes are handled and avoided in the future is what can define a leader. 

When interviewing junior talent, what do you say to pique their interest in accepting a position in this industry?

I usually ask if they would be ok working on a complex, sophisticated transaction where billions of dollars are at stake, the world’s leading financial institutions are involved and 20 lawyers from 10 countries are negotiating for weeks at a time. This usually piques their interest. The finance industry is obviously very broad, but, as an attorney, the finance industry is actually rather niche and very few attorneys get the privilege of being able to work on sophisticated finance transactions. It is not uncommon for junior attorneys to tell me, “I’m a history major: I know nothing about finance.” My response usually is, “Good, I’m a political science major and I also knew nothing about finance when I was a junior finance attorney, but now I get to lead finance transactions where millions or billions of dollars are involved.”