Jennifer Ezring

Co-Administrative Partner, Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP

Biography:

As a member of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP’s corporate practice group, Jennifer counsels commercial and investment banks and other lending institutions in leveraged finance and asset-based lending transactions, including acquisition financings, leveraged buyouts, going-private transactions, recapitalizations, project financings, debt restructurings, and other secured lending transactions. 

Jennifer serves as one of Cahill’s co-administrative partners managing and overseeing the day-to-day business matters of the Firm in coordination with the Firm’s Executive Committee.  She has also served on the Firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Hiring Committee and Women’s Initiative Committee. 

Jennifer has practiced in a variety of industries, including communications, gaming, retail, energy, manufacturing, media, publishing and internet technology. She has a broad range of financing experience in both US and cross-border transactions.

Jennifer is a member of the State Bar of New York, the New York State Bar Association and the American Bar Association and has been recommended as a leading finance lawyer by IFLR1000 and The Legal 500.  She holds a degree from Princeton University and New York University School of Law.

What advice would you offer to women just starting out in the industry?

I would offer the same advice to women in just about any industry—don’t assume the answer is no.  Aggressively seek out the opportunities you want and the advice you need.  Don’t wait for a supervisor to determine your career path; just speak up and ask for responsibility.  Take on as much as you can handle, with each experience your industry knowledge builds making you a valuable asset to both your clients and your colleagues.  Share your ideas and insights where relevant on your transactions; you can add value even at a junior level.  Do your homework. Make yourself essential to your clients and supervisors by doing the most homework and being the most focused member of the team.

What do you know now that you wish you knew in the beginning of your career?

While I am fortunate to have a lot of strong client relationships that started very early in my career, there are also plenty of people I have worked with along the way with whom I have lost contact.  Due to the pace of our industry and the fact that there is only so much time to focus on all the competing concerns in building a career, business development often goes by the wayside.  Networking and nurturing client relationships is critical at every level, and it’s worth committing time to business development and networking, starting day one.  It is likely you will see a lot of the same faces in different roles throughout your career because our world of finance is smaller than you may think. 

What kind of role has mentoring and/or sponsorship played in your career?

I have been fortunate throughout my career to have been mentored by thoughtful and accomplished attorneys (and in some cases, clients!).  They have taught me how to be a better lawyer, and how to manage a rewarding life alongside a rewarding career.  They have also taken the time to further my understanding of the market forces and the financial products that now form the basis of my legal practice.  It is hard to underestimate the value of mentoring for a young corporate attorney—the hours can be long, and the substance of the work is complex, detailed and challenging.  While everyone needs to find an individual workplace path that fits his or her own life situation, it can be so useful to borrow what you can from others’ successful experiences.  Cahill does have a formal mentoring program for all associates, but I always suggest that junior people seek out informal mentors as well.  The most rewarding mentoring relationships I have had were those where I found a person whose practice interested me, or whose professional persona seemed to offer something I should emulate.   

What do you think the industry could do to attract and retain the best and the brightest today?

We all need to invest in our young talent and offer them a road map of opportunity.  At Cahill, we have a free-market system for the associate attorneys.  Associates are not stifled by practice group definitions and are encouraged to try different areas of law, and work with as many different supervisors and clients as possible.  Our theory is that you will become a better lawyer if you have some experience in areas outside your own focus area, because it will provide context for your work within your specialty.  At the same time, it allows freedom of choice for our associates to build their own careers in a way that is most interesting to them.  By offering opportunities and training coupled with choice, hopefully firms in our industry will be able to retain the most important assets we all have: our people whom we have trained and developed.