Seyfarth Boosts Structured Finance Practice with Addition of Market-Leading Three-Lawyer Team Led by Henry Morriello in New York

October 7, 2025 – Seyfarth Shaw LLP has significantly bolstered its Structured Finance practice with the move to the firm of a highly regarded team of three lawyers, led by partner Henry Morriello, in New York. He will join the firm’s existing Structured Finance group and become co-chair of the group with Paul Kruger.

Morriello is a market-leading finance attorney, active in all areas of finance, including structured finance and derivatives, transportation finance, and financial regulatory matters. He had been the chair of Arnold & Porter’s Structured Finance and Derivatives practice and chair of its Transportation Finance practice. He previously chaired the Global Finance practice at Kaye Scholer, prior to that firm’s 2017 merger with Arnold & Porter.

Karsten Giesecke and Michael Karol, who have worked closely with Morriello for many years, handling complex transactions at the highest levels, are also joining Seyfarth as counsel. All three lawyers come to Seyfarth from Arnold & Porter.

“This team’s arrival adds another key piece to the strategic expansion of our Corporate department and, in particular, our finance practices which sit within the Corporate department,” said Lorie Almon, Seyfarth chair and managing partner. “Henry represents global financial institutions, corporates, and private equity firms across the full spectrum of finance transactions. Their addition builds on our recent momentum, including the launch of our Special Servicing practice, new lateral partners in Real Estate Finance, and the integration of 23 high-performing transactional lawyers this past June. These important strategic initiatives extend the build-out of our leading transactional practices and provide an excellent platform for further growth.”

“Henry’s reputation in the structured finance and securitization space is well-known,” said Andrew Lucano, chair of Seyfarth’s Corporate department. “He brings deep technical skill, trusted client relationships, and a collaborative mindset that aligns perfectly with our culture. This move significantly strengthens our offering and reinforces our commitment to building a premier transactional practice that meets the evolving needs of our clients.”

“Henry and Paul Kruger have had a long-standing working relationship,” said John Napoli and Marc Gurell, co-managing partners of Seyfarth’s New York office. “We are delighted to have Henry and his team, with their outstanding credentials and accomplishments, join the firm to deepen the bench strength of our structured finance group.”

“Seyfarth provides an ideal foundation for us to further elevate our practice,” said Morriello. “We are strategically aligned in our commitment to delivering high-level service across multiple disciplines, and the firm’s investment in expanding its finance capabilities—particularly in key markets—was a major factor in our decision. This is exactly the kind of opportunity that Karsten, Michael and I have been seeking.”

The combined team represents all types of lenders, including banks, private equity funds, and private debt funds, and borrowers and originators in structured warehouse and debt facilities.

The team also represent issuers, placement agents, and underwriters and servicers in ABS and MBS transactions involving all types of asset classes, including residential and commercial mortgage loans, auto loans and leases, personal/marketplace loans, student loans, credit cards, aviation leases and loans, railcar leases, trade receivables, corporate loans, music and film royalties, structured settlements, lottery receivables, small business loans and esoteric assets.

The team additionally has an active asset-backed derivatives practice, regularly structuring and documenting interest, and credit derivatives transactions.

Giesecke brings more than three decades of experience in complex structured products. He has handled residential mortgage-backed and commercial mortgage securitizations, and securitizations involving various other asset-classes including student loans, franchise loans and trade receivables. He regularly advises CDO arrangers and issuers.

Karol focuses on complex structured transactions, including securitizations, structured finance, lending transactions and acquisitions, and has advised on securities, commodities, banking, bankruptcy, UCC and other legal and regulatory matters. His securitization related work includes transactions involving traditional asset classes, such as auto loans and leases, mortgages, trade finance assets, student loans and credit cards, as well as a variety of esoteric assets.

Seyfarth’s finance practices comprise a multidisciplinary team of attorneys with extensive experience across a broad range of finance and capital markets transactions, supported by the firm’s tax, litigation, and restructuring and insolvency teams. The finance practices operate out of all of the major financial centers in the U.S. including New York, Chicago, Charlotte, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, and Los Angeles.

Seyfarth’s Corporate department offers clients a full-service, multidisciplinary team of attorneys across virtually all areas of practice. The corporate group works with an array of businesses from large well-known companies to start-ups and is highly regarded for its deep knowledge of mergers and acquisitions, securities, investment management, corporate counseling, financing, and commercial transactions.

About Seyfarth

With more than 975 lawyers across 17 offices, Seyfarth Shaw LLP provides top tier advisory, litigation, and transactional legal services to clients worldwide.