King & Spalding LLP‘s finance and restructuring practice advises clients from across the transportation sectors, including General Motors, Jack Cooper and UPS, along with various financial actors in acquisitions and dispositions of assets, credit facilities, capital, operating and leveraged financing, along with synthetic lease structures. The team oversees some of the largest transactions involving transportation assets, including stock, locomotives, chassis, containers, automobiles, tractors, along with the purchase and sale of rolling stock and other rail assets and portfolios. Restructuring expert Jeff Dutson is sought after by clients for his experience in financial, bankruptcy, and transactional matters . Newly arrived Brett Seifarth is a key component of the team in matters involving leasebacks and financing structures, while Atlanta-based John Hyman is previously experienced in acquisition and leasing of transportation assets along with share sales of rail companies. Additionally, Keith M. Townsend works closely with the team in transportation share sales, and has previously advised clients on acquisitions within the automotive sectors.Christopher Buchanan has left the firm.

Vedder Price‘s global transportation finance team leverages considerable experience in rail finance and securitization, being frequently retained by client from the equity sector, including insurance companies, private equity, hedge funds and others. The department is broadly experienced, with a portfolio of matters involving railcar leasing joint ventures and asset-backed financing, railcar sales, restructuring of rail facilities, sales of rail platforms and other assets, and rail-related asset backed securitization. The team includes experts from Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, and is highly sought after for matters involving several jurisdictions, especially in North America and Asia. Chicago-based Geoffrey Kass heads the practice, and is accompanied by Michael Draz , who is a port of call for matters requiring expertise in rail transactions and structured financings, including securitization, asset loan facilities, both local and cross-border operating leases, acquisitions and strategic joint ventures, areas that frequently see the involvement of Joel Thielen. Jeffrey Veber advises clients on structured financing and asset purchases involving commercial railcars and platforms out of New York, while Clay Thomas advises on a variety of structured financing transactions involving rail, including rolling stock portfolio acquisitions, sale-back transactions and various lease-related transactions.

Mayer Brown‘s transportation finance practice is praised by clients for its ‘multidisciplinary approach, industry expertise, client-centric culture, and emphasis on diversity and inclusion’. The team’s fields experience in advising a broad spectrum of clients, including equity sponsors, lenders, and public entities and other parties in various transaction structures, including asset sales, Public-Private Partnerships and refinancing, among others. The team is retained by a significant portfolio of clients, including KPMG, Wells Fargo Bank and J.P. Morgan Securities, and other lenders in various rail project financing, such as Brightline West. Chicago-based Joseph Seliga is the department head, and advises clients in matters involving rail infrastructure, mass transit, and public-private partnership transactions for government entities, developers and lenders, among other clients. David Narefsky  is a key member of the team for government rail infrastructure transactions, including Brightline, public metros, and advising the California High-Speed Rail Authority on financing matters. Stephanie Wagner oversees transactions pertaining to rail concession and mass transit projects, and is noted as an ‘expert in her field and a strong advocate’. 

Moore & Van Allen, PLLC‘s rail finance offering is a port of call for a variety of financing, restructuring and leases involving rail-related assets. The team represents lenders, asset managers and lessors in railcar purchases, loans, leases, facilities, securitizations, and other finance transactions. The team includes ITE Management, Wells Fargo Rail Corporation, Truist Equipment Finance and The InStar Group as part of its portfolio of clients. The team is currently headed by Charlotte-based Matthew R. Mollozzi, who is sought after by clients for his broad experience in representing lessors, lesses, banks, investment firms, lenders and borrowers in various rail equipment related finance, including transactions involving railcars, warehouses, and other rail assets. Emily Young and Payton Wallace are key members of the team, and frequently operate in matters requiring expertise in rail-related credit facilities, leases and direct loans.