Dechert hires finance partner

Dechert said Tuesday it hired structured finance partner Lawton Camp in New York to deepen its asset finance and securitization bench. (prnewswire.com) The firm said Camp will add coverage in large equipment, aircraft, Small Business Administration loans and infrastructure finance, alongside its existing collateralized loan obligation, asset-backed securities and rated-notes work. Dechert announced the move on April 14, 2026. (prnewswire.com) Camp had been a partner at Arnold & Porter in New York, where his public biography described work for underwriters, arrangers, originators, issuers and investors across securitizations, structured products and covered bonds. Chambers lists him in nationwide United States securitization rankings and says he has been ranked for years. (arnoldporter.com) (chambers.com) Asset finance turns loans or leases on things like aircraft, equipment or auto receivables into tradable debt. Securitization is the packaging step: cash flows from those assets are pooled and sold to investors as bonds. (dechert.com) (chambers.com) Dechert already markets itself as a long-time player in that business, saying its lawyers have worked in securitization since the 1980s and across asset classes from residential mortgages to marketplace lending and derivatives. Legal 500’s latest United States rankings describe the firm’s securitization practice as well established in collateralized loan obligations, commercial mortgage-backed securities and esoteric assets. (dechert.com) (legal500.com) The hire fits a longer expansion push in finance. In June 2025, Dechert added a four-lawyer London team led by Sushila Nayak and James Jirtle to build its structured credit and collateralized loan obligation practice in Europe and the United States. (dechert.com) Dechert has also been adding partners well beyond finance. A January 23, 2026 firm release said it had already brought in more than 20 lateral partners at the start of the year, and Tuesday’s Camp announcement said he was among more than 35 lateral partners welcomed in 2026. (prnewswire.com 1) (prnewswire.com 2) For clients, the practical change is that Dechert can pitch one team across more kinds of structured debt, from collateralized loan obligations to aircraft and Small Business Administration-backed deals. The firm’s message in Tuesday’s announcement was that demand for those products is still strong enough to justify another senior hire in New York. (prnewswire.com)