Jeffrey Ross is Chair of the firm’s Finance Group and a member of its Private Equity Group and Special Situations team.
His practice focuses on complex acquisition and leveraged financings, such as the $15 billion merger of Envision Healthcare with AMSURG; Discovery, Inc. in the financing aspects of the acquisition of WarnerMedia from AT&T in a Reverse Morris Trust transaction that values the combined entity at approximately $130 billion; the $5.9 billion acquisition of King Digital by Activision Blizzard; the $5.5 billion merger of Ply Gem, a Clayton, Dubilier & Rice portfolio company, with NCI Building Systems; and the $4.1 billion acquisition of Kindred Healthcare by TPG and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe. Mr. Ross is ranked in the top tier for Banking and Finance by Chambers Global (2024) and Chambers USA (2024), which report that “he is a very diligent, responsive and thoughtful attorney with an incredible understanding of the market.” “Clients say that he is “a strong lawyer, he is smart and the consummate professional” and “always incredibly responsive, business-minded, prudent in matters of negotiation and able to explain the commercial implications of complex topics.” Sources have also reported that “his strengths are his overall knowledge of the subject matters and his outstanding ability to think about things differently.” In previous editions of the guide, he is said to be “highly detail-oriented, pushes tier-one terms and stands out as a very good lawyer.” Clients have also noted that he “is very technical and is an expert on what is going on in the market with regards to loan and covenant provisions.” They say that he “goes above and beyond,” “does a phenomenal job,” “has an incredible grasp of where the market is” and is “a strategic asset in making deals happen. His style, tact and approach to the business [are] fabulous.” Mr. Ross is recommended as a Leading Lawyer by The Legal 500 US (2024), where sources have said he is “an all star, combining highly strategic advice with deep experience in complex leveraged finance markets.” Clients have also noted that he is “an outstanding lawyer. He has no peers. His understanding of the market place is remarkable.” Clients are said to “have a high degree of trust” in him, citing him as “exceptional on both the financing and the M&A front,” “great at knowing what terms client[s] want” and an “excellent leveraged finance lawyer.” He has been identified as a Rising Star in private equity by Law360 (2012). Mr. Ross is also recognized as a leading lawyer in banking and capital markets by IFLR1000 (2022).
Mr. Ross publishes frequently on legal matters related to finance topics, including “Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses the State of the LIBOR Transition,” Columbia Blue Sky Blog (August, 2021); “What’s Market: 2020 Mid-Year Trends in Large Cap and Middle Market Loans,” Practical Law (July, 2020); “Alternative Leveraged Lending Structures And Limitations,” Law360 (June, 2015); “SunGard 2.0,” The M&A Lawyer (2014); “Del Monte: Staple Remover?,” The Deal Pipeline (2012); and “Some Pitfalls In Financing Carve-Outs,” The Deal (2012). He is also a contributing author to the annual Health Care Mergers and Acquisitions Answer Book (Practising Law Institute, 2019) and a former editor of the Debevoise & Plimpton Private Equity Report. Mr. Ross is a guest lecturer on leveraged finance in a course entitled Private Equity Playbook at Cornell Law School and is co-chair for PLI’s Leveraged Financing and Private Equity Acquisition Financing Summit programs.
Mr. Ross joined the firm in 2005 and became a partner in 2010. He received a J.D. cum laude from Cornell Law School in 1999, an M.A., first class honors, in International Relations from University of Melbourne, Australia in 1997 and a B.A. from Columbia University in 1995.