International law firm Withers welcomes Paul Jebely as a senior partner based in its Hong Kong office and head of its newly-launched global asset finance practice. Paul joins the firm from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, where he was managing partner of the Hong Kong office and co-chair of the firm’s private wealth and asset finance practices.
Paul primarily represents ultra-high-net-worth individuals and their business enterprises around the world. His clients presently include many notable individuals listed in the Forbes Rich List as well as major corporations, both listed and privately held. He has served as counsel on well over $20 billion in transactions over the last 15 years and has handled numerous restructuring and contentious matters. In doing so, he has also earned a reputation as a sought-after attorney to some of the most successful investors in commercial aviation.
Among a lengthy list of professional awards, Paul was named by Chambers & Partners as the top private aircraft and yachts aviation attorney globally in 2018 (and has been recognised by the prestigious publication as the top private aviation attorney in Asia since 2016), and ALM Media also named him the winner for Private Client Lawyer of the Year for Asia in 2020.
His expertise in aviation has been quoted by the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes and many other international publications. He has chaired and spoken at dozens of international conferences. Paul is qualified to practice law in England, the United States (New York and Washington State) and Canada (Ontario).
Jeremy Wakeham, CEO of Withers’ business division, comments: “There’s no doubt that Paul, and the team of current and new Withers lawyers and staff that we will bring together around him, will be the market leaders in the private asset finance space, namely involving aircraft and yachts, and will significantly enhance the profile of our existing work involving such assets. Beyond private wealth, we are also excited to see where our new world-class aviation capability takes us in the years to come. This is especially as our clients invest capital in various forms of aviation, and also as we expand our aviation clientele to include airlines and other operators.”
Paul adds: “It is now one minute after midnight on 1 January 2022, and I am in our office getting to work on building the leading private asset finance practice in the world, and one of the leading asset finance practices in the world, with the great people of Withers and for the extraordinary people and companies we work on behalf of. Planes, boats and automobiles have been passions of mine since I was a child, and now counselling successful individuals and companies on how best to invest in, sell, finance, lease, charter, and operate them is my privilege.”
