Lorraine McGowen and Orrick Honored by MCCA

October.17.2019

Congratulations to Orrick partner Lorraine McGowen on being named a 2019 Rainmaker by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA). In addition, MCCA recognized Orrick as a finalist for the Thomas L. Sager Award – for the second year in a row – for our efforts to build a more diverse and inclusive workplace. Orrick Chairman Mitch Zuklie also spoke on a panel at MCCA’s annual 2019 Creating Pathways to Diversity Conference about the firm’s role as a founder of the Move the Needle Fund.

MCCA’s Rainmakers List honors exceptional, diverse lawyers whose business acumen, passion and dedication to proactive client development has set them apart as leaders, and who have contributed significantly to their communities. Lorraine serves on the firm’s Management Committee and recently completed two terms on the Board. She is also co-chair of our firm-wide Diversity & Inclusion Committee and Automotive Technology & Mobility group. In her restructuring practice, she advises global financial institutions, syndicated lender groups, creditor committees and other parties on the front lines of their recovery crisis and investment strategies with entrepreneurial enthusiasm and a true passion for innovation. Lorraine is also a leading advocate for diversity and inclusion in the legal profession; she serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession and on the Advisory Committees for Legal Outreach and the Vance Center for International Justice of the NYCBA.

Under the leadership of Lorraine and others, Orrick recently became a founding member of the Move the Needle Fund. MTN is a five-year collaboration among the Diversity Lab, 25+ forward-thinking corporate legal departments, peer firms, and community leaders that will apply research-backed methods to drive meaningful change. Each of the five participating law firms is setting a unique goal. Orrick’s is focused on working jointly with our clients to improve the diversity of our client teams as we improve the diversity of our firm.

“We are incredibly grateful to Jean Lee and MCCA for their counsel to Orrick and for guiding us as a profession to become more inclusive. MCCA provides an essential forum for corporate legal departments and law firms to collaborate as allies for inclusion,” said Orrick Chairman Mitch Zuklie. Last year, Aravind Swaminathan, co-head of Orrick’s Cyber & Privacy Advisory practice, was named an MCCA Rainmaker.

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Lorraine McGowen Partner, Restructuring, Bankruptcy Litigation

New York

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D:+1 212 506 5114
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Finance Sector
Restructuring
Bankruptcy Litigation
Municipal Restructuring and Insolvency
Energy & Infrastructure
Mergers & Acquisitions
Structured Finance
Higher Education and Student Loan Financing
Automotive Technology & Mobility

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Lorraine McGowen Partner

New York

Lorraine brings 30+ years of legal experience in bankruptcies, out-of-court restructurings, sovereign debt restructurings and creditors' rights controversies. She interfaces with auditors, government regulators, investment bankers and others, and develops and implements mediation and litigation strategies, and negotiates reorganization plans and complex corporate and finance documents. She also regularly provides commercial law and bankruptcy advice in connection with securitization, M&A, energy & infrastructure and general corporate transactions.

Lorraine has represented various stakeholders in bankruptcies, workouts, distressed debt transactions, sovereign debt restructurings, bankruptcy litigation, derivatives, and distressed acquisition matters such as Suriname, Belize, Puerto Rico, Takata Corporation, Windstream, GTT, Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, Lehman, MF Global, Indiana Toll Road, Chemtura Corporation, Tronox Incorporated, South Bay Expressway, American Dream School, Detroit, General Motors, and Stone & Webster.

Lorraine is a member of Orrick's Management Committee and is Partner in Charge of its global DEI Initiatives. She previously served two terms on the firm’s 11-member Board of Directors and also previously chaired its Restructuring Group.

As a leading DEI advocate, Lorraine creates programs for the legal profession and the community. She was selected as a 2019 Rainmaker by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) and as one of Savoy Magazine’s Most Influential Black Lawyers for 2022, 2018 and 2015 and received Legal Outreach’s Pipeline to Diversity 2017 Champion Award and the New York City Bar Association Diversity and Inclusion 2012 Champion Award. IFLR1000 Rankings named Lorraine a leading lawyer in the U.S. She was selected by Direct Women to be a 2016 Board Institute member. She is a frequent speaker and author on bankruptcy and insolvency and diversity and inclusion.

Among her community involvement, she is a former Vice President and Board Member of the New York City Bar Association and currently co-chairs the City Bar's Digital Assets Task Force. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession and the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, where she is chair of the board, and on the Advisory Committees for Legal Outreach and the Vance Center for International Justice of the City Bar, where she serves as co-chair of the Advisory Committee of the Vance Center.