Laurel FitzPatrick
Partner
Laurel FitzPatrick is a partner in the asset management group and serves as leader of the firm’s hedge funds and credit funds teams. Laurel has extensive experience structuring and advising a wide range of hedge funds and other private funds, including domestic and offshore partnerships, limited liability corporations and offshore corporations. Recent fund formations include alternative multi-year incentive fee arrangements and innovative hybrid vehicles as well as more traditional hedge fund structures, CLO equity funds compliant with EU risk retention rules and treaty and other funds suitable for direct lending. In addition to fund formation, Laurel assists clients in creating profit-sharing and other compensation structures which provide appropriate incentives and succession strategies.
A former partner at Tiger Management, LLC, a registered adviser and hedge fund group, Laurel brings practical in-house experience to bear in her work with clients. Laurel works with clients on a wide range of issues including trade structuring and compliance, meeting with regulators on behalf of clients, assisting with regulatory audits, obtaining exemptive and no-action relief from the SEC and helping develop compliance and internal control procedures. She also assists clients in restructuring their funds when necessary and helps them develop legal and risk management policies with respect to prime brokers and other counterparties.
Experience
- Laurel represents PIMCO’s hedge fund platform, assisting them in forming such innovative products as their Tail Risk funds as well as providing continuing advice to their premier absolute return funds. In addition to formation work, she works with PIMCO on a variety of compliance issues related to the day to day operation of the funds and the manager.
- Laurel represents an Asian focused equity long/short fund on a variety of formation, trading, structuring and compliance matters including restructuring the funds, managing counterparty arrangements and structuring investments in Asia.
- Laurel assisted Blackstone in the formation of their Strategic Alliance Fund II, a vehicle which seeds third party hedge fund managers. Laurel worked with Blackstone to redesign this cutting edge hybrid private equity/hedge fund vehicle and represented them in structuring the revenue share arrangements with the seed funds.
Publications
- Quoted, “SEC Puts Hedge Funds, Conflicts in Exam Crosshairs for '22,” FundFire (November 24, 2021)
- Quoted, “GameStop Resurgence Reinforces New Reality for Hedge Funds,” The Wall Street Journal (February 26, 2021)
- Quoted, “SEC Rule Proposal Would Slash Number of Investment Managers That Need to Report Quarterly Holdings,” The Wall Street Journal (July 10, 2020)
- Quoted, “SEC Plan To Ax Disclosures Seen As Boon For Smaller Funds,” Law360 (July 13, 2020)
- Quoted, “AllianceBernstein Joins TALF Pool,” Hedge Fund Alert (July 1, 2020)
- Quoted, “Hedge funds record best year since 2013 but still trail market,” Financial Times (December 27, 2019)
- Featured, “Notable Women in Law: Laurel FitzPatrick,” Crain’s New York Business (December 16, 2019)
- Quoted, “San Bernardino County pension buys 10% Gramercy stake,” Absolute Return (April 5, 2019)
- Quoted, “In hedge fund transitions, money matters,” Absolute Return (July 9, 2018)
- Quoted, “Up close and personal: How hedge funds monitor employee trading,” HFMWeek (May 1, 2018)
- Quoted, “What do investors want to know about alt data?,” HFMWeek (April 25, 2018)
- Quoted, “Asset Management Group Of The Year: Ropes & Gray,” Law360 (January 26, 2018)
- Featured, “50 Leading Women In Hedge Funds 2017,” The Hedge Fund Journal (May 19, 2017)
- Quoted, “Next Target: Individuals Sharing Investment Letters,” The Wall Street Journal (July 30, 2015)
- Quoted, “5 Reasons Funds Won't Touch JOBS Act Marketing Rules,” Law360 (April 10, 2014)
- Q&A, “Female Powerbrokers Q&A: Ropes & Gray's Laurel FitzPatrick,” Law360 (February 11, 2014)
- Q&A, “Ropes & Gray Partners Share Experience and Best Practices Regarding the JOBS Act, the Volcker Rule, Broker Registration, Information Barriers, Examination Priorities, Multi-Year Incentive Fees and Swap Execution Facilities,” (January 30, 2014)
- Quoted, “Ropes & Gray Partners Share Experience and Best Practices Regarding the JOBS Act, the Volcker Rule, Broker Registration, Information Barriers, Examination Priorities, Multi-Year Incentive Fees and Swap Execution Facilities,” The Hedge Fund Law Report (January 2014)
Presentations
- Speaker, “Data Acquisition: Legal and Regulatory Update,” MFA Legal & Compliance (July 22, 2020)
- Speaker, “Private Credit: Growth and Leadership,” Greenwich Economic Forum (November 5, 2019)
- Speaker, MFA Outlook (October 18, 2018)
- Moderator, “Current Trends in Litigation and Regulatory Actions Involving Private Investment Funds,” IBA Annual Private Investment Funds Conference (March 11, 2018)
- Speaker, “Big/Alternative Data,” Deloitte Hedge Fund Symposium 2017 (October 25, 2017)
- Speaker, “Performance Marketing and Advertising: Clarifying the Gray Area,” GAIM Ops Cayman (April 26, 2017)
- Moderator, “The Regulators (FBI, NFA, SEC and More)….What’s on Their Agenda?,” GAIM Ops Cayman (April 25, 2017)
- Speaker, “U.S. Department of Labor’s Final Fiduciary Rules: What They Mean for Hedge Fund Managers,” Managed Funds Association Webinar (May 18, 2016)
- Speaker, “Recent developments at the SEC,”GAIM Regulation Conference (February 4, 2014)
- Speaker, “New Distribution Horizons,” GAIM Ops Cayman (April 29, 2015)
- Speaker, “AIVs, parallel funds and club deals,” IBA’s 16th Annual International Conference on Private Investment Funds (March 9, 2015)
- Speaker, "Spotlight on Marketing and Distribution," MFA Compliance 2014 conference (May 7, 2014)
Education
- JD, Columbia University School of Law, 1990; Columbia Law Review , Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
- AB, magna cum laude, Harvard College, 1984
Admissions / Qualifications
Qualifications
- New York, 1991
Awards
- IFLR 1000 Women Leaders (2021)
- Crain’s New York Business “Notable Women in Law” (2020)
- Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business (2009-2023)
- Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business (2008-2022)
- Legal 500 (2013-2020)
- IFLR 1000 Leading Lawyer (2013-2017), Highly Regarded (2018-2021), Market Leader (2022-2023)
- The Best Lawyers in America (2009-2014, 2016-2023)
- New York Super Lawyers (2013-2021)
- The Hedge Fund Journal, “50 Leading Women in Hedge Funds” (2017)
- Americas Women in Business Law Awards, “Best in Investment Funds” Finalist (2014)
- New York Times Magazine's “Top Women Attorneys in the New York Metro Area” (2014)
- Expert Guides’ Guide to the World’s Leading Women in Business Law (2014-2016)
- Who’s Who Legal Private Funds (2011-2013, 2016, 2022)
- PLC Which Lawyer (2010-2011)