Debra K. Lussier
Partner
Debra Lussier is a partner in Ropes & Gray’s asset management group and serves as co-leader of the firm’s buyout and growth equity funds team. Deb’s primary focus is on fundraising and ongoing representation of private investment funds, including buyout funds, credit funds, infrastructure funds and funds of funds. She also advises sponsors on the structuring and operation of management companies, including internal compensation arrangements and succession planning. Complementing her sponsor-side practice, Deb represents some of the world’s most well-known institutional investors in connection with their investments in private investment funds. Deb’s investor-side work includes both primary and secondary transactions, as well as separately managed accounts and funds of one. Deb has cultivated deep, longstanding relationships with her clients, who view her as a trusted advisor to their businesses.
Experience
- BV Partners
- Equality Asset Management
- Gauge Capital
- Gridiron Capital
- Parthenon Capital
- TSG Consumer Partners
- Manulife / John Hancock
- Constitution Capital Partners
- Columbia University
- Temasek
- Yale University
Publications
- Quoted, “Buyout Firms Seek Capital Recycling as Coronavirus Bites,” WSJ Pro Private Equity (May 20, 2020)
- Quoted, “The Difficulties Of PE Fundraising In A Post COVID-19 World,” Law360 (April 24, 2020)
- Quoted, “Withstanding the Coronavirus Pandemic: Business Continuity and Other Operational Risks (Part Three of Three),” Private Equity Law Report (April 7, 2020)
- Quoted, “Withstanding the Coronavirus Pandemic: Key Person Clauses, Fundraising Disruptions and Deal Flow Issues (Part Two of Three),” Private Equity Law Report (March 31, 2020)
- Quoted, “Withstanding the Coronavirus Pandemic: Form ADV Filing Relief, Investor Communications and Liquidity Risks (Part One of Three),” Private Equity Law Report (March 24, 2020)
- Featured, “How 4 Firms Are Moving The Needle On Gender Diversity,” Law360 (July 23, 2017)
- Co-author, “Private equity in United States: market and regulatory overview,” Practical Law (October 11, 2016)
Presentations
- Moderator, “How to Deploy $1 Trillion with a Recession on the Horizon” Kayo Women's Private Equity 7th Annual Conference (September 23, 2019)
- Panelist, “What Matters to Private Equity LPs Today,” Kayo Women's Private Equity 5th Annual Conference (October 3, 2017)
- Speaker, “Best Practices in GP / LP Communications,” 4th Annual Kayo Women’s Private Equity Conference (October 5, 2016)
- Speaker, “Private Equity: Year in Review and Looking Forward,” Maples Investment Funds Forum (February 27, 2016)
Education
- JD, magna cum laude, Boston College Law School, 1999; Symposium Editor, Boston College Law Review
- BA, magna cum laude, Boston College, 1994
