Marissa C. Wesely is a member of the Firm’s Corporate Department and serves on the Firm’s Executive Committee. Ms. Wesely specializes in domestic and international bank finance transactions, with an emphasis on leveraged acquisition finance and recapitalization transactions, principally advising equity sponsors and corporate borrowers.  Recent representations include: Peabody Energy Corporation in the financing of its acquisition of MacArthur Coal; Sealed Air Corporation in the financing of its acquisition of Diversey; CB Richard Ellis in the financing of its acquisition of the real estate management business of ING Group N.V.; Centerbridge Partners in the financing of its acquisition of American Renal; and Schnitzer Steel and Ingersoll-Rand in connection with recent refinancings of their respective senior credit facilities.

Ms. Wesely speaks regularly on issues relating to her practice, most recently at PLI’s Leveraged Financing Conference in May 2011 and at an LSTA panel on Leveraged Finance Commitment Papers in February 2011. She also speaks regularly on issues relating to women in the profession, including at Womensphere’s Emerging Leaders Global Summit in January 2011, the IBA’s 4th World Women Lawyers Conference in April 2010 and the New York City Bar Association’s Second Annual panel on Women and Leadership in June 2009. Earlier in her career, Ms. Wesely designed and taught courses in China and Indonesia on international trade and financing for the former Harvard Institute of International Development.

Ms. Wesely is a member of the Executive Committee of DirectWomen and a member the Boards of Directors of Legal Momentum (The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund) and The Global Fund for Women. Ms. Wesely is a co-founder of The Kate Stoneman Project, a leadership organization for women partners of 10 leading New York-based law firms.  She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Wenner-Gren Foundation, a private operating foundation dedicated to the advancement of anthropology throughout the world.

Ms. Wesely is recognized as a leading lawyer in banking and finance by Chambers & Partners, The Best Lawyers in America and the U.K. publication, “Which Lawyer?” She is a 2010 recipient of the Diversity Champion Award from the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. In 2009, she received the Kay Crawford Murray Award from the New York State Bar Association in recognition of her efforts to mentor women and promote diversity in the legal profession.

Ms. Wesely joined Simpson Thacher in 1980 and spent three years in the Firm’s London office. She became a partner in 1989. She graduated from Williams College in 1976, magna cum laude, and received her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1980.

Honors/Associations

•	Chambers USA - Banking & Finance
•	"The Best Lawyers in America" - Banking & Finance
•	PLC's "Which Lawyer?" - Banking & Finance
•	2010 Recipient of NYC Bar Association's Diversity Champion Award
•	2009 Recipient of NYS Bar Association's Kay Crawford Murray Award
•	Association of the Bar of the City of New York
•	New York State Bar Association
•	International Bar Association
•	American Bar Association

Publications

•	Marissa C. Wesely Authors Article in Practical Law – The Journal
•	"What's Market: An Expert's View" on certain Mid-year Trends in Loan Terms, Practical Law - The Journal, Volume 3, Issue 6, July-August 2011
•	"The Acquisition Finance Market Returns: Impact of the 2007 Crash on Post-Crash Terms," PLI 2011
•	"A Snapshot of the Acquisition Finance Market: Where We Have Been – Where We Are Now – Where We Are Headed," PLI 2010
•	Private Equity Investments in Portfolio Company Debt: An Overview of Legal Issues, 2009
•	"Financing Commitments and the M&A Process," PLI 2008
•	"Securitization Tequniques in International Trade and Project Financing," Review of Banking and Financial Services, 1996

Speaking Engagements

•	Patrick Ryan to Co-Chair and Speak and Marissa Wesely to Speak at PLI’s "Leveraged Financing 2012" Program on May 2, 2012 April 3, 2012
•	Women Partners Spoke at Harvard Law School March 7, 2012
•	Marissa Wesely and Alexis Coll-Very Speak at Duke January 23, 2012
•	Marissa Wesely Speaks at PLI's "Where Are the Women in Commercial Litigation?" Program June 22, 2011
•	Frank Huck and Marissa Wesely Speak at PLI’s Leveraged Financing 2011 Program June 7, 2011
•	Marissa Wesely to Speak at LSTA Program on Leveraged Finance February 17, 2011
•	Marissa Wesely Speaks at the Womensphere Emerging Leaders Global Summit January 27, 2011
•	Marissa C. Wesely Speaks at Harvard Law School November 4, 2010
•	Kathryn King Sudol Speaks at Kate Stoneman Project Event at Simpson Thacher April 9, 2010
•	Marissa Wesely Speaks at IBA's 4th World Women Lawyers Conference April 5, 2010
•	Gary Horowitz Speaks at Bar None Women of Color in Leadership Symposium March 16, 2010
•	Frank Huck and Marissa Wesely to Speak at PLI's Leveraged Financing 2010 Program January 28, 2010

Admissions

•	New York 1981

Education

•	Harvard Law School, 1980 J.D. cum laude
•	Williams College, 1976 B.A. magna cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa