NEW YORK –
Global law firm Reed Smith announced today that Josephine Chang has joined as
counsel in its Financial Industry Group, based in the firm’s New York office.
Chang’s arrival marks a significant addition to Reed Smith’s asset and
equipment finance practice and adds depth to the firm’s transportation practice
and other financial services capabilities.
Chang joins
Reed Smith after more than 20 years serving in several senior legal and
management roles at GE Capital. Chang’s deep proficiency in asset and equipment
finance includes, vendor and inventory finance, transportation finance, all
classes of equipment and deal structures, and aircraft and marine finance. Most
recently, she served as Deputy General Counsel at GE Capital, leading and
partnering with a global team of in-house legal counsel and professionals in
providing strategic and tactical legal, regulatory and governance guidance for
various business units including healthcare and energy equipment manufacturing,
technology and services companies GE Healthcare and GE Vernova and aviation
company GE Aerospace’s liquidity management, global trade finance, supply chain
finance and receivables finance programs, equipment leasing and surplus
inventory remarketing transactions.
While at GE Capital, Chang also provided
legal and regulatory guidance and support for separating and building the
Treasury function for GE Vernova and Aerospace and provided financial services
legal support for global supply chain finance, global trade finance, parent
company credit and performance support, revolving credit facilities and other
bank related arrangements, liquidity management involving cash pool
arrangements, legal entity restructuring and corporate governance, sourcing and
facility contract restructuring and management and business/functional policies
and procedures, including legal & regulatory early warning system.
In addition to her extensive in-house
experience, Chang has in the past served as outside counsel, with a practice
that focused on representation of lenders, equity investors, domestic and
foreign airlines, shipping and rail companies and other borrower/lessees in all
types of financing transactions, with an emphasis on debt and lease financings
of commercial and corporate aircraft, ocean-going ships and other
transportation equipment, secured and commercial lending transactions, private
and public debt placements and syndicated loan facilities secured by commercial
and corporate aircraft, oceangoing ships, brown water vessels and rail
equipment registered in various Americas, EMEA and Asian countries.
Throughout her career, Josephine partnered
up with her in-house and external law firm colleagues and leveraged the
collective power of the organizations in making impactful contributions to
talent development programs, advocacy efforts with respect to developing laws
in various jurisdictions, corporate reorganization projects, commercial
councils and other corporate initiatives, including leading GE Law Department’s
global equity, diversity and inclusion council and GE Capital’s Asian Pacific
Allies & Friends Employee Resource Group. Josephine has also been a
volunteer teacher for Junior Achievement classes and Street Law’s civic and law
classes in underrepresented communities, and served on the board of Street Law
to advance justice through classroom and community education programs that
empower people with the legal and civic knowledge, skills, and confidence to
bring about positive change for themselves and others. Josephine was featured
in GE’s first Annual Diversity Report in 2020.
“Josephine is highly respected in the asset
and equipment finance community, and her arrival reinforces that we are a
leading practice in this space,” said Jodi Schwimmer, global co-chair of Reed
Smith’s Financial Industry Group. “Our clients who seek legal advice from our
asset finance, equipment finance, and transportation practices will benefit
significantly from Josephine’s unique experience as in-house counsel for one of
the world’s leading commercial finance companies and we look forward to the crucial
role she will play in enhancing our capabilities to serve our clients
effectively in this dynamic field. With Josephine joining our asset and
equipment finance team to work with Rich Tannenbaum, who was a colleague of
Josephine’s at GE Capital, Reed Smith broadens the scope of our subject matter
expertise and deepens our experienced team.”
About Reed Smith
Reed Smith is a dynamic international law
firm dedicated to helping clients move their businesses forward. With an
inclusive culture and innovative mindset, we deliver smarter, more creative
legal services that drive better outcomes for our clients. Our deep industry
knowledge, long-standing relationships and collaborative structure make us the
go-to partner for complex disputes, transactions, and regulatory matters.
For more information, please visit www.reedsmith.com.