Jeff Norton, Chair of O’Melveny’s Corporate Finance Practice, guides clients through complex public and private finance matters, including leveraged credits, bonds, direct lending, structured finance, restructurings, and special situations, with extensive experience in the US, UK, European, Asian, and Latin American markets.
Jeff advises funds, corporates, financial institutions and private equity sponsors on a variety of matters including acquisition finance, syndicated credits, unitranche facilities, high yield note issuances, private placements, debt tenders and exchange offers, recurring revenue financings, asset-based credits, multiple lien priority financings, securitization platforms and facilities, warehouse facilities, infrastructure finance, REIT facilities, fund finance, distressed debt investing, workouts and restructurings, pre-packaged, post-petition and exit financings, and liability management.
Admissions
Bar Admissions
- New York
Education
- Cornell Law School, J.D., 1985, cum laude, Senior Editor, Cornell Law Review
- University of Washington, M.A., 1982, cum laude
- University of Washington, B.A., 1981, Honors
Honors & Awards
- Recommended by The Legal 500 US for Commercial Lending: Advice to Bank Lenders (2025)
- Recognized by Best Lawyers® for Banking and Finance Law in New York, NY (2018-2025)
Professional Activities
Publications
- “Bankruptcy Court Ruling Imposes Lender Liability,” Harvard Law School Bankruptcy Roundtable (May, 2022)
- “Private Credit and Middle Market Update: Key Trends and Developments,” ICLG Lending & Secured Finance 2022 (April, 2022)
- “Secured Lending Comparative Guide for the United States,” Mondaq (February, 2022)
- “Private Credit and Middle Market Update: Pandemic Priming Priming Shifts Debt to Defence,” ICLG Lending and Secured Finance 2021 (April, 2021)
- “2020 Private Credit Overview and Update: Financing the Middle Market,” ICLG Lending and Secured Finance Laws and Regulations 2020 (April 7, 2020)
- “The Global Private Credit Market: 2019 Update,” ICLG Guide to Lending and Secured Finance 2019 (September 4, 2019)
- “Trends in the Expanding Global Private Credit Market: What to Expect for 2018 and Beyond,” ICLG Guide to Lending and Secured Finance 2018 (April, 2018)
- “The Last Leverage Test?,” IFLR (July 11, 2016)
- “Translating High Yield to Leveraged Loans: Avoiding Covenant Convergence Confusion,” ICLG Guide to Lending and Secured Finance 2016 (April, 2016)
Speaking Engagements
- “Strafford CLE Webinar: Pre-Chapter 11 Priming Transactions: Creating Liquidity, Delaying Maturities, Removing Covenant,” Strafford CLE Webinar (April, 2022)
- “Structuring Term Loan B Transactions: Combining High Yield Financing With Conventional Bank Loans,” Strafford CLE Webinar (March 27, 2018)