Top Lawyers: Shana Ramirez of Katten On The 5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law

An Interview With Chere Estrin

Focus on maintaining long-term relationships with colleagues — Whenever I have moved to a different law firm, I have made a concentrated effort to stay in touch with my friends and colleagues who helped mold me into the attorney I am today. I have always maintained good relationships with former colleagues, and that has served me very well both personally and professionally.

The legal field is known to be extremely competitive. Lawyers are often smart, ambitious, and highly educated. That being said, what does it take to stand out and become a “Top Lawyer” in your specific field of law? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law”, we are talking to top lawyers who share what it takes to excel and stand out in your industry.

As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Shana Ramirez.

Shana Ramirez is a partner in Katten’s Private Credit practice based in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Shana’s multi-disciplined practice spans deals ranging from multibillion-dollar, broadly syndicated credit facilities to smaller bilateral loans. She has represented public companies, leading financial institutions and investment banks, private equity funds and private debt providers in a wide range of secured and unsecured financings, including acquisition financings, asset-based credit facilities, and restructurings and recapitalizations.

Her extensive experience in fund finance includes representation of both borrowers and lenders across multiple sectors, including private equity, real estate, infrastructure and private credit. In addition to closing a high volume of subscription line credit facilities, she has counseled clients on transactions ranging from hybrid facilities to warehouse financings.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. What is the “backstory” that brought you to this particular career path in Law? Did you want to be an attorney “when you grew up”?

When I was younger I had dreams of getting into politics so law school seemed like a natural path for me. Surprisingly, that choice led to a career in finance. But I’m glad it did.

Can you tell us a bit about the nature of your practice and what you focus on?

As a partner in Katten’s Private Credit practice, I have developed a transactional practice with a specific focus on finance (i.e., one party is lending money to another party and generally relying on the assets of that party to get repaid). Within the finance umbrella, I focus on acquisition financings and fund finance (primarily subscription facilities). Acquisition financings generally involve loans to a private equity fund for the purpose of financing their acquisition of a new portfolio company while fund finance involves leverage directly to the private equity fund. For acquisition financings, the lenders are looking to the assets/cash flows of the portfolio company to get repaid while lenders under a subscription facility are looking to the investors of the fund for their repayment.

You are a successful attorney. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? What unique qualities do you have that others may not? Can you please share a story or example for each?

I can point to three major ingredients in my formula for success.

1. Enthusiasm — There is no doubt that a career in Big Law can be grueling at times but I was so grateful to have the opportunity to practice law that I was determined to be successful and volunteered to work on as many matters as I could to gain experience. I graduated law school in 2009 in the middle of a major recession when so many people were losing their jobs. At that time, I really was fortunate to be in New York with a career in finance at a Big Law firm.
2. Follow-through — If I commit to doing something, I do it. I never let assignments fall through the cracks and always stay on top of my workload.
3. Focus on maintaining long-term relationships with colleagues — Whenever I have moved to a different law firm, I have made a concentrated effort to stay in touch with my friends and colleagues who helped mold me into the attorney I am today. I have always maintained good relationships with former colleagues, and that has served me very well both personally and professionally.

Do you think you have had luck in your success? Can you explain what you mean?

I do, to a degree. And timing is a big part of that. For example, you can make a connection with a potential client at the exact time they happen to be in need of legal counsel regarding a business decision and there you are ready to advise them on the matter. Then, once you have served that client well, there’s the potential to strengthen that client relationship and generate additional business. A little luck never hurts, but nothing beats being prepared with the talent and experience needed to handle the client’s matters.

Do you think where you went to school has any bearing on your success? How important is it for a lawyer to go to a top-tier school?

I do think there is a certain degree of legitimacy that is automatically associated with a top-tier school and that probably opens more doors initially — especially early on in your career. But later on, your talent, experience and reputation will speak volumes.

Based on the lessons you have learned from your experience, if you could go back in time and speak to your twenty-year-old self, what would you say? Would you do anything differently?

I wouldn’t do anything differently because my career path has taken me to where I am today. But I would tell myself to have faith in your abilities and skills and know that you will find success.

This is not easy work. What is your primary motivation and drive behind the work that you do?

As nerdy as this may seem, I genuinely enjoy my practice, and I think it suits my personality well. I like that it’s fast-paced with short timelines. There is a beginning and an end and once all the work is done, you close the deal and it’s an exhilarating feeling. I have a family and so balancing it all can be difficult at times. But you figure out the balance that works for you and you see what you’re working so hard to support, and it motivates you that much more.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

It’s the busiest time of year for my practice so I probably have about 20 deals on my plate right now varying from subscription facilities, to unsecured bridge facilities to secured acquisition financings for companies ranging from $10 million of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) to $45 million of EBITDA. The combination of all of this always makes things interesting.

Where do you go from here? Where do you aim to be in the next chapter of your career?

I look forward to continuing to grow my practice and my brand. I recently launched Katten’s Fund Finance practice as a niche offering to clients. In a nutshell, the practice involves the securitization of the capital commitments of investors in a fund. The Fund Finance team is made up of attorneys who are trusted advisors to both lenders and borrowers in a broad spectrum of fund finance facilities for private equity, real estate and other investment funds. We work on capital call/subscription line credit facilities, management fee credit lines and fund guarantees of portfolio investments representing some of the most active players in the space. The fund finance practice is complementary to Katten’s Financial Markets and Funds practice as we frequently represent asset managers in various types of financings.

Without sharing anything confidential, can you please share your most successful “war story”? Can you share the funniest?

When I was a first-year associate, I was up for 48 hours straight closing a deal across 15 international jurisdictions. Although the process wasn’t perfect, we got it closed within the timeframe we needed. I can still recall scanning copies of original documents that I had coordinated the signatures on during the closing call. We hustled to get the deal closed and were successful.

Ok, fantastic. Let’s now shift to discussing some advice for aspiring lawyers. Do you work remotely? Onsite? Or Hybrid? What do you think will be the future of how law offices operate? What do you prefer? Can you please explain what you mean?

Katten is one of the few firms that is offering its attorneys great flexibility when it comes to working remotely. The firm launched KattenFlex, which does not require a particular number of days in the office but instead trusts everyone to work with their practice group leaders to achieve the best workplace balance for providing exceptional service to our clients while strengthening our cultural glue. So at the moment, I’m operating in a hybrid work environment, meaning I mostly work remotely at home and go to the office as needed since a transactional practice like mine generally doesn’t require face-to-face interaction.

How has the legal world changed since COVID? How do you think it might change in the near future? Can you explain what you mean?

Businesses including law firms were forced to figure out the best way to still deliver exceptional client service during a pandemic. And the transition was seamless. Katten provided a technology and home-office stipend for necessary equipment for our home offices so we could be comfortable and productive.

I don’t think remote work is going anywhere anytime soon but time will tell.

We often hear about the importance of networking and getting referrals. Is this still true today? Has the nature of networking changed or has its importance changed? Can you explain what you mean?

Networking is still very important in my opinion, as well as referrals. I’ve participated in some business pitches and other introductions via Zoom and those tend to be more formal. I have found that in-person interactions tend to leave more room for conversation so I look forward to the return of in-person gatherings.

Based on your experience, how can attorneys effectively leverage social media to build their practice?

Social media is another tool that we can use to raise our profile, boost brand awareness, build connections and develop business, if used effectively. You could think of your social profile as a digital business card.

Excellent. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Become A Top Lawyer In Your Specific Field of Law?” Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Organization — The ability to manage multiple matters simultaneously requires a certain degree of organization.
2. Practicality — To succeed as a Private Credit attorney — any attorney, really — you must look at problems from a business perspective and identify solutions. A transactional practice is all about mitigating the risks your clients really care about.
3. Grit — There is no substitute for hard work. The more you do, the better you get. You’ll also face plenty of rejection so you have to be able to power past it.
4. Strong attention to detail — Every successful transactional attorney I know pays great attention to detail (e.g., very few typos in their written product, etc.).
5. Willingness to ask for help — It’s so much better to ask for guidance and get to the right answer than to go with an assumption when you’re not sure and get it wrong. Mistakes happen but it’s always better to ask for help when you need it.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might see this. :-)

There are so many individuals making an impact that I would love to connect with both here in the US and abroad. Any diverse female CEO of a Fortune 500 Company would be amazing.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!