Speaker 04.04.24
04.04
ABA Aircraft Finance Subcommittee Spring Meeting 2024
Hyatt Regency Orlando
9801 International Drive
Orlando, FL 32819
Richard’s addition in Los Angeles further augments our capabilities and bolsters our position in the California market. We’re thrilled to have a colleague with his broad experience and connections to round out our team.
Richard Evans, dual-qualified as an attorney in California and a solicitor of England & Wales, focuses on finance and leasing transactions involving commercial aircraft and private jets.
Richard’s notable commercial leasing clients include Aergen, Aercap, Air Lease Corporation, Aviation Capital Group, BBAM, Cusco Aviation, FPG Amentum, Jackson Square Aviation (JSA), Orix Aviation, Sky Leasing and Wings Capital Partners. In addition to his private practice experience, Richard was interim general counsel at JSA, a consultant at a startup aircraft leasing company, and in-house counsel at Airbus Group.
His broad asset finance experience and connections to high-net-worth individuals on the West Coast and aviation industry players worldwide make him ideally placed to coordinate and deliver the firm’s expertise to private aviation clients in a wide range of practice areas, including: asset finance, employment, estates trusts & tax planning, executive benefits and regulatory.
Representative Experience
- Lead attorney for several aircraft portfolio sales and acquisitions by Aviation Capital Group.
- Represented security trustees and global bank syndicates in portfolio financings for aircraft leasing companies, including Incline Aviation’s $390 million warehouse facility, Aircastle Limited’s $400 million secured recourse portfolio loan and BBAM’s $300 million secured credit facility.
- Advised Wings Capital on its $750 million warehouse facility with Deutsche Bank and a syndicate of lenders, securing a portfolio of aircraft for strategic growth.
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- Lead attorney in relation to several corporate jet transactions, advising a U.S.-based defense contractor in relation to the acquisition of a Bombardier Challenger 350, the sale of a Hawker Beechcraft 4000, the acquisition of a Textron Aviation B300 and the negotiation of related pilot services.
- Member of the Private Client & Family Office team at the firm, advising high-net-worth individuals on corporate structuring, U.S. tax and leasing matters related to the acquisition, ownership and leasing of aircraft used for business, dry leasing, chartering and personal travel. Recent transactions have included advice with respect to various used and new Gulfstream and Bombardier private jets.
- As interim General Counsel at JSA, managed outside counsel, sale-leaseback transactions and negotiations, and provided legal support to the company on corporate structuring, financing and compliance.
- Acted for a startup aircraft leasing partnership based in California, specializing in mid-life commercial aircraft trading. Coordinated incorporation, joint venture and partnership formation matters and handled its first aircraft acquisition.
- Acted for ILFC (now Aercap) on Airfinance Journal’s Commercial Loan “Deal of the Year” in 2011, managing a transaction which involved the transfer of 54 aircraft on lease to more than 20 airlines in relation to a $1.5 billion secured term loan.
- Represented Orix Aviation in connection with the acquisition from Perilune Group and SHZ Aviation of nine Airbus A319s on lease to American Airlines. In connection with the acquisition, the buyer also assumed the structured financing associated with the aircraft, provided by 11 international financial institutions.
- Acted for MIAT Mongolian Airlines on various matters including disputes and novations regarding operating leases.
- Advised Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) in relation to several transactions involving issuance of rated-debt instruments backed by aviation assets.
- Represented lessees and borrowers in relation to finance leasing, debt facilities and M&A activity related to a wide range of equipment, including boilers, conveyor belts, flight simulators, furniture, looms and warpers.
- Counsel to airline in relation the bridge financing of a new Boeing cargo aircraft.
- Advised lessee in relation to the lease of a helicopter used for tourism in Greenland.
- Represented lessors in relation to the restructuring of leasing arrangements for aircraft on lease to airlines in Malaysia, Indonesia and Russia.
Professional Highlights
- Co-author of the U.S. chapter of the Chambers Global Practice Guide to Aircraft Financing & Leasing.
- Co-editor of Pillsbury’s World Aircraft Repossession Index.
- Recommended Lawyer for Transport: Aviation and Air Travel – Finance by The Legal 500 U.S. 2019.
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- Co-author of the U.S. chapter of the International Comparative Legal Guide’s Aviation Finance & Leasing 2021 edition.
- Regular contributor to the Aircraft Financing Subcommittee of the American Bar Association.
- Interim general counsel on secondment at Jackson Square Aviation in San Francisco. In addition to managing outside counsel, sale-leaseback transactions and negotiations, the role included providing legal support to the company on corporate structuring, financing and compliance.
- Spent a one-year secondment at the in-house legal department of Airbus S.A.S. in Toulouse, France, primarily involved in the provision of manufacturer support and the purchase, leasing, sale and registration of aircraft, together with the day-to-day handling of the manufacturer’s sales contract requirements. Represented Airbus alongside the representatives from airlines, banks and law firms at transfer of title of aircraft at its delivery center in Blagnac, France.
- Speaking Engagements
- “Topical Issues for UHNWI,” Corporate Jet Investor Global 2021, June 17, 2021. Moderator.
- “Formal Restructurings in the US and UK – Overview and Comparison,” Presentation for the American Bar Association Aircraft Finance Subcommittee Meeting, April 21, 2021. Moderator.
- "Episode #14: Aviation Finance and the Airline Industry," The Pillsbury Industry Insights Podcast, July 31, 2020.
- Co-presenter of "U.S. Regulations and Current Issues for International Trade" with Nancy Fischer during the ABA Aircraft Financing Subcommittee in Washington, DC, September 12, 2019.
- Moderator of a Lessor Panel during the ABA Aircraft Financing Subcommittee in Vancouver, March 28, 2019. The panel members were Rose Neale, managing counsel at Castlelake, David Levine, corporate counsel at Aviation Capital Group, and Dean Poulakidas, general counsel at Willis Lease Finance Corporation.
- Speaker on the Pillsbury World Aircraft Repossession Index and moderator of a panel on “Global Aircraft Repossessions” at the ABA Aircraft Financing Subcommittee in Chicago, September 15, 2017. The panel members were Ayn Moldave, SVP legal at CDB Aviation Lease Finance, and Barrett Knudsen, of counsel at McAfee & Taft.
- Moderator of a panel on “Current Issues for Operating Lessors” at the ABA Aircraft Financing Subcommittee in New Orleans, April 6, 2017. The panel members were Carol Forsyte, general counsel at Air Lease Corporation, Laura Rosich, general counsel at Aergen Management Services, and Loren Dollet, managing partner at Wings Capital Partners.
Education
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Legal Practice Course, BPP Law School, 2004
Postgraduate Diploma in Law, BPP Law School, 2001
B.A., University of Southampton, 1998
Admissions
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England and Wales
California