Law360 Profiles ‘Rising Stars’ Naomi Moss, Sara Mischner

Law360 has published profiles of Akin Gump financial restructuring partner Naomi Moss and corporate senior counsel Sara Mischner, both of whom it selected as Rising Stars in its annual contest—Moss in the category Bankruptcy, Mischner in the category Structured Finance (learn more here).

Law360 spotlighted Moss’ big win for secured creditors of telecom provider Avaya Inc. and work on behalf of GTT Communications among the engagements that won her this recognition. Among the highlights of the profile:

• Why bankruptcy law?: A law school internship with a U.S. bankruptcy judge—“I was just enthralled. I remember being fascinated by the fact there was an interplay of so many different areas of law.”
• Biggest case: The Avaya chapter 11—“It was a case where my responsibilities grew and grew and my mentors, the partners at Akin Gump, I started to see them kind of leave me on my own and let me know they had my back.”
• Proudest moment: Watching her mentees grow and develop: “As I get older and I get more advanced in my career, I'm starting to have these really proud moments as I see those junior to me, the associates that I've been mentoring for the past couple of years, starting to succeed. I feel really proud of that.”

In its profile of Sara Mischner, Law360 featured her representation of KKR Credit Advisors (US) LLC in a $720 million collateralized loan obligation (CLO) refinancing and of HalseyPoint Asset Management LLC in a $506 million CLO transaction among the work that won her Rising Star recognition. Among the profile’s highlights:

• Biggest deal and its challenges: The representation of KKR—“ Going through investor comments, negotiations and reconciling those with the rating agency requirements, I think those were the biggest challenges there.”
• Her motivation: The challenge of structured finance—“I feel like it's a bit of a challenge and then also either a basis for furthering my learning or being able to apply it to some sort of thing where I feel like I'm helping others achieve a goal.”
• Other notable deals: The HalseyPoint CLO, which is led by women—“I really enjoyed working on a transaction with a company led by women, I thought that was cool.”