Evan Palenschat

EVAN PALENSCHAT focuses on private credit, asset-backed finance, specialty finance and complex leveraged finance, with a primary focus on representing direct lenders, private credit funds, banks, hedge funds, and other credit investors. He advises clients on sponsor-backed leveraged buyouts, acquisition financings, growth capital facilities, refinancings, recapitalizations, and liability-management solutions, with a particular emphasis on commercial, creative, and fast-moving advice in competitive processes.

Evan’s practice spans the full credit stack, including first-lien/second-lien, unitranche and bifurcated structures, mezzanine and unsecured notes, holdco PIK instruments, debt-like preferred equity, and other structured capital solutions. In addition to traditional private credit and syndicated lending transactions, Evan regularly advises on asset-backed and specialty finance transactions, NAV and other asset-based facilities, GP financings, private CLOs, bridge-to-refi transactions, rescue financings, non-pro rata solutions, amend-and-extend transactions, exchanges, uptiers, workouts, and restructurings.

Evan is frequently involved in novel and bespoke financing structures, including lender-side financings involving economic interests in law firms through management services organization structures, tariff refund claims and receivables, and other emerging or nontraditional assets. In these matters, he helps clients structure, diligence, and negotiate transactions where collateral, enforceability, valuation, and downside protections require specialized analysis. He has advised on a wide range of high-value financing transactions, including numerous billion-dollar and multibillion-dollar matters, across sectors including software/tech, healthcare, business services, industrials, consumer, and fintech.

Evan also serves as AI Liaison for Sidley’s Global Finance group, where he works with lawyers and technical AI professionals to develop practical large language model use cases for finance lawyers and clients. His recent thought leadership includes publications on private equity investment in U.S. law firms, liability-management transactions, and tariff refund claims.

• Member, Business Law Section, American Bar Association
• Member, Private Equity Committee and Healthcare Committee, Association for Corporate Growth
• Member, Leadership Council, Communities In Schools