Barnes & Thornburg Adds Project Finance Partner in Chicago

CHICAGO – Barnes & Thornburg LLP has added Ralph Dudziak to its Chicago office as a partner in the Corporate Department. Previously, Dudziak was a partner at Loeb & Loeb.

Dudziak concentrates a significant portion of his practice in the energy sector on project finance and development, renewable energy project construction and term lending, tax equity financings, back-leverage financings, other forms of secured lending, credit warehouses and securitizations, private placements, and leasing.

In the energy sector, Dudziak has experience negotiating the agreements that are inherent to energy projects, such as site control, power purchase, supply, EPC and operations and maintenance agreements. He represents lenders (both traditional and alternative), investors, tax equity investors, lessors, developers, private equity firms, manufacturers, leasing companies, insurance companies, renewable energy developers and government entities.

Dudziak also has extensive experience in equipment finance outside of the energy area and has represented clients in and closed complex equipment-based finance matters.

“Ralph has deep knowledge and a nuanced understanding of large-scale energy projects and the many financing considerations to which all parties must be attuned,” said Mark Rust, managing partner of the firm’s Chicago office. “His transactional expertise will be extremely valuable for the firm’s financial institution clients who are active in this space.”

Dudziak is the eighth partner to join Barnes & Thornburg’s Chicago office, the firm’s second largest location next to Indianapolis, in 2016.

In 2015, Dudziak was named a “Top Lawyer in Illinois” in the Corporate Finance category by the Leading Lawyers Network.

Dudziak received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University and his B.A., summa cum laude, from Augustana College. He is admitted to practice in the state of Illinois and before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

With more than 600 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from 13 offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Delaware, Indiana, Los Angeles, Michigan, Minneapolis, Ohio and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com or on Twitter at @BTLawNews.