Scott M. Hammond

Scott Hammond is a Partner in Martin’s Business and Corporate practice group, with a practice centering on middle market debt finance. In this role, Scott advises both lenders and borrowers, as well as other stakeholders involved in a transaction, including project sponsors, banks, direct lenders, institutional lenders, and individuals in debt financings for companies in a wide variety of industries. He sees to it that deals get done. Scott has over 17 years experience in the banking and finance practices at major US law firms including as partner at Winston & Strawn and counsel at Latham & Watkins and at Akin Gump.

Scott is responsible for the smooth, organized and efficient trajectory of a transaction, beginning at inception and proceeding all the way through to the final closing. Although each deal is unique, he typically begins with the negotiation of a term sheet, commitment paper or letter of intent, and proceeds on to the consummation of the deal.

Due diligence, either original or piggybacking on previous due diligence conducted by the buyer or another involved entity, is an essential part of Scott’s role as well, along with negotiating the loan or credit agreement as appropriate with the borrower or lender’s counsel. He also oversees the preparation of ancillary security documents, such as security agreements, guarantee agreements, IP security agreements and deposit account control agreements, as well as intercreditor agreements with respect to first or second liens, mezzanine debt or unsecured debt. With larger, or more structured deals, Scott works with existing precedents and procedures in order to make the process as straightforward and efficient as possible.

In less conventional situations, Scott is skilled at devising innovative approaches to challenges posed by unique or unusual deals. As an example, Scott advised a client on a financing transaction involving managing the status of title documents for a large number of semitrailers. Effective completion required the attorneys involved to personally transport a literal truckload of title documents, in order to ensure that they arrived when needed, intact, and in time for the closing. Because it’s what it took to get the deal done, Scott took care of it.

As a practitioner, Scott has a great deal of experience analyzing potential transactions, with a special focus on the agent/lender side. This work has included reviewing, analyzing and summarizing projects for a large hedge fund, as well as performing borrower, lender and distressed debt analysis for lenders who held notes and wanted a full debt document analysis.

As a result, he has developed an uncanny sense of market terms, as well as a grasp of the latest innovations in different loan agreements. New deal features typically originate with large transactions at the top of the market, and gradually filter down to smaller projects over time. His clients value his ability to integrate this with an outstanding real-world grasp of the dynamics of deals based on fee mechanics and the varying clout and negotiating leverage in negotiations different borrowers may have. All this informs his work, and makes him uniquely able to manage projects effectively.

Scott also brings an extraordinary of professionalism and responsiveness to the actual execution of deals. Regardless of the project, every client needs the work behind a deal performed promptly, carefully and in the manner that suits the transaction best. Individual clients also have different communications preferences, and styles. During the sometimes-frenetic process of managing a deal, Scott ensures that regardless of the size, nature or timeframe of a transaction, his clients are up to date on progress, aware of any changes or issues, and perhaps most importantly, never surprised. And more importantly, in the end, the deal gets done.

Scott resides in Larchmont, New York with his wife Blair and their three children. In his spare time he enjoys running, coaching youth soccer, and playing squash, paddle tennis and other semi-obscure racquet sports.

Admissions

Massachusetts
New York
Connecticut

Areas of Practice

Corporate Finance
Growth Companies