Ryan Rafferty is a corporate partner based in the New York office. He is Co-Chair of the Leveraged and Corporate Finance practice, a Co-Coordinator of the Private Equity Group and a member of the firm’s Finance Group and Liability Management & Special Situations team. Mr. Rafferty focuses his practice on representing private equity firms, their portfolio companies, corporate clients and debt investors in a broad range of complex financing transactions.
Mr. Rafferty is recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers Global (2025) and Chambers USA (2025), where praise him for being “user friendly” and “very detail-oriented” with the “perfect combination of technical knowledge and commercial awareness.” He is also ranked as a Next Generation Partner by The Legal 500 US (2025), where sources described him as a “stand-out” partner and are impressed with his “innovation, communication, helpfulness and fast response times” in previous editions of the guide. Additionally Mr. Rafferty was named a 2024 Rising Star by Law360 for Private Equity and is currently ranked a Next Generation Partner by IFLR1000 (2024).
Mr. Rafferty is a frequent author and speaker on legal developments affecting financing transactions and a regular contributor to the Debevoise & Plimpton Private Equity Report. Mr. Rafferty joined the firm in 2014. Prior to joining the firm, he was an associate at an international law firm where he represented financing sources in numerous transactions. He graduated cum laude from The George Washington University Law School in 2012 and received a B.S. from Merrimack College in 2009.
Mr. Rafferty is a member of the Bar of the State of New York.