McGuireWoods’ Holly Buckley Named to ‘Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A’ List

January 17, 2019

McGuireWoods Chicago partner Holly Buckley is among 36 women honored nationally on Mergers & Acquisitions magazine’s “2019 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A” list recognizing top dealmakers whose work and leadership shape the market.

Buckley, co-chair of the firm’s healthcare and life sciences industry team, provides regulatory guidance to private equity sponsors and healthcare companies in transactional matters. She also co-chairs McGuireWoods’ annual Healthcare and Life Sciences Private Equity and Finance Conference, a two-day event exploring strategies to successfully close transactions and achieve growth. More than 700 private equity sponsors, lenders, investment bankers, C-level executives, consultants and principals in the healthcare and life sciences industries attended the 2018 event. This year’s conference will be held Feb. 20-21 in Chicago.

Buckley is a leader of the firm’s nationally recognized Women in Private Equity and Finance initiative, which provides educational and networking opportunities to help women investors, lenders and McGuireWoods lawyers expand their businesses. Mergers & Acquisitions highlighted the innovative initiative last year when it named McGuireWoods “Law Firm of the Year” in its Mid-Market M&A Awards.

In a recent Q&A with Mergers & Acquisitions, Buckley explained how she became a deal lawyer and how mentors helped her career while offering advice to women professionals.

“I encourage women to be direct and persistent when asking for what they want,” she said. “From an early point in my career I have asked for certain projects and opportunities, and I believe this is the reason I have created a career that I enjoy.”

McGuireWoods ranked among the top five law firms for U.S. M&A deals in 2018 in authoritative league tables published by Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg.