McGuireWoods’ Greg Kilpatrick and Tom Spahn have been honored by The American Lawyer as South Trailblazers for 2022. The recognition is reserved for lawyers based in the South who are agents of change in the legal industry.
Kilpatrick, a Charlotte partner, chairs McGuireWoods’ Securities & Capital Markets Department. In 2021, he worked with partner Gerald Thomas, chair of the firm’s Tax & Employee Benefits Department, to create Black Professionals in Private Equity & Finance (BPE), a groundbreaking initiative that brings together Black professionals from across the investment landscape to network, cultivate relationships, explore business opportunities and promote change in the industry. BPE features panel discussions and roundtables with leaders in the financial services sector and an online series highlighting leaders and rising stars.
Kilpatrick handles private equity, securities offerings, and mergers and acquisitions matters for clients in the banking, technology, retail and manufacturing industries. He has served as lead counsel to some of the world’s largest financial services institutions on matters related to multimillion-dollar and billion-dollar transactions.
Spahn is a commercial litigator and one of the legal profession’s authoritative voices on ethics and attorney-client privilege. He is a national authority who advises in-house counsel on ethics issues, including conflicts of interest and confidentiality. Spahn — who has been with McGuireWoods for 45 years — also is a pioneer in researching, analyzing and reporting on legal ethics and privilege topics, and he has delivered more than 2,000 CLE programs around the world.
Spahn, a counsel based in Tysons, Virginia, recently completed and made available to the public an extensive analysis of the ABA Model Rules and the Virginia ethics rules, a massive project that includes about 3,000 pages and more than 550,000 words — all of which he wrote himself.
“Greg and Tom have set incredibly high standards as leaders and catalysts for change in the legal profession,” McGuireWoods managing partner J. Tracy Walker IV said. “We are proud of everything they have accomplished for the firm and our clients and delighted to congratulate them on this well-deserved honor.”