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Laura Swihart

Partner, Commercial Real Estate Finance & Securitization at Dechert LLP

New York, NY, USA

LS
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Why they matter

Co-chair of Dechert's global finance practice and Freddie Mac's go-to CRE CLO/CMBS counsel — a direct line into structured real estate credit market structuring and precedent-setting deal terms.

Background

Laura Swihart is a partner and co-chair of Dechert LLP's global finance and real estate practice groups, based in New York. She has practiced commercial real estate finance and securitization law for nearly three decades, representing issuers, underwriters, mortgage loan sellers and bond buyers in CMBS and CRE CLO transactions, and is best known for her long-running role as outside counsel to Freddie Mac's multifamily securitization program.

Notable deals

  • 2019
    Lead counsel to Freddie Mac on its US$765 million K-F73 transaction, the first multifamily securitization indexed to SOFR
  • 2021
    Advised Freddie Mac on its US$991.5 million K-F95 securitization, a precedential deal that set the market template for the LIBOR-to-SOFR transition, cited in her Financial Times Innovative Lawyers recognition
  • 2021
    Named co-chair of Dechert's Global Finance practice group alongside David W. Forti
  • 2026
    Quoted on market outlook as Dechert was ranked #1 issuer counsel for CRE CLOs for the eighth consecutive year

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Partner and co-chair of Dechert LLP's Global Finance and Real Estate practice groups (New York); UConn '94 (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), NYU Law '97.
  • ~29 years in commercial real estate finance; core client relationship is Freddie Mac's multifamily K-Series securitization program.

Current focus

  • CMBS and CRE CLO issuance, warehouse/repo facilities, whole-loan and mezzanine trades, and NPL/REO securitizations.
  • Active in the CRE CLO market's recent resurgence — Dechert was ranked #1 issuer counsel for CRE CLOs for an eighth straight year in early 2026, with Swihart quoted on a bullish 2026 issuance outlook.

What she cares about

  • Precedent-setting deal structure (she led the first SOFR-indexed multifamily CMBS deal and a template LIBOR-transition transaction for Freddie Mac).
  • Women's advancement in structured finance — Board of Governors, CREFC, and former Chair of the CREFC Women's Network.

Recent moves

  • Co-chair appointment (2021) elevated her beyond deal execution into practice strategy and client-relationship ownership across Dechert's finance platform.

Sensitivities

  • As Freddie Mac's outside counsel, she may be constrained on discussing GSE-specific deal terms or non-public pipeline; treat any commentary on agency CMBS strategy as directional, not confirmed.
  • Law firm partners generally can't discuss client-confidential deal economics — frame questions around market structure and trends, not specific unnamed transactions.

Questions to ask

  1. Where is CRE CLO issuance headed in 2026 given the eighth straight #1 ranking year — is it driven by more issuers or bigger deals?
  2. What structural lessons from the SOFR transition are now shaping new asset classes entering securitization?
  3. Which non-bank lenders or debt funds are she seeing enter the CRE CLO issuer market for the first time?

Outreach draft

Subject
Quick call on CRE CLO market structure
Hi Laura, I lead deal sourcing for a firm evaluating opportunities in specialty finance and CRE lending. Your work as counsel on Freddie Mac's K-Series program and Dechert's run atop the CRE CLO issuer-counsel rankings caught my attention — particularly your role shaping the SOFR-indexed and LIBOR-transition deal templates. We're trying to understand where CRE CLO issuance and structure are headed this cycle, and who the emerging non-bank issuers are. Would you have 20 minutes for a call in the next couple of weeks to share your read on the market? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

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