Editors’ Note: Read about Jeff Xu, a New York associate in our Transactions Department, in the latest installment of our ongoing Faces of MoFo series.
I have been with MoFo for six and a half years, joining the Finance & Projects Group after graduating from Fordham Law School. My practice generally focuses on representing lenders and borrowers in all types of debt financing transactions, with a particular focus on private credit.
As the first generation of my family to be born in America, I was raised with an emphasis on family and cultural values, values that I plan to continue with my own family, as my daughter Lucy was born earlier this year. I try to bring similar ideals to the workplace, serving as a guide and mentor to new and junior associates in my group, including by running a training program for the junior associates. As an inevitable function of the position, junior associates receive much of their training from deal work, but I have found, and I hope the junior associates in my group agree, that having an informal space to share ideas and talk about common issues and problems we face is useful secondary training.
Many of my clients focus on investing in the life sciences, healthcare, and pharmaceutical fields, providing financing to growth and/or middle-market companies with potential for innovation and technological breakthrough in an important space. While my role is to help negotiate and execute on deals, I have found that more meaningful relationships come with clients that view us as true advisors, useful for more than simply documenting the transaction and instead providing structural and comprehensive advice on all aspects of the deal and the markets generally. My time at MoFo has shown me that the firm is perfectly situated to fill that advisor-partner role, and I’m grateful to the firm for the opportunity to do so.
In addition to my finance work, I have focused my pro bono efforts to help low-income and elderly New Yorkers with their wills, powers of attorney, and other life-planning documents by working with the Volunteers of Legal Service – Senior Law Project (VOLS). I have had the fortune of helping many New Yorkers with these important documents and have also been honored to serve on VOLS’s inaugural Pro Bono Advocates Council, which brings together those in the private bar with a commitment to pro bono legal services with the mission of empowering New Yorkers to attain dignity, security, and opportunity through access to legal services. I view my pro bono work as a key aspect of my practice and find it deeply rewarding.
Outside of work, I picked up sourdough bread baking during the COVID pandemic and have maintained this hobby to date, providing homemade carbs to friends and colleagues and maintaining an Instagram account (@city_sourdough) with the help of my social media manager (my wife).