Biography
Leah Edelboim is a partner in Sidley’s Global Finance group. She focuses her practice on complex fund finance and structured finance transactions, advising leading financial institutions on some of the market’s most sophisticated and high-profile facilities. She represents major financial institutions acting as lenders and administrative agents and other market participants across the full spectrum of fund finance products.
Leah regularly advises on syndicated, club, and bilateral subscription credit facilities, as well as NAV facilities, hybrid structures, management fee lines, GP financings, capital relief trades, and other tailored financing arrangements. Her practice is distinguished by a deep understanding of evolving regulatory considerations and investor dynamics, allowing her to assist clients in structuring transactions that align with both commercial objectives and market developments. Her work extends to both domestic and cross-border multi-currency transactions ensuring comprehensive legal support for clients operating on a global scale. Furthermore, Leah has experience in the drafting and negotiating of intercreditor agreements and other, often bespoke, co-lender arrangements.
In addition to her core fund finance practice, Leah has significant experience working with ratings agencies and providers of financial guaranty and insurance products in connection with fund-related financing transactions. Her ability to navigate complex stakeholder relationships has made her a trusted adviser on novel and bespoke deal structures.
Leah’s industry leadership is reflected in her frequent role as faculty member, panelist, speaker, and author on cutting-edge fund finance issues. She often speaks at key conferences hosted by the Fund Finance Association, the Practising Law Institute, Women in Fund Finance, and Mondaq; and has delivered intensive trainings for in-house legal teams. Leah is the 2025 recipient of the Fund Finance Association’s “Dee Dee Sklar Women in Fund Finance Award,” given each year to a member of the fund finance community who “demonstrates their commitment to helping women succeed through connection, education and professional advocacy.” She was recognized by Lawdragon as one of the “500 Leading Dealmakers in America” for 2025 and 2026. Leah was also named a winner in the “Law Firm Thought Leadership” category of Corporate Counsel’s 2024 Women, Influence and Power in Law.
In addition to her practice and related activities, Leah is focused on the mentorship of junior professionals, both at Sidley and in the profession. She is a member of and serves on the U.S. planning committee for Women in Fund Finance, where she has orchestrated a number of events and has been a featured speaker, and the Fund Finance Association, where she volunteers her time on the professional development of up-and-coming lawyers via serving as a faculty member for FFA University and the association’s Next Gen group.
Her community efforts also extend to Justice Served, a law firm initiative that supports Food Bank For New York City. To date, Justice Served has provided over 6.3 million meals to food-insecure New Yorkers. A longtime volunteer for the initiative, Leah is a member of the 2025 Justice Served Steering Committee, a new leadership group that is tasked with commemorating the effort’s 10th anniversary and guiding Justice Served into its next decade.
Before entering private practice, Leah served as a law clerk to The Honorable Shelley C. Chapman of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Earlier in her career, she worked as a television journalist and producer with Bloomberg News.
Leah received her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law and her B.A. in Political Science and Psychological and Brain Sciences, with highest honors, from The Johns Hopkins University. She also holds an LL.M. in bankruptcy law from St. John’s University School of Law, where she was awarded the American Bankruptcy Institute Scholarship.
Biography
Leah Edelboim is a partner in Sidley’s Global Finance group. She focuses her practice on complex fund finance and structured finance transactions, advising leading financial institutions on some of the market’s most sophisticated and high-profile facilities. She represents major financial institutions acting as lenders and administrative agents and other market participants across the full spectrum of fund finance products.
Leah regularly advises on syndicated, club, and bilateral subscription credit facilities, as well as NAV facilities, hybrid structures, management fee lines, GP financings, capital relief trades, and other tailored financing arrangements. Her practice is distinguished by a deep understanding of evolving regulatory considerations and investor dynamics, allowing her to assist clients in structuring transactions that align with both commercial objectives and market developments. Her work extends to both domestic and cross-border multi-currency transactions ensuring comprehensive legal support for clients operating on a global scale. Furthermore, Leah has experience in the drafting and negotiating of intercreditor agreements and other, often bespoke, co-lender arrangements.
In addition to her core fund finance practice, Leah has significant experience working with ratings agencies and providers of financial guaranty and insurance products in connection with fund-related financing transactions. Her ability to navigate complex stakeholder relationships has made her a trusted adviser on novel and bespoke deal structures.
Leah’s industry leadership is reflected in her frequent role as faculty member, panelist, speaker, and author on cutting-edge fund finance issues. She often speaks at key conferences hosted by the Fund Finance Association, the Practising Law Institute, Women in Fund Finance, and Mondaq; and has delivered intensive trainings for in-house legal teams. Leah is the 2025 recipient of the Fund Finance Association’s “Dee Dee Sklar Women in Fund Finance Award,” given each year to a member of the fund finance community who “demonstrates their commitment to helping women succeed through connection, education and professional advocacy.” She was recognized by Lawdragon as one of the “500 Leading Dealmakers in America” for 2025 and 2026. Leah was also named a winner in the “Law Firm Thought Leadership” category of Corporate Counsel’s 2024 Women, Influence and Power in Law.
In addition to her practice and related activities, Leah is focused on the mentorship of junior professionals, both at Sidley and in the profession. She is a member of and serves on the U.S. planning committee for Women in Fund Finance, where she has orchestrated a number of events and has been a featured speaker, and the Fund Finance Association, where she volunteers her time on the professional development of up-and-coming lawyers via serving as a faculty member for FFA University and the association’s Next Gen group.
Her community efforts also extend to Justice Served, a law firm initiative that supports Food Bank For New York City. To date, Justice Served has provided over 6.3 million meals to food-insecure New Yorkers. A longtime volunteer for the initiative, Leah is a member of the 2025 Justice Served Steering Committee, a new leadership group that is tasked with commemorating the effort’s 10th anniversary and guiding Justice Served into its next decade.
Before entering private practice, Leah served as a law clerk to The Honorable Shelley C. Chapman of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Earlier in her career, she worked as a television journalist and producer with Bloomberg News.
Leah received her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law and her B.A. in Political Science and Psychological and Brain Sciences, with highest honors, from The Johns Hopkins University. She also holds an LL.M. in bankruptcy law from St. John’s University School of Law, where she was awarded the American Bankruptcy Institute Scholarship.
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