Joel Laser

Within the financial services arena, Joel has experience in secured and unsecured loan transactions, syndication and participation agreements, subordination and other  intercreditor agreements, private placements, letters of credit, asset-based lending, leveraged loans, acquisition finance, mezzanine loans with equity kickers, project finance, securitizations and other structured finance transactions, credit default swaps and other derivative transactions, tax-exempt bonds, and workout and restructuring agreements both in and out of bankruptcy proceedings.

Before joining Adams & Reese, Joel was Senior Counsel for more than 10 years at Wells Fargo Bank in Houston, serving as senior company counsel in the Commercial Workout Section of the Law Department. For close to 10 years before that, Joel was Associate General Counsel at Financial Security Assurance in London, working for the European Structured Finance Group of one of the leading AAA-rated financial guaranty insurance companies. In that role, he was responsible for a full spectrum of pan-European transactions and related corporate, regulatory, accounting, tax, compliance, and oversight issues.

Working in-house for two different top-tier financial institutions in particular has allowed Joel to build on his understanding of the issues that matter most to clients, an understanding that is key to evaluating and negotiating proposed agreements and litigation strategies.

A Corpus Christi native, Joel began his career as a member of the Finance/Corporate Group of one of the then oldest and largest law firms in Houston – Butler & Binion – where he represented domestic and foreign clients on a broad range of financial transactions, as well as corporate and regulatory matters. As a Partner at McGuire Woods, Joel then helped launch the global law firm’s New York office.

Joel received his J.D. in 1981 from Harvard Law School. He earned his B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Rice University in 1978.

After graduating from law school, Joel served as a Law Clerk to The Hon. Carolyn Dineen Randall of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

• Congregation Emanu El Houston – Board of Trustees, Committee member and volunteer
• Rice University – Volunteer and Committee member
• SEARCH Homeless Services - Volunteer
• Second Serving of Houston - Volunteer
• Holocaust Museum Houston – Volunteer
• Jewish Federation of Greater Houston – Committee member and volunteer