September 17, 2026
New York, NY (September 17, 2026) — Willkie today announced the addition of Pauline Portos as a partner in the Firm’s Paris office. Pauline joins as a member of the Corporate & Financial Services Department and the Project Finance & Investment Practice Group, where she advises clients on prominent energy and infrastructure transactions in France and abroad.
Jeffrey Poss, incoming joint Chairman of the Firm and Co-Chair of the Private Equity Practice Group, commented: “Pauline’s broad experience across the energy and infrastructure landscape makes her an excellent fit for Willkie and underscores the Firm’s commitment to further strengthen our capabilities in this key vertical in Paris and across the Firm.”
Pauline advises sponsors, developers, corporates, investors, and lenders on complex greenfield and brownfield transactions across all asset classes in the infrastructure and energy sectors, with a particular focus on renewable energy, energy transition, telecoms and transport. Her practice spans the full energy and infrastructure value chain, from project development and project finance to M&A and private equity transactions, in France and internationally. She joins from Gibson Dunn.
Amir H. Jahanguiri, Co-Chair of the Project Finance & Investment Practice Group, commented: “Pauline is a very highly regarded infrastructure and energy lawyer whose practice brings significant depth to our platform in Paris. Her extensive experience advising sponsors, lenders and corporates on complex infrastructure and energy sector development and financing transactions as well as M&A deals in this sector across multiple jurisdictions will be a tremendous asset to our clients and a natural complement to our existing tier one practice in France and our growing project development and finance capabilities in Europe.”
Lionel Spizzichino, Managing Partner of the Paris office, commented: “Our Paris office is an important hub for high-profile transactions and sophisticated cross-border work, and Pauline’s deep experience advising on energy and infrastructure projects – both domestic and international – strengthens our ability to serve clients across the full range of these matters.”
Pauline commented: “Willkie's project finance and infrastructure platform has an outstanding reputation in the French and international markets, and the team's collaborative, entrepreneurial approach aligns well with my practice and its goals. I look forward to working alongside talented colleagues in Paris and contributing to the continued expansion of the Firm's global energy and infrastructure capabilities.”
Pauline is the latest partner addition to Willkie's growing cross-office team of attorneys focused on energy, project finance, and infrastructure, which now includes teams in the Firm’s New York, Washington D.C., Houston, Dallas, and Los Angeles offices in the United States and in the London, Paris, and Frankfurt offices in Europe. Other additions in 2026 include Matthew Penny in Houston and Dallas, Scott A. Snyder in Los Angeles, Fredrick Wilson in Washington, DC, and a new data center and digital infrastructure team in Dallas in September.
Willkie advises sponsors, developers, investors, lenders, and governments on the financing, development, and acquisition of major energy and infrastructure projects worldwide. The team's capabilities span project finance, M&A, Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) and operations and maintenance (O&M) matters, regulatory advice, and restructuring across the power, renewables, digital infrastructure and traditional energy sectors.
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Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP provides leading-edge legal solutions on complex, business critical issues spanning markets and industries. Our approximately 1,300 attorneys across 16 offices worldwide deliver innovative, pragmatic and sophisticated legal services across approximately 45 practice areas. Learn more at www.willkie.com.
