Title: Senior Associate
Firm: Orrick
Age: 37
After graduating from New York University's School of Law, Leslie Krusen knew he wanted to do something related to law, financing and engineering. He wound up at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in commercial mortgage-backed securities, but that didn't quite scratch his itch. In 2016, he found his calling at Orrick in public finance.
"The underlying work of the projects fascinates me, and they are important to me," said Krusen. "I am so glad that I switched gears. It's so great to see how financing teams, lawyers, bankers and municipal advisors work together to come up with innovative solutions that make things better for people and communities."
During the course of his practice at Orrick, Krusen has worked on various types of financing structures, with a focus on waste-to-energy project financings, utility and airport projects, municipal securitizations and governmental work in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and around the country.
Krusen is grateful for the relationships he has formed throughout his public finance career. Starting in 2016, Krusen worked on a deal to turn leftover straw on farms into recyclable cardboard.
"When the straw gets burned it's not good for the environment. It was a transformative project for me. It launched my passion for the waste-to-energy space. I've continued to work on financings pushing the envelope of renewable technologies, including for aviation fuel, RNG, cement and plastic recycling," he said. "I love what I do. I love the people I get to work with and I can feel good about my work at the end of the day."
