Bio

Geoffrey Burgess is a corporate partner with a broad international practice in Europe (including Russia), Africa and India, with particular focus in the private equity, TMT, healthcare and aviation industries. Mr. Burgess joined the firm in 1997 and has been resident in the London office since 1999. Mr. Burgess co-leads the India and Africa practice groups at Debevoise and is also a leader in the firm’s Alternative Assets Transactions and Liquidity Solutions Group, with a focus on GP replacement projects. He currently serves as Co-Chair of The African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) Legal and Regulatory Committee. Mr. Burgess is a member of the London office’s pro bono committee and is a volunteer at law clinics for social entrepreneurship at unLtd and for disability benefits in Hammersmith & Fulham. Mr. Burgess graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill B.Sc., with honors, Phi Beta Kappa, Morehead Scholar, and in 1993 received his J.D. from Columbia, where he was a Stone Scholar, received a Parker School Certificate in International Law and served on the Journal of Transnational Law as head notes editor, Parker School Journal of East European Law as founding managing editor and Survey of East European Law as managing editor. He was a Ford Foundation Fellow, Institute of State and Law (Moscow) in 1994. Mr. Burgess is recommended for Private Equity and M&A by IFLR1000 (2020), and Chambers UK (2020) and The Legal 500 US (2019) list him as a leading lawyer for Aviation. India Business Law Journal also mentions that he is “highly regarded by Indian clients” and has named him to its “International A-List”, which recognises the top India-focussed lawyers at international firms. He is further recommended in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific (2021) where he has been described as “highly accomplished and very innovative,” and in Chambers Global (2020) for his work in India. He is recommended by The Legal 500 UK (2021) for work in emerging markets. According to clients, he “provides practical, business-oriented advice in addition to an understanding [of] the legal complexities of emerging markets.” The 2017 edition of the guide praised him for being “an exceptional transactional lawyer with pragmatic business sense.” He was further noted as having “vast experience of Russian inbound and outbound transactions as well as India-related deals.” The guide has stated that he is known for a “broad-ranging Russia, CIS and India Practice.” It has also described him as “excellent and responsive” and “particularly distinguished by his ability to strategically navigate complex negotiations.” Mr. Burgess has been ranked as a leading individual in Chambers Europe (2012, 2013 and 2014) and described as having “considerable experience in advising Russian clients from his London base.” Sources add that he enjoys a “huge amount of respect” and “stands out for his aviation experience,” though “his practice ranges from private equity and international mergers & acquisitions, to financings and joint ventures.”