R.I.P.: Peter V. Darrow (1950-2013)

Peter V. Darrow (1950-2013)

Peter V. Darrow of New York City and Sag Harbor, NY died on May 19, 2013, after a long battle with cancer. 

He was a partner in DLA Piper's Finance practice in New York City. He traveled frequently for the firm to Mexico and other Central and South American countries to handle complex financial transactions for large companies in Latin America. 

Mr. Darrow was born in Detroit to Charlotte Noble Felheim and Peter P. Darrow on Sept. 7, 1950, Mr. Darrow grew up in Ann Arbor. 

He graduated from Columbia College, having been President of the Columbia College chapter of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity ("AD"). He led the effort by the chapter's alumni group to acquire the AD house from Columbia in the 1990's.  

He received a B.Phil. degree from Trinity College, Oxford in 1974 and remained active in alumni affairs, incorporating Trinity Society USA as a charity. 

With friends from Trinity, starting in 2005, he has helped expand the Cambodia Trust, a charity that maintains rural clinics in Cambodia that provide free artificial limbs to those maimed by land mines. At the time of his death, Peter was chairman of the board of the Cambodia Trust.

He was also a board member of Everyone Wins, a national childhood literacy and mentoring nonprofit organization. Once a week he used to read to elementary school children during his lunch period.

He graduated from Michigan Law School in 1978, where he was a member of the Law Review. Prior to joining DLA Piper, Mr. Darrow was a partner at Mayer Brown & Platt in its New York Office.

Peter Darrow with his wife Denise Seegal in c. 2011.

Mr. Darrow was a highly experienced finance and securities lawyer who focused on capital markets financing, acquisition and leveraged financing, structured financing, project and infrastructure financing, debt restructuring and liability management transactions, particularly in Latin America and other emerging markets.

Chambers Latin America 2009 describes Mr. Darrow as "an extremely smart guy who's always a pleasure to work with." Chambers Banking and Finance in Latin America 2009 calls him "the standout partner for debt capital markets in Brazil and Mexico." Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business lists him for his Latin American Investment practice. In 2010 it noted he "is highly regarded for his expertise in representing underwriters in high-yield bonds transactions; he also handles a steady flow of M&A and securities work". 

In 2011, Chambers said, "Clients look to him as a trusted, commercially minded adviser", and in 2012, Chambers said of his Latin America work: "He understands the region and has very strong credentials." Mr. Darrow is also listed in the Legal 500 Latin America 2012, in Guide to the World's Leading Capital Market Lawyers and in The International Who's Who of Capital Markets Lawyers.

He was admitted to the New York bar and was a member of the American Bar Association, Section of Corporation, Business and Banking Law.

His publications include A Greek Odyssey: Greece's sovereign debt restructuring and its impact on holders of Greek bonds and  Will 2012 Bring More Debt Restructuring for Latin American Companies?, He was co-author of "US Equity Markets for Foreign Issuers: Public Offerings and Rule 144A Placements of American Depositary Receipts," a Merrill Corp. publication, 2008; Co-author, "The US High Yield Bond Market," International Business Transactions with Brazil, 2008; "Restructuring Corporate Debt in Latin America," and "How to Restructure Debt in Latin America," International Financial Law Review, 2003; Co-author, "Private Equity Investment in Latin America," Latin American Law and Business Report, 2000; Co-author, "Restructuring Strategies for Mexican Eurobond Debt," Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business, 1995. 

Mr. Darrow was an avid rower. He began rowing with Columbia's lightweight rowing team in 1968. Thirty years later, he organized a reunion of the team to compete in the Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, Mass., a tradition they maintained for several years. He enthusiastically supported the small Sag Harbor rowing club. Last year, he raised funds to purchase a new rowing shell for Columbia's women's crew team. He christened it the "Denise V. Seegal" in honor of his wife.

Denise, his wife of five years, survives him. (Peter and his previous wife of 20 years, Leni Darrow, divorced in 2003.) Denise is a fashion executive with more than 30 years in the industry. He is survived as well by his two children from his prior marriage - a daughter, Meredith, who works as an art adviser in Los Angeles and New York City, and his son Peter Jr., who is an MBA student in Boston.

He is also survived by his brother Duncan Darrow and Duncan's wife Wendy. After their mother died of cancer in 2001, Peter and his brother established Fighting Chance, a free-of-charge cancer resource center for residents on the East End of Long Island. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made to Fighting Chance - Free Cancer Counseling Center, Box 1358, Sag Harbor, NY 11963.

A memorial service was held at All Souls Unitarian Church, 1157 Lexington Ave.,at 80th Street, New York City, at 4 pm on Wednesday, May 29.

Comment: Peter took over from me the job of bringing Trinity College alumni in the USA together for fun and funds. I met Denise Seegal through my wife Alice Tepper Marlin, who is like Denise a member of Women's Forum in New York. We were all attending a viewing of the installation of Christo's "Gates" project in February 2005 (7,503 orange "gates" stretching up through Central Park) from an apartment on Central Park South. We introduced Peter to Denise not long afterwards and they were married soon after that.

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