Cleary Accelerates Capital Markets Growth with Leading Partners Ilir Mujalovic and Harald Halbhuber

Cleary Gottlieb announced today that Ilir Mujalovic and Harald Halbhuber joined the firm as partners in its expanding capital markets practice, with Mujalovic serving as head of the firm’s equity capital markets practice. Both partners are based in New York.

“We are excited to welcome Ilir and Harald to the firm,” said Cleary Managing Partner Jeff Karpf. “The continued growth of our corporate practice in the U.S. is a priority for us. Our world-class capital markets team has been at the forefront of precedent-setting transactions for decades, and adding Ilir and Harald’s deep knowledge and relationships further expands our ability to handle complex transactions for our clients.”

Ilir and Harald are highly regarded in the capital markets community. They advise leading investment banks on premier equity capital markets and other financing transactions as well as issuers on company-critical matters. Their arrival is part of Cleary’s ongoing investment in the firm’s capital markets, shareholder engagement, and mergers and acquisitions capabilities in the U.S., a strategic priority for its global corporate practice and the firm’s overall growth.

“We are thrilled to join Cleary’s renowned capital markets practice, particularly at such a pivotal moment for the firm’s growth,” said Ilir. “Cleary’s reputation for excellence in advising investment banks and public companies and its strong, global platform make it an ideal place to continue serving clients on their most complex and consequential transactions.”

Known for his work in the capital markets space, Ilir has extensive experience advising on transactions, including initial public offerings, follow-on equity offerings, convertible bonds, high-yield and investment-grade debt offerings, among others. He works with clients across key industries, including healthcare, telecommunications, energy, consumer retail, and financial institutions. In particular, Ilir is a go-to source and trusted advisor for the biotechnology, medical technology, diagnostics and healthcare services transactions that lead the market today. His collaborative approach, strong drive, and practice-building skills will further enhance Cleary’s preeminent position in capital markets.

Harald’s practice focuses on complex transactions, spanning a broad array of equity and debt financings across company lifecycles and credit profiles, spin-offs and other corporate reorganizations, debt restructurings, and equity derivatives. In addition to his transactional practice, where he acts for both issuers and underwriters, Harald regularly counsels public companies on their disclosures, financial reporting, and corporate governance and is a recognized thought leader, academic instructor, and author on developments in the securities laws.

“Ilir is one of the top capital markets practitioners in the market today. In addition to his stellar reputation, Ilir’s in-house experience at a renowned investment bank brings unique commercial insight to complicated issues. Harald brings an impressive range of technical depth and versatility, advising clients on complex transactions across a wide range of industries,” said Lillian Tsu, partner and leader of Cleary’s Americas Capital Markets Practice. “Both bring deep transactional experience and trusted institutional relationships that will accelerate the continued growth of our expanding underwriter and public company practices.”

Ilir and Harald are the latest of several strategic hires that Cleary has made in the Americas corporate practice space over the past few years. Sebastian Alsheimer joined the firm in January 2026 and focuses on shareholder engagement and activism defense. J.T. Ho joined the firm in January 2025 and focuses on corporate governance and capital markets, as well as strategic situations including crisis management, shareholder engagement and activism defense. Prior to that, partner Lesley Janzen joined in November 2024 bringing significant experience in high yield and investment grade debt offerings, initial public offerings, follow-on and secondary equity offerings, equity-linked securities offerings, leveraged buy-outs, cross-border securities offerings, and liability management transactions.