Nicholas F. Potter is a corporate partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. He is Co-Chair of the firm’s Financial Institutions Group and a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Capital Markets Groups. He is also a member of the firm’s Management Committee.

Mr. Potter’s practice focuses on corporate transactions in the insurance industry; advising insurers and reinsurers, private equity firms, investment banks and other industry participants on public and private mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, corporate governance, regulatory issues, capital markets transactions and financings.

Mr. Potter is ranked in the top tier for Insurance: Transactional and Regulatory by Chambers USA (2024). He is named a Leading Lawyer for Insurance: Non-Contentious by The Legal 500 US (2024) and is a member of its “Hall of Fame.” He is also listed as a leading lawyer for M&A in the IFLR1000 (2022). Mr. Potter was recognized as a New York Lawyer of the Year by The Best Lawyers in America (2017). He was named “Dealmaker of the Week” by The Am Law Daily (2012) for his leading role in advising both Canadian insurance company Sun Life Financial and specialty insurer Markel Corporation in two separate transactions that were announced just days apart.

Mr. Potter’s recent articles include “Top Considerations For Insurance Companies In 2025,” Law360 (January, 2025); “The Legal 500: Insurance & Reinsurance Country Comparative Guide,” The In-House Lawyer (April, 2017); “Developments At The NAIC Spring Meeting,” Parts 1–3, Law360 (April, 2016); “Financial Buyer Participation In the Insurance Industry: An Update for 2015,” FC&S Legal (July, 2015); “NAIC 2015 Spring National Meeting,” Insurance Coverage Law Report (May/June, 2015); and “Up To 49 Percent Foreign Ownership Of Indian Insurers Is Now Law,” FC&S Legal (May, 2015).

Mr. Potter received his A.B. magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1985 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1988. He is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the American Bar Association and regularly writes and speaks on insurance industry M&A and finance topics. Mr. Potter serves as President of the Board of Directors of Poets House, Inc. He also served as the Co-Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee from 2001–2012.