Milbank doubles down on AI economy with new digital infrastructure practice

Milbank is doubling down on the AI economy, launching a new digital infrastructure practice after advising on nearly $125 billion worth of digital-related deals this year.

The Digital Infrastructure Practice Group pulls together lawyers from Milbank’s energy, projects, real estate, M&A, regulatory, and structured finance teams to cover everything from data centres and fibre networks to powered land (real estate with direct access to electrical power infrastructure).

"The launch of a formal practice dedicated to the digital ecosystem highlights our commitment to providing unparalleled service to our clients who are driving the AI revolution," said chairman Scott Edelman.

The practice will be co-led by New York partners Dan Bartfeld, Erwin Dweck, and Jaime Ramirez, who will represent developers, financial sponsors and private credit clients across all sectors. The group spans the firm’s offices across the US, Europe and Asia.

Digital infrastructure frontrunner

Milbank has quickly become one of the leading advisers in the digital infrastructure space. Recent mandates include advising Morgan Stanley on the $27 billion financing of Meta’s AI data centre campus in Louisiana - a deal backed by the largest-ever private bond offering.

In the UK, the firm advised London-based AI infrastructure company Nscale on its $1.1 billion funding round - the largest Series B in European history - in September.

Milbank has also been bulking up its infrastructure and finance benches in London this year. In April, it poached a four-lawyer infrastructure team from White & Case, including partners Tim Sheddick, Tom Pound and Katie Hicks. And last month, it added real estate finance partners Miles Flynn and Rehan Hanif from Paul Hastings in London, marking the launch of its European real estate finance practice.

Bigger picture

The move reflects a broader shift among top firms chasing the surge in AI-related infrastructure work, where demand for compute power is translating into record-setting deal flow for data centres and energy assets.