Global private capital is navigating a period of complexity and evolution. Regulations keep shifting, and the race for unique opportunities now touches every asset class and region. Firms can’t treat legal and compliance as afterthoughts after commercial work. Instead, they need integrated legal teams that help shape strategy, structure complex transactions, and manage risk as deals move across markets and jurisdictions. In this environment, top legal leaders go beyond risk management – they build platforms that grow with the business.
Joshua Peck (Josh)* is at the heart of this transformation. As Partner and General Counsel at Sixth Street, a global multi-strategy private capital firm, he leads the legal team that drives the firm’s global business. “I see my role as a strategic advisor and steward of Sixth Street’s investor-first approach. It’s not just about legal advice. I manage risk to align with our values, culture, and mission while staying focused on solutions.” Sixth Street invests across strategies, sectors, and geographies, using long-term flexible capital and a highly collaborative culture to create new opportunities and offer tailored solutions to companies at every growth stage. Josh’s aim is to make sure the legal framework keeps up with Sixth Street’s ambitions and fosters an investor-first mindset at every turn.
Josh positions his legal team as a core driver of results. By understanding the full business context, the team creates innovative, first-of-their-kind transactions. Josh promotes a 360-degree view of the firm, seeing legal and compliance as essential to success. The approach blends commercial problem-solving with disciplined risk management. His team builds consensus on tough calls and always protects investors.
Cultivating an ownership mentality
Josh’s leadership journey started in New York. After graduating from Fordham Law School, he joined Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP as an associate in the private equity and M&A practice for over 7 years. “I thought my path would be to become a partner at Weil and raise my family in New York City,” he recalls. Weil trusted him with major responsibility early, helping him grow into an accomplished transaction quarterback. Josh elaborates, “It is someone who owns a deal end-to-end and steers every legal element forward.”
That foundation eventually shifted his aspirations. “The desire to fully own and drive all legal aspects of a deal led me to aim for General Counsel of a private capital firm,” he explains. He wanted to help build a platform from within, rather than always advising from the outside. When Sixth Street reached out, it felt like the perfect fit. “Joining Sixth Street was unique. It let me join a special firm early and bet on myself,” Josh continues. The firm’s culture, where legal input shapes core decisions, sealed it for him.
The move brought a significant personal shift. As a native New Yorker, Josh never expected to leave the city. “The hardest part was leaving New York. I’m a born-and-raised New Yorker and never thought I would,” he admits. Still, he moved with his wife and then 11-month-old son to San Francisco to start his journey with Sixth Street. “We’ve now raised our kids here for 11 years, and it’s been amazing,” he says.
Josh joined Sixth Street in 2015, when the firm had about 150 people and managed around $15 billion in assets. Today, Sixth Street oversees more than $130 billion in assets and has over 700 team members worldwide. “Partnering with firm leaders, it’s been an incredible journey building the legal function to support our growth,” Josh remarks. He has developed the legal department into a true strategic partner, making sure the legal framework grows alongside the firm’s expansion into new investment strategies.
Scaling global business strategy
Sixth Street’s approach to building new businesses has shaped how Josh designs his team. The firm evaluates opportunities based on market cycles and often tests concepts before fully committing. “For business building, we size and position based on the market cycle,” he explains. “We incubate businesses before scaling them fully.” A prime example is the 2016 Spotify financing, which sparked a dedicated growth investing arm. “We’d invested in growth before, but that Spotify deal started our full growth investing business for mid- and late-stage companies,” Josh observes.
Global expansion follows the same careful strategy. London has hosted a presence since 2011, and European direct lending began in 2015. More recently, the firm expanded into Asia and the Middle East. Legal challenges multiply as the firm enters new regions. “Each region brings unique transaction and regulatory nuances.” Josh’s group partners directly with deal teams and the business. “We don’t see ourselves as a hurdle; we’re active stakeholders in the firm’s success.”
“One Team” defines Sixth Street’s culture, and Josh weaves into legal operations. “Sixth Street’s One Team culture drives everything we do,” he highlights. He prefers generalists who can dive deep when needed, avoiding rigid silos. The team develops deeper expertise while maintaining a generalist skillset. That balance inspires him. Recruitment focuses on finding top talent for this model. “We hire ‘intellectual athletes,’ flexible thinkers with an ownership mentality who grab the jump balls,” he explains. That approach echoes his Weil roots. “Early responsibility taught me an ownership mentality. I saw whitespace and used initiative to build our legal function.”
Guidance through mentorship
Mentorship from co-founder and co-president David Stiepleman has shaped Josh’s approach. “David Stiepleman has been my mentor and friend for 11 years at Sixth Street,” he says. One lesson stands out: “He’s shown me the value of expanding my skillset.” When Josh first joined, his experience focused mostly on deal-related work. Early on, he told David he wanted to be General Counsel. David was fair and direct. David told him he “loved the enthusiasm” but explained what it would take to get there and that Josh wasn’t ready yet. A couple of years later, when Josh had the chance to manage the fund formation function, David spent several hours with him and “went page by page through an LPA.” Josh says, “It was this kind of major investment of time and energy by someone who had a lot on his plate that sticks with you.” He also notes that this experience was key to his development as a funds lawyer.
Josh looks to maintain excellence going forward. “I’m focused on building a best-in-class in-house legal team,” he says. “That means a collaborative group with an investor-first mindset, ownership, and results. It means team members achieve their career goals and discover growth opportunities.” For Josh, the metric is straightforward: “Are we a sought-after, value-add partner the business wants more of? The answer should always be yes.”
* Josh is admitted in New York.
Registered In-House Counsel in California.
Cleary Gottlieb advises many of the world’s most sophisticated investment managers on complex fund formations, innovative capital solutions, and transformative transactions, bringing the experience, focus, and commercial insight that global markets demand. Since Sixth Street’s founding, Cleary has served as a trusted partner to the firm, advising on its earliest funds and capital strategies. Working closely with General Counsel Josh Peck and Sixth Street’s in-house team, Cleary delivers pragmatic, business-focused advice supporting Sixth Street’s continued growth as a leading global investment firm with more than $125 billion in assets under management.
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP (www.simpsonthacher.com) is one of the world’s leading international law firms. The Firm was established in 1884 and has approximately 2,000 lawyers. Headquartered in New York with offices in Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Palo Alto, San Francisco, São Paulo, Tokyo and Washington, D.C., the Firm provides coordinated legal advice and transactional capability to clients around the globe.
