Jay L. Bernstein is Chairman of the Firm’s US Corporate Finance Group. He represents, in both domestic and international markets, sponsors, investors, investment banks, specialty finance companies, REITs and other real estate, finance and hotel companies in their capital raising and merger and acquisition activities. He is also the Co-Head of the Americas Region's Financial Institutions Group, which assists a range of financial institutions, including insurance companies, specialty finance companies, asset management firms, business development companies, banks and investment banks, in their capital raising and merger and acquisition transactions. Jay's clients include leading specialty finance companies, REITs, investment banking firms, private equity and other institutional investors providing equity and debt capital to real estate, finance and hotel companies. He also advises institutional clients in the formation of private equity funds dedicated to real estate and hotel investments and represents several of these private equity funds in their investment activities. Since 1997, Jay has participated in more than US$25 billion of capital raising and mergers and acquisitions transactions involving real estate, finance and hotel companies primarily in but also outside of the US. These transactions include a variety of IPO transactions, public and private offerings of equity and debt securities, strategic investments and mergers and acquisitions. Jay also represents issuers and underwriters in public and private and equity and debt offerings in a variety of other industries, including industrial manufacturing.
Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
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The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
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Rising stars with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
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William Cernius is a partner in the Corporate Department. His general corporate transactional practice and extensive experience focuses on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, and general corporate and complex securities matters across a wide range of industries. He has been a resident lawyer in each of the San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County and London offices.
Jake Farquharson focuses primarily on domestic and international capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other corporate finance and general corporate transactions. Jake represents sponsors, issuers and investment banks in their public and private capital raising activities. He advises clients across a range of industries, including real estate and real estate investment trusts (REITs), FIBRAs, specialty finance, energy, infrastructure and hospitality. Since 2010, Jake has participated in more than US$8 billion of capital raising transactions, including IPOs, follow-on equity and debt offerings, pre-IPO financings, 144A and Regulation S offerings and other private placements.
Edgar Lewandowski is a Partner in Simpson Thacher’s Corporate Department, focusing his practice on capital markets and corporate governance matters. Edgar has wide-ranging experience advising a variety of REIT and other issuers, private equity sponsors and investment banks. The transactions he has handled include IPOs and other equity offerings, spin-offs, high yield and investment-grade debt offerings, convertible debt offerings, exchange offers and liability management transactions. Edgar also regularly advises boards of directors on general corporate and compliance matters.
Sarah is a member of Sullivan’s REITs Practice Group. She advises public and private REITs, both domestic and foreign, in various industries, including: data centers, office buildings, commercial retail space, distributed antenna systems, timberlands and agricultural properties. She focuses on structuring and compliance work, including cross-border transactions. Sarah also has experience involving federal and state tax litigation and transactional planning involving corporate, franchise, personal income and sales/use tax matters, and in advising tax-exempt organizations, including public charities, on all aspects of operations.
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The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Ameek is director of Sullivan's Tax Department and a former member of the firm's Management Committee. His practice includes domestic and international taxation, with an emphasis on mergers & acquisitions and REIT transactions. Ameek is nationally recognized for his work in REIT conversions and REIT cross-border matters. He has represented public and private REITs in an array of real property sectors, both domestically and abroad, including: business storage facilities; cold storage facilities; communications towers; data centers; dark and lit fiber; digital billboards; distributed antenna systems; hotels and travel centers; industrial properties; mortgage loans; single-family and multi-family residential; office buildings; parking facilities; retail properties; senior living facilities; solar, wind, and other power infrastructure; timberlands; transmission and distribution lines; as well as vineyards, greenhouses, and other agricultural properties.
Michael Choate is a partner in Proskauer's Corporate Department and is a member of the Capital Markets Group and both Real Estate Capital Markets and Private Equity Real Estate Groups. Michael's practice is broad and includes a focus on transactional matters involving both public and private real estate offerings as well as private equity and joint venture transactions along with mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance issues and federal securities compliance matters.
Brian specializes in mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance. He represents private equity firms and public and private companies in a wide variety of M&A matters, including leveraged buyouts, strategic mergers, minority investments, joint ventures, carve-outs and takeover defense. While he has counseled clients in a broad range of industries, Brian has extensive experience in M&A transactions involving REITs and other real estate companies. He has advised Blackstone on more than 30 take private transactions, including eight in a recent 13-month period and the landmark Equity Office Properties and Hilton acquisitions.
Kathleen L. Werner is a Partner in the Capital Markets practice of Clifford Chance. Kathleen primarily represents companies and investment banks in capital markets and mergers and acquisitions transactions. Kathleen's clients include public and private companies in the financial services, real estate and media industries. She acts as regular outside corporate and SEC counsel to many of her clients. In addition, Kathleen frequently represents investment banking firms acting as underwriters and initial purchasers in public and private securities offerings. Kathleen is a trustee of The New York Foundling.