Katten

Adam Klein

Adam Klein counsels a wide range of clients nationwide on matters related to the business of professional sports, including various Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and Major League Soccer teams, arenas and stadiums, lenders, investors, sponsors and regional sports networks. Adam's sports clients have included the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bulls, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Blues, New York Islanders, Seattle NHL expansion team, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Fire, Philadelphia Union, San Jose Earthquakes, United Center, Chase Center, Golden 1 Center, Fiserv Forum and 120 Sports (Stadium), as well as investors in the New York Mets, Memphis Grizzlies, Pittsburgh Penguins and Swansea City AFC. In the highly self-regulated field of professional sports, Adam has the experience to handle a variety of transactions with maximum efficiency. That is attributable in part to his detailed knowledge of applicable league rules and the issues related to operating a team and its home venue. Equally important are the strong relationships that Adam has established across leagues, teams, venues and their advisors. His clients understand and appreciate the vested interest he takes in helping them make informed decisions in connection with significant transactions.

Adam Engel

Adam Engel helps both lenders and borrowers with the origination, structuring, restructuring and execution of a wide range of real estate financing transactions. Adam works with participants throughout the real estate finance market, including institutional and investment banks, insurance companies, institutional real estate funds, and developers and investors.Recognized by industry publications such as Super Lawyers and The Legal 500 US, Adam's real estate finance experience covers first lien and subordinate mortgage financing, construction financing, mezzanine financing, loan syndication and participation, preferred equity and joint venture transactions, and other secured and unsecured lending structures. Adam also represents clients in the resolution and restructuring of distressed debt, including loan modifications, settlements, foreclosures and workouts.

Alan Brudner

Corporate entities and individuals who need advice or representation in investigations and litigation have called upon Alan Brudner for more than 30 years. With experience both as a federal prosecutor and as head of litigation and investigations for the Americas at one of the most prominent financial institutions in the world, Alan brings extensive knowledge, a multifaceted perspective and a practical approach to all of his matters. Alan has represented clients in a broad range of investigations by the Department of Justice, US Attorney's Offices, the Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and other regulators. He has also represented clients in Congressional committee investigations. In addition, he represents clients in civil securities and business litigation, and has significant experience representing hospitals and public entities in False Claims Act cases. As an assistant US attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he was a member of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, Alan was responsible for cases that included securities, bank, health care, insurance and federal program frauds. He then worked at UBS AG for 15 years, eight as head of litigation and investigations in the Americas for the UBS Investment Bank, where he managed all of the investment bank's litigation and enforcement matters. The bank's senior executives frequently called on Alan for clear-headed guidance, including how best to navigate the legal morass that engulfed the financial industry during the financial crisis of 2007-08. All of his clients get the benefit of his broad experience, his sensitivity to business concerns and his skill and good judgment in dealing with their legal issues as well as with the regulators, prosecutors and adversaries they face. Alan has successfully tried complex cases before federal juries, represented clients in administrative hearings and argued appeals before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He won a significant pro bono appeal in which the court held that a defendant is entitled to a writ of habeas corpus if his conviction resulted from perjured testimony, even if the prosecutor was unaware of the perjury at the time of trial. Alan currently serves as chair of the Bioethical Issues Committee of the New York City Bar Association. In that capacity, he is frequently called on for advice and assistance in formulating positions on health care policy issues and proposed legislation.

Allison Yacker

Allison Yacker is the co-chair of the Investment Management and Funds practice and represents a wide variety of sponsors (both hedge and private equity) and investors in transactional, fund formation, regulatory and corporate matters. Her significant experience representing institutional and emerging asset managers as well as all manner of buy side investors gives her unique insight into market trends as they develop. This enables Allison to provide customized and solution-oriented counsel to her sell-side and buy-side clients in an efficient and timely manner.Recognized by Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA and The Legal 500, clients view Allison as a trusted source for comprehensive and commercial guidance with respect to the broadest panoply of issues relevant to asset management market participants. She represents hedge funds, private equity funds, commodity pools and managed account platforms that engage in a wide variety of strategies, including quantitative trading, private credit, distressed debt, futures and FX, litigation finance, securitized products, affordable housing, renewable energy and carbon credits, to name a few. Allison also regularly advises her clients with regards to seed and early stage investment opportunities, and provides counsel with respect to insurance dedicated funds and PPLI and GACs and the use of similar structures.Allison spends a significant portion of her time representing institutional investors looking to deploy capital to hedge funds, private equity funds and other ventures. These clients include sovereign wealth funds, foundations, insurance companies, pension plans, family offices and endowments and high-net-worth investors. She also advises these clients on global regulatory issues that arise in connection with investments in funds and managed accounts.Allison regularly counsels investment management clients with respect to ongoing regulatory matters (including reporting, disclosure and registration issues), corporate, employment and intellectual property matters. She provides counsel on regulatory compliance and advises clients on security token offerings and other cryptocurrency- and ICO-related matters.Allison is a member of the firm's board of directors and is on the Steering Committee of Katten's Women's Leadership Forum, which supports the strategic retention and advancement of women attorneys at the firm through mentoring and professional development programs. She also has a long-standing relationship with 100 Women in Finance as an Angel Member. Allison was recently recognized as a Working Mother of the Year in Working Mother Magazine.

Alvin Katz

Described as "an absolutely first-class lawyer" with "tremendous expertise in fund formation and joint ventures" by industry publications such as The Legal 500 US, Alvin Katz has been helping real estate investors and developers close their most important deals for more than 40 years. Through multiple real estate cycles, in good times and bad, Alvin’s experience and judgment have guided his clients to achieve their goals. Alvin is consistently ranked in the top tier of Chicago real estate lawyers by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, which quotes clients praising his "exceptional intelligence" and describe him as "a really good lawyer with great business sense," "[f]antastic … stellar at explaining key points during transactions … a go to lawyer who is at the top of his game" and "a smart and sophisticated attorney who absolutely deserves his top-tier ranking" whose "experience is nearly unparalleled." Alvin is a frequent speaker at real estate industry conferences and continuing education programs for lawyers and real estate professionals. In recognition of his accomplishments in real estate law, he has been selected for membership in the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.

Andrew Jagoda

Andrew Jagoda advises clients that finance, buy, sell, build, lease and manage real estate properties in all asset classes. He also has extensive experience representing both lenders and borrowers in workouts and restructurings. Having assisted both the US government and the government of the People's Republic of China in disposing of billions in real estate assets, he is prepared to handle the most challenging transactions. Andrew is the co-chair of Katten's New York Real Estate Department and a member of Katten's board of directors.Andrew is the quintessential real estate lawyer for all asset classes and all business cycles. He advises clients on transactions involving large office buildings, hotels, retail centers, industrial facilities and multifamily properties, both on an individual property and a portfolio basis. He has represented lenders in a variety of loan transactions, including construction loans, multiproperty financings, mezzanine loans and ground lease mortgage loans (involving both fee and leasehold positions). He also has considerable experience representing lenders with the workout, restructuring and foreclosure of real estate and construction mortgage loans. Andrew also represents property owners in the acquisition, sale and development of property, including the negotiation of construction contracts, as well as the acquisition, construction, and permanent financing and joint ventures with equity investors. Andrew's practice also includes the representation of both landlords and tenants in ground leases and in office and retail leases. His clients include insurance companies, banks, developers, foreign and US investment funds, family-office investors, landlords, tenants and nonprofit organizations.Andrew takes a holistic approach with his clients, with a focus on a client's position in the market and not only with respect to individual transactions. He routinely works with clients to develop and upgrade their operating platforms and document forms, and he assists clients in anticipating and addressing market trends and issues.Andrew's 35-year career has included public service representing US taxpayers in the real estate crisis in the early 1990s. In this role, he served as counsel at the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), a federal agency charged with the disposition of real estate assets from failed financial institutions. At the RTC, he advised on the disposition of approximately $4 billion of assets. Andrew also represented China Huarong Asset Management Corporation, an agency of the government of the People's Republic of China, in a series of bulk sales of more than $1 billion of nonperforming loans and foreclosed properties, structured as joint ventures between Huarong and investors. These were among the first such transactions conducted in China. Andrew has also represented the heirs of victims of the Holocaust in the recovery of art stolen by the Nazis.

Anna-Liza Harris

Anna-Liza Harris advises clients on tax issues related to asset-backed securitizations, residential and multifamily mortgage-backed securitizations, derivatives, and domestic and cross-border financing transactions. She is national co-chair of Katten's Structured Finance and Securitization practice and a partner in the Tax practice.An important aspect of Anna-Liza's practice is designing innovative securitization structures. These include many "first of their kind" transactions that require both creativity and extensive market knowledge to develop. Anna-Liza has worked with a broad range of financial assets including distressed and non-performing debt, debt secured by esoteric assets, synthetics and debt issued in revolving structures.Anna-Liza works with clients ranging from first-time issuers to frequent market participants. She counsels clients on the taxation of investment vehicles, including REMICs, grantor trusts and offshore funds. Anna-Liza also has experience with the tax concerns of private equity funds and hedge funds. She is a past chair of the Structured Finance Association's (SFA's) Tax Policy Committee and is a member of the SFA's Executive Committee.

Benzion Westreich

Benzion Westreich has helped bring to life some of the most complex real estate developments of recent years, including the construction of two multi-billion-dollar sports arena mixed-use complexes. In a business where events rarely unfold as planned, he anticipates potential problems and makes appropriate adjustments so that clients don't meet with unwelcome surprises. He counsels clients on all sides of transactions, including lenders and borrowers, developers and equity partners, buyers and sellers and landlords and tenants.Benny takes on a role for clients that goes well beyond just executing transactions and performing legal review. He keeps his eye open for opportunities, sensing the ones that will fit his clients' business goals. When high-profile problems arise, he advises clients on crisis management strategies. He views his role as a counselor in addition to being a lawyer. One of Benny's clients, in Chambers USA, described him as "…what I consider a business lawyer should be; he understands that it is key to find a compromise and not just be right." Private equity firms, real estate investment trusts (REITs) and individuals are among the investors that regularly turn to Benny for transactions involving all types of commercial and residential properties.In a complex real estate project, such as the financing and construction of mixed-use facilities, Benny knows how to coordinate interlocking deal pieces involving multiple properties and uses, keeping an eye out for the long-term prospects, including ownership restructurings and bifurcations, refinancing and exit strategies. His work has also included public-private financings, which require careful attention to public relations as well as legal issues.

Brandon Hadley

Brandon Hadley advises financial institutions and large middle market lenders in all types of debt transactions, including commercial finance, securitization and structured finance, and cross-border debt investments. With a national practice spanning more than 10 years, Brandon assists his clients in managing tax risks and reducing tax costs. He also helps clients with debt investments, securitizing assets and other capital markets transactions.Recognized as a leader in structured finance, Brandon has substantial experience in complying with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and related withholding tax issues, structuring cross-border investments into the United States, and negotiating tax-related issues with syndicated loans, warehouse lines and credit agreements. This includes tax indemnification, withholding tax, registered form requirements, controlled foreign corporation and section 956-related issues with guarantees and collateral, and applicable high-yield debt obligation issues.Brandon counsels US and offshore issuers and underwriters in public offerings and private placements of securities. He has provided tax advice for private equity investments in US real estate, performing and nonperforming US loans and other debt instruments, and equity securities. Brandon was a member of the Solar Access to Public Capital working group formed to increase access to securitization for solar projects with tax equity investors. He focuses on the investment tax credits, and financing for renewable energy projects and developers, including property assessed clean energy or PACE financing. An advisor to many tax-exempt organizations with respect to US federal tax matters, Brandon provides pro bono services to, and serves on the board of, the Amara Legal Center.

Brooks Giles

Mergers and acquisitions can be a tricky business, but Brooks Giles has a way of cutting through the complexity. His extensive experience and pragmatic mindset get deals to closing on time and on budget. Brooks helps equity investors and business owners buy and sell operating businesses. Many of his transactions involve the purchase of private companies by private equity firms. He also represents sellers in such deals, which typically range in value from $25 million to $500 million. For all his clients, he finds the right structure for the transaction, negotiates the terms and offers guidance on corporate governance and general corporate matters. Brooks has successfully closed a large number of middle-market M&A deals, using structures that include stock purchases, asset sales, taxable and tax-free mergers and leveraged recapitalizations. He knows the importance of closing on time, on budget and at market terms. More importantly, he knows how to achieve those goals. In every deal he touches, he looks to use his accumulated knowledge, together with specialist input, to resolve issues before they become crises.

Bruce Vanyo

There is a reason Bruce Vanyo's peers call him the "dean of securities litigation." He has spent more than 40 years handling securities fraud and corporate governance lawsuits for clients such as Amarin Corporation, Amdocs, Inc., Angie's List, Boeing Company, Cree, Inc. and GW Pharmaceuticals — and succeeding on their behalf. Leading the firm's securities litigation and enforcement practice, Bruce represents clients across a number of industries, particularly technology and life sciences.Bruce has "defended more major securities cases than any other lawyer in America," as the National Association of Corporate Directors has said. He represents clients who are in the midst of high-profile, sensitive cases that demand a deft approach and swift resolution. He makes it a priority to stop these lawsuits at the earliest opportunity, and regularly achieves this outcome. Of the more than 60 securities class actions Bruce has resolved over the past two decades, he has obtained complete dismissal at or before the pleading stage in more than three-quarters of them.By resolving cases efficiently, Bruce minimizes distractions for his clients and allows them to focus on running their businesses. His approach also controls the potentially burdensome costs of litigation.A number of Bruce's victories have favorably influenced securities law for defendants. He recently earned the dismissal of an $800 million securities class action, for instance, that clarified and limited a company's disclosure requirements with regard to the FDA's drug approval process. When the technology industry was besieged by class actions, he was tapped to lead its securities litigation reform efforts, creating the pleading and safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Chris DiAngelo

Chris DiAngelo offers clients a comprehensive understanding of wholesale finance, the critical process through which banks and finance companies fund their lending activities. His intimate knowledge of the industry's business, legal and policymaking arenas have allowed him to execute some of its most innovative deals. For large banks, finance companies and government entities, Chris offers decades of experience in structured finance and securitizations, particularly in the area of mortgage financing. From banks to finance companies to government entities, institutions have turned to Chris to solve complex funding puzzles and manage the risk of holding financial assets. Chris's depth of knowledge and experience enable him to quickly assess a client's financing goals and advise on the best options. Clients also benefit from his deep contacts throughout the industry and in the government. He acts as a lead counsel to the Structured Finance Association, chairman of its political action committee and co-chair of its legal counsel committee. He also serves as outside counsel to a Washington, DC, lobbying firm focused on the financial services industry. The legal and industry knowledge that Chris brings to the table has allowed him to complete landmark financing deals. For an agency lender, he assisted with a $922 million credit risk transfer transaction that marked an evolution in financing techniques. The first credit risk transfer transaction using the structure of a real estate mortgage investment conduit, it opened the US residential mortgage credit market to an increased number of sources of private capital. Chris's policy knowledge includes a detailed familiarity with the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on structured finance. He is also deeply informed about housing and mortgage policy reform and its impact on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Before entering private practice, he served on the staff of the New York State Housing Finance Agency.

Christian Kemnitz

Christian Kemnitz devotes his practice to the defense of financial services firms in litigation, regulatory enforcement proceedings and internal investigations. His work frequently involves disputes over futures, options, swaps, securities and other complex financial products. In particular, he has extensive experience defending matters relating to spoofing, manipulation and other forms of disruptive trading. Chris' work on financial services litigation includes proposed class actions brought under securities laws. He also frequently represents broker-dealers in civil disputes, including arbitration claims brought by customers. In this work, Chris has a long and successful record at arbitration hearings. In the heavily regulated field of financial services, he also handles enforcement proceedings before the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), self-regulatory bodies, and at stock, option and futures exchanges. Outside of financial services, Chris has litigated employment, product liability and class action matters, as well as disputes within partnerships and closely held corporations. Clients also seek his counsel on antitrust issues, where Chris' experience includes pre-merger regulatory review, criminal investigations and class actions by direct and indirect purchasers. Chris also advises corporate and individual clients in white-collar criminal matters, including investigations initiated by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the SEC and the CFTC. Often those investigations are preceded by internal investigations. Chris has run such internal investigations for manufacturing companies, investment banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds.

Christine Fitzgerald

Clients closing real estate finance deals rely on Christine Fitzgerald to not only identify risk and potential issues in a transaction but, more importantly, to offer solutions tailored to the business needs of her clients and to create a viable path forward for the deal despite any challenges. Christy is a co-chair of the firm's Los Angeles Real Estate practice, recognized as a top practice by U.S. News – Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms," which reports that clients note Katten is a "firm of choice for real estate transactions." Christy's priority, in alignment with her client's ultimate goal, is closing a real estate finance transaction in such a way that all parties view the result as favorable and her client's business — and business relationships — grow and thrive.Christy concentrates her practice in real estate finance and is experienced in syndicated, securitized, mezzanine, ground lease, hospitality and construction lending and borrowing, intercreditor arrangements, participations, whole and portfolio loan sales, "loan on loan" secured financing transactions, workouts, foreclosures, loan restructurings and deeds in lieu of foreclosure, as well as acquisition, disposition and development of real estate assets, joint venture transactions and preferred equity.From 1996 to 1997, Christy clerked in the chambers of the Honorable Lourdes G. Baird, US District Court, Central District of California.

Christopher Atkinson

Christopher Atkinson gets deals done. He negotiates deals that allow his clients to grow and succeed. They include mergers and acquisitions, dispositions, equity financings and other transactions that require complex contracts and structures. Having started his career in the tech industry, Christopher brings a client mindset to his deal work for private equity firms, venture capital firms and businesses of all sizes. As a lawyer, Christopher retains the perspective he gained when he worked for emerging tech companies and was a client himself. From that experience, he appreciates the value of a practical approach to deal-making that puts a premium on efficiency. He adeptly cuts through issues and avoids spending needless time over-lawyering highly speculative, low-risk issues. Instead, he takes his clients through transactions as quickly and painlessly as possible. As a skilled negotiator, Christopher understands his clients' leverage (or lack thereof) and works hard to get them the best deal that he can. Christopher advises private equity firms, venture capital firms as well as businesses ranging from founder- and family-owned entities to large public companies. His experience goes well beyond the tech industry to include education, health care, business services, parking, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, restaurants and veterinary care. His work with venture capital firms often facilitates crucial financing for start-ups and other early-stage companies. At times, his deals allow his clients to expand into new areas, as when he helped a leading provider of parking services close a $275 million acquisition that allowed it to branch out into baggage delivery and other airport-related services.

Christopher Locke

Christopher Locke has the right experience and knowledge to guide health care entities through transactions that affect their businesses. His decades of involvement in a variety of transactions allow him to explain deal terms in ways that are meaningful to clients. Whether he's representing a professional practice, hospital system, management company or medical device manufacturer, he is able to understand and negotiate terms to accomplish their strategic goals.Health care entities trust Christopher with major transactions relating to their businesses. Deals that he works on regularly include purchases and sales of professional practices by private equity-backed entities, hospital system acquisitions, joint ventures and other arrangements with professional practices, other hospital systems and universities and fundraising for nonprofessional entities. Negotiating and drafting these sometimes-complex agreements are just one aspect of Christopher's work. He is a trusted advisor, in part, because he provides as much business insight as legal counsel.Many of Katten's health care clients rely on Christopher to serve as their outside general counsel, as his broad industry knowledge gives him the insight to advise management and boards of directors on a range of issues. Clients also turn to him for sensitive government investigations, benefiting from his experience as a former special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Claudine Chen-Young

Claudine Chen-Young helps banks, private equity firms and other similar institutions buy and sell mortgage assets and structure the financing of those financial assets. In particular, her extensive experience with buying and selling all types of residential mortgage loans, including growth mortgage products, allows her to negotiate tough transactions efficiently and effectively.Claudine is the sort of attorney who works just as closely with business people as she does with in-house counsel. She is often called on to assist traders on the trading desk in real time as they price assets, consider purchasing assets or deal with investor demands, and as a result is at ease with juggling time-sensitive demands and being highly responsive. Claudine is a strong and effective negotiator, always keeping a clear focus on what is best for her clients. Claudine often helps clients create innovative deal structures and establish new programs for financing assets through securitization and otherwise. She has counseled first-time issuers in setting up securitization programs. She has also helped companies create acquisition programs for the purchase and sale of several types of mortgage loans, including through correspondent lenders, and establish servicing and other related arrangements. From the beginning of a deal, Claudine works with the business and legal teams on deal strategy and how to best design the transaction. She knows how to set up deals so that they go smoothly, close on time and work well from both a process and pricing perspective. Claudine is an experienced, efficient and effective transactional lawyer who handles the full range of mortgage finance needs.

David Crichlow

David Crichlow, co-chair of the Litigation Department, represents large companies in some of their most important litigation. He serves as lead trial counsel on high-stakes commercial, class action and bankruptcy litigation, with experience that includes nine- and ten-figure disputes. David has represented clients in multibillion-dollar RMBS consolidated litigation, fraudulent inducement claims with respect to asset purchase agreements for significant commercial businesses, and litigation in or related to the bankruptcies of the Caesars Entertainment Operation Company, Solutia, Enron and Refco. Clients that turn to David include some of the largest banks in the United States and Europe, major oil and industrial gas companies, private equity firms and large pension funds. His wide-ranging experience includes representing an indenture trustee in its $6 billion claim against the gaming company Caesars pursuant to a parent guarantee in the applicable indenture, the equity committee in the Solutia bankruptcy in its $2 billion claim against a former parent, and a Cayman Island hedge fund against a $324 million preference action in the Refco bankruptcy. David's class action defense practice includes his work defending an indenture trustee against a "bet-the-company" class action claim relating to a bond offering alleged to be part of a Ponzi scheme, and defending a US auto financing company against a nationwide class bringing consumer claims under various motor vehicle leasing consumer protection statutes. In over 30 years of practice, he has gained particular experience with clients in the financial services and life sciences industries.

David Dickstein

David Dickstein addresses a wide range of regulatory and compliance issues for investment advisers, hedge and private equity funds.David regularly counsels investment advisers on matters such as the need for registration, Form ADV matters, disclosing conflicts of interest, compliance policies and procedures, rules on personal trading, marketing materials and federal and state pay-to-play and lobbying registration matters. Clients also frequently seek David's assistance with SEC examinations.David also advises brokerage and advisory firms on soft dollars and best execution, wrap-fee programs, trade allocations, marketing arrangements and bad actor matters. In addition, he conducts compliance audits and provides advice on SEC investigations.

David Dlugie

Financial institutions across the country rely on David Dlugie to handle their most critical commercial property and commercial loan matters, sometimes with extremely tight timelines. For clients that are financing or selling/buying/leasing real property, or acquiring or disposing of commercial real estate loans, he solves their financing and equity issues using negotiation skills honed through three decades of practice. As Katten's Chair of Midwest Real Estate practice group, David assembles teams across the firm that work with clients to achieve their goals on commercial real estate matters throughout the country on a timely basis.In real estate negotiations, David uses his market knowledge to find solutions that move parties toward a successful closing on a cost-effective basis. Aided by an accounting background, he uses his business acumen to assist in productive negotiations and help his client achieve their goals, leading to more efficient outcomes that leave all parties feeling like winners.David's business sense allows him to quickly identify, mitigate and resolve client issues as they arise. In large-scale transactions, he draws on Katten's 120-plus-lawyer Real Estate group to achieve results on even the most compressed time frames. One major private equity institution turned to David, for instance, when it needed to efficiently sell a portfolio of assets across the country that included eighteen office buildings, six hotels, three industrial properties and two retail properties in a short time frame. David assisted in the structuring and negotiation of thirteen transactions totaling over $500 million in just four months. In another fast-moving deal, David represented another private equity institution in its purchase of five mezzanine loans across 219 properties. The deal entailed negotiations with eleven borrowers and total financing of more than $3.6 billion. It closed in 33 days.David also represented the financial services unit of an American conglomerate in its sale of a $1.56 billion mortgage loan pool of 44 mortgage loans, which commenced and closed in 40 days, while simultaneously working on the sale of a $560 million mortgage loan pool for the client with more than 260 mortgage loans. He also represented a Chicago-based lender and a financial institution in the origination of over 2,000 conduit mortgage loans across the country and the later securitization of such mortgage loans.

David Goldberg

Veteran litigator David Goldberg helps financial institutions in high-stakes, complex litigation and enforcement matters. As a former AUSA who spent a decade as in-house counsel for a financial services firm, David knows firsthand the pressures and challenges his clients face. His no-surprises approach to litigation and investigations offers peace of mind when stakes are high and the outcome is uncertain.As executive director and senior associate general counsel for UBS Securities LLC, David managed many of the firm's largest investment banking disputes and regulatory investigations. He knows the challenges and opportunities financial institutions face during regulatory investigations and enforcement matters, and his understanding of the industry allows him to position his clients for the best outcomes possible. David also spent seven years at UBS Wealth Management Americas, where he personally handled hundreds of retail investor arbitrations, disputes and regulatory matters.In his role as in-house counsel, David handled most types of major class-action and securities litigation. These included residential mortgage-backed securities, auction rate securities, collateralized debt obligations, structured products, affiliated bank sweeps programs and market timing cases. David also worked across all of the key product areas that comprise an integrated modern financial institution, representing UBS's equities, fixed income, investment banking advisory and wealth management franchises.David previously served with distinction as an AUSA in the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, where he received the John Marshall Award, one of the highest honors given by the DOJ.

David Halberstadter

Over more than 35 years of practice, David Halberstadter, the firm's deputy general counsel, has established a reputation among leading entertainment companies as a no-nonsense advisor and talented litigator. When other options fail, he aggressively pursues and defends lawsuits, with a focus on intellectual property-related disputes. Across all his work, clients value David's clear thinking, strategic wisdom and practical business sense. David represents motion picture studios, production companies, television networks and new media companies. He gives them advice they can actually use — plain-spoken, grounded in common sense and uncluttered by legalese. His useful recommendations are backed by the decades he has spent in the entertainment industry. He also understands the cost burden of litigation and factors that into his advice. The cases that David litigates cover all aspects of developing, financing, producing and distributing entertainment content. He also plays a significant "behind-the-scenes" role in the development of movies, television shows and new media properties. He helps clients assess and mitigate risk, often answering the question: "Can we do this without getting sued?" He regularly reviews books, magazine articles and other source material to determine the risk of third-party claims likely to arise from adaptations. In other instances, he reviews often-byzantine rights agreements to make sure his clients actually acquire the rights they need for a project. Clients also turn to him for advice on accounting claims asserted by motion picture and television profit participants.

Derek Ladgenski

For more than two decades, private debt providers and banks have turned to Derek Ladgenski to advise on their most complicated and challenging debt financing deals. Derek helps his clients close complex financings quickly and efficiently, without surprises or delays, and builds their relationships and market presence along the way. Derek counsels lead arrangers, administrative agents and lenders on cash-flow acquisition and recapitalization financings, "take private" transactions and debt financings. Thanks to his vast experience and deep roots in the financing community, Derek helps his clients understand current market conditions, avoid getting bogged down in legal minutiae and get their deals done. His high volume of transactional work — from multibillion-dollar syndicated loans to smaller bilateral deals — allows him to advise clients on current market conditions, the effects of decisions through different credit cycles and positioning for future success. In all of his engagements, Derek strives to exceed expectations and ensure that all parties walk away from the negotiating table as happy with the process as possible, helping his clients to build relationships and grow their own standing with their customers. He has particularly extensive experience in retail, restaurant and franchise financings, where he facilitates the expansion of national and international franchisors, franchisees and restaurant operators through a variety of deal sizes and types, from financings of smaller franchisees and young restaurant concepts to credit facilities of more than $1 billion.

Evan Borenstein

Evan's broad transactional portfolio focuses on financings (including credit facilities, term-loan financings and secured and structured financings), M&A activity and corporate restructurings. His practice covers the entire life cycle of a business, from guiding a startup venture in fundraising and organizational matters to assisting seasoned companies with corporate governance issues. His past restructuring work includes both out-of-court negotiations and Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.Evan also advises entrepreneurs, start-ups, sponsors and funds on many forms of investments, including investments involving mezzanine debt, convertible securities and preferred and common equity. For a number of privately held businesses, he also serves as an outside general counsel, advising on matters including commercial contracts, corporate governance and capital raising. Evan also is well-versed in cross-border transactions and works with clients and their counterparties in various international jurisdictions.

Farzad Damania

Farzad Damania speaks the language of business. Whether advising clients on securities regulation, corporate governance or capital markets and mergers and acquisitions (M&A), he is steeped in the issues that drive client success.Global public and private companies, their boards and underwriters appreciate the sound business judgment Farzad brings to every matter. His practical approach to legal issues, combined with his detailed knowledge of client businesses, prevents regulatory delays and helps close deals. His fluency with securities laws and cross-border transactions often smooths the path with business partners and opponents.Farzad has advised over a dozen public companies extensively on securities regulations, corporate governance issues, rules of stock exchanges and proxy advisory firms. He has represented companies in a wide range of industries, from telecom to food and beverage, heath care, mining, retail, software and technology. His cross-border experience includes capital markets and M&A transactions with clients in diverse markets from Canada and Europe to China, India and Japan. Farzad also counsels clients on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting.

Floyd Mandell

Floyd Mandell is the national co-chair and founder of the firm's Intellectual Property department. He has represented some of the world’s most recognizable companies in intellectual property litigation. Few other lawyers have handled as many high-profile cases over the past 20 years involving copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, trade dress, false advertising and defamation. He has been lead counsel in more than 40 published decisions, many involving novel or cutting-edge issues. On more than one occasion, Floyd has litigated cases with more than $1 billion at stake for his clients.Floyd has served as lead trial counsel for globally recognized brands in technology (Microsoft Corporation, Yahoo!, Intel, Panasonic, Sanyo, Stripe), food and beverage (PepsiCo/Gatorade, Boar’s Head, Cracker Barrel, Planet Hollywood), retail and fashion (Forever 21, Arcadia Group Limited and its Topshop brand, Tommy Hilfiger, ASICS, Fruit of the Loom), media (Cumulus Media; Westwood One; Times Mirror, Inc.), entertainment (Universal Studios; Universal Music Group; Home Box Office, Inc.; E! Entertainment Television, LLC; Scripps Network), pharma and health care (Bausch & Lomb) and beyond.Floyd's client relationships frequently span many years, and leading companies turn to him again and again for his business-focused guidance. They trust him with their most significant legal problems. Usually, these are disputes that threaten a famous brand, like the trademark action against PepsiCo over Gatorade's use of a slogan referring to it as "The Sports Fuel Company." Floyd earned a summary judgment victory for PepsiCo, which had been found liable for millions of dollars in a previous similar case. Similarly, Floyd secured a summary judgment victory for Microsoft, affirmed on appeal, involving a claimed infringement arising out of its X-Box product.Floyd is consistently ranked among the top intellectual property litigators in the United States by Chambers USA, Legal 500, Law360, the National Law Journal, and other outlets. Recognized as a skilled mediator and arbitrator, he is a member of the Panel of Neutrals for the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program sponsored by the International Trademark Association. He is on the list of mediators/arbitrators recommended by the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for Lanham Act cases.

Fred Santo

For the past 40 years, Fred Santo has been advising asset managers and other financial services professionals on the federal securities and commodities laws. These professionals have turned to him to navigate the minefield of regulation that governs the structuring and operation of the financial services world, including the private investment fund community. He advises small investment professionals to large institutional clients on how regulations apply to their businesses. His six years of federal government service before joining Katten enables him to work effectively and smoothly with government officials to solve client problems. In all cases, his counsel empowers clients to make the best business decisions for them.Fred represents investment professionals and the private investment vehicles they form, including investment managers, investment funds (both domestic and international), broker-dealers, futures brokers and family offices. They often seek advice on whether they are legally permitted to engage in new ventures or specific transactions. Providing an answer often requires an understanding of multiple areas of the law, which Fred has accumulated over his career. His areas of experience include Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulations, state blue sky laws, as well as tax- and ERISA-related advice. He also has substantial experience in international financial services laws.Fred knows that his clients don't fit a single mold. He understands each of his client's businesses, and uses that understanding to suggest practical strategies that are commercial while minimizing the risk of regulatory violations. Those clients have rewarded him with their loyalty. In an industry where personal connections matter, Fred forges fast and long-standing relationships with clients large and small.More than once, Fred has convinced government bodies to redraw the line between legal and prohibited conduct in his clients' favor. For client with a private investment fund, he secured the first exemption allowing an entity to accept investments from the retirement accounts of its employees, which otherwise would have been prohibited by ERISA. He also convinced all 50 states to allow a broker-dealer to charge a fee that would have been prohibited under the guidelines of the North American Securities Administrators Association, creating a precedent in the futures industry that several other funds have followed.Earlier in his career, Fred served as a senior attorney in the SEC's Division of Corporate Finance. He later joined the CFTC, then a newly formed agency, as an assistant general counsel, where he wrote several foundational regulations that remain in effect today.

Gil Soffer

Gil Soffer, managing partner of Katten's Chicago office, has made his mark on both sides of white-collar actions. As a former federal prosecutor and senior Department of Justice (DOJ) official, he thoroughly understands the government's enforcement strategies and tactics. As an experienced white-collar defense lawyer and national co-chair of the firm's litigation practice, he devotes his practice to keeping clients out of trouble and navigating them safely through government investigations and enforcement actions.Gil believes that the best strategy is prevention. He focuses on identifying risks and addressing them before the government does. He helps clients draw up compliance plans and codes of corporate conduct that are sensible and as business-friendly as possible within the bounds of the law. And where a government investigation has already begun, Gil devises ways to guide his clients — including corporations, their board members, their executives and employees — out of harm's way.His rare mix of experience gives Gil valuable insights into the government's enforcement strategies regarding corporate fraud. When he worked at DOJ, he managed the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force and was a key drafter of DOJ policies governing the charging of corporations and corporate monitorships. In private practice, Gil has served as independent corporate compliance monitor for a major international pharmaceutical company — a role few attorneys have performed — in one of the most substantial FCPA resolutions to date. And in the past three years alone, Gil has served as counsel to three public company boards or their special committees, investigating shareholder allegations of misconduct and reporting his findings to the board.Gil defends executives and other individuals no less than corporations. Among other victories, he has convinced the DOJ to drop its case against the CEO of an international entertainment company, and persuaded the Securities and Exchange Commission to decline charges against top executives of a mortgage banking firm.

Henry Bregstein

Henry Bregstein is chair of Katten's Alternative Products practice. He combines a great sense of business practicality with an innovative legal mindset in his practice advising varied market participants on business structuring, financial product engineering and regulatory compliance. He is recognized as a leading adviser to investment managers and funds of all kinds, as well as to investors and distributors of alternative investments.Henry provides guidance on fund formation and regulatory compliance to all types of alternative investment funds, including hedge, private equity and hybrid funds. With his combined knowledge of securities, commodities, tax and insurance laws, he is among a small handful of leading attorneys nationwide in the area of insurance-dedicated funds and privately placed life insurance and annuities. Taking into consideration global regulatory, commercial and tax issues, he advises on the structure and documentation of private funds and asset managers, investments in alternatives, lending transactions and other matters. He also assists with regulatory matters, including responding to inquiries from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Whatever the issue, Henry provides advice that is clear, actionable and driven by his depth of experience, all in the service of his clients' long-term business interests.His many clients include asset managers, banks, investment advisers, broker-dealers, insurance companies, real estate investment trusts (REITS), family offices and sovereign wealth funds. Henry and his team handle a wide range of matters for them, including intellectual property issues, private offerings of debt and equity, and the structuring of private equity transactions for operating companies. Henry's evolving practice also includes regulatory enforcement and litigation. He represents market participants and individuals before the SEC, FINRA and other regulators in investigations and enforcement proceedings.An innovator in his field, Henry holds two patents and has one patent application pending. He was granted a patent for a multilevel leverage account structure, allowing multiple classes of investors with differing leverage objectives to establish an investment structure that takes advantage of both the master-feeder structure and the reverse master feeder structure with segregated accounts in the same master fund. Henry's pending patent application involves a tax-deferred fund in which investors can obtain exposure to variable annuities and life insurance policies in a hedge fund structure with income tax deferment or elimination.

Howard Schickler

As co-head of Katten's highly ranked structured finance and securitization practice, Howard Schickler offers clients insights formed from more than 25 years of experience representing private equity funds, special situation funds, specialty finance companies and the full range of players in structured finance transactions. Howie takes care to understand his clients' businesses, having worked with some all the way from the launch of their businesses through their growth cycle, including mergers and acquisitions, public offerings and restructurings and liquidations. Understanding the full life cycle of client enterprises is part of the wide perspective that he maintains in his work.Practices evolve quickly in the highly competitive and heavily regulated world of structured finance and securitization. Howie helps clients stay on top of new regulations and investor requirements, as well as the latest strategies for structuring deals. His familiarity with industry standards allows him to alert clients to deal terms they should be considering and also avoiding. Private equity funds, special situation funds and specialty finance companies frequently turn to him for advice on complex lending and portfolio acquisition transactions, knowing that he avoids unnecessary conflict in difficult negotiations.In the specialty finance arena, Howie has worked with mortgage originators, auto loan originators, equipment lease originators and firms that finance litigation and medical receivables, and fintech companies. At times, these transactions span multiple jurisdictions, which demands compliance with varying regulatory and security interest rules. Howie has also advised clients on strategies to deal with borrowers in distress. In one matter, he assisted a private equity fund that had made a large loan to a specialty finance company in financial trouble. Working with Katten's restructuring and insolvency team, he helped devise a plan that allowed the borrower to restructure under a consensual plan and avoid protracted court proceedings.

Jeffrey Patt

Jeffrey Patt represents entrepreneurs, high-growth companies and the investors who invest in these companies. Jeff regularly handles complex and strategic financial M&A transactions and recapitalizations, serves as board and special committee counsel in going-private and related-party transactions, and represents management teams and executives in change in control transactions.Jeff represents a wide range of clients in a variety of corporate matters, including public and private capital transactions, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and corporate governance matters. He has been recognized by The Legal 500 US and Chambers USA for his middle-market M&A practice for the past several years and, more recently, by Chambers USA for his work with startups and emerging companies. According to Chambers USA, clients say Jeff "finds pragmatic solutions to complex problems and convinces the other side that is the right approach." Clients rely on Jeff's candor and efficient problem-solving.Jeff regularly speaks on a range of topics, including corporate governance and structuring considerations, stockholders' agreements, appraisal rights and remedies, and incenting and retaining management and key employees. Jeff has served as a judge for the Loyola Family Business Center's annual Illinois Family Business of the Year awards. He also is a member of the advisory board to the Chicago office of BBVA Compass.Since 2006, Jeff has been an adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, teaching a mergers and acquisitions class as part of the LLM program in International and Comparative Law. Additionally, Jeff serves on the alumni board for The Chicago-Kent Law Review, and Jeff's contributions to his alma mater were recognized with a Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Jeff is the co-author of a book on stockholders' agreements.

Jeffrey Scharff

For 35 years, Jeff Scharff has helped clients resolve their critical real estate and structured financing issues and close their deals. He handles all aspects of acquisitions, including drafting and negotiating purchase agreements, loan documents (both conventional and tax-exempt bond financing), and partnership agreements with large national equity investors. In 20 years, he has closed acquisitions totaling almost $20 billion for one of the largest national multi-family operators. Jeff also represents large New York City-based developers on the financing of major multi-family and mixed-use projects involving bond financing. Jeff also represents owners of senior living facilities on acquisition and financing matters.In addition to the acquisition work on multi-family and senior living facilities, Jeff also works regularly on the acquisition and sale of office buildings. Jeff has also handled restructuring and disposition of distressed assets (mortgage loans, mezzanine loans, asset-backed securities and other asset types), including representing the Resolution Trust Corporation, lenders, underwriters and developers over the course of his career. He has also represented large national banks and pension funds on construction and permanent lending as well as equity investments, as well as significant experience on commercial leasing matters representing both landlords and tenants on a wide range of leases, including headquarters leases, more traditional office leases and data center leases.

Jennifer Wolfe

Clients turn to Jennifer Wolfe for her knowledge of the market and pragmatic, business-like approach to the practice of law. She represents administrative agents, arrangers, first and second lien lenders and mezzanine lenders in an array of secured and unsecured cash flow and asset-based financings. Jennifer helps her clients, which include banks and non-bank financial institutions in the middle‑market, navigate the regulatory landscape and find creative solutions that work for all parties. Recognized by industry publications such as Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers in Business, The Legal 500 US and The Best Lawyers in America, Jennifer advises on acquisition, leveraged buyout and recapitalization transactions, and her practice spans a wide variety of deal sizes and types, from single-lender financings of lower-middle-market companies to broadly syndicated and unitranche credit facilities of more than $1 billion for equity sponsor-backed transactions. Jennifer also advises clients on restructurings and troubled-credit workouts. Jennifer is known in the market for her experience representing lenders to borrowers in a variety of industries, including the health care industry. Jennifer is a member of the firm's board of directors.

Jill Darrow

Jill Darrow focuses on financial services and private equity transactions, guiding clients through the tax aspects of fund and management company formation, partnership transactions and business acquisitions. Jill's broad knowledge, clear communication and practical advice make her a valuable part of our financial services and private equity representation.She speaks at conferences sponsored by Financial Research Associates and the Practicing Law Institute.  

Joel Weiner

Some of the most prominent companies in the entertainment business turn to Joel Weiner to handle disputes across a broad range of subject matter. With nearly 30 years of litigation experience and vast industry knowledge, he has been trusted by companies like NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Endemol Shine Group, Telemundo and Excel Sports Management with high-profile lawsuits involving series, films and other valuable entertainment properties. The entertainment industry is a magnet for creative disputes. Joel represents motion picture studios, television networks, production companies and talent on the full spectrum of litigation issues. He frequently handles cases involving copyright, contract, accounting, and business tort claims, as well as personal claims against high-profile entertainers, directors and professional athletes. Some of his recent matters have involved popular reality series such as "The Biggest Loser," "Keeping Up With the Kardiashians," and "Ghost Hunters," as well as scripted series like "Heroes," celebrity talk shows like "The Wendy Williams Show," and films like "Ted" and "Machete." Whether he's defending a studio accused of idea theft, interpreting an entertainment industry contract or asserting a producer's First Amendment rights, Joel adjusts his strategies to the particular business needs of his client. In some instances, those business needs call for avoiding the cost, risk and public attention that comes with taking a case to trial. He has won numerous anti-SLAPP motions with fee awards, motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment, and has mediated or arbitrated many disputes confidentially. In other matters, Joel stands ready to take cases all through trial and beyond, drawing on his substantial appellate experience. Outside the entertainment industry, Joel represents clients in business litigation involving contract disputes, interference with contract, insurance issues, environmental claims, employment disputes and real estate investment fraud claims, among other areas.

John Keiserman

John Keiserman represents issuers, underwriters and lenders on structured finance deals across all asset classes, with particular experience in transactions backed by motor vehicle collateral. Recognized as a leading lawyer in structured finance by The Legal 500 US, John brings a creative, pragmatic approach to every transaction to ensure that his clients' business goals are achieved even as they contend with an evolving regulatory regime. With his deep understanding of automobile loan, automobile lease and dealer floorplan receivables-backed deals, John regularly advises clients about developments in securities laws and transaction structures that impact those sectors.John's clients include captive finance companies and independent lenders, new market entrants and issuers with more than 20 years of experience, and underwriters, initial purchasers, lenders and investors who demand counsel that understands the peculiarities of every type of issuance, offering and deal structure. In addition to working extensively on transactions involving every type of motor vehicle collateral, John also focuses on structuring deals with underlying collateral that ranges in quality from deep subprime to super-prime and understands how to tailor structures to reflect each asset's unique characteristics.Understanding the auto industry and the unique features of motor vehicle-backed securitizations also allows John to give advice that keeps his clients on top of regulatory trends and at the front of the market on deal structures and innovative approaches. John advises securitization industry groups and informal groups of issuers on regulatory matters impacting these motor vehicle securitizations and has prepared numerous comment letters to regulatory bodies on these topics.John's focus on motor vehicle deals is supplemented and enhanced by deep experience on transactions utilizing other types of collateral, including mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, equipment loans and leases, franchise loans and diversified payment rights. He also has represented collateral managers and monoline insurers on market value, cash flow and synthetic collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations.

Joseph Topolski

For more than 25 years, Joe Topolski has helped banks, captive finance companies, independent specialty finance companies, private equity and hedge funds, and other financial entities obtain financing for their portfolios of consumer and commercial loans and other financial assets. Finance companies in a wide range of industries, including automotive, commercial equipment, marketplace lending and small business lending, rely on Joe's broad knowledge of the market to help them obtain cost effective, efficient and innovative solutions to their financing needs.Joe understands the importance to all parties in getting the deal done, and is well-known for his ability to come up with practical solutions and proactively manage the process to ensure smooth transaction execution. In addition to spending over two decades as outside counsel, Joe also spent a portion of his career as in-house counsel for a leading captive finance company. As a result, he has unique insights into issues facing finance companies beyond the immediate financing transaction, as well as the issues that concern their counterparties in the transaction. These insights, coupled with his years of experience, mean he can spot and avoid roadblocks that could otherwise cause delays.Joe's clients range from large public companies doing $1 to $2 billion financings to smaller private companies doing $50 to $100 million financings, involving a wide range of asset classes, including auto loans and leases, dealer floorplan finance loans, equipment loans and leases, small business loans and merchant cash advances, litigation and medical finance loans, and personal loans. Because he has worked with a wide variety of asset classes, Joe is able to use concepts for different sectors of the structured finance market to develop innovative solutions for his clients.

Joseph Willey

Tracking the multitude of laws that govern the health care field can overwhelm any hospital system or other provider. As a former attorney with the US Department of Health and Human Services, Joseph Willey helps health care providers identify issues of concern and find workable solutions. When problems arise, he's skilled at litigating a range of claims, including reimbursement disputes. In recent years, he has recouped more than $320 million in additional Medicare reimbursement for hospitals.Reimbursements are the life blood of most hospital systems and health care providers. Joe's thorough understanding of the intricacies of the Medicare and Medicaid systems allows him to take aggressive yet grounded positions in disputes. He has convinced courts to dismiss enormous government claims against his clients and has settled other matters for a small fraction of the amount the government sought. His clients rely on him for guidance related to fraud and abuse matters, saying, "Joseph Willey is commended for his 'truly encyclopedic knowledge of Medicaid and Medicare law'" (Chambers USA). Joe's decades of experience allows him to provide clients with clear roadmaps through the complex regulatory landscape. He advises on federal anti-kickback and physician self-referral laws and represents providers in investigations and litigation under the False Claims Act. He also represents providers in federal and state government audits and before administrative tribunals, including the Provider Reimbursement Review Board. Clients also turn to him to help devise business strategies for their health care operations.

Joshua Yablonski

Joshua Yablonski offers large banks and other clients extensive experience in transactions involving commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). He coordinates all facets of the loan-to-securitization process, building relationships of trust with his clients as well as a detailed knowledge of their documents and procedures. Josh is also a valued resource on transactions involving a variety of asset types, frequently designing innovative deals that are new to his clients or the market at large.Josh guides a variety of clients through structured finance transactions, with the experience to close deals efficiently and effectively. He assists loan sellers, issuers and underwriters with public and private offerings of CMBS. Additionally, he advises purchasers and servicers of asset-backed securities, warehouse facilities and commercial paper. Lenders also turn to him to help with loan originations and sales.Comfortable working with various asset types and deal structures, Josh often helps clients identify innovative deal structures to meet their goals. He handled the first Regulation AB II offering of a CMBS for the issuer on the transaction. Clients also trust Josh to steer them through transaction types that they do not handle regularly. Recently, for instance, he helped a client close its first "re-REMIC" in a decade, and conducted due diligence on a type of CLO deal that another client hadn't seen in just as long.

Karen Artz Ash

From Paris runways to retail outlets across the US, Karen Artz Ash protects the intellectual property of major names in fashion. She provides comprehensive IP counsel to designers and clothing manufacturers as well as clients in other industries in which IP assets figure prominently. The institutional memory that she and her team have established with long-time clients and within the fashion industry as a whole allow her to provide practical and deeply informed advice across a wide range of issues.Karen has a talent for helping clients make strategic decisions about IP assets that support their overall business goals. That includes, but goes beyond, basic issues like selecting, defending and enforcing IP rights. Karen often assists with corporate structuring issues, often rooted in tax analysis, for entities with IP assets that represent a large portion of their overall value. She also strategizes on re-brandings, negotiates commercial agreements involving IP rights and helps clients to incorporate protections for their IP into their business operations.With the many international relationships in the fashion industry, Karen has developed significant experience in cross-border issues. Her team is known for its creative approach to those matters. Karen brings a background in economics and finance to her practice, and gained experience as a clerk in New York bankruptcy court that continues to benefit clients that have either gone through reorganizations or acquired assets from third parties in bankruptcy.

Kenneth Miller

Kenneth Miller devotes much of his practice to representing private equity sponsors, including private equity funds, independent sponsors and family offices, and their portfolio companies in connection with their acquisition and investment activities. His work covers the initial buyout of or investment in the portfolio company, all aspects of the legal representation of the portfolio company during the sponsor's ownership and the sponsor's exit transaction from the portfolio company. His representations have included sponsor investments in a wide variety of industries, including manufacturing and industrials, distribution, business services, health care and technology.In his wider practice, Ken represents private equity sponsors, public and private businesses and entrepreneurs in their merger and acquisition (M&A) activities. He also represents numerous pharmaceutical businesses in acquisition and licensing activities, and provides general corporate counseling to private and public businesses.In addition, Ken advises high-net-worth individuals on the legal aspects of their investments, from acquiring or investing in business to investing in funds.

Kenneth Jacobson

Commercial real estate investors trust Kenneth Jacobson to guide them through high‑dollar transactions in all kinds of economic environments. He helps capital providers like real estate investment trusts (REITs), commercial banks, insurance companies and investment funds invest in commercial real estate through a world of different product types and investment structures. Thanks to a rigorous focus on issues that matter, Ken executes deals with maximum efficiency. Ken has a well-honed ability to distinguish between peripheral issues that drain the time and energy of all parties, and deal terms that truly affect his clients' interests. He keeps his attention fixed on the latter. Together with his organizational skills and attention to process management, he is able to put his advice into action quickly. In markets good and bad, Ken uses investment structures and product types that meet his clients' needs. His deals involve most sectors of the commercial real estate market, including offices, hotels, multi-family apartments, industrial buildings and mixed-use facilities.

Kenneth Lore

Ken Lore has developed a nationally recognized real estate finance practice based upon his representation of owners, developers, investors and lenders by creating complex equity and debt financing structures. His transactions involve multifamily rental properties, mixed use development, affordable housing, public-private partnerships, office buildings and other commercial projects. Ken has also had significant experience in dealing with restructuring and disposition of distressed assets (mortgage loans, mezzanine loans, asset-backed securities and other asset types), including representation of the Resolution Trust Corporation, lenders, underwriters and developers. Clients do not come to Ken for a cookie-cutter deal or approach. Owners, developers and other deal participants seek him out when they have stubborn problems others can't solve. In one project, he created an entirely new financing structure that paved the way for a third-party investor to provide critical and necessary funding. Ken secured Internal Revenue Service private-letter rulings supporting the structure and has gone on to use and improve that structure more than 30 times, making refinements to take advantage of changes in laws and market conditions. Similarly, Ken has developed structures and received Securities and Exchange Commission no-action letters for real estate mortgage investment conduit (REMIC) and investment company matters to facilitate transactions that had not previously been possible. He was also involved in the original drafting of the LIHTC provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (Section 42). Due to the diversity of Ken's practice and the fact that he has worked on so many complex transactions, he is able to develop creative solutions to his clients' problems. He knows from extensive experience what will and will not work in various economic and market conditions. He understands his clients' businesses and how to achieve their objectives. As a result, Ken is able to help his clients develop and take advantage of innovative structures to make the projects they have become reality.

Kimberly Smith

The global chair of Katten's Corporate department, Kimberly Smith helps her clients buy, sell and invest in businesses. Widely honored for her work across a range of industries, her true talent lies in structuring complex transactions and eliminating all road blocks to making them happen. Kim has vast experience in the deals she handles: leveraged buyouts and other acquisitions, sale transactions, joint ventures and other investments. It arms her with insight into current market terms as well as knowledge of challenges that commonly arise. At the same time, every deal involves unique considerations. Whether representing a private equity fund, family office, independent sponsor, strategic acquirer or business seller, Kim listens to what really matters to them in each transaction. Then, she strategizes accordingly and gets the deal done. Kim frequently counsels private equity funds and strategic acquirers buying and selling health care services businesses that use practice management models. She has also worked extensively on transactions involving search funds and independent sponsors and is a member of Katten's Board of Directors.

Kristin Achterhof

Kristin Achterhof is the national co-chair of Katten's Intellectual Property Litigation practice, as well as the national co-chair of the firm's Advertising, Marketing and Promotions practice. She also serves as Katten's national hiring partner. Kristin has represented some of the world's most recognizable companies and is often the first phone call that leading technology, manufacturing, consumer goods, entertainment and fashion-industry clients make on difficult trademark, copyright and other intellectual property issues. As a first-chair trial attorney, she handles intellectual property and all manner of complex business disputes in court. As an adviser on transactions, she maximizes her clients' rights and revenues. Both in and out of the courtroom, she is an advocate and adviser, with an eye to helping clients optimize and protect their tangible and intangible property rights and assets.Household names in the technology and entertainment sectors and famous brands in all areas of consumer products and services rely on Kristin as an advocate and trusted advisor on IP, general advertising and competition issues. She has counseled multinational clients in multiple high-profile disputes involving novel ecommerce issues. She also gives strategic advice to clients on exploiting their copyrights and trademarks over social media, and on how to best protect their IP rights in software and emerging technologies.Kristin acts as a first-chair trial attorney in disputes in federal court, state court and before the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. In addition to her extensive litigation experience, she represents clients in IP-related transactions that range from licenses to distribution agreements to vendor contracts.For many clients, Kristin is something more than an experienced first chair litigator. For them, she is a strategic counselor and partner, who takes the time to truly understand their business and what matters most when their brands are under attack, their IP is being exploited or when they simply need an effective advocate in their corner. Clients also benefit from her extensive knowledge and experience as a counselor and advocate in disputes involving their advertising, marketing and promotions practices. All of her abilities combine to make her a trusted advisor, a passionate and practical advocate, and, for her clients, the first phone call.Kristin is a frequent speaker and panel member for business, legal practice and educational groups across the country, and she is frequently quoted in national and international publications. She also is a skilled mediator and a member of the Panel of Neutrals for the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program, sponsored jointly by the International Trademark Association and the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.

Laura Keidan Martin

Laura Keidan Martin counsels health care providers on their most challenging transactions and compliance issues. As co-chair of Katten's national Health Care practice, she represents hospitals and health systems, ancillary services and post-acute care providers, physician groups and life sciences companies.Ultimately, Laura's work on both transactional and compliance matters paves the way for health care providers to successfully navigate risks while achieving business objectives. Toward that end, she starts with an intimate understanding of their businesses, risk profiles and strategic priorities. This informs everything she does for clients, including structuring complex transactions and advising on compensation arrangements with referral sources. She also regularly helps clients develop clinically integrated networks, navigate high-stakes compliance issues — including government investigations — and proactively reduce regulatory risk through preventative measures like compliance education.Drawing on years of experience and her knowledge of regulatory pitfalls, Laura provides timely and pragmatic solutions to complex issues. In transactional matters, she quickly identifies options and regulatory risks on her way to developing deal structures that best meet client business objectives. In the compliance space, she helps clients grasp the relevant issues immediately based on experience, without the need for research, and provides a recommended course of action, including corrective action plans and government disclosures where appropriate.

Louis Glaser

Mergers and acquisitions in the health care industry demand a thorough understanding of the unique organizations involved and the complex regulatory issues they face. Having completed more than 100 acquisitions in this field, including a number of industry-leading transactions, Lou Glaser can anticipate the full range of complications arising in this highly regulated environment. Health care providers turn to him for some of the largest deals involving hospitals and specialty medical practices. The sale of a physician-owned business poses challenges, and Lou is familiar with the complications that such an ownership situation can create and often devises novel structures to get deals done. A skilled negotiator with a certificate of mediation from the American Health Lawyers Association, he has a track record of closing transactions with minimal regulatory problems. The many successful deals he has completed include record-setting acquisitions of urology and gastroenterology specialty practices. Diversified hospital systems and large medical groups frequently call on Lou, as do a wide range of health care providers, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), managed care organizations (MCOs), pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers. The transactions that he helps these clients with include not just M&A deals, but also reorganizations, joint ventures and complex financial arrangements. Given his vast experience, Lou has navigated nearly every twist that a heath care deal can take — from selling a specialty practice owned by more than 100 physicians to negotiating sensitive matters with a government entity in public due to state sunshine laws. Across all of his work, Lou takes care to address not just his clients' business goals, but also regulatory issues including reimbursement. Beyond his deal work, Lou counsels clients on general corporate and regulatory matters. He has also steered clients through insurance and health care fraud litigation, numerous self-disclosures and the advisory opinion process.

Mara Glaser McCahan

A seasoned transactional lawyer, Mara Glaser McCahan advises on mergers and acquisitions, financings and a wide range of other deals in both regulated and unregulated industries. Her breadth of practice makes her a creative problem solver and her experience navigating deals across industries gives her valuable insight into how to get transactions closed, while staying attuned to the specific nuances of each industry and deal. Mara represents banks, private equity funds and enterprises of all sizes, including multibillion-dollar public companies. Her clients touch industries from real estate to technology and from fintech to manufacturing. She helps them with complex corporate transactions, including M&A, joint ventures and debt and equity financings. Known for her technical savvy and business acumen, she also advises on general corporate matters and often acts as outside general counsel to her clients. She does substantial work involving distressed companies and restructurings, including Section 363 asset sales. In addition, Mara has experience in the highly specialized area of guaranteed and unguaranteed tax credit investment funds, working closely with Katten's tax practice in representing these highly tax-sensitive investment vehicles.

Mark Grossmann

Mark Grossmann knows how to make deals happen. For more than 20 years, he has guided principals and finance sources alike through critical transactions that have helped them grow, compete and realize value. He is known for a refreshingly direct approach that cuts away extraneous issues and gets to the heart of what the parties need. Mark knows that lawyers are often seen as obstacles who can bury the deal in the legal details. He takes a different approach — one based on market knowledge, sharp analysis and a keen sense of priorities. He'll stand firm to get the "right" terms for every deal, but never lets minor or academic issues bring progress to a halt. By keeping the deal moving toward a timely close, Mark makes sure his clients reap its full benefit, while at the same time protecting their legal interests. A deft quarterback, Mark assembles and balances resources from around the firm to address the diverse issues that arise in every transaction. He weighs competing points of view with client priorities in mind and emerges with strategies that meet both immediate needs and long-term goals. Mark has handled hundreds of transactions in the United States and around the world. Clients often turn to him for insight on "what's market," in a given industry or deal structure. Not only does he know the terms, he knows why they matter and how they will play out from contract negotiations through post-closing operations. Mark has deep experience in industries including finance, technology, manufacturing, consulting, real estate, retail, parking, pharmaceutical, security and health care.

Mark Solomon

When private equity firms and business owners need an attorney who can command the respect of a room and cut through roadblocks to achieve their goals, they call on Mark Solomon. Mark, managing partner of Katten's Dallas office, immerses himself in his client's businesses, treats their problems as his own and leads transactions to the finish line. His clients are his partners and his familiarity with his client's goals and operations keeps him one step ahead of the competition.Mark and his team don't need a learning curve, which gives his clients an advantage in the fast-paced world of M&A. Clients rely on him to negotiate effectively to get optimal pricing and terms, and they appreciate his personal touch on matters large and small. He also handles securities and corporate finance work for businesses of all sizes, including public companies.As managing partner of Katten's Dallas office and former national managing partner and CEO of an AmLaw 100 firm, Mark is a business lawyer who understands the needs of his clients. He has been on both sides of the table and understands the unique business environment of North Texas, while representing clients with operations all over the world. His personal relationships with leaders throughout the community give him further insights into relevant business forces in the region and beyond.

Mark Simon

For more than 30 years, Mark Simon has helped lending institutions, real estate funds and developers on a wide range of real estate financings and investments. He combines deep technical knowledge and industry experience with an understanding of the legal and business needs of real estate funds, banks, insurance companies and private developers. Recognized as a leading lawyer for years by industry publications such as Chambers USA, Legal 500 and Best Lawyers, Mark brings market knowledge and judgment based on experience to each of his clients' deals.Ranked as a leading lawyer for real estate law in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, Mark has been described by clients as "very knowledgeable" and "good at focusing on big-picture items." He brings to real estate financings an incisive focus on the financial issues and business risks that will matter most to his clients.Mark's well-rounded representation of lenders and borrowers, developers and fund investors allows him to help his clients understand the needs and objectives of opposing parties and bridge the differences. At the same time, although Mark prides himself on a high level of legal craftsmanship, he works with his clients to identify the true risk points and possible financial detriments worth attacking and negotiates effectively when needed to avoid adverse consequences to his clients.In his civic work, Mark represents nonprofit organizations in their efforts to improve Chicago's neighborhoods and is a board member of the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights. Mark serves his home community as chairman of the Evanston Historic Preservation Commission.

Matthew Brown

Matthew Brown helps entrepreneurs build, grow and sell their businesses, including multigenerational family businesses with their own governance and liquidity issues. He represents owners and investors in buying and selling companies, helping them raise capital and addressing their ongoing legal matters. He also advises directors and special committees in connection with special transactions and investigations. Recognized as a leading lawyer by industry publications, Matt's clients rely on him as a talented problem solver, and practical and valued advisor, with a broad range of legal skills to guide their legal needs from day-to-day matters to lifetime business events. He has counseled clients from startup and initial organization through angel and growth equity fundings, redemptions and recapitalizations, initial and follow-on public offerings and multibillion-dollar liquidity events. He has been instrumental in solving ownership and governance issues for multigenerational family businesses. He also advises entrepreneurs and institutional clients in connection with buying and selling businesses, publicly traded businesses in connection with their SEC reporting and compliance, and directors and special committees in connection with special transactions and investigations. Matt's clients include leading entrepreneurs, multigenerational family businesses and corporate institutional clients, and they range from innovative revolutionary businesses like the first air-to-ground telephone service to a disruptive IT-driven real estate facilities management service business to traditional businesses like scrap recyclers and chemical distributors. Matt was appointed by former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley to serve on the Mayor's Council of Technology Advisors and served for two years as co-chair of the Access to Capital Working Group. He has served on the board of directors of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center since its inception and helped establish Chicago's 1871, one of the most ambitious incubator projects in the country, which is home to more than 400 digital startup companies. He was an advisory board member to the Clean Energy Trust. Matt is also on the board of directors of the Les Turner ALS Foundation.

Michael Diver

Michael Diver has built a national practice advising public companies, financial services firms and individuals in securities litigation and regulatory investigations. In these high-stakes matters, Michael's past experience as a branch chief in the Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gives him valuable perspective, and he has a long track record of achieving very favorable results for his clients. As an Enforcement Division branch chief, Michael managed a team of SEC enforcement attorneys in investigating and prosecuting securities law violations, including matters involving complex financial fraud, market manipulation, insider trading and violations of broker-dealer, investment adviser and investment company regulations. Applying his government experience in private practice, Michael represents public companies, financial institutions and their individual officers and directors in regulatory matters and civil litigation. With over 20 years of experience, Michael is adept at devising effective defense strategies to address legal risks across a broad spectrum of circumstances. He is often called upon to defend clients that are facing concurrent private actions and regulatory investigations, and to defend against claims involving complex legal or compliance issues. In addition to handling investigations and litigation, he also regularly advises clients in connection with corporate governance matters, shareholder claims, financial restatements, internal investigations and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) and stock exchange inquiries.

Michael Jacobson

Partner

Michael Rosensaft

Michael Rosensaft helps individual clients at what is often the greatest crisis of their lives — facing government prosecutors — and advises corporate clients through difficult and complex enforcement investigations. Whether it is responding to a regulatory subpoena, overseeing an internal investigation of employee wrongdoing or advocating for individuals in front of a jury, Michael devotes his efforts to ensuring his clients are protected. A litigator with years of courtroom experience, Michael defends individuals and companies through every stage of investigations and enforcement actions. And as a former AUSA, Michael understands government investigations and prosecutions from the inside and uses that knowledge to gain advantages for his clients.As an Assistant United States Attorney with the Southern District of New York, Michael prosecuted criminal cases, working closely with federal regulators and law enforcement as well as government officials and foreign law enforcement around the world. Now, Michael brings his insider's perspective to his clients' defense, helping them navigate their most serious legal concerns.Michael regularly represents individuals, small businesses, banks and hedge funds in handling regulatory request and actions, internal investigations and criminal indictments. Michael puts his efforts into assuring his clients are never charged with wrongdoing, but when his client's cases go to trial, Michael has the courtroom experience to mount a vigorous defense. He handles all aspects of litigation from efforts to resolve any issues prelitigation, discovery and motion practice, trial and, if necessary, appeal.In recent years, Michael has vacated a 75-count conviction for a client on appeal in the Second Circuit and staved off attacks on his client's privileged communications with his former lawyer in the Third Circuit. Michael manages cases involving white-collar insider trading and fraud, health care fraud, anti-kickback cases, regulatory compliance issues, fraudulent tax shelters, money laundering and insurance fraud. He has conducted internal investigations for clients in multiple industries including health care, investment banking, food services and accounting.As an AUSA for the Southern District of New York, Michael oversaw the investigation and prosecution of numerous criminal cases involving terrorism, international money laundering, export violations, bribery of foreign officials, RICO violations, bank fraud, wire fraud, health care fraud and computer crimes. He was responsible for all aspects of litigation as a federal prosecutor — from pre-indictment investigation and grand jury practice through discovery, motion practice, trial and appeal. Throughout his tenure as an AUSA, Michael worked closely with federal investigative and administrative agencies, including the FBI, the IRS and the State Department. He also coordinated federal prosecutions with law enforcement and government officials in other countries, including working with UN and Guatemalan prosecutors in the investigation and indictment of the former president of Guatemala, Alfonso Portillo, for money laundering. Michael served as law clerk to the Honorable Jane R. Roth of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Michael Hobel

Michael Hobel is recognized as a leading authority in the legal profession on entertainment transactions across digital, television and film. Described by clients as "a tremendous thought partner who provides practical, sophisticated advice," Michael is trusted by entertainment and media companies to represent them on deals involving some of the entertainment industry’s most successful properties for more than 25 years. As the head of Katten's Entertainment and Media Practice, Michael has extensive experience representing entertainment and media companies in complex transactions involving valuable entertainment and intellectual property rights and assets. Chambers USA reports that clients call him "incredibly effective in driving deals to closure and note his superb overall legal and business expertise." Michael's clients include motion picture studios, free, pay and cable television networks, streaming services, Internet and digital media companies, production and distribution companies, financiers, video game companies, rights holders and investors. Michael also advises industry executives on employment contracts, individual talent on agreements for their services on film, television and music products, and companies on management and protection of their trademark and copyright assets. Michael's work relates to all stages of development, production and exploitation of entertainment product. Michael is particularly interested in deals that involve the convergence of entertainment and technology, and he has represented some of the most innovative companies in deals that break new ground in deal structures and business models that have enabled his clients to be first movers in entertainment development, production and delivery.

Neil Shelton

Neil Shelton regularly represents administrative agents, arrangers, borrowers, investors, issuers and first lien, second lien and mezzanine lenders in connection with secured and unsecured cash flow and asset-based financings, including acquisition, leveraged buyout, recapitalization, restructuring and workout transactions. Neil's practice spans a wide variety of deal sizes and types, from single lender financings of lower-middle-market companies to broadly syndicated and unitranche credit facilities of more than $1 billion for equity sponsor backed transactions. He is known in the market for his extensive experience representing lenders to borrowers in the insurance, financial services and health care industries.Clients turn to Neil for his knowledge of the market and his pragmatic, business-like approach to the practice of law. Neil thinks creatively to find solutions that work for all parties. Whether representing a first lien lender, second lien lender, mezzanine lender or a borrower, he anticipates potential downsides and knows how to protect his client from unforeseen risks. He is comfortable navigating the applicable regulatory landscape and advising clients on all aspects of their transactions. His clients include the most active banks and non-bank financial institutions in the middle-market.Neil is also an active supporter of the Folds of Honor and sits on the board of directors of its Chicago chapter.

Nicole Lynn Kobrine

Nicole Lynn Kobrine has successfully climbed to the top of the often male-dominated areas of complex business litigation and commercial real estate. She has been trying cases for more than 20 years and has secured major victories in the courts of DC, Maryland and Virginia. The judges in these jurisdictions know her, and oftentimes she is the only female lawyer in the well of the courtroom. Primarily practicing throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area and nationally, Nicole's recent engagements include the successful representation of landowners, real estate development companies and leading shopping centers in high-stakes disputes.Nicole offers an out-of-the-box approach to finding creative solutions that achieve her clients' goals in the most efficient, effective manner possible. Part of what differentiates Nicole is her ability to find legal "wedge issues" that can take a weak hand and turn it into a strong one for her clients. She finds holes in the other side's argument and then flips the situation to go on offense. Her main focus is to obtain a business resolution, which in these types of disputes is often the best objective. She takes the time to understand the motives of the opposing side and then develops litigation strategies for her clients so they can decide how hard to fight.While she has been successful at winning high-profile, high-value complex commercial disputes on behalf of some of the nation's leading developers, property owners and investors, Nicole seeks the best solution for her clients — which often means avoiding litigation. Her ability to advise on both proactive and reactive approaches makes Nicole an asset in the real estate and construction industries.Outside the courtroom, Nicole is committed to advancing and retaining women attorneys through mentoring, external networking, internal relationship building and career development programs through her work with the Katten Women's Leadership Forum. Nicole is a national committee member of Katten's WLF and has been since 2007. She is also a member of the WLF National Mentoring Panel.Nicole was a Division 1 scholar athlete while earning her Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University. While earning her doctorate of law degree from The George Washington University Law School, Nicole interned for the Honorable Pauline Newman of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Peter Bogdanow

Peter Bogdanow is the attorney of choice for clients looking to execute growth plans and exit strategies in the middle market. He frequently helps private equity funds acquire companies on their own or in partnership with other sources of capital. Peter has a proven ability to complete deals on time, at good value for his clients, while preserving their key business terms. That's why many clients choose him to be their designated acquisition counsel, and why they trust him year after year with their most significant transactions. When he completed seven acquisitions in four years for a single client, it was not an aberration. Peter's dealmaking ability also translates across industries. He has successfully acquired and sold companies for clients in the energy, food and beverage, health care, manufacturing, software, waste management and other industries. Peter regularly represents private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies, as well as family offices, individual investors, family-owned businesses and acquisitive companies. He represents both buyers and sellers, allowing him to understand the concerns of all parties. Management teams also turn to Peter for help obtaining private equity capital and arranging their employment terms. Widely respected as a leading M&A attorney, he also assists clients with other deals that facilitate growth. He regularly structures and negotiates joint ventures, capital markets transactions and investments for minority and controlling stakes. In these transactions, he consistently overcomes the many complications that can arise — from tax issues to corporate governance matters to the many issues that crop up in cross-border deals. Peter's ability to clear those hurdles is what makes him so valuable to his clients.

Peter Siddiqui

When advising creditors in bankruptcies and reorganizations, Peter Siddiqui knows that his job is to make the best of a bad situation. Banks, hedge funds and private equity investors, as well as borrowers, turn to him to find swift solutions that protect their interests with minimal distress. Because he understands his clients' business realities — whether they're in the automobile, real estate, financial services or hospitality and resort industries — he offers advice that's not just informed, but practical. Dealing with companies in financial distress requires a flexible mindset focused on practical solutions for problems that often involve a host of parties. Peter knows that his goal isn't to "win" every dispute. Instead, he keeps his eye on creating a framework that will produce the best result efficiently. He has worked with companies through all phases of the economic cycle, and understands that every restructuring, bankruptcy and other debt resolution must take into account the context of the financial environment. Peter also assists debtors in Chapter 11 cases, trustees in bankruptcy actions and secured creditors in mortgage foreclosures, sales and orderly wind downs.

Peter Wilson

The financial services industry is under constant scrutiny from regulators. Peter Wilson’s familiarity with the business of financial services firms, as well as the regulatory landscape, allows him to quickly assess clients’ potential legal exposure and identify the best solutions. He represents financial firms in regulatory inquiries, criminal investigations and high-stakes litigation, advising them on how to effectively interact with the government and to bring an efficient end to proceedings.As a former attorney at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Peter understands how regulators think and set priorities. He's guided clients through probes by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and options and futures exchanges. With his ability to speak the language of the financial world and his fluency with its most esoteric products, he doesn’t need time to understand the issues his clients are facing.Peter has represented clients accused of manipulating markets, defrauding investors and engaging in anticompetitive behavior. A significant part of his practice involves representing corporate boards and corporate monitors charged with investigating whether companies have installed sufficient controls to prevent misconduct.His government experience, including his work enforcing the Dodd-Frank Act, positions him to craft arguments that resonate with regulators. In numerous situations, he has persuaded regulators to refrain from taking any action against his client, whether based on inadequate training given to an executive, unfairness concerns with applying an obscure regulation or other compelling reasons. Whatever the issue, Peter seeks to bring about speedy resolutions that allow businesses to keep operating as profitably as possible.

Roger Furey

As the chair of Katten, Roger Furey leads the development of the firm's vision, strategic direction and growth. Roger also works together with CEO Noah Heller to execute on the firm’s strategic priorities, including strengthening the firm’s diversity and inclusion, pro bono, and community engagement capabilities. Roger spends much of his time with clients of the firm, ensuring they receive the highest quality legal service delivered with efficiency and innovation. In addition to his role as chair, during his legal career Roger has protected and enforced the intellectual property rights of his clients in every region of the world. His practice concentrates on disputes involving trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights, advertising and other areas of unfair competition.Roger's IP litigation experience includes trademark and trade dress infringement, copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation for clients across a wide range of industries, including telecommunications and information technology, automotive parts, chemical coatings, consumer homecare, industrial power sources, aviation and aerospace, flooring products and defense contracting. He also has considerable experience representing sports entities in nationwide trademark and copyright infringement ad counterfeit-enforcement programs in connection with major sporting events.In the advertising and marketing arena, Roger represents clients in Lanham Act Section 43(a) false advertising and state law unfair competition litigation. He also handles inquiries, investigations and litigations brought by regulators including the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general. His location in the Washington, DC office provides him with ready access to federal regulators, and he has developed strong working relationships with many of them. Finally, Roger and his team review client advertising campaigns for compliance with federal and state regulatory requirements, and he is active in representing clients in advertising disputes brought before the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Better Business Bureau.

Russell Black

Russell Black is a business lawyer who helps clients on the variety of issues they encounter every day. Companies and their owners rely on Russ from the earliest stages of formation, as they grow and expand, and when they are eventually sold. With more than 30 years' experience representing closely held, entrepreneurial and growth-oriented businesses, Russ provides his clients not only with legal assistance, but strategic business planning input as well. Russ understands that as businesses grow and evolve, their legal needs do as well. His approach is to learn all he can about a business and its owners, so he can see the full path of their history, current location and desired destination. Then he applies his legal skills and business acumen gained over three decades working with a wide variety of business clients to counsel them in a manner that's geared toward their specific needs and goals. Efficiency of time and cost are always key considerations, so Russ works quickly to either provide the solution personally or to bring together and manage team members with the needed experience and knowledge to provide a legal solution that’s appropriately measured for the situation. Russ represents clients in a wide variety of industries, and as a result has developed a broad skill set. He counsels on a range of corporate issues, including operating agreements, stockholders' agreements, partnership agreements, manufacturing/distribution agreements, vendor/purchaser agreements, licensing of technology and intellectual property, agreements between service providers and users, leases and financing. Because the proper structuring and handling of personnel issues are a central element of business success, Russ focuses a portion of his practice on employment law, including compliance with federal and state laws and the negotiation of all manner of agreements and situations dealing with employees, independent contractors, compensation, noncompetition, proprietary rights and separation. He also has extensive experience negotiating acquisitions, sales and mergers of businesses.

Saul Rudo

When middle-market businesses or PE firms structure mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, spinoffs and management compensation agreements, their leaders call Saul Rudo. While Saul leads teams to efficiently and effectively get to closings, he focuses on the future as much as the present, designing deals that keep his clients in optimal after-tax positions for years to come.As the lead attorney on his matters, Saul offers his clients direct access to his structuring and "market" advice, without engaging in a game of "telephone" through layers of attorneys. Given his vast experience in the field, Saul delivers suggestions that are practical and "market" in nature, and that solve issues efficiently for all parties. As a result, his deals advance steadily toward closing.Saul represents middle-market private equity firms, family offices and closely held businesses typically of up to $1 billion in value. In addition to his extensive M&A work, Saul advises on the business structuring and tax implications of venture capital and start-up transactions, management compensation arrangements and fund formations.

Scott Morrison

Litigation is disruptive and expensive. Not only do businesses have to deal with the cost of litigation, they also lose time and money when litigation occurs. Scott Morrison helps real estate, construction and other businesses resolve their litigation matters so that they can get back to work. He provides creative solutions to business problems and, if necessary, a tenacious and successful courtroom presence.Scott serves as lead counsel in sophisticated business disputes. He has handled numerous complex, "bet-the-company" cases in both federal and state courts. He also has extensive experience in mediation and arbitration proceedings. He has represented clients in virtually every type of business litigation, including partnership and joint venture fights, complex landlord-tenant cases, breach of contract, fiduciary duty and fraud claims as well as valuation, construction, land use, lender liability and environmental suits. Many of his cases have involved landmark Washington, DC-area developments such as L'Enfant Plaza, Washington Harbour, Market Square and Gallery Place.Scott additionally represents clients in misappropriation, false claims and non-compete and non-solicitation agreements. He has previously been retained as special litigation counsel in bankruptcy, insurance and probate matters.As an appellate attorney, he has successfully managed matters before the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the Virginia Supreme Court, the Maryland Court of Appeals and the Ohio Supreme Court.

Scott Resnik

From government investigations through trials, Scott Resnik helps individuals and corporations manage every stage of the criminal justice system. He is deeply familiar with it, after more than 25 years of work as a federal prosecutor and defense attorney. The insights he has gained along the way have led to repeated success in resolving investigations, trials and appeals.Before joining Katten, Scott spend more than six years as an assistant US attorney in the District of New Jersey. There, he gained extensive trial experience prosecuting a series of high-profile white collar and public corruption cases. As a defense lawyer, he has continued to try cases regularly, including earning acquittals on multiple counts for a pharmaceutical executive following a seven-week trial. He has also won a number of precedent-setting appeals in federal criminal cases.Scott helps individual executives and corporations across all industries — with particular experience in health care and financial services — through every step of a criminal or regulatory action. He assists them in resolving government investigations, and for those that are charged with a crime, he defends them throughout the criminal process.He has handled dozens of investigations for hedge funds, broker-dealers and health care providers into allegations ranging from tax fraud to violations of the federal Medicare Anti-Kickback Statute. He also regularly represents clients in large insider trading investigations, touching on issues from stock price manipulation to violations of confidentiality agreements.

Scott Vetri

Scott Vetri serves as the co-head of the New York Real Estate practice. He has spent his career assembling and closing sophisticated commercial real estate transactions. In his national practice, he represents owners, funds and developers in financings, acquisitions, dispositions, leases and joint ventures.Scott is in his element when working on a complex, time-sensitive transaction. Clients rely on his years of experience to drive their important deals from initial negotiations through to a successful closing. Having previously served as chief legal officer of Ark Investment Partners, an international, institutionally capitalized real estate fund and property management company, Scott views each matter from a client's perspective. He also has past lender-side experience.In deals that present unusual challenges, Scott is an asset to his clients. They include operators and managers of multifamily, office, industrial and hotel properties; in one instance, he successfully completed the sale of a hotel while it was still under construction. Whatever the complications on a particular deal, Scott frequently anticipates the challenges ahead and finds creative solutions to them. His goal for every matter is to close the deal efficiently and within his client's time constraints.

Shaya Rochester

Nearly all companies encounter insolvency or restructuring issues, sometimes in their own businesses and other times with their business partners. When those issues arise, Shaya Rochester has nearly two decades of experience guiding clients of all types through complex in- and out-of-court restructurings. He seeks to maximize value for his clients in the most time and cost-efficient manner possible. Often, this calls for an outside-the-box approach, but one that remains rooted in an understanding of the client's business realities and objectives.Shaya has nearly two decades of experience representing hedge funds, private equity funds, banks, indenture trustees and official and unofficial creditors committees in complex in- and out-of-court restructuring matters, including debt for equity swaps, DIP financings, bridge financings, purchasing assets and defending and prosecuting claims and causes of action. He also has significant expertise representing corporate debtors and other company side constituencies, including management, boards of directors, independent directors and equity sponsors.Knowing that restructurings are always about more than the strict application of bankruptcy law, Shaya makes it his job to understand everything about a company's capital structure, business operations, industry and competitors before developing his approach. He never hides behind legalese, possessing a talent for explaining complex concepts in plain language. That not only helps his clients understand the issues they face, but, as in Shaya's representation of the disinterested directors in the Toys"R"Us bankruptcy, can help them reach resolutions with contentious third parties.

Sheldon Zenner

Drawing on nearly 40 years of combined experience as a federal prosecutor and defense attorney, Sheldon Zenner expertly navigates his clients through high-stakes matters, including government and internal investigations, regulatory proceedings, all phases of criminal matters and related civil litigation. Sheldon's diverse client base is made up of corporations, high-ranking executives and company owners across a wide range of industries, including financial services, health care and entertainment. Importantly, his representation of clients goes beyond advising on purely legal issues; it encompasses practical business implications, operational issues, public scrutiny, reputational damage and other considerations relevant to corporate and individual clients with businesses or livelihoods on the line.The foundation of Sheldon's white-collar defense practice is the seven years he served as an assistant US attorney in Chicago, prosecuting hundreds of high-profile criminal matters and supervising the work of junior line prosecutors. Having a prosecutorial background gives Sheldon critical insights into, and the ability to anticipate, the government's strategic decision-making. It also informs Sheldon's approach as a defense lawyer. Although never anything short of zealous, he favors a search for common ground and reasonableness, whenever possible, over unproductive displays of aggression.That defense style has proven effective even when the government has opted for dramatic action. In one matter of note, 100 federal agents were deployed to execute a massive search of a client company's headquarter offices, seizing millions of dollars of products and attempting to interview executives. Sheldon immediately showed up on the scene to help control the situation, calm the employees and negotiate with the government and to address the press, which had been alerted by law enforcement to the raid. He then engaged with federal prosecutors in a year-long effort to persuade them that the company had engaged in no criminal conduct. Ultimately, after numerous meetings with the prosecutors and the submission of a lengthy legal analysis, the government was persuaded to decline any prosecution and return all of the seized products without any charges being filed.Although it is a paramount goal of any potential criminal matter to avoid prosecution, Sheldon is equally prepared to, and equally skilled at, trying cases. Among other victories, he convinced the government to abandon the first federal criminal computer-hacking prosecution after his damaging cross-examination of the government's expert at trial.Many of Sheldon’s matters involve alleged violations of antitrust, securities, tax, FCPA or anti-fraud laws. Given the international nature of his clients' businesses, his work takes him to many foreign jurisdictions, including China, Japan, Brazil and South Africa, as well as many European countries. In addition to advising on government inquiries, Sheldon also helps clients conduct internal investigations into suspected wrongdoing and respond when they have been victimized by white-collar crime.The breadth and depth of Sheldon's experience provides his clients with great assurance and comfort that they have counsel on board who can assist them to meet whatever challenges they may be facing.

Stanford Renas

With clients that include some of the largest banks, funds and corporates in the world, Stanford Renas is a respected thought-leader in the structured finance community who clients seek out high-dollar transactions and cutting-edge structures. Stan helps clients structure, negotiate, document and execute complex financial transactions in the energy, oil and gas and metals sectors, including borrowing base facilities, renewable energy transactions, intermediation facilities, tolling arrangements and structured bullion and base metals transactions. Stan also represents underwriters, issuers, institutional investors, collateral managers and sponsors in a wide range of matters involving the securitization or re-packaging of traditional and non-traditional assets. He has extensive experience using "cash flow," "market value" and hybrid structures, and is a leading practitioner in the CLO market. In addition, Stan represents issuers, sponsors, derivatives dealers and end-users in a broad range of transactions, including structured swaps, total return instruments, credit derivatives, repo contracts and other types of structured products. Stan has significant experience in domestic and cross-border trade receivables securitization, asset-based finance, factoring, supply chain/vendor finance, trade finance and other receivables monetization strategies. He regularly advises clients on the creation and management of bespoke receivables finance transactions.

Stephen Esko

Recognized as a leading lawyer in the Structured Finance: Securitizations category by The Legal 500 US, Stephen Esko advises clients on all aspects of asset-backed and mortgage-backed securitizations. His experience encompasses a wide range of structured finance transactions, including issuer and underwriter representation in public and private securitizations, asset sales and financings, structured note issuances and credit derivatives work. Stephen works with government-sponsored enterprises, banks, lenders, broker-dealers and mortgage loan servicers.

Steven Reisman

Steven Reisman advises clients on a wide range of insolvency, restructuring and creditors' rights matters. His work helps creditors to protect their interests and maximize their recoveries, helps debtors to restructure or wind down their businesses in an orderly manner, and helps investors to locate hidden opportunities. Steve regularly represents debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, as well as boards of directors and independent directors in all aspects of insolvency matters. Steve is highly experienced in all aspects of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as well as insolvency issues arising from in-court and out-of-court restructurings. He is particularly well-versed in the unique needs of parties to Chapter 11 cases, such as debtors, secured lenders, governmental entities, creditors' committees, indenture trustees, liquidators, secured and unsecured creditors, shareholders, and defendants in avoidance actions. Steve also advises investors seeking opportunities in Chapter 11 through the purchase of assets or interests in a creative manner in order to acquire the company or its assets. His clients benefit from his understanding of the needs of all stakeholders, which allows them to negotiate more effectively during the in-court or out-of-court process. His insolvency experience does not end at the US border. Steve has been involved in proceedings with clients in markets such as Mexico, Argentina and Canada, among other jurisdictions.

Timothy Lynes

Leading the firm's Aviation practice, Timothy Lynes, managing partner of Katten's Washington, DC office, has spent more than 30 years representing manufacturers, airlines, lessors, financial institutions, equity investors and insurers in the sale, leasing and financing of aircraft. Clients rely on Tim's deep industry knowledge and his proven leadership in the field.Having spent so many years serving aviation clients, Tim has developed his own best practices that lead the rest of the sector. For example, he created and implemented novel private aviation cost-sharing structures involving non-exclusive leases and management agreements that now are used industrywide. This forward-looking, innovative approach is why clients turn to Tim again and again.Tim handles all types of aviation transactions with a singular focus on finding creative solutions to a client's most challenging problems. In every deal, he works to build consensus among all parties, paying particular attention to their unique needs. Tim never assumes he automatically knows what success looks like for a client – he listens and then develops a strategy that will accomplish their specific objectives.He has made numerous appearances on CNN and other outlets to discuss aviation issues from the perspective of manufacturers and airlines routinely writes on the aviation issues of the day.

Valentina Famparska

Valentina Famparska concentrates her practice on the federal income tax aspects of complex business transactions and entities, including mergers, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, private equity investments, formation of private equity and real estate funds, formation of joint ventures and partnerships, and management compensation.Valentina also works with the firm's health care practice, sports and sports facilities practices, financial services practice and the trusts & estates practice on various tax matters. In addition, she provides tax planning advice to family-owned and other closely held businesses.Valentina's representative transactions include private equity and M&A transactions for clients including Sterling Capital, Frontenac Company, PSP Partners and Prairie Capital.

Walter Weinberg

For more than 30 years, Walter Weinberg has been advising private equity funds and other corporate clients as well as private equity professionals and executives. He represents sponsors in forming private equity and other funds as well as institutional investors and high-net-worth families who invest in this asset class. His years of experience and sound judgment in guiding clients through mergers and acquisitions (M&A), joint ventures, financings and other transactions allow him to offer practical solutions to common as well as novel or complex issues that invariably arise in transactions.Walter's practice covers the major activities of private funds, starting with their formation. He counsels sponsors of private equity, venture capital and real estate funds in the formation process, and advises all types of investors on investments in all types of funds. Walter represents funds as they invest in and exit portfolio companies. He also represents private equity professionals as they join and leave sponsors, and counsels management groups in their compensation and equity arrangements. He also spends significant time advising companies — many controlled or sponsored by private investment funds — in equity financings, M&A and other transactions. He has represented companies from start-ups to large-cap public companies in M&A across a variety of industries, and is quick to identify and understand the sensitive points and key issues in a given transaction.Walter offers clients timely, clear and practical advice. He aims to execute the legal part of deals in such a way that achieves clients' aims and, to the extent possible, lead to no post-closing surprises.

Wendy Cohen

Wendy Cohen, co-chair of the Investment Management and Funds group, understands the business realities and challenges of the competitive world of asset management. For three decades, asset managers have turned to her to navigate the minefield of regulation that governs the structuring and operation of private investment funds. From the largest and most established hedge funds to innovative players with alternative strategies, clients rely on Wendy to handle all legal issues that touch their businesses.Wendy knows that asset managers don't fit a single mold. She understands each of her client's businesses, and uses that understanding to suggest practical strategies that are commercial while minimizing the risk of regulatory violations. Those clients have rewarded her with their loyalty. In an industry where personal connections matter, Wendy forges fast and long-standing relationships with clients large and small.Wendy has amassed extensive knowledge on the laws most relevant to her client base of private investment funds whether the investment portfolio includes securities, futures or cryptocurrencies. She has particular experience on issues relating to the formation and ongoing operation of fund management, including domestic and offshore offering requirements, futures regulation, investment adviser rules and broker-dealer regulation. She also stays in front of new and changing legal issues that touch other aspects of fund operations — among them cryptocurrencies, cybersecurity rules, US and EU privacy regulations and ERISA-related matters.What separates Wendy, however, is her ability to account for her clients' unique needs in a manner that reflects an understanding of their businesses, while minimizing regulatory risk. When an investment manager client wanted to adopt a highly complex compensation structure for its multiple families of funds, for instance, she was able to distill the concepts and craft easily understandable disclosures that would enhance the client's marketing efforts. Sometimes she simply helps clients navigate regulatory obstacles, as she has done for clients that want to manage funds for their employees' IRAs. She helps guide them through the complex web of US Department of Labor rules, including receiving an exemption for one client that could not fit within established protocols. Wendy's wide-ranging practice frequently touches on cutting-edge issues. She launched one of the earliest investment funds focused on cryptocurrencies, a rapidly changing area fraught with risk. She created comprehensive offering documents that allowed the manager to enter this dynamic new investment space with materials that were compliant with applicable regulation. Whether it is in law or finance, Wendy is passionate about empowering women. She is active in Katten's Women's Leadership Forum, which supports the strategic retention and advancement of women attorneys at the firm through mentoring and professional development programs. She also has a long-standing relationship with 100 Women in Finance as an Angel Member. Wendy routinely hosts roundtable programs and other events in Katten's New York office on behalf of the 100WF, bringing exceptional speakers from the finance world and facilitating networking opportunities.

Zia Modabber

Time and again, major recording artists, their key advisors and core industry companies trust Zia Modabber, the managing partner of the Los Angeles offices, to handle legal issues they face in the creation and protection of their assets. With decades of experience in the music and entertainment industry, he has an ability to not only address his clients' pressing legal issues, but also their long-term artistic and business interests. Zia is a sought-after litigator of intellectual property, First Amendment and other entertainment-related issues. And his ability to maintain a career-long perspective — along with his integrity and discretion — cements the trust between Zia and his clients that make him an invaluable counselor even outside of actual litigation. In a high-stress, high-reward industry, some of the biggest musical artists have relied on his experience, judgment and skill: Michael Jackson (and now his estate), Trent Reznor, Stevie Wonder, Celine Dion, Usher, Chris Brown, Slash and Jeff Lynne/Electric Light Orchestra among them. Zia also represents industry powerhouses Live Nation, The Recording Academy and MusiCares, as well as personal managers, agents, business managers and record and publishing companies. Zia's industry relationships and reputation are tools that he brings to bear for his clients' advantage. He has deep experience in all forms of dispute resolution, from private mediations to high-profile jury trials and appeals and everything in between. His matters include cutting-edge issues, as in his representation of the former spouse of an R&B legend in a case involving the tension between state community property laws and the federal Copyright Act. And for Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Zia won a multimillion-dollar jury verdict and the return from a former personal manager of all of Nine Inch Nails' trademarks and other intellectual property.