DLA Piper LLP (US)’s non-contentious tax practice, led by Stacy Paz in Silicon Valley alongside Seattle-based Alison Maxwell, continues to claim its share of middle-market and major transactions, including in emerging areas such as tax insurance and digital assets structuring. The team also has a strong offering in the sports space, recently advising the majority owners of NBA team the Phoenix Suns as well as the investment arm of NFL team the San Francisco 49ers. Senior partner Gerald Rokoff leads a group dedicated to handling the tax structuring of asset management and financial product transactions, while Shiukay Hung is an expert in REIT tax, representing both sponsors and investors. Thomas Geraghty in Chicago advises on mergers, including those involving SPACs and up-C structures, joint ventures, securities offerings, restructurings, real estate investments, and investments in cryptocurrency and digital assets. Frank Mugabi’s broad experience in the oil and gas sector extends to private equity M&A as well as de-SPAC and Reverse Morris transactions. Drew Young has recently focused his efforts on renewable energy matters, especially those concerning the new Inflation Reduction Act. Associate John Wei is highly regarded. Kurtis Weaver in Boston was promoted to partnership in 2023, with the group also strengthened by the arrivals of David Pope, Los Angeles- and Palo Alto-based Brian Hamano, and Andrew Kreisberg in San Diego. Unless otherwise noted, lawyers mentioned are based in New York.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Very capable and efficient team. Responsive to client demands, including timing. Wide range of expertise. Unparalleled network of local counsel in foreign jurisdictions.’
‘John Wei has a valuable combination of skills rarely found in tax associates: extremely smart and technical, but also understanding of the bigger picture and of clients' needs to make practical business decisions.’
‘I use the same team as for financial products, i.e. Jerry Rokoff (Partner) and John Wei (associate). This is a strong team. They are responsive, fully aware of market developments, have strong technical ability and are willing to back their judgment by an opinion if the matter is opinionable.'
‘The REIT and real estate tax team led by Shiukay Hung is very well respected. Shiukay is uniquely able to meld his private sector experience with his deep knowledge of the highly technical REIT and partnership tax rules and industry practices to advise clients on thorny tax issues and judiciously guide clients with respect to best practices. Shuikay delivers practical client-focused advice on an extremely wide range of real estate-related matters.’
‘We are very happy with our DLA team. They have consistently provided us with excellent, thorough, solutions-focused tax support in the private credit space. They are extremely knowledgeable and creative. They keep us updated on new developments and are very practical in providing advice. They have a very good understanding of our needs and their work very efficiently to scale the advice according to our needs.’
‘John Wei is exceptional. He is our go to person for anything tax related. He is very highly regarded and known in our organization and people value his opinion. He knows how to explain complicated tax matters according to his audience. He works very well with Gerald Rokoff and the rest of the DLA team and that is extremely important as we trust him as our go to person.
- 'Gerald Rokoff is our longest relationship at DLA and oversees our engagement. We appreciate that he is deeply connected within the industry and understands our organization. He knows how to right-size his advice and also to staff our account with the right people at DLA.’
Key clients
- Phoenix Suns
- 49ers Enterprises II, LLC
- Carlyle Group, LLC
- Etain Health
- BioTE Holdings, LLC
- Atrium Sports, Inc.
- Airtower Networks
- Lionheart Acquisition Corporation II
- JAFRA Cosmetics International, Inc.
- Concord Music Group, Inc. [Alchemy/Concord Music]
- Freightos Ltd.
- Globant
- SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC
- Loral Space & Communications, Inc.
- MDC Partners Inc.
- Columbus McKinnon Corporation
- Haymaker Acquisition Corp II
- Exelon Corporation
- Opportunity Financial, LLC (OppFi)
- Parasol Renewable Energy LLC
- CareMax Medical Group
- EQT Exeter/EQT Exeter Real Estate Income Trust, Inc.
- Ares Real Estate Income Trust Inc.
- American Gene Technologies Inc.
- Inland Real Estate Investment Corporation
- Baird Capital
- Columbia Capital, LLC
- LLR Partners, Inc.
- Centroid Investment Partners LC
- Pico Quantitative Trading LLC
- RV Share
- GPS Insight
- TCW Group, Inc.
- AXA
Work highlights
- Advised the majority owners of the Phoenix Suns (Phoenix Suns Legacy Partners LLC) on how to tax-efficiently structure the sale of a controlling position in the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury.
- Represented ResMed, a publicly traded respiratory and sleep care company, in its acquisition of Somnoware.
- Advised IPC Alternative Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. in the tax planning and the REIT tax considerations of a private offering involving the conversion of an Inland private real estate fund to an NAV REIT and the public offering of the NAV REIT.
Lawyers
Leading associates
Leading associates with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Stacy Paz, Alison Maxwell