NEW YORK, November 22, 2016: International law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP announced today that it has elected 13 new partners and 11 new counsel, effective January 1, 2017.

“I am pleased to introduce this diverse and exceptional group of lawyers, who are based in 11 offices around the world,” said Executive Partner Barry Wolf. “They practice across the Firm’s four departments of Corporate, Litigation, Business Finance & Restructuring, and Tax, Executive Compensation & Benefits, and reflect the strength of our global platform.”

The new partners and counsel are based in Boston, Budapest, Dallas, Frankfurt, London, Miami, New York, Paris, Princeton, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. Biographical information for them is below.

Partners:

Kamyar Abrar is in the Private Equity practice and is based in Frankfurt.  He advises clients on all aspects of corporate law and has extensive experience handling domestic and cross-border M&A transactions as well as restructurings, especially in the tech sector.  Recent transactions on which he has advised include representing TPG Capital in the sale of Deutsche Telekom's former subsidiary MEDIA BROADCAST to listed telecom company Freenet; Centerbridge in its acquisition of wind turbine company Senvion from Indian Suzlon Group; MEDIA BROADCAST in the sale of orbital and frequency rights to global satellite operator SES Astra; Bregal Unternehmerkapital in its acquisition of OEM supplier Binder Group; and TPG Capital and DLJ Merchant Banking Funds in the sale of Grohe Group to LIXIL Corporation, Japan.

Allison Brown is in the Litigation Department and is based in Princeton.  She has extensive experience representing clients on a wide range of complex litigation, including commercial, environmental, pharmaceutical product liability, consumer fraud and mass tort actions.  She has played a key role in numerous high-profile cases, including successfully arguing summary judgment on behalf of a global energy company in a decade-long multi-billion-dollar commercial dispute concerning pollution of the Passaic River in New Jersey; serving as trial counsel in an antitrust case brought by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to block a multi-billion dollar merger between two national office supply companies; representing a leasing company in connection with multiple personal injury lawsuits arising from a major train derailment in Canada; and representing a number of pharmaceutical and consumer product companies at trial in product liability litigations. 

Kelly DiBlasi is in the Business Finance & Restructuring Department and is based in New York.  Her practice focuses on representing debtors, creditors and equity interest holders in all areas of domestic and international restructurings and crisis management, both in and out of court.  She has advised on numerous high-profile restructurings, including currently representing global helicopter services company CHC Group in its chapter 11 cases and steel giant Essar Steel Algoma in its chapter 15 cases.  She has also represented creditors in numerous major chapter 11 cases, including debtholders of Magnum Hunter Resources and the Export-Import Bank of China as the largest secured creditor in the reorganization of Northshore Mainland Services.  She previously advised Financial Guaranty Insurance Company in its rehabilitation proceeding and as a creditor in the City of Detroit’s landmark chapter 9 proceeding.

Jared Friedmann is in the Complex Commercial Litigation practice and is based in New York.  He has represented public and private clients in the banking, insurance, manufacturing, on-line commerce and telecommunication industries in both state and federal courts and in arbitration.  Significant engagements include defending the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in multiple litigations involving claims seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages; defending Alibaba Group in multiple federal court litigations alleging contributory trademark infringement and RICO violations; and representing UnitedHealth Group and its affiliates in a number of nationwide ERISA class actions brought by providers and plan participants.  

Adé Heyliger is in the Public Company Advisory Group and is based in Washington, D.C.  He has extensive experience advising public companies, both U.S. and foreign, on securities regulation, disclosure, and corporate governance matters, including those arising in M&A and capital markets transactions.  Prior to joining Weil, he served as Special Counsel in the Office of Mergers & Acquisitions of the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  He currently serves as Chair of the Federal Regulation of Securities: Proxy Statements and Business Combinations Subcommittee of the American Bar Association, and is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center. 

Nitin Konchady is in the Banking & Finance practice and is a member of the European High Yield team based in London.  He advises clients on high-yield debt offerings and leveraged and acquisition finance transactions.  He also advises financial institutions, corporates and private equity sponsors on a wide variety of other capital market and corporate finance transactions and U.S. securities law matters, including initial public offerings, investment grade securities offerings, hybrid securities offerings, European medium-term note programs and liability management transactions.  Significant representations include advising on the bridge and bond financing of Hellman & Friedman’s acquisition of TeamSystem, an Italian software firm; the bridge and bond financing of the acquisition by HomeVi (a PAI Partners portfolio company) of SARquavitae, a Spanish elderly care service provider; the debt restructuring of Edcon, a South African retail group; and the debut high-yield bond offering by Perform Group (an Access Industries portfolio company).

Brianne Kucerik is in the Antitrust practice and is based in Washington, D.C.  She focuses on both antitrust litigation as well as counseling clients through the merger review process at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, and routinely obtains antitrust clearance for major, multi-billion dollar transactions.  She has experience across a variety of industries, including healthcare and pharmaceuticals, medical devices, retail, hospitality and leisure, information technology and software, and automotive.  Most recently, she represented Sanofi in a proposed transaction to exchange Sanofi’s animal health business and Boehringer Ingelheim’s consumer healthcare business, and represented Allergan in its acquisitions of KYTHERA Biopharmaceuticals, Vitae Pharmaceuticals and Tobira Therapeutics.  She also previously secured antitrust clearance for Actavis in its acquisition of Allergan, and for Signet Jewelers in its acquisition of Zale Corporation. 

Jonathan Macke is in the Tax practice and is based in Dallas.  He concentrates on the tax aspects of a wide range of corporate transactions, including domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, joint ventures, and financing transactions.  He has significant experience advising on transactions involving partnerships and other pass-through entities.  He also advises sponsor and investor clients in a wide variety of private investment funds, including leveraged buyout, energy, infrastructure, region-specific (including Asia and India) and real estate opportunity funds.  Significant representations include advising IHS in its merger of equals with Markit Group Limited; the founders of Magnetar Capital in the sale of a minority interest in Magnetar Capital Partners to an investment fund affiliated with Blackstone Alternative Asset Management; Octagon Credit Investors in its sale to Conning & Company; and Thomas H. Lee Partners in its sale of a majority stake in 1-800 CONTACTS.

Ramona Nee is in the Private Equity practice and is based in Boston.  Her practice focuses on private equity and corporate transactions, including leveraged buyouts, growth equity investments, and mergers & acquisitions.  She also advises clients on general corporate matters, including with respect to numerous joint ventures, strategic matters and corporate governance.  Her clients include Advent International, Providence Equity Partners, OMERS Private Equity, Snow Phipps, American Capital and North Bridge Growth Equity, among others.  Most recently, she represented OMERS Private Equity in, together with Harvest Partners, the take-private acquisition of Epiq Systems and its combination with Document Technologies, and American Capital in back-to-back sales of eLynx and PHC Sharp Holdings.

James Sargent is in the Private Funds practice and is based in London.  He specializes in advising on the establishment and day-to-day operation of private investment funds in the UK, Europe and globally for a variety of independent and institutional fund managers across a range of strategies, in particular private equity, infrastructure, real estate, energy and credit.  He also advises fund managers on co-investment arrangements, secondary fund interest sales, fund extensions and roll-overs, end of fund life portfolio sales and manager spin outs, as well as on their executive remuneration arrangements, and advises a number of institutional investors in respect of their investments in various private funds.  His clients include 8 Miles, Arcus Infrastructure Partners, Argos Soditic, Castleforge Partners, Dalmore Capital, Hastings Funds Management, InfraRed Capital Partners and Revetas Capital.

David Singh is in the Complex Commercial Litigation practice and is based in Silicon Valley.  He has extensive experience litigating high-profile consumer class actions in addition to trade secret misappropriation and employee mobility disputes; breach of contract, fraud, and product liability cases; and earn out, working capital, indemnification and other post-closing M&A disputes.  Recent notable work includes prevailing on motions to dismiss in two separate consumer class action complaints against a leading public technology company.  He also recently secured the dismissal of a class action complaint against Sanofi regarding its epinephrine injection product, AUVI-Q; and represented ExxonMobil in a multidistrict litigation involving more than 30 putative class actions alleging that retailers of gasoline and diesel fuel should have adjusted the size or cost of gallons of fuel sold to account for thermal expansion.

Sunny Singh is in the Business Finance & Restructuring Department and is based in New York.  He advises debtors, creditors, private equity funds, equity holders, investors, DIP lenders and other interested parties in all aspects of distressed and insolvency situations.  He also has extensive experience advising clients regarding the treatment of derivatives in bankruptcy and the settlement and treatment of complex derivatives transactions in the bankruptcy context for debtors and creditors.  He is currently leading American Gilsonite in its prepackaged chapter 11 case and The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) in its chapter 11 cases, as well as several other parties in current out-of-court situations.  Other significant representations include representing Fairway Market in its prepackaged chapter 11 cases, Lehman Brothers and its affiliates in their historic bankruptcy cases and representing AMR Corporation and its U.S. subsidiaries, including American Airlines, in their chapter 11 restructuring and merger with US Airways.

Heather Viets is in the Banking & Finance practice and is based in New York.  She has significant experience advising financial institutions, non-bank lenders and issuers in connection with bank finance transactions, including acquisition financings, first and second lien credit facilities, bridge loan facilities, mezzanine financings, and restructurings.  She recently represented the administrative agent in revolving senior secured facilities to finance Coherent’s acquisition of ROFIN-SINAR; the arranger and joint bookrunner in senior secured facilities to finance JAB Beech’s acquisition of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts; the secured lenders to Things Remembered in its out-of-court restructuring; and the arranger and administrative agent in a committed bridge facility to finance the acquisition by Great Plains Energy of Westar Energy.

Counsel:

John Goldman is in the Real Estate practice and is based in New York.  He focuses on real estate and infrastructure transactions, and has represented sponsors, government agencies, public companies, investors, and commercial real estate owners and operators in all forms of commercial real estate investment, disposition, development, operation and financing.  He has also played key roles in significant public company REIT spin-off transactions.  Representations include advising the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on major strategic real estate transactions and infrastructure development, as well as significant policy issues and leasing matters.  He has also handled the real estate aspects of numerous significant M&A transactions for General Electric.

Matthew Goren is in the Business Finance & Restructuring Department and is based in New York.  He has extensive experience advising debtors and creditors in restructuring and liquidating scenarios, both in and out of court.  He has represented corporations seeking to reorganize under chapter 11, including American Airlines and Finlay Enterprises.  He is currently representing auto parts supplier Chassix Holdings and its domestic subsidiaries in the prearranged chapter 11 restructuring of their capital structure, and Houston onshore oil and natural gas company Halcón Resources in its recent chapter 11 case.  He is also experienced in representing financial advisers as retained professionals in chapter 11 cases.

Dawn Kim is in the Mergers & Acquisitions practice and is based in New York.  She focuses on advising public and private companies in connection with complex domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, going-private transactions, joint ventures and other commercial transactions.  She also provides counsel on general corporate matters, corporate governance issues, operational matters and other strategic considerations.  Her recent representations include advising Verizon Communications in its agreement to purchase Sensity Systems, advising General Electric in the sale of its commercial lending and leasing businesses to Wells Fargo, and advising Iron Mountain in the sale of certain document management assets.

Kyum Lee is in the Complex Commercial Litigation practice and is based in Paris.  He has extensive experience litigating complex commercial cases related to corporate and M&A transactions, commercial contracts, insolvency related proceedings, and banking matters.  He recently played a key role securing a significant defense ruling for a major banking institution in a claim brought by a securitization fund.  Other significant representations include the successful defense of Société de la Tour Eiffel in relation to tender offers and securities litigation, and the defense of a pharmaceutical group in an ICC arbitration.  He is Ancien Secrétaire de la Conférence (a prestigious circle of the Paris Bar Association whose members are appointed on their pleading skills).

Ferenc Mátrai is in the Real Estate practice and is based in Budapest.  He has participated in a number of complex transactions involving major foreign investors and domestic companies.  He specializes in the field of real estate and construction, public procurement, state aid, public-private partnerships (PPP), and real estate related M&A and private equity transactions.  His major clients include property developers and investors, state agencies and private equity firms.  He has also participated in numerous high-profile property development projects including some of the largest of such transactions to ever take place in Hungary.

Edward McCarthy is in the Complex Commercial Litigation practice and is based in Miami.  His practice focuses on the defense of complex multi-district litigations and class actions, as well as matters related to securities and corporate governance, products, and commercial lending and collections.  He also has extensive experience representing businesses in bankruptcy and receivership, and has counseled clients in a broad range of industries, including banking and financial services, health care, real estate, research, and manufacturing.  His recent engagements include the ongoing successful representation of Procter & Gamble in a multi-district product liability litigation relating to its Fixodent denture cream; defending Repsol in a litigation involving billions of dollars of alleged liabilities in connection with pollution of the Passaic River in New Jersey; and serving as a lead litigator and trial counsel to Financial Guaranty Insurance Company in litigation arising out of the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Jessie Mishkin is in the Complex Commercial Litigation practice and is based in New York.  Her practice focuses on various forms of complex commercial litigation and arbitration, including contract, trade secrets, employment, antitrust, bankruptcy, First Amendment, trademark, right of publicity and class action matters in federal and state courts and before arbitration panels.  She has represented clients in media, technology, pharmaceutical, healthcare, manufacturing, energy, private equity and other industries.  She recently won a number of important victories for CBS at the trial and appellate court level in right of publicity class actions brought by NCAA student-athletes, and helped secure a complete victory for the East End Eruv Association, and religious freedom in general, in a dispute related to the establishment of an eruv in Westhampton Beach, New York.

JoonBeom Paeis in the Tax practice and is based in New York.  His practice focuses on the tax aspects of private equity transactions with an emphasis on private fund formation.  He has substantial experience advising both private fund sponsors and investors in the formation, structuring and investment activities of various types of private funds, including buyout, infrastructure, real estate and debt funds based in the United States, Europe and Asia.  His recent representations include advising Brookfield Asset Management in the formation of Brookfield Capital Partners IV, and the formation of Brookfield Infrastructure Fund III, the largest private fund raised by Brookfield.  He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Tax Committee of the Asian American Bar Association of New York.

Ryan Taylor is in the Private Equity practice and is based in New York.  He has a diverse transactional and corporate counseling practice with an emphasis on representing private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies in a wide variety of transactions, including leveraged buyouts, M&A, strategic investments, restructurings, financings and dispositions.  He also advises clients on general corporate and commercial matters, including corporate governance issues and other strategic considerations. Recent representations include advising American Securities in its acquisitions of Henry Company, Ulterra Drilling Technologies, Emerald Performance Materials and Metaldyne Performance Group, as well as the subsequent IPO of Metaldyne and sale of Arizona Chemical.  In addition, he advised EQT Infrastructure on its acquisition of Direct ChassisLink.

Derek Walter is in the Patent Litigation practice and is based in Silicon Valley.  He has represented clients before the U.S. District Courts, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the International Trade Commission in all phases of patent litigation, encompassing a wide range of technical areas, including life sciences, software, data storage devices, Internet technologies, networking equipment and microprocessor design.  With a Ph.D. in physical chemistry, he has particular expertise in matters related to the biological and chemical disciplines, and has worked on both the plaintiff and defense side in matters relating to DNA sequencing technology, microfluidics, noninvasive fetal diagnostic techniques and diesel exhaust treatment.  His recent representations include securing for Illumina, a major manufacturer of DNA sequencers, a rare preliminary injunction shutting down a competitor’s infringing product.

Venera Ziegler is in the Private Funds practice and is based in New York.  She represents fund sponsors in the structuring, formation, operation and restructuring of private investment funds, including private equity funds, growth equity funds and real estate funds.  Additionally, she represents institutional investors regarding their investments in private funds.  She also regularly provides regulatory advice to private funds and their investment advisers in connection with various aspects of Investment Advisers Act, Exchange Act and Securities Act compliance and regulation, as well as providing guidance on various CFTC rules and various lobbying and placement agent laws and policies applicable to private funds and their advisers.  Most recently she advised Crow Holdings Capital Partners in the formation of Crow Holdings Realty Partners VII and Crow Holdings Retail Fund II.

About Weil

Founded in 1931, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP has been a preeminent provider of legal services for more than 80 years.  With approximately 1,100 lawyers in offices on three continents, Weil has been a pioneer in establishing a geographic footprint that has allowed the Firm to partner with clients wherever they do business.  The Firm's four departments, Corporate, Litigation, Business Finance & Restructuring, and Tax, Executive Compensation & Benefits, and more than two dozen practice groups are consistently recognized as leaders in their respective fields.