McDermott Will & Schulte, a global law firm

Byron S. Kalogerou is the founder of the Firm’s Life Science Industry Group and the senior partner in the Boston Corporate Practice. He helps clients execute on their growth strategies by guiding them through complex domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures and alliances. He also assists early stage life science companies in their capital raising efforts. Byron has extensive industry background in the life science, industrial and manufacturing sectors. He also acts as outside general counsel to a number of companies.

Byron spent 18 years in-house, where he served in various general counsel roles at Tyco International, including as general counsel of its fire and security and telecom businesses, and as general counsel of its international legal department, a function he created. Byron led many of Tyco’s largest acquisitions, including the $12 billion acquisition of AMP Inc. and the $850 million purchase of AT&T Submarine Systems, and handled hundreds of middle-market deals around the globe. Byron also handled Tyco’s initial foray into medical devices and led many of the deals that formed Covidien, now part of Medtronic.

Byron returned to law firm life 18 years ago with a desire to bring his keen sense of the “voice of the customer” to drive predictability, value and efficiency into the deal process. Byron is a legal project management pioneer and co-chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Committee on Mergers and Acquisitions’ Task Force on Legal Project Management. He is co-editor of the ABA Guidebook “Using Legal Project Management in Merger & Acquisition and Joint Venture Transactions”, now in its third edition. Byron also created the first-of-its-kind web-based collaborative deal management portal, which the Firm adopted and embraced as part of Client Central. He is also one of the Firm’s primary contacts with the Association of Corporate Counsel.

John Karasek advises public and private companies in relation to US and international tax matters. He represents clients in a range of industries, with an emphasis on life sciences, software and emerging technologies. John advises on matters such as procurement operations, manufacturing, IP planning, trading and principal companies, and distribution models.

John brings a unique, business-driven approach to tax planning, having previously been a member of the Value Chain Management consulting group at a Big Four accounting firm. John develops a comprehensive understanding of his clients’ goals, the business’ core value drivers, and industry trends, and ultimately helps clients integrate tax planning into their strategic objectives.

John has presented on tax matters at the Tax Executives Institute and the American Bar Association at regional and national meetings. While in law school, John served as an associate editor for the Washington University Global Studies Law Review.