Kate regularly counsels private equity firms and their portfolio companies, as well as public companies, individual executives and management teams, on all aspects of executive compensation across industries, including executive employment agreements, severance arrangements, incentive equity plans and other compensation programs. Clients rely on her nuanced counsel to navigate complex issues such as compliance with Internal Revenue Code Section 409A (relating to deferred compensation) and Internal Revenue Code Sections 280G and 4999 (relating to the deductibility limits on executive compensation and the excise tax imposed on excess parachute payments).

Kate has extensive experience advising on executive compensation issues in the bankruptcy, restructuring and insolvency contexts, helping clients navigate the challenges associated with implementing effective arrangements and retaining key talent in a distressed environment. She also advises clients regarding compliance with proxy disclosure and corporate governance regulations as they relate to executive compensation.

Kate is a member of Chief, a private membership network focused on connecting and supporting women executive leaders. She also speaks frequently to industry organizations on topics such as preparing for initial public offerings and executive compensation.

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• Advised Intelsat on its confirmation of a plan of reorganization following its Chapter 11 filing with approximately $14.7 billion in funded debt*
• Advised the special committee of the board of directors of Verso Corporation on its sale to BillerudKorsnäs for $825 million*
• Represented Bain-Capital-backed Blue Nile, an online retailer of fine jewelry, in its $360 million sale to Signet Jewelers*
• Advised Thoughtworks Holding, Inc., on its $840 million initial public offering*
• Represented Bristol-Myers Squibb in its $13.1 billion acquisition of MyoKardia*
• Represented Wyndham Worldwide in its separation via spin-off into two separate publicly traded hospitality companies (Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc., and Wyndham Destinations, Inc.) valued at approximately $11 billion*
• Represented GLP in the $18.7 billion sale of its US logistics business to Blackstone, the largest-ever private real estate transaction globally*
• Represented Sycamore Partners in its $6.9 billion acquisition of Staples, Inc.*

*Matter handled prior to joining the firm.

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He is particularly well known for his real estate finance work, where he advises on all aspects of real estate related finance across all asset classes using various financing structures.

Usman also regularly advises on cross-border matters involving the Middle East and other emerging markets.

Client testimonials:

“Highly commercial and enjoyable to work with!” 

“Highly responsive and surprisingly relaxed, irrespective of time pressures”

“Willingness to provide holistic and unencumbered advice to build relationships”

“Commercial mindset and true problem solving mentality with respect to engineering creative solutions to complex situations”

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• Advised Partners Group on the financing of its acquisition of a 140,000sqm portfolio of 19 Finnish logistics assets from Mandatum Asset Management*
• Advised TPG Real Estate on the c.€300m senior and mezzanine financing of its Physicus (German and Dutch) life sciences platform, the senior portion of which was securitised in the Vita Scientia 2022-1 DAC offering*
• Advised a European investment fund on its first real estate financing transaction relating to the refinancing of its Dutch portfolio*
• Advised Starwood Capital Group on numerous of its financings including:*

– the refinancing of its €80m Irish portfolio;

– the refinancing of its £200m industrial properties portfolio located across the UK;

– its senior and mezzanine facilities to acquire a Finnish rental residential portfolio of approximately 2,200 units in partnership with Avara Oy from a consortium of Finnish vendors. The portfolio consists of 73 assets located in 15 cities, with 50% of the portfolio value in the Helsinki region;

– its circa. €200m acquisition financing of the Las Mercedes business park in Madrid, Spain;

– its €320m senior and mezzanine refinancing of its Spanish portfolio;

– its £250m refinancing of its hotel portfolio; and

– the financing aspects of its over US$1bn disposal of a portfolio of 14 UK hotels that form part of The Principal Hotel Company to Foncière des Régions

• Advised Crosstree Real Estate Partners on its £100m development finance facility for the redevelopment of Camden Town Hall*
• Advised on a joint venture between UK-based Benson Elliot and US-based Walton Street Capital on a pan-European €420m hotel portfolio acquisition financing*
• Advised Oaktree Capital in relation to an acquisition finance transaction acquiring commercial property across the UK*
• Advised Starwood Capital Group financing AJ Capital Partners’ acquisition of the Macdonald Randolph Hotel in Oxford, England and the Macdonald Hotels & Resorts portfolio in St Andrews, Scotland*
• Advised Investec Bank plc on its development facility in relation to luxury residential accommodation in Leinster Square, London*
• Advised Aareal Bank AG on its £149m financing of Valesco and AIP Asset Management’s purchase of Cannon Bridge House, London*
• Advised Investec Bank plc on its £72m development facility to The LabTech Group to fund the mixed-use scheme located on Camley Street, King’s Cross, London*
• Advised Starwood European Finance Partners Limited on its €110m acquisition and redevelopment facilities relating to Ikos Andalusia, a 400-key, luxury seafront resort in Andalusia’s coastal area of Estepona, Spain with HFF Real Estate Limited on behalf of Ikos International as borrower, with Oaktree and Goldman Sachs as sponsors*
• Advised Starwood European Real Estate Finance on its €68.5m senior facility for the acquisition of various light industrial logistics parks across Europe by M7 Central European Real Estate Fund I*
• Advised Aareal Bank on its £109.5m facility for the acquisition of the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel in Tower Hill by Westmont*
• Advised Starwood Capital Group as lender on the financing of a tier one sponsor’ circa US$3bn acquisition of a holiday park and hotel portfolio*
• Advised a major Chinese alternative asset management firm on a leverage finance transaction as borrower on a US$450m senior syndicated facility and US$400m junior syndicated facility*
• Advised arrangers, sponsors and underwriters, including CDH Investments, Credit Suisse AG, Elm Park Capital Management, RBC Capital Markets, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, THL Corporate Finance, and Wells Fargo, on various leveraged, acquisition, and secured lending financing matters*
• Advised RBC Capital Markets on its US$525m facility for the acquisition of the entertainment division of Iconix Brand Group, Inc. by DHX Media*
• Advised a US hedge fund as lender on its first loan origination in Europe*
• Advised Dubai Islamic Bank as lender on a AED1.5bn Shariah-compliant facility to a Dubai government-related entity*
• Advised Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank as lender on a AED216m hybrid bond/facility Islamic financing*
• Advised The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector as arranger on sukuk issuances for the governments of Ivory Coast (Phase II) and the Togolese Republic*
• Advised an Emirati bank as lender on a $200m murabaha sovereign financing*
• Advised ICD-Brookfield in relation to a AED1.5bn mixed conventional and Shariah compliant financing relating to the construction of a Tier 1 business and leisure complex in the heart of the Dubai International Financial Centre.
• Advised Aareal Bank as lender in relation to a Shariah compliant facility for the acquisition of a pan-European commercial property portfolio*
• Advised various financial institutions, including Barclays Bank Plc, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A., Starwood Capital Group and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., London Branch, on repo loan and loan-on-loan transactions*

*Matter handled prior to joining the firm.

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His clients include leading private equity firms, public companies, founder-owned businesses, family offices, institutional investors, high-net-worth individuals and independent sponsors. Scott prides himself on serving as both a strategic and transactional advisor for his clients, complementing his deep legal knowledge with an understanding and pervasive focus on his clients’ businesses and their objectives.

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The co-head of McDermott’s accounting defense practice, Ron provides a full scope of legal services to accounting firms. These services span from regulatory enforcement and litigation defense to corporate governance and advice on a wide range of risk, crisis management and professional practice issues. He also has extensive experience counseling public and private company boards and management. Ron’s area of emphasis covers the role of independent auditors and the importance of the independent audit to stakeholders and capital markets.

Prior to his tenure at Ernst & Young where he led a legal team of more than 200 professionals, Ron held general counsel and senior positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Through his in-house roles, he served as a trusted legal and business advisor to chief executive officers, senior management and board members.

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Vlad assists private equity firms, investment banks, corporates, sovereign wealth funds, asset managers, and family offices with acquisitions and disposals of investments, non-traditional finance structures, and portfolio risk transfers.

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• Assisted sovereign wealth fund in connection with a multi-billion syndicated margin loan backed by a portfolio of investments in listed companies and PE fund interests*
• Represented an investor in public convertible debt to structure an exchangeable note instrument sold to various hedge funds, allowing the investor to off-load part of the risk associated with the convertible exposure*
• Advised founder and CEO, holding concentrated position in several unlisted companies, on NAV-style facility providing liquidity to the founder in a pre-IPO context*

*Matter handled prior to joining the firm.

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Elai successfully guides his clients’ transactions through antitrust and foreign investment regulatory reviews in the United States and internationally. His efficient approach has garnered a strong record of obtaining quick and positive resolutions during the early phases of merger reviews. Elai is particularly attuned to global antitrust trends, and he uses such insights to the benefit of his clients when negotiating and completing mergers and acquisitions.

In addition to his transactional work, Elai represents clients in a variety of antitrust disputes, including complex class actions alleging price fixing and monopolization, as well as matters involving distribution arrangements and price discrimination. He also regularly advises on joint ventures and trade associations, as well as marketing, pricing and distribution strategies.

Well regarded as a thought leader on antitrust trends, Elai writes an antitrust column in The New York Law Journal, edited The Antitrust Compliance Handbook and has written chapters in Antitrust Law Developments and New York Antitrust and Consumer Protection Law. He is a regular panelist and moderator at the New York State Bar Association’s annual meeting, as well as the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section Spring Meeting, where he covers timely topics such as merger enforcement, information exchange and financial market manipulation.

At the start of his legal career, Elai clerked for Justice Mishael Cheshin of the Supreme Court of Israel.

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• Defended a global bank in LIBOR-related litigation and investigations*
• Defended an IPOs underwriter in a price-fixing class action*
• Represented a major foreign bank in benchmark manipulation antitrust suits*
• Obtained dismissal of an exclusive-dealing monopolization complaint in NicSand v. 3M before the en banc US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit*
• Represented an online retailer in a search-ad keyword investigation by the FTC*
• Persuaded DOJ to close investigation of a completed acquisition of a leading technology and engineering firm*
• Represented the nation’s largest private psychiatric hospital provider in the FTC’s investigation of its acquisition by a competitor*

*Matter handled prior to joining the firm.

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David has played a leading role advising top real estate players in the market on some of the biggest and most innovative real estate transactions. He has spearheaded groundbreaking transactions involving REITs for a global hospitality and entertainment company and has extensive experience advising public and private REITs on mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and spin-offs. David has represented borrowers and lenders in capital markets and bank syndicate loans for office buildings, hotels, multifamily properties and other property portfolios. Representative clients include Aman Hotels, Ashford Hospitality, Blackstone, Brookfield Asset Management, Island Capital, LCOR, Lindsay Goldberg, Madison International, Monday Properties, Tishman Speyer and TPG Real Estate. David was also integrally involved with Lehman’s chapter 11 bankruptcy—the largest and most complex bankruptcy in US history—in implementing Lehman’s strategy for tens of billions of dollars of investments in both debt and equity related to various commercial and residential real estate projects across the globe.

David is recognized as a leading lawyer for Real Estate in New York by Chambers USA, where clients note he is “an outstanding lawyer and a relentless worker” who “does an excellent job getting parties to the table and helping everyone understand what they should be concentrating on.” He is also recognized as a “Notable Practitioner” for Real Estate in the US by IFLR 1000. David was also recognized as a “Next Generation Partner” for REITs and is recommended for Real Estate by Legal 500 US and a leading lawyer for Real Estate Law in New York by Best Lawyers in America. David was named a 2018 Real Estate “MVP” by Law360.

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