Law firm Mayer Brown recently announced several notable hires as partners, including Ella-Marie Smith (Real Estate Markets), Jasjit Vidwan (IP), and David Kreisler (Global Private Funds and Investment Management).
Ella-Marie Smith
Ella-Marie Smith joined the firm’s Real Estate Markets practice as a partner in Charlotte. She was previously at Dechert.
Ella focuses her practice on commercial real estate finance, such as CRE securitizations and warehouse/repurchase facilities. She regularly advises a broad range of real estate investment trusts, investment banks, and other financial institutions as issuers and placement agents in managed and static CRE CLOs. Ella has depth in collateral risk assessment and disclosure strategies for novel and complex asset pools.
Jasjit Vidwan
Jasjit (Jas) Vidwan has joined the firm as a partner in its Intellectual Property (IP) practice in Washington, D.C. Jas joins from ArentFox Schiff.
Jas has a distinguished career, having handled over 100 patent litigation cases in the U.S. district courts, the International Trade Commission, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. And his experience spans a wide range of technologies, including consumer electronics, semiconductors, software, and pharmaceuticals.
David Kreisler
David Kreisler has joined the firm’s Global Private Funds and Investment Management practice as a partner with the New York office. He will oversee clients on a range of private equity funds, particularly fund formation. David is the latest to join a practice team that has substantially grown over the last several years.
David has over thirty years of experience in the investment funds industry, representing private fund sponsors in all aspects of their business, including fund formation and operations, internal structuring, and compliance-related endeavors. He guides large and well-known sponsors as well as emerging managers through buyouts, energy, real estate, and secondary funds matters.
He also delivers comprehensive strategic legal solutions to fund managers and institutional investors across a private fund’s life cycle. He has a proven track record with a variety of secondary fund transactions, including fund restructurings, continuation funds, and other GP-led transactions.
KEY QUOTES (ELLA-MARIE):
“Ella’s breadth of knowledge across the real estate finance sector, particularly in the areas of commercial mortgage-backed securitizations, comes at a pivotal time in our fast-evolving market. Her experience working with various industry players – issuers, underwriters, investors, and mortgage loan contributors – to create efficiencies in the securitization structuring diligence processes, makes her an invaluable resource for our clients.”
Jeffrey O’Neale, partner in Mayer Brown’s Real Estate Markets practice and a member of the firm’s Management Advisory Board
“Ella’s impressive combination of experience in the real estate industry, collaborative approach and deep understanding of asset lifecycles align well with our practice. She will strengthen our ability to provide comprehensive counsel across all types of real estate transactions and contribute to our office’s growth.”
Eric Reilly, managing partner of Mayer Brown’s Charlotte office
“I’ve long admired Mayer Brown’s Real Estate Markets practice, and its well-established presence in the market. I’m eager to collaborate with its exceptional lawyers in support of our clients.”
Ella-Marie Smith
KEY QUOTES (JASJIT VIDWAN)
“Jas brings nearly two decades of experience and will be an exceptional addition to our IP group. He is among a select group of partners that oversees all facets of clients’ IP matters. His extensive experience in patent litigation and prosecution, combined with his strong relationships in the technology sector, will greatly strengthen our ability to support our clients.”
Lisa Ferri, global co-leader of Mayer Brown’s IP practice and Life Sciences group
“Mayer Brown’s global platform and strong reputation in high-tech patent litigation provide an ideal environment for me to further develop my practice and deliver the highest level of service to clients. As intellectual property issues become increasingly complex on a global scale, clients need a firm with both deep experience and international reach. I am excited to join the team and contribute to the firm’s highly regarded IP practice.”
Jas
“Jas’ addition to our Washington DC office will greatly enhance our team, which has welcomed several new hires in recent months. His deep experience and strong client relationships will be invaluable as we continue to grow our high-profile patent practice and further strengthen our capabilities in serving clients’ complex IP needs.”
Andrew Olmem, the managing partner of Mayer Brown’s Washington DC office
KEY QUOTES (DAVID KREISLER):
“Mayer Brown continues to be a go-to firm for some of the most significant and complex work for sponsors and institutional investors, and we will continue to strategically invest in our offerings. We have been building exceptional reach to meet growing client demands, and David’s arrival enhances our capability to provide insight into the market terms, trends, and emerging issues in the fund market that are top of mind to our clients. In addition, his representation of institutional investors into funds will enable us to offer creative and flexible fund structuring solutions.”
Timothy Clark, leader of Mayer Brown’s Global Private Funds and Investment Management practice
“The opportunity to join Mayer Brown and its talented team of private funds lawyers provided a highly compelling growth platform for my practice. The combination of the firm’s international reach, deep industry knowledge, and extensive technical legal capacity will be of tremendous benefit to my clients.”
David Kreisler
“David is a strong addition to our rapidly growing offerings in the New York office. David expands the breadth of our capabilities to provide informed and comprehensive legal advice in connection with fund formation and structuring.”
Allison Aviki, managing partner of Mayer Brown’s New York office
