N.Y. Real Estate Boutique Hires Cooley Partners

Four real estate attorneys have jumped from Cooley to 60-lawyer Duval & Stachenfeld in New York, including a former chairman of its real estate practice and a senior partner.

Joining Duval & Stachenfeld are Thomas O'Connor, who served as the head of Cooley's real estate group for six years, and Alan Cohen, a former senior partner in that group. Also moving are Maureen Hannon, who is of counsel, and Michael Estreicher, a senior associate.

O'Connor's departure follows the appointment in January of Antonio Calabrese as chairman of Cooley's real estate practice. Calabrese works from Cooley's Reston, Va., office. O'Connor served as head of the practice until Calabrese's appointment.

Duval & Stachenfeld focuses on real estate law and also serves corporate, litigation and bankruptcy clients. About 50 of the firm's lawyers work on real estate matters. Founding partner Patrick Duval, a transactions lawyer, is a former Latham & Watkins partner, and founder Bruce Stachenfeld, a Harvard Law School graduate, was a partner at Shapiro, Shapses, Block & Stachenfeld. Duval & Stachenfeld was formed in 1997.

Cohen said that his new firm offers a better platform for real estate work, which is not a key focus for Cooley, he said.

"We weren't getting the green light to grow the practice the way we wanted to," he said.

Cooley declined to comment on the attorneys' departures.

O'Connor did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His real estate finance clients have included Starwood Property Trust Inc., Safra Bank of New York, Oritani Bank and Arbor Realty Trust. He previously worked at Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

Cohen, a former partner at Morrison Cohen, has represented Centurian Realty LLC, Squaw Valley Ski Corp. and Caribbean Property Group.

Cooley Grabs More Sheppard Partners

Cooley has lured two more partners from Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton.

Corporate partners Kevin Rooney and Louis Lehot started work at Cooley's Palo Alto, Calif., office Wednesday, becoming the fifth and sixth lawyers to join the Silicon Valley stalwart from Sheppard in the past month. Corporate partners C. Thomas Hopkins and Ian Smith were the first to move, switching to Cooley's Los Angeles office in mid-February. They were joined by special counsel Peter Wenzel and associate Melika Martin this week, said Hopkins, who co-chaired Sheppard's global corporate practice before his departure.

Lehot, who led Sheppard's capital markets and public company M&A practices, said he and Rooney were drawn to Cooley by its roster of clients.

"We both view Cooley's portfolio of 3,900 private companies as a currency with which to grow relationships with the leading venture capital firms, private equity firms and investment banks," he said.

Lehot, who focuses his practice on later-stage and public companies, specializes in complex equity and debt security deals as well as M&A. Rooney, who headed Sheppard's emerging growth/venture capital and technology M&A practices, concentrates on early-stage companies and has counseled entrepreneurs at incubators such as Kicklabs and NestGSV.

The partners who came from Sheppard Mullin will play different roles in Cooley's Silicon Valley home base and Southern California, where the firm opened an L.A. office last summer, said Frederick Muto, chair of Cooley's business department.

"They both help us accelerate what we are doing in Los Angeles and add depth and dimension to one of the leading corporate practices in the Bay Area," Muto said.

Sheppard Mullin has also been active on the lateral market, hiring six new partners so far this year, spokeswoman Vickie Spang wrote in an email.

"We wish them well," she said of Lehot and Rooney.

N.Y. Real Estate Boutique Hires Cooley Partners

Four real estate attorneys have jumped from Cooley to 60-lawyer Duval & Stachenfeld in New York, including a former chairman of its real estate practice and a senior partner.

Joining Duval & Stachenfeld are Thomas O'Connor, who served as the head of Cooley's real estate group for six years, and Alan Cohen, a former senior partner in that group. Also moving are Maureen Hannon, who is of counsel, and Michael Estreicher, a senior associate.

O'Connor's departure follows the appointment in January of Antonio Calabrese as chairman of Cooley's real estate practice. Calabrese works from Cooley's Reston, Va., office. O'Connor served as head of the practice until Calabrese's appointment.

Duval & Stachenfeld focuses on real estate law and also serves corporate, litigation and bankruptcy clients. About 50 of the firm's lawyers work on real estate matters. Founding partner Patrick Duval, a transactions lawyer, is a former Latham & Watkins partner, and founder Bruce Stachenfeld, a Harvard Law School graduate, was a partner at Shapiro, Shapses, Block & Stachenfeld. Duval & Stachenfeld was formed in 1997.

Cohen said that his new firm offers a better platform for real estate work, which is not a key focus for Cooley, he said.

"We weren't getting the green light to grow the practice the way we wanted to," he said.

Cooley declined to comment on the attorneys' departures.

O'Connor did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His real estate finance clients have included Starwood Property Trust Inc., Safra Bank of New York, Oritani Bank and Arbor Realty Trust. He previously worked at Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

Cohen, a former partner at Morrison Cohen, has represented Centurian Realty LLC, Squaw Valley Ski Corp. and Caribbean Property Group.

N.Y. Real Estate Boutique Hires Cooley Partners

Four real estate attorneys have jumped from Cooley to 60-lawyer Duval & Stachenfeld in New York, including a former chairman of its real estate practice and a senior partner.

Joining Duval & Stachenfeld are Thomas O'Connor, who served as the head of Cooley's real estate group for six years, and Alan Cohen, a former senior partner in that group. Also moving are Maureen Hannon, who is of counsel, and Michael Estreicher, a senior associate.

O'Connor's departure follows the appointment in January of Antonio Calabrese as chairman of Cooley's real estate practice. Calabrese works from Cooley's Reston, Va., office. O'Connor served as head of the practice until Calabrese's appointment.

Duval & Stachenfeld focuses on real estate law and also serves corporate, litigation and bankruptcy clients. About 50 of the firm's lawyers work on real estate matters. Founding partner Patrick Duval, a transactions lawyer, is a former Latham & Watkins partner, and founder Bruce Stachenfeld, a Harvard Law School graduate, was a partner at Shapiro, Shapses, Block & Stachenfeld. Duval & Stachenfeld was formed in 1997.

Cohen said that his new firm offers a better platform for real estate work, which is not a key focus for Cooley, he said.

"We weren't getting the green light to grow the practice the way we wanted to," he said.

Cooley declined to comment on the attorneys' departures.

O'Connor did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His real estate finance clients have included Starwood Property Trust Inc., Safra Bank of New York, Oritani Bank and Arbor Realty Trust. He previously worked at Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

Cohen, a former partner at Morrison Cohen, has represented Centurian Realty LLC, Squaw Valley Ski Corp. and Caribbean Property Group.

Cooley Takes Corporate Partner From Latham

Corporate partner Jamie Leigh, who helped broker the Walt Disney Co.'s acquisition of Lucasfilm, has hopped from Latham & Watkins to Cooley's San Francisco office.

In its first lateral hire of the year, Cooley added Leigh to its M&A group, which handled more than 90 publicly announced deals last year. The group had been so busy trying to keep up with demand from clients that it hadn't been able to pursue new work, said Barbara Borden, chair of Cooley's M&A practice.

"She's a talented young M&A lawyer with a good deal list," Borden said. "We could use more people with her skill set to help us execute on work we already have and expand our work."

Leigh's hiring is in keeping with the firm's strategy of shifting to more high-value work, Borden said. She added that Leigh, who was part of the public company representation practice at Latham, will be helpful as the group tries to expand its public M&A practice.

Leigh, who began her career at Davis Polk & Wardwell, has built a practice that centers on complex M&A, joint ventures, private equity investments and restructurings. In perhaps her highest-profile deal, she was one of the lead attorneys advising Lucasfilm in its $4 billion acquisition by the Walt Disney Co.

But Leigh moved to Cooley to pursue a different type of work. She said she was drawn to the firm by its prowess in life sciences and technology.

"Cooley just has an incredible client base in those industries, and that's really where I enjoy practicing the most," Leigh said.

Leigh was active in the life sciences space as well last year, serving as one of the lead attorneys representing Schiff Nutrition International in its $1.2 billion acquisition by Bayer HealthCare.

Leigh said no other lawyers from Latham plan to join Cooley with her at this time. Leigh is not bringing any clients with her to Cooley, but the firm expects her to help attract new business, Borden said.

"She has practiced in the Valley for a while, and she has relationships," Borden said.