Stephen W. Fackler is a partner in the firm’s Palo Alto and New York offices, and a member of Gibson Dunn’s Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Practice Group. Stephen has thirty-nine years of experience nationwide advising public and private companies, private equity funds and boards of directors on compensation and benefits matters. He also regularly advises senior executives on their employment and severance arrangements, and directors in connection with compensation and indemnification arrangements.

His practice focuses on:

  • Designing and negotiating executive and director compensation arrangements.
  • Designing and implementing stock and other incentive plans.
  • Advising public company clients, their boards of directors and compensation committees on corporate governance and legal compliance involving a comprehensive range of compensation plans and arrangements.
  • Advising companies, boards and management teams on compensation and benefits in mergers and acquisitions.
  • Advising on deferred compensation plans, employee stock ownership plans, 401(k) plans, other types of retirement plans, health and welfare plans and fringe benefits.

Stephen serves as Chair of the Certification Council for the Certified Equity Professional Institute, the leading certification program in the United States for stock plan professionals. He also serves as outside counsel for the Global Equity Organization, the leading international trade association for stock plan professionals.

Stephen received his law degree from Stanford University in 1984. He earned an Honours B.A. from St. Johns’ College, Oxford University in 1981. He completed his undergraduate education at Harvard University where he received an A.B., magna cum laude in History in 1979 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Stephen has been selected by Chambers and Partners as a Leading Employee Benefits Lawyer each year since 2006 (the first year in which the category was included) in its publication “America’s Leading Business Lawyers”, and has been ranked in Band 1 (the highest band) for the last few years. He was named a ‘Leading US Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Lawyer’ by The Legal 500 in its inaugural 2007 and subsequent editions. He has been honored as one of the Top 20 Most Powerful Lawyers for Employee Benefits and ERISA in Human Resource Executive magazine and Lawdragon regularly since 2012. Stephen has also been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America©, Top Attorneys in Northern California and Northern California Super Lawyers.

Pamela Lawrence Endreny is a partner in the New York office of Gibson Dunn and a Co-Chair of the firm’s Tax Practice Group. Pamela represents clients in a broad range of U.S. and international tax matters.

Pamela’s experience includes mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, joint ventures, financings, restructurings, and capital markets transactions. She has obtained private letter rulings from the Internal Revenue Service on tax-free spin-offs and other corporate transactions.

She has been repeatedly selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business andThe Legal 500 US, and was also named a Tax “MVP” by Law360.

Pamela is a member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association Tax Section. She is also a member of the Tax Forum and Private Investment Fund Tax Forum.

Pamela earned her Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law. She received her undergraduate degree from Brown University. She is a member of the Massachusetts bar and New York bar.

Significant representations include:

  • Representation of VMware in its acquisition by Broadcom;
  • The VMware Board Special Committee in Dell Technologies’ spin-off of VMware;
  • Ziff Davis in its spin-off of Consensus Cloud Solutions, Inc.;
  • Lennar Corp. in its proposed spin-off of its asset management business;
  • The Kraft Heinz Company in the sale of its nuts business, including the Planters brand, to Hormel Foods;
  • The Kraft Heinz Company in its joint venture with food tech start-up, TheNotCompany, Inc.;
  • The Hershey Co. in its acquisitions of Pretzels Inc., Dot’s Pretzels LLC, and Lily’s Sweets;
  • News Corp. in its acquisition of the Books & Media segment of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt;
  • News Corp. in its acquisitions from S&P Global and IHS Markit of IHS Markit’s Base Chemicals business and IHS Markit’s Oil Price Information Services (OPIS) and associated businesses;
  • Merck & Co. in its acquisition of VelosBio Inc.;
  • PepsiCo in its joint venture with Beyond Meat;
  • South Jersey Industries, Inc., in its take-private acquisition by the Infrastructure Investments Fund;
  • Fifth Wall Acquisition Corp. I, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by an affiliate of Fifth Wall, in its acquisition of SmartRent;
  • U.S. Concrete, Inc., in its acquisition by Vulcan Materials Company;
  • Candle Media, a media company formed by Blackstone, Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, in its majority investment in Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine;
  • Candle Media in its acquisition of Faraway Road Productions and The Home Edit;
  • Block, Inc., in its acquisition of Jay-Z’s Tidal audio and video music streaming service;
  • Providence Service Corporation in its acquisition of Simplura Health Group;
  • Togetherwork Holdings, LLC, a portfolio company of GI Partners, in its acquisition of Fonteva, an association and events management platform built on Salesforce;
  • L Catterton in its strategic investment in Function of Beauty;
  • Fly Leasing Limited in its sale to an affiliate of Carlyle Aviation Partners;
  • Zevia PBC in connection with its initial public offering in an UP-C structure;
  • Chobani LLC in its proposed initial public offering in an UP-C structure; and
  • PAR Technology Corporation in its acquisition of Punchh Inc.

Dora Arash is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson Dunn. Her practice concentrates on federal income tax planning for corporations and partnerships. She has advised clients on the tax consequences of partnership and corporate formations, taxable stock and asset acquisitions, tax-free reorganizations, public and private offerings of stock and debt, spin-offs, and joint ventures. She has also represented clients in a variety of tax controversy matters, including matters before the Appeals Division of the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Tax Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Before joining Gibson Dunn in 1997, Dora served as attorney-advisor to the Honorable Carolyn P. Chiechi of the United States Tax Court.

Dora received an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University in 1995. She received a J.D., magna cum laude, from the Pepperdine University School of Law in 1994, where she served as associate editor of the Pepperdine Law Review, and she received a B.S., magna cum laude, from California State University, Northridge in 1991.

Dora was selected as a ranked lawyer in the 2020 – 2025 editions of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and named one of The Best Lawyers in America for Tax Law in the 2024 – 2025 editions.

Betsy Johnson is an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn where she practices in the firm’s Tax Practice Group.

Betsy received her Juris Doctor magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School in 2021, where she was an editor of the Michigan Journal of Law Reform and was elected to the Order of the Coif.

Prior to law school, Betsy was a Research Associate at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Betsy graduated cum laude from Georgetown University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and mathematics.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Betsy was a tax associate at a major global law firm in New York.

Betsy is admitted to practice in the State of New York.

Tilly Higgs is an English-qualified associate in the London office of Gibson Dunn, and a member of the firm’s Dispute Resolution practice group.

She has experience across a broad range of commercial litigation, international arbitration, and regulatory investigations. She recently returned from a secondment with a major tech client, reflecting a key area of focus in her practice. Tilly also advises on ESG and business and human rights matters. In addition, she maintains an active pro bono practice and serves on the firm’s London Pro Bono Committee.

Tilly trained at Gibson Dunn and holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Bristol.

Dan Zygielbaum is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn. He practices in the firm’s Tax Practice Group and is also a member of the firm’s REIT Practice Group.

Dan’s practice focuses on tax planning for investment funds and real estate, including fund formations, continuation fund transactions, GP-stakes deals, fund recapitalizations, fund secondary transactions, REITs, real estate joint ventures, and cross-border real estate investments. He also advises clients on the tax aspects of financings, public and private M&A, joint ventures, and capital markets transactions, and has represented clients in tax audits and Congressional investigations. Dan’s clients include private equity, real estate and venture fund sponsors, REITs, sovereign wealth funds, real estate investors, developers, managers, and lenders, and other public and private companies.

Dan graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 2010 and cum laude from the University of Maryland in 2004 with a degree in Finance and Economics.

He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Maryland.

Selected Recent Representations Include:

  • MGX on its participation in the $10 billion Series J financing round of Databricks.
  • SCI Capital Partners LP on its $1.6 billion structured continuation vehicle transaction in partnership with funds managed by Apollo.
  • Andros Capital Partners in its participation, as a lead investor, in a $1.6 billion continuation fund with respect to HG Energy.
  • Leonard Green & Partners on its private equity fund formations and continuation fund transactions.
  • Corebridge Financial on its real estate investment funds and multiple GP-led secondaries and co-investments.
  • EQT Exeter on its $4.9 billion U.S. Value Add Industrial Fund, its $3 billion U.S. Core Industrial Fund as well as other industrial, multifamily and office funds and separate accounts.
  • Meridiam on its infrastructure transactions and fund formations.
  • Faropoint Ventures on its infrastructure fund formations and joint ventures.
  • Fairfield Residential on a variety of multifamily debt and equity funds and separate accounts.
  • Investcorp on its acquisition of a 50% stake in Corsair Capital’s infrastructure business.
  • Investcorp on its U.S. private equity and real estate funds, joint ventures and separate accounts.
  • Madison Realty Capital on its real estate debt and equity funds.
  • Towers Watson on its $18 billion merger of equals with Willis Group.
  • CACI on its contested $7.2 billion bid for CSRA.
  • An institutional investor on the restructuring and conversion of its $4 billion real estate portfolio into a private REIT.
  • Rockpoint Group on the purchase of Spring Creek Towers, formerly known as Starrett City, the largest affordable housing community in the United States.
  • CIM and its partner on the sale of the Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles to a partnership between DJM Capital Partners, Inc. and Gaw Capital.

Publications and Presentations:

  • Continuation Funds: Tax Issues, Practical Tax Strategies, January 2025. (Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters/Tax & Accounting).
  • Panelist: Basis Issues Including Allocation of Liabilities – PLI Tax Planning for Domestic & Foreign Partnerships, LLCs, Joint Ventures & Other Strategic Alliances 2023.
  • Panelist: The Basics of Basis (Not Including Liabilities) – PLI Tax Planning for Domestic & Foreign Partnerships, LLCs, Joint Ventures & Other Strategic Alliances 2022.
  • Panelist: The Art of the Spinoff – Gibson Dunn Webcast, January 28, 2021.
  • What Unique Tax and Structuring Challenges Do Qualified Opportunity Funds Present to Sponsors and Investors?, Private Equity Law Report, June 25, 2019.
  • 2016 Hot Topics in Partnerships and Real Estate, Major Tax Planning: USC Law School Annual Institute on Federal Taxation, 2017.

Nate Hancock is an associate in the Los Angeles office. He is a member of the Technology Transactions and Strategic Sourcing and Commercial Transactions Practice Groups and has been recognized as a recommended lawyer for TMT by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific. He regularly advises clients throughout the United States, APAC, and the Middle East on corporate and commercial transactions, privacy and cybersecurity, product counseling, commercial intellectual property matters, and other digital transformation projects in a wide range of industries, including the information technology, TMT, automotive, energy, fashion, and food and hospitality sectors.

His experience includes representing clients in complex domestic and international technology and commercial matters, including in the areas of information technology and business process outsourcing, software-as-a-service, technology development and procurement, product manufacturing and supply, and software development and maintenance. He also represents clients on legal and business issues relating to patents, trademarks, software, and other technologies, such as the metaverse.

Nate also regularly advises clients on sophisticated cross-border digital infrastructure M&A and joint venture transactions. This includes advising clients with regards to telecommunication tower and data center transactions and related commercial contracts, including master services, master lease, and build-to-suit agreements. He also evaluates complex intellectual property and technology issues that arise in general corporate transactions.

Nate earned his law degree in 2016 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he graduated cum laude. During law school, he co-founded the Penn Law Public Speaking Society and represented nonprofit organizations through the Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic. Nate also earned a Master of Laws in Information Technology and Intellectual Property Law from the Faculty of Law – University of Hong Kong, where he graduated with distinction and was awarded the Asian Patent Attorneys Association Prize in Intellectual Property Law, conferred to the student who achieved the best overall performance in the degree. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 2013, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies. Prior to returning to the firm, Nate was an associate in the Technology Transactions group of a leading international law firm in Denver.

A member of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Nate is admitted to practice in Colorado and California.

Duncan Hamilton is a tax associate in the Dallas office of Gibson Dunn.

He earned his Juris Doctor magna cum laude from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University where he was a recipient of the Dean’s Scholarship. While attending law school, he served as Articles Editor of the Brigham Young University Law Review and was a research assistant for Professor Gladriel Shobe. His academic performance led to his election to the Order of the Coif. He concurrently graduated with a Master of Accountancy from the Marriott School of Business.

Duncan is admitted to practice in the State of Texas.

Blake Hoerster is an associate in the Tax Practice Group in Gibson Dunn’s Dallas office. Her practice focuses on the federal income taxation of corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies. Blake has experience with a broad range of tax matters, including public and private mergers and acquisitions, cross-border transactions, restructurings, and financing transactions. Blake also has experience in structuring, negotiating, and drafting complex joint venture agreements.

Blake graduated from The University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 2018 and received a B.A. in History and a B.S.B.A in Accounting from The University of Tulsa in 2009.

She is admitted to practice law in the State of Texas.

David Horton is a tax associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson Dunn.

David received his Juris Doctor in 2020 from Boston University School of Law, where he graduated summa cum laude. During law school, David was the recipient of Dean’s Awards for achieving the highest grade in courses concerning corporate taxation, corporate law, evidence law, civil procedure, and property. He was also awarded a Dean’s scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship.

David earned his Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance and Music Theory from the New England Conservatory of Music in 2017. Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, David was an associate in global law firm’s tax practice from 2020 to 2022.

David is admitted to practice in the state of New York and the state of California.

Lucy Hong is an associate in the Dallas office of Gibson Dunn and a member of the firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice Group.

Lucy received her Juris Doctor, with high honors, in 2020 from Emory University School of Law, where she served as a Notes and Comments Editor for the Emory Law Journal. Lucy received her Bachelor of Business Administration, Finance, summa cum laude, from Southern Methodist University in 2017. Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, she was an Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation associate at a top law firm in Dallas.

Lucy is admitted to practice in the State of Texas.

Meghan Hungate is a partner in the New York office of Gibson Dunn. She is a member of the firm’s Technology Transactions Practice Group.

Meghan represents both public and private companies and financial sponsors in connection with complex intellectual property and technology transactions issues relating to outsourcing arrangements, corporate mergers and acquisitions, venture and private equity investments, global branding, and the development, acquisition, licensing and exploitation of intellectual property. She regularly counsels clients across a range of industries including software, high-technology, energy, media, pharmaceuticals, and finance, and has significant experience in negotiating and documenting intellectual property and information technology representations and warranties, transitional services and licensing agreements, collaboration agreements and joint venture arrangements.

She has been recognized as “One to Watch” by The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Intellectual Property Law and consistently named in the Super Lawyers New York Metro “Rising Stars” list since 2013.

Meghan received her Juris Doctor in 2009 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she was an associate editor of the Journal of Constitutional Law. She received her Bachelor of Arts in German and Political Science from the College of the Holy Cross in 2003.

She is admitted to practice in the State of New York, and before the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. Meghan is also a member of the New York Intellectual Property Law Association.

James Jennings is a partner in the New York office of Gibson Dunn. He is a member of the firm’s Tax Practice Group. James represents clients in a broad range of tax matters, including private and public M&A, joint ventures, IPOs, spin-offs, restructurings, and other significant transactions. He also has substantial experience obtaining private letter rulings from the IRS, rendering opinions, and advising clients in connection with complex and/or novel tax issues.

James speaks regularly about M&A and partnership tax related topics at national tax conferences, including at the NYU Institute on Federal Taxation, the USC Tax Institute, PLI’s Tax Planning for Domestic & Foreign Partnerships, the International Fiscal Association’s USA tax conference, and the ABA’s Philadelphia tax conference.  

James received his Juris Doctor in 2015 from the University of Virginia, where he served on the editorial board of the Virginia Tax Review. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, summa cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania. James is admitted to practice in the State of New York.

Recent Representative Matters

  • Koch Equity Development, the investment arm of Koch Industries, in a wide array of transactions as special tax counsel, including on window and door manufacturer MITER Brands’ acquisition of PGT Innovations, manufacturer and supplier of premium windows, doors, and garage doors.
  • Sculptor Capital Management (as special tax counsel) in its sale process, culminating with a take-private acquisition by Rithm Capital Corp.  
  • Chobani Global Holdings in its acquisition of La Colombe and related transactions.
  • L Catterton in numerous transactions, including its joint venture with Nestle to acquire Kettle Cuisine and combine it with Nestle’s existing Freshly business.
  • Affiliates of Yankee Global Enterprises and the Dallas Cowboys in connection with a sale of a majority interest in Legends Hospitality to Sixth Street and the subsequent acquisition by Legends Hospitality of ASM Global.  
  • Cargill Incorporated in its joint venture with Continental Grain to acquire Sanderson Farms and combine it with Continental Grain’s Wayne Farms business. 
  • RedBird Capital in numerous acquisitions and joint ventures (including its acquisition of Toulous Football Club, leading a consortium of investors to purchase the YES Network (the Yankee’s TV network), its joint venture with Stampede Studios and noted children’s author Mo Willems, and several other media and entertainment investments).
  • AT&T in the sale of its interest in DIRECTV.
  • Rubicon Technologies in its “SPAC UP-C” transaction. 
  • Brown Forman in its multinational collaboration with The Coca-Cola Company to produce and distribute a ready-to-drink “Jack and Coke” product. 
  • A West-Coast family office in connection with a spin-off by one of its healthcare-related portfolio companies.
  • Dorilton Capital in numerous transactions, including its sale of MEI Rigging & Crating to Olympus Partners.
  • Phillips 66 in its realignment transaction with Enbridge Inc. with respect to DCP Midstream, LLC and Gray Oak Pipeline, LLC.
  • Viant Technology in its “UP-C” initial public offering.
  • Seasons Hospitality and Healthcare in its sale to AccentCare.
  • A leading U.S.-based lender in the design and implementation of several financial products transactions with non-U.S. counterparties.  
  • VMware in numerous transactions, including its spin-off from Dell Technologies.
  • Berkshire Hathaway Energy in its acquisition of substantially all of Dominion Energy’s gas transmission and storage assets (and the subsequent acquisition of Dominion’s 50 percent stake in the Cove Point LNG business). 
  • Stepstone Group in its “UP-C” initial public offering.
  • A leading financial services firm in its creation of a bespoke “profits interest” plan for senior executives.

Evan Gusler is a partner in the New York office of Gibson Dunn and a member of the firm’s Tax Practice Group.

He received his Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 2014, where he was a Kent Scholar. Evan received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Michigan in 2011.

His practice focuses on domestic and international tax planning for corporations, partnerships, REITs, and investment funds and their investors. He advises leading public and private real estate investment firms and institutional investors on a wide variety of U.S. federal income tax matters, including in connection with the formation, acquisition and disposition of REITs, structuring debt and equity investments, leasing, joint ventures, recapitalizations, and investor-level tax planning. Evan also represents many global investment fund managers and their investors in fund formation and M&A matters and sponsor-level transactions. He has significant experience advising clients on New York State and New York City tax matters, including real estate transfer tax.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn in 2018, Evan was an associate in the Tax Practice at a leading international law firm.

He is admitted to practice in the State of New York.

Eli Balsam is an associate in Gibson Dunn’s New York office. He is a member of the firm’s Litigation department, where he focuses on intellectual property and technology cases.  

Eli has litigated patent cases across the country from pre-suit diligence through trial and appeal. He has played a key role in matters involving smartphones, wearables, biometrics, encryption, location-based services, routing and other network technologies, e-commerce, semiconductors, integrated circuits, and mechanical devices. He also has experience with Federal Circuit appeals, PTAB proceedings, advising clients on intellectual property issues in corporate transactions, and drafting amicus briefs in the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court.

Aside from his intellectual property work, Eli maintains an active pro bono practice. Notably, he represented a Sing Sing Correctional Facility prisoner in a constitutional rights case in the Southern District of New York, securing a favorable settlement on the eve of trial.

Eli earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2019 and his B.A. in mathematics, cum laude, from Yeshiva University in 2016. While in law school, Eli interned at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, helped prepare an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel, and represented prisoners in disciplinary and parole proceedings through the Prison Legal Assistance Project. He also served as an Article Editor on the Harvard Environmental Law Review and as a Team Captain and Oralist in the Ames Moot Court Competition.

Before joining Gibson Dunn, Eli clerked for the Honorable Ralph K. Winter on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and practiced patent litigation at Desmarais LLP. He is admitted to practice in the State of New York and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Aleksandar Genov is an English qualified associate in the London office of Gibson Dunn and a member of the firm’s Tax Practice Group.

He advises clients on a broad range of domestic and cross-border tax matters, including in relation to mergers and acquisitions, private equity, corporate reorganisations, real estate, corporate finance, and capital markets. Aleksandar also has experience assisting clients with UK tax authority enquiries.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, he was an associate in the London office of another global law firm and spent time on secondment in Ardian. 

Eva Gao is a tax associate in the New York office of Gibson Dunn.

Eva received her Juris Doctor in 2023 from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where she graduated magna cum laude. She earned her Master of Laws from Columbia Law School and her Bachelor of Laws from Fudan University. Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Eva was an associate in the Tax Group at a global corporate and commercial law firm in New York.

Eva is admitted to practice in the state of New York and the state of California.

Alissa Fromkin Freltz is an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn and is a member of the firm’s Tax Practice Group.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Alissa was a tax associate at a prominent law firm in New York. Alissa’s practice focuses on the federal tax aspects of transactional tax matters. She has advised clients on public and private M&A, spin-offs, and joint ventures, as well as banking and capital markets transactions.

Alissa earned her Juris Doctor in 2020 from Yale Law School. She received a BA in Middle Eastern Studies from Boston University, where she was a goaltender on the Varsity Women’s Ice Hockey Team, and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the George Washington University.

Alissa is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and the State of New York.

Bridget English is of counsel in the London office of Gibson Dunn and a member of the firm’s Tax Practice Group.

Bridget is an experienced tax adviser with a broad practice. She advises on a wide range of domestic and cross-border matters, including in relation to mergers and acquisitions, private equity, corporate reorganisations, real estate, corporate finance and capital markets.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, she was an associate in the London office of another global law firm.

Bridget is a member of the firm’s global Associate Committee and the London office’s Diversity, Talent & Inclusion Committee.

Ata Dinlenc is of counsel in the New York office of Gibson Dunn and a member of the firm’s Power and Renewables Practice Group. He is an experienced counselor to clients across a variety of transactional and commercial matters, with a focus on capital-intensive projects.

Ata advises clients on acquisitions & divestitures, joint-ventures, tiered equity investments, energy tax credit monetization, commodity price hedging and offtake contracts, and other commercial contracts involving energy infrastructure projects and other closely-held companies. He also advises borrowers and lenders, including both commercial banks and non-bank financial institutions such as private equity firms and other specialty lenders, in a range of financings, including project financings and mezzanine loans. Ata has been recommended by Legal 500 (2013) for his experience in the project finance area.

He applies his decades of experience and industry knowledge to a range of M&A, financing and commercial issues facing clients to facilitate innovative structuring on complex transactions.

His recent experience includes representing AIP, a Danish investment fund, in its investment in the Little Bear 160 MWac solar project in California and in the Prospero 300 MWac solar project in Texas and representing a subsidiary of The Carlyle Group in the sale of an interest in a 600 MW gas-fired power project.

Ata has been a panel moderator at numerous energy-sector conferences and is the author of “Financing Renewable Energy Projects: An Inflection Point?,” Infrastructure Journal, January 6, 2009.

He received his Juris Doctor in 1997 from Fordham University School of Law, where he was a Notes & Articles Editor on the Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal. Ata earned his Bachelor of Arts in International Studies (with a concentration in Economics) from Johns Hopkins University in 1993.

Representative recent transactions:

  • Represented Talen Energy in its negotiation and documentation of power purchase agreements for up to 650 MW of capacity from its Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania with adjacent behind-the-meter data centers.
  • Representing Clearway Energy in the acquisition of a 136 MW operating wind power project and related new offtake agreement.
  • Advising Berkshire Hathaway Energy in the development of the Ravenswood solar project in West Virginia and related power offtake arrangements with an adjacent titanium production facility.
  • Advising Berkshire Hathaway Energy as tax equity investor in the 184 MW Lockett and 122 MW Elbow Creek wind power projects in Texas in connection with new power purchase agreements with behind-the-meter data centers at each project.
  • Representing the sponsors of a planned 683 MWdc solar power project in Texas in connection with the negotiation and documentation of various power purchase agreements.
  • Representing Danish investment fund AIP Management in its upstream equity investments and related mezzanine debt financing in:
    • the Victory Pass and Arica solar and battery storage projects in California;
    • the 379MWdc Prospero 1 solar power project in Texas;
    • the 215MWdc Little Bear solar power project in California;
    • the Garland and Tranquility solar and battery storage projects in California; bids for large solar power portfolios in the U.S. offered by EDP Renewables, EDF and D.E. Shaw & Co. and related negotiations
  • Advising Berkshire Hathaway Energy as investor in billions of dollars of investment in over two dozen well-publicized utility-scale renewable energy projects in California, Texas and other U.S. states in recent years, including those sponsored by Lincoln Clean Energy, Innergex (f/k/a Alterra Power Corp.), Blackrock, Invenergy, Ares Capital, Longroad Energy, and Clearway; as well as the acquisitions of the Santa Rita wind project and Agua Caliente solar project.
  • Advised Global Infrastructure Partners on the $1.4 billion acquisition of MAP RE/ES, the renewable energy business of MAP Energy, which develops and owns portfolios of royalty-producing interests in renewable power projects.  The acquired assets include more than 1.6 gigawatts of operating wind and solar projects in the U.S.
  • Represented Terna Energy, a Europe-based independent power project developer, in its acquisition, development and financing (tax equity and tiered debt) of several large utility-scale wind energy project in Texas and in its related power price hedging arrangements.
  • Represented Vistra Energy in its acquisitions of development-stage power project companies.
  • Represented an affiliate of Softbank Energy, a member of the Softbank group of companies, in its acquisition of a portfolio of U.S. utility-scale solar power projects with a combined capacity of more than 1.7 gigawatts and in related project financings.
  • Represented The Carlyle Group in the sale of interests in the Sandersville 640 MW gas-fired power project in Georgia.
  • Represented PacifCorp, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, in its acquisitions of several development-stage wind power projects in Montana and Wyoming from Invenergy.
  • Representing Orion Renewables, a U.S. power project development company, in the sale of various development-stage renewable energy projects.
  • Represented Korean banks as lenders in their $325 million secured term loan refinancing of a U.S. coal mining company.
  • Represented a Europe-based utility company in its potential acquisition of an electricity transmission system in the U.S.
  • Represented Sempra Energy as strategic investor in its potential acquisition of a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline project in Peru.
  • Represented a major international commercial bank in its planned construction debt financing of two 60 MW gas-fired power projects in Argentina.
  • Represented a Japanese conglomerate in its equity sponsorship of a solar power project in Chile.
  • Represented a municipal electric company in Texas in its $200+ million equipment and construction services procurement contracts for a planned gas-fired power project.