Theo P. Curie is an associate in the San Francisco office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He practices in the firm’s Real Estate Department. Theo’s practice involves the representation of borrowers, lenders, private equity funds, institutional and non-institutional investors, developers and operators in a variety of commercial real estate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and financings.

He earned his J.D. from U.C. Berkeley School of Law in 2024. While in law school, Theo was Managing Editor of the Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law and a Teaching Assistant in Legal Research & Writing. Theo earned his B.A. in Economic and Social Sciences and his M.A. in Business Law from SciencesPo Paris.

Theo is admitted to practice law in the State of California.

David A. Schnitzer is of counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He practices in the firm’s Litigation Department, where he focuses on high-stakes administrative agency matters and other complex litigation.

He has been named a Super Lawyers Rising Star six times (2018-2023), and recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America since 2021, including for Administrative / Regulatory Law, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, Appellate Practice, and Environmental Litigation. In addition David has been listed as a Rising Star in transportation by both The Legal 500 (2019) and Law360 (2018). He also served on Law360’s Transportation Editorial Advisory Board, and is a recipient of the Burton Distinguished Legal Writing Award.

David represents clients before federal and state courts at the appellate and trial levels, as well as before a wide range of administrative agencies. In addition to agency rulemaking and enforcement matters, he is experienced in high-stakes general civil litigation, particularly those involving complex procedural and jurisdictional issues. David is an experienced brief writer, and has argued before two federal courts of appeals and in several state courts.

He also maintains an active pro bono practice, with a particular focus on immigration.

Prior to his legal career, David worked in government and politics, including positions at the Department of Defense, for two United States Senators, and on two presidential campaigns.

David earned a Juris Doctorate magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2013, where he was an executive editor of the Georgetown Law Journal and was elected to the Order of the Coif. In 2001, he earned Bachelor of Arts degrees from Columbia University, magna cum laude, and the Jewish Theological Seminary, summa cum laude.

David is admitted to practice before the courts of Maryland and the District of Columbia; the Supreme Court of the United States; the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Second, Fourth, and Eighth Circuits; and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Robyn Keith is an English-qualified associate in the London office of Gibson Dunn and a member of the firm’s Real Estate and Finance Practice Groups.

Robyn advises both creditors and sponsors on domestic and cross-border real estate financing transactions, including syndicated financings for acquisitions, investments, and developments. Her experience involves various classes of real estate assets including, among others, hospitality, data centres, residential, office and logistics.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Robyn worked in the London office of another major international law firm.

Lilit Voskanyan is a partner in the San Francisco office of Gibson Dunn. She is a member of Gibson Dunn’s Private Equity and Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Groups. Lilit’s practice focuses on representing private equity funds, their portfolio companies and other private companies in a wide variety of matters, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, divestitures, recapitalizations, going private transactions, minority investments, corporate governance, fiduciary duties, employment and equity incentive arrangements, and general corporate matters.

Lilit’s representative private equity clients include Sumeru Equity Partners, K1 Investment Management, Francisco Partners, Vector Capital, Vitruvian Partners, and Luminate Capital Partners. Representative transactions include:

  • Acquisition of Ceros by Sumeru Equity Partners
  • Acquisition of Digital Reasoning by Smarsh, a portfolio company of K1 Investment Management
  • Joint investment into Granicus by K1 Investment Management, Harvest Partners and Vista Equity Partners
  • Acquisition of GoGuardian, a portfolio company of Sumeru Equity Partners; recapitalization of GoGuardian; and add-on acquisition of Pear Deck
  • Strategic investment in Rethink Health, a portfolio company of K1 Investment Management, by Optum Ventures, an affiliate of UnitedHealth
  • Sale of Buildium, a portfolio company of K1 Investment Management and Sumeru Equity Partners, to RealPage
  • Acquisition of Telesoft by Sumeru Equity Partners; add-on acquisition of MDSL; and sale and rollover into a combined company comprising MDSL/Telesoft and Calero Software co-owned by Oak Street Partners and Riverside Partners
  • Sale of Cybera, a portfolio company of Sumeru Equity Partners, to PDI, a portfolio company of Insight Partners and TA Associates
  • Acquisition of 3GTMS by Sumeru Equity Partners and add-on acquisition of PaceJet
  • Acquisition and recapitalization of Azuga, a portfolio company of Sumeru Equity Partners
  • Acquisition of Chrome River Technologies by K1 Investment Management and combination with its portfolio company Certify at a combined valuation of over $1 billion
  • Acquisition of Civitas Learning by Francisco Partners
  • Recapitalization of GoodRx by Francisco Partners and Spectrum Equity and strategic investment in GoodRx by Silver Lake Partners at a valuation of $2.8 billion
  • Acquisition of Practice Insight by eSolutions, a portfolio company of Francisco Partners
  • Minority investment by Francisco Partners in CoverMyMeds and subsequent sale to McKesson at a valuation of $1.4 billion
  • Acquisition of myON by Francisco Partners and subsequent sale to Renaissance Learning
  • Acquisition of Renaissance Learning by Francisco Partners
  • Acquisition of NMI by Francisco Partners
  • Acquisition of Discovery Education by Francisco Partners
  • Acquisition of Sandvine by Procera, a portfolio company of Francisco Partners
  • Minority investment by Sumeru Equity Partners in Snow Software, a portfolio company of Vitruvian Partners
  • Minority investment by Sumeru Equity Partners in Kyriba and its subsequent sale to Bridgepoint Capital at a valuation of $1.2 billion
  • Pre-IPO investment in Oak Street Health by several financial institutions led by Fidelity Management
  • Sale of minority interest in Orangetheory by its founders to Roark Capital
  • Sale of Cyclebar by its founders to TPG Growth

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Lilit was a partner at another international law firm and her representative transactions include the transactions she led there.

Lilit earned her Juris Doctor from The University of Chicago Law School with honors where she served on The University of Chicago Law Review. Lilit received a degree in Master of Comparative Legal Studies from the American University of Armenia where she was awarded the Vartkess M. Balian Merit Award given annually to a student with the best overall academic performance. Lilit also holds a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts from Yerevan State University, Armenia, with honors.

Lilit is a member of the California Bar and the New York Bar.

Emad H. Khalil is a partner in the New York office of Gibson Dunn. His practice focuses on U.S. and cross-border investments and co-investments, acquisitions, dispositions, and joint ventures, as well as related financings (including Islamic finance) and restructurings. His representations include control, minority and preferred equity investments; and asset-level construction, development, and operation.

Emad regularly represents strategic, infrastructure fund and private equity clients in the renewable power, infrastructure, oil and gas, energy transition, and healthcare sectors. He also represents issuers and investors in connection with venture capital and growth equity investments in a broad range of sectors. He has represented clients throughout the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Emad was born in Cairo, Egypt, and raised in New York City. In addition to New York, he has lived and worked in Singapore and Dubai. He is also fluent in Arabic.

He received his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1990 and his Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University in 1987. He is admitted to practice in New York.

Selected Representations:

  • Abdul Latif Jameel: Venture capital, growth equity and LP investments in numerous sectors, including nuclear fusion, crypto, electric vehicles and biotech.
  • Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC):  Represented ADNOC in its first strategic investment in the U.S. – the acquisition of a 11.7% stake from Global Infrastructure Partners in Phase 1 (Trains 1-3) of NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG (RGLNG) project located in Texas, and entry into a 20-year LNG offtake agreement between ADNOC and RGLNG from Train 4.
  • Arcapita: Represented Bahrain-based private equity firm Arcapita as debtor in the first-ever U.S. bankruptcy court debtor in possession sharia financing; and first-ever U.S. bankruptcy court sharia exit financing.
  • Berkshire Hathaway Energy: Acquisition of the 550 MW Topaz solar power project in California.
  • Berkshire Hathaway Energy: Advise on numerous tax equity financings, including for the 298 MW Kingfisher wind power project in Oklahoma, the 419 MW Mesquite Star wind farm in Texas, and the 161 MW Wildorado wind farm in Texas.
  • Blue Planet Funding: Advise on the development and financing of the 683 MW Dawn Solar project in Texas.
  • Bonneville Environmental Foundation: Advise on the proposed development and financing of the 65 MW Tacoma Green Hydrogen project.
  • Brookfield Renewable and Stonepeak: Up to $1 billion investment in InterEnergy Group Ltd., a leading power developer and operator in Latin America and the Caribbean.
  • Charleston Stevedoring Company, LLC: Advise on operations at the Port of Charleston, South Carolina.
  • Confidential Client: Represent Committee of the Board of Directors of a Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) company.
  • Confidential Client: Represent private equity client in connection with the acquisition of a pharmaceutical distribution company in the Middle East.
  • Confidential Client: Growth capital investment in European autonomous electric vehicle company.
  • Confidential Client: Joint venture with European car dealership.
  • Confidential Client: Joint venture with Asian electric car manufacturer.
  • Confidential Client: Represent European company in the acquisition of a U.S. water treatment company.
  • Confidential Client: Advise on proposed bid for Global Container Terminals’ operations in Staten Island in New York and Bayonne in New Jersey.
  • Confidential Client: Advise European Infrastructure Fund on their bid for North Carolina-based solar and storage developer Cypress Creek Renewables.
  • Cullgen Inc.: $40 million financing for San Diego, CA and Shanghai, China-based biotechnology company developing small molecule therapeutics.
  • EDBI (Venture arm of the Singapore Government): Numerous biotech venture investments including into CombinatoRx, ES Cell International, Fluidigm, Idenix, Ivantis, MerlionPharma, Paradigm Therapeutics, and Vanda Pharmaceuticals.
  • Gateway Terminals, LLC: Advise on operations at the Port of Savannah Georgia.
  • Gilead Sciences: Advise on the procurement of fuel cell power from Bloom Energy.
  • Government of Barbados: Advise on implementing the Barbados National Energy Policy goal of 100% renewable energy and a carbon neutral island- state by 2030, including unbundling of the power sector and developing new licenses for generation, energy storage, transmission/distribution and supply, and system operator.
  • Heights Legacy LLC: Venture capital investment in Blockskye Inc. which provides inventory booking, payment, expense, authorization, and settlement solutions for enterprise travel and procurement enabled by blockchain.
  • I Squared Capital: Co-investments for $1.3 billion acquisition of IC Power’s Latin American and Caribbean power portfolio from Kenon Holdings Ltd.
  • I Squared Capital: Co-investments for $1.2 billion acquisition from Duke Energy of a portfolio of hydroelectric and natural gas generation plants, transmission infrastructure and natural gas processing facilities, totaling 2,300 MW in Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Argentina.
  • I Squared Capital: Co-investments for $1.9 billion acquisition of Hong Kong fixed-line business Hutchinson Global Communications.
  • Limetree Bay Ventures: Advise on the proposed out-of-court restructuring of the contractual and financial arrangements for this refinery located in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
  • Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Inc.: Representation of NYNJ Link (controlled Macquarie vehicle) in connection with its successful bid to demolish the existing Goethals Bridge connecting Staten Island, New York with Elizabeth, New Jersey, and to obtain a 35-year concession from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, its over $1 billion equity and debt financing, and its construction, operation and maintenance of the replacement Goethals Bridge.
  • SB Energy (SoftBank Group Corp.’s U.S.-based solar and storage platform): Represent SB Energy in connection with its joint venture with Intersect Power, its financing and construction of utility-scale projects, its negotiation of a senior revolving credit facility and its acquisition of five U.S. solar power plants with a combined capacity of more than 1.7 GW from Intersect Power.
  • SMC Infrastructure Partners: Acquisition and debt and equity financing of Miami, FL-based infrastructure paving contractor General Asphalt a leader in specialized infrastructure construction and maintenance in South Florida, with a specific focus on the aviation surface subsector.
  • SMC Infrastructure Partners: Acquisition and debt and equity financing of Fort Lauderdale, FL-based Hypower, LLC, a critical infrastructure electrical contractor focused on serving owners and operators of aviation, electrification, energy transition, telecom, and transportation assets.
  • VIelectron: Advise on the development and financing of five solar power and related battery storage projects in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Jakob Egle is a partner in the London office of Gibson Dunn. Jakob is a member of the Private Equity, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Corporate Practice Groups.

Jakob regularly advises on a wide range of private equity, corporate, and M&A transactions in Europe, with a particular focus on leveraged buyouts, growth capital investments, divestitures, joint ventures, shareholder arrangements, and management equity plans.

Before joining Gibson Dunn, Jakob was an associate in the private equity practice of another international law firm and spent time on secondment at The Blackstone Group and Goldman Sachs International.

Selected experience:*

  • KKR on its majority acquisition of Biosynth Carbosynth, a Swiss life sciences reagents and custom synthesis and manufacturing services company.
  • KKR on its initial investment and follow-on investment in KnowBe4, a security awareness training and simulated phishing platform provider, with participation from TenEleven Ventures.
  • KKR on its investment in Feedzai, a leading cloud-based financial risk management platform.
  • KKR on its investment in Nordic Bioscience, a Danish biomarker development company.
  • Blackstone on its €2.2 billion acquisition of Cirsa Gaming Corporation SA, a Spanish gambling operator active across Spain, Italy and Latin America.
  • Goldman Sachs Private Capital on its investments in DocPlanner Group, an international healthcare booking platform provider.
  • KKR on its acquisition of Argenta, a leading animal pharmaceutical research and manufacturing company.

*Some of these representations occurred prior to Jakob’s association with Gibson Dunn.

Wendy Cai is an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, practicing in the Intellectual Property and International Arbitration practice groups. Her practice focuses on patent litigation and international arbitration in a wide range of fields, including telecommunications, software, green energy, security networks, robotics, logistics, semiconductor devices, consumer electronics, and pharmaceuticals. 

Wendy has experience in all phases of litigation and arbitration, from pre-suit diligence to appeal, including managing discovery, taking and defending depositions, working with experts, drafting dispositive motions, arguing discovery motions and Markman hearings, conducting direct and cross-examination of fact and expert witnesses at trial, and pre- and post-trial motions.  She has experience handling disputes in federal courts and the ITC, and also has represented clients in a variety of international arbitration proceedings, including those before the ICSID, ICC, LCIA, SCC, and SIAC.

Representative patent litigation matters:

  • Represented Indeed against Flexiworld, where plaintiff asserted 4 patents related to data mining and matching technology. Won a motion to dismiss with a first-of-its-kind ruling by Judge Albright, who found all four patents ineligible and dismissed the case with prejudice prior to claim construction and discovery. 
  • Represented SharkNinja in a series of patent infringement cases against competitor Dyson, including asserting a declaratory judgment case on one patent regarding hair styler technology in the District of Massachusetts, asserting eight patents against Dyson relating to vacuum technology in the District of Massachusetts, asserting five patents against Dyson in the ITC, and coordinating strategy on related hair styler litigations against Dyson in Germany, France, UK, Singapore, Korea, Japan, Australia, and China. Obtained very favorable settlement immediately preceding the ITC trial against Dyson.
  • Represented SharkNinja before the ITC against competitor iRobot, resulting in a no violation determination for 4 of the 5 patents asserted and a limited exclusion order for a single obsolete feature in a discontinued product.
  • Represented Rheem against competitor A.O. Smith, where plaintiff asserted patents related to water heater technology. Obtained very favorable settlement.
  • Represented Cisco against Lionra in a patent infringement case in the Eastern District of Texas. Won dismissal of a patent after securing a favorable claim construction order.
  • Represented AT&T in a patent infringement case where plaintiff Sol IP asserted 27 patents against LTE and WiFi technologies, with case settling favorably.
  • Represented Apple against Geoscope, where plaintiff asserted 6 patents related to geolocation technology.  Won dismissal of all patents.

Representative international arbitration matters:

  • Successfully defended an electronics company in a SIAC arbitration against a multi-hundred million dollar claim brought under a patent license agreement.
  • Successfully defended and secured complete victory on behalf of an aluminum company in SCC arbitration concerning disputes related to a power purchase agreement.
  • Successfully represented a multi-national logistics company in a multi-hundred million dollar claim in an investment treaty arbitration.

She received her Juris Doctor in 2018 from Columbia Law School, where she was named a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and the student Editor-in-Chief of the American Review of International Arbitration. She represented Columbia in every round of the 24th Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot and placed third out of 300+ teams. She received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology with distinction in the major from Yale University in 2015.

Wendy is admitted to practice in the State of New York, District of Columbia, and before the United States District Courts for the Southern District of New York and the Eastern District of Texas.

She is the co-author of “Principles of Evidence in Public International Law as Applied by Investor-State Tribunals: Burden and Standard of Proof”, Brill Publications (January 2019) and is the first-author of a publication for the Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry journal.

William L. Wortmann is of counsel in the Los Angeles office of Gibson Dunn. He is a member of the firm’s Capital Markets and Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance Practice Groups and focuses on public company equity and debt capital market transactions, including both public offerings and private placements. He regularly advises clients and their boards of directors on SEC reporting and related securities law, corporate governance, and regulatory issues.

Bill has worked on over 20 IPOs, several of which were among the largest in the country that year, and valued in excess of $1 billion. In addition, he advises clients on securities law and disclosure matters in merger and acquisition transactions, including going private and public deals, as well as private equity and venture capital transactions. Bill also has an active pro bono practice, advising non-profit organizations on formation and corporate governance matters. Bill served as an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center where he taught Securities Regulation for eight years.

Bill earned a J.D. degree magna cum laude in 2002 from the University of Minnesota, School of Law, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as an Articles Editor of the Minnesota Journal of Global Trade. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1998 from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

 

Nicola is an associate in the Hong Kong office. She is a member of the firm’s global Strategic Sourcing and Commercial Transactions Practice Group.

Nicola has experience in dealing with a broad range of technology transactions and commercial matters, including technology integration, outsourcing, electronic payment, telecoms licensing, data privacy and related regulatory matters. She also has experience in advising on cross-border corporate transactions, representing clients in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and corporate restructurings.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Nicola was an associate at another international law firm based in Hong Kong. Nicola is admitted to practice in both Hong Kong and England and Wales. She is fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin.

Michael Weinberger is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Michael is a member of the Real Estate practice group. His practice focuses on real estate law, with a particular focus on real estate finance, including CMBS, mortgage, mezzanine, and construction loan originations, restructurings, syndications, and secondary market transactions.

He regularly represents major institutional lenders and borrowers in complex transactions involving hotels, shopping centers, office buildings, multifamily properties, industrial properties, life science centers, data centers, storage facilities, casinos, condominiums, and other property types.

Chambers notes that Michael is “one of best lender side lawyers,” a “go-to source of knowledge on complex and arcane legal issues,” and “incredibly responsive and commercial,” also noting that “Michael is so focused on the deal and the important matters – he keeps it all relevant and extremely targeted for the client.”

Michael has been recognized as a leading lawyer by:

  • The Best Lawyers in America, 2026 Lawyer of the Year for Real Estate
  • Chambers USA, Real Estate: Finance – New York (Band 1)
  • The Legal 500 U.S. “Hall of Fame” in Real Estate Finance
  • Lawdragon, 500 Leading Global Real Estate Lawyers, 2024 and 2025
  • The Best Lawyers in America, 2018 Lawyer of the Year for Real Estate
  • The Legal Media Group Guide to the World’s Leading Structured Finance and Securitization Lawyers
  • The Legal Media Group Guide to the World’s Leading Real Estate Lawyers
  • The Best Lawyers in America, Real Estate
  • The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, Real Estate
  • Who’s Who Legal, Real Estate

Highlights of Michael’s experiences includes representing:

  • The lenders in the financing of Blackstone’s multibillion dollar acquisition of Equity Office Properties, one of the largest real estate transactions in history.
  • The lenders in the financings of numerous American landmarks, including Rockefeller Center in New York City and the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) in Chicago.
  • A hospitality REIT in the billion dollar financing of a portfolio of 120 hotels.
  • The lenders in the billion dollar acquisition financing of the CBS Studio Center film and television production studio campus in Los Angeles, California, as well as in several billion dollars of financings of other movie and television studio properties in the United States and Canada.
  • The borrower in the $2.4 billion financing of the Ala Moana Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, the most valuable mall in the United States.
  • The lender in the $1.75 billion financing of the Fontainebleau Miami Beach.
  • The lenders in the mortgage and mezzanine financing of Blackstone’s multibillion dollar acquisition of Strategic Hotels & Resorts.
  • A Mexican bank, as lender, in numerous bridge and construction loans, financing luxury multifamily, hotel, and mixed-use projects.
  • A private equity fund, both as borrower and lender, in financings involving high-end resorts and recreation facilities.

Michael received his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, where he was Editor of the Harvard Law Review. He received his B.A., summa cum laude, from Yale University.

Additional relevant information about Michael:

  • He served as a clerk for the Honorable Leonard I. Garth of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
  • Michael is admitted to practice in the State of New York.
  • He is proficient in Hebrew.

Jesse Sharf is a partner in the Century City office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and is Co-Chair of the firm’s Real Estate Department, and is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. His real estate practice experience includes extensive representation of all types of investors, lenders and developers. On the lender side, Jesse represents mezzanine lenders, construction lenders, CMBS lenders, and portfolio lenders in workouts, whole loan sales, syndications and participations, foreclosures and other enforcement actions, construction lending, mezzanine lending, CMBS lending and structured finance lending transactions.

In addition, Jesse represents real estate funds, developers and institutional and non-institutional investors in all areas of real estate, including: workouts; acquisition of distressed loans and other assets; construction, permanent, securitized, mezzanine and participating financing; representations of home builders and other developers; environmental aspects of real estate transactions; loan restructuring, workouts and enforcement; all aspects of commercial development; acquisition and sale of vacant land, office buildings, apartment buildings, build to rent/single family rental portfolios, industrial and logistics properties, studios, life science and data centers, hotels, shopping centers, and other commercial and residential properties; acquisition, sale and financing of loan portfolios; forming and representing limited liability companies, general and limited partnerships and joint ventures; sale-leaseback transactions; representation of REIT’s; commercial leasing; ground leasing and ground leasehold financing; and contractor, architect, broker and management agreements.

Currently, and for over a decade, Jesse has been recognized as a leading real estate lawyer by:

  • Chambers USA as a “Star Individual” and a top tier real estate lawyer in California and nationally
  • The Best Lawyers in America® as a Los Angeles real estate lawyer of the year in 2016 and 2024
  • The Best Lawyers in America® in real estate law every year since 2001
  • Lawdragon‘s 500 Leading Global Real Estate Lawyers in 2024 and 2025
  • Legal 500, where he is ranked one of the top 10 leading real estate lawyers in the United States
  • Super Lawyers
  • Who’s Who Legal listing for Real Estate Law 2022, 2023 and 2024
  • Daily Journal’s Top Real Estate Lawyers, 2013
  • Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Angelenos to Know in Real Estate Law”

Highlights of Jesse’s experience include:

  • Rockpoint in the acquisition of an interest in Margaritaville Enterprises.
  • Rockpoint in the acquisition of interests in Starrett City.
  • Woodridge Capital in the acquisition, financing and re-development of Century Plaza, a $2.5 billion mixed use development.
  • Fortress in a co-venture with JBG Smith Properties for the acquisition of 6 office/mixed use properties in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
  • Sixth Street Partners in a co-venture with 60 Guilders for the acquisition of 33-00 Northern Boulevard, an office/mixed use property in Queens.
  • Kildare Partners in the $900 million acquisition, joint venture and financing of a portfolio of shopping centers in Puerto Rico.
  • Rockpoint in a $1 billion single family rental and build-to-rent series joint venture with ResiBuilt Homes.
  • Hudson Pacific Properties in its joint venture with Blackstone to recapitalize a $1.65 billion studio and office portfolio.
  • Access Industries and Harridge Ventures in the acquisition and financing of Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.

Additional relevant information about Jesse includes:

  • Jesse received his law degree from the New York University School of Law in 1986, where he was Editor of the New York University Law Review. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in history and international relations, with a minor in economics, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania in 1982.
  • Jesse lives in Santa Monica with his wife, Stacy, where they are occasionally visited by their three sons, their three daughters in law, and their incredibly cute and brilliant grandson, Micah, and where Stacy has apparently prevailed over and Jesse in their ongoing battle over whether to get a dog (hint: they don’t have one).
  • He is a member of the Real Estate and Construction Division, and a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.
  • Jesse is former chair of (and still very active in) the Los Angeles chapter of AIPAC’s real estate division.
  • He is on the Board of Trustees of NYU Law School.
  • Jesse is on the Advisory Board for the Jewish Theological Seminary.
  • He is a chair of the real estate division of Make a Wish.
  • Jesse is on Cedars Sinai’s Board of Governors.
  • He is a frequent lecturer on real estate, joint venture and real estate finance.

Harry R. Silvera is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and a member of the Real Estate Practice Group. Harry’s practice covers a broad range of commercial real estate transactions, including joint ventures, acquisitions and dispositions of office, hospitality and seniors housing assets, commercial mortgage, mezzanine and construction financing (representing both borrowers and lenders), development of office, hospitality and seniors housing projects and commercial leasing.

Harry has been recognized as a leading lawyer by:

  • The Best Lawyers in America as a top real estate lawyer.
  • Lawdragon‘s 500 Leading Global Real Estate Lawyers in 2024 and 2025.
  • Chambers USA for New York Real Estate. Chambers notes that Harry is “a consensus builder and one of the smartest out there,” and that he “commands respect, has an excellent bedside manner and provides steady advice on the best market solution to issues.” One client commented that “he’s one of the smartest lawyers in the city and has great initiative when it comes to pushing a deal forward and solving problems.”

He represents clients such as:

  • The Related Companies
  • RXR Realty
  • EOS Investors
  • Blackstone
  • Cale Street Partners
  • Mast Capital
  • Trinity Investments
  • Fortress Investment Group
  • NorthStar Healthcare Income
  • Fremont Realty Capital

Additional relevant information about Harry includes:

  • Before joining Gibson Dunn in 2014, Harry was a partner with Fried Frank, where he practiced since 1995.
  • Harry received his JD from Columbia University School of Law in 1995, where he was a James Kent Scholar and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He received his BA, magna cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1991.
  • He is admitted to practice in New York.

Mike Szczurek is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and is a member of the firm’s Real Estate Department. He represents funds, developers, and everything from institutional to non-institutional to individual investors in acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, financings, preferred equity investments, REIT formations and sales, work-outs and restructurings in a varied set of markets and for a comprehensive array of asset types, including raw land, student housing facilities, multi-family assets, single family rental assets, hotels and resorts, stadiums, office buildings, warehouses, and/or master planned and individual industrial projects.

Mike has been recognized as a leading lawyer by:

  • Chambers USA for Southern California Real Estate
  • Lawdragon‘s 500 Leading Global Real Estate Lawyers in 2024 and 2025
  • Daily Journal’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2020
  • Super Lawyers Southern California’s “Rising Stars” since 2015
  • Law360 as a Rising Star in Real Estate in 2018
  • Euromoney Legal Media Group as a Rising Star in Real Estate in 2018

Representative clients include:

  • MSD Partners
  • Rockpoint Group
  • Fontainebleau Development
  • Koch Real Estate Investments
  • Brookfield Property Partners
  • BRAVO Strategies
  • Fortress Investment Group
  • The Scion Group
  • ProspectHill Group

Selected representative matters include:

  • A series of portfolio acquisitions, including asset, entity, REIT, and staged acquisitions, and financings for ~$6 billion of student housing facilities across the U.S. for a domestic operator and a variety of capital partners;
  • The structuring and sale of ~$250 million of REIT interests in warehouse facilities for a prominent private equity fund;
  • The sale of the former Hollywood Park site to entities affiliated with the Los Angeles Rams for an undisclosed sum and subsequent development work on SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California;
  • The acquisition, financing, and structuring of joint ventures related to ~$5 billion in full service hotels and resorts located across the U.S. for a variety of owners and operators; and
  • Obtaining ~$2.2 billion in mortgage and mezzanine construction debt for the ongoing construction of the Fontainebleau Las Vegas.

Additional relevant information about Mike:

  • Mike received his Juris Doctor in 2009 from the University of Southern California, where he served on the Executive Board for the Hale Moot Court Honors Program and received a Bachelor of Science degree cum laude from The College of New Jersey with a major in Business Administration in 2006.
  • He is a member of the State Bar of California and has been admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
  • Mike is a frequent guest lecturer on a variety of real estate-related topics at the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law.
  • He serves on the board of Stuart M. Ketchum Downtown YMCA.

Kim Schlanger is a partner in the Houston office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a member of the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group.

Ms. Schlanger’s practice covers a broad range of commercial real estate transactions, including advising developers and investors in connection with the development, financing, acquisition and disposition of a variety of asset classes, including office buildings, multi-family developments, hotels and mixed-use projects throughout the United States. She has been involved in the development of many landmark buildings across the country.

Ms. Schlanger has been ranked as a top real estate attorney in Texas in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and was named a “Woman to Watch” in commercial real estate by GlobeSt.Com. She has also been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America© in the area of Real Estate Law. Additionally, in 2021, the editors of GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum recognized Ms. Schlanger as a “Top Individual” for their Influencers in Senior Housing series. In 2023, Who’s Who Legal recognized her as a leading individual in Real Estate. Ms. Schlanger was recognized by the Texas Lawyer as the Real Estate Attorney of the Year in 2024, and in Lawdragon‘s 500 Leading Global Real Estate Lawyers in 2024 and 2025.

Ms. Schlanger has extensive experience in the structuring and negotiation of joint venture agreements (both single-asset and “programmatic”) for the purpose of commercial and residential real estate acquisition and development.

Ms. Schlanger’s clients include private real estate equity funds, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds, corporate and individual developers and owners, REITs and other public and privately held companies investing in or using real estate.

She graduated, cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2003, and is admitted in both New York and Texas. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 2000.

Farshad Morè is a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Century City office. He is a member of the firm’s Real Estate Department.

Farshad’s real estate practice experience includes representation of opportunity and private equity funds, REITs, institutional and non-institutional real estate investors, developers and operators, lenders and borrowers in a broad range of matters, including acquisition, development, financing and disposition of commercial real estate of all asset types, including vacant land, hotels, residential, office, multi-family, retail and mixed-use buildings, shopping centers, and other commercial and residential properties throughout the United States; acquisition and disposition of debt instruments secured by, and equity interests in, real property, including the acquisition and disposition of REITs; complex construction, permanent, securitized, mezzanine, preferred equity and participating financing, including Shari’ah-compliant financings; forming and representing joint ventures, limited liability companies, general and limited partnerships, and negotiating joint venture agreements for operating and capital partners; ground leasing and ground leasehold financing.

Additionally, Farshad routinely advises and represents clients in connection with restructuring and “work-outs” of existing financing, as well as uniform commercial code and real estate foreclosures.

Farshad has been recognized as a leading lawyer by:

  • Chambers USA in Real Estate from 2016 to 2025
  • Law360 as the Real Estate “MVP” in 2015 and 2024
  • The Recorder as Real Estate Lawyer of the Year in 2024
  • Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Real Estate Lawyers in 2024 and 2025
  • The Best Lawyers in America from 2014 to 2026
  • Best Lawyers as the 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” for Real Estate Law in Los Angeles
  • Law360 as a “Rising Star” in Real Estate in 2015
  • Super Lawyers as a “Rising Star” in 2015
  • Expert Guides in 2015

Farshad earned his law degree in 2003 from Columbia University School of Law. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, with a minor in Italian, cum laude in 1999 from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Farshad is admitted to practice in California.

Eric S. Meer is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a member of Gibson Dunn’s Real Estate Practice Group.

Eric’s practice covers a broad range of commercial real estate transactions, including debt and equity finance, joint ventures and acquisitions/dispositions. Eric has significant experience representing both developers and lenders in complex and highly structured development and construction-related real estate transactions. 

Eric has been recognized as a leading real estate lawyer by:

  • Chambers USA as “Up and Coming” in New York Real Estate, 2025
  • Law360 as a real estate lawyer “Rising Star,” 2025
  • Lawdragon’s list of 500 Leading Global Real Estate Lawyers, 2024 and 2025
  • Lawdragon’s list of 500 X – The Next Generation, 2023

Eric received his Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law, where he served as the Executive Symposium Editor of the Emory Law Journal and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Political Science from the University of Michigan. He is fluent in Hebrew.

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

Sophie Rohnke is a partner in the Dallas office of Gibson Dunn. She is a member of the firm’s Consumer Protection and Privacy, Cybersecurity and Data Innovation Practice Groups.

Sophie’s practice focuses on defending companies facing regulatory investigations and enforcement actions, including by the DOJ, SEC, FTC, CFPB, CFTC, and State Attorneys General, with a particular focus on clients in the technology and internet industries. Sophie also has deep expertise in conducting fast-paced, high-stakes internal investigations. In addition to her investigations expertise, Sophie has extensive experience representing clients in complex commercial litigation matters, including class actions. Recently, Sophie was recognized as one of D Magazine’s Best Lawyers Under 40.

Representative Matters:

  • Represented top social networking company in two nonpublic state Attorneys General investigations related to content moderation that resulted in no action.
  • Represented leading gig economy company in several nonpublic state Attorneys General investigations related to consumer protection issues.
  • Represented leading fintech company in litigation brought by Federal Trade Commission alleging deceptive and unfair practices.
  • Represented global consumer technology company in nonpublic CFPB investigation.
  • Represented leading telecommunications company in nonpublic DOJ and SEC investigation relating to cybersecurity issues.
  • Conducted internal investigation for international technology company regarding whistleblower allegations of financial improprieties by corporate officers.
  • Conducted internal investigation for the special committee to the board of a listed company regarding whistleblower allegations of misconduct by the company’s CEO, ultimately resulting in the CEO’s resignation.
  • Defended multinational corporation in nationwide class action alleging violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and federal antitrust laws.
  • Represented Keurig Dr Pepper as plaintiff in a breach-of-contract dispute against the manufacturer of Bodyarmor sports drink, including briefing of a successful motion for partial summary judgment on liability.
  • Represented a global financial institution in connection with government investigations of AML violations and related issues.

Sophie holds a B.A. in Jurisprudence from the University of Oxford and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School. Sophie is admitted in the State of Texas, the State of New York, the United States District Courts of the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, as well as England & Wales.

Matthew A. Kidd is partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a member of Gibson Dunn’s Real Estate Practice Group. He advises clients on a wide range of matters, including acquisitions, dispositions, financings, joint ventures, preferred equity investments, as well as development transactions. Mr. Kidd’s finance experiencing includes representing both borrowers and lenders in the origination of different types of debt such as construction financings, balance sheet loans and CMBS, as well as intercreditor and co-lender arrangements. He also advises clients in connection with workouts and restructurings of debt. Mr. Kidd’s transactions take place both in New York and throughout the United States and involve a variety of asset classes, including office, retail, residential and hotel properties. Mr. Kidd has also handled a number of international matters.

Mr. Kidd is ranked as one of the leading real estate lawyers in New York by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. He was also recognized in Lawdragon‘s 500 Leading Global Real Estate Lawyers in 2024 and 2025.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Kidd was an associate in the New York and London offices of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.

Mr. Kidd earned his Juris Doctor in 2001 from the University of Southern California, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992

Allison H. Kidd is a partner in the San Francisco office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She is a member of the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group and Land Use Practice Group. Allison’s practice includes a wide variety of commercial real estate transactions. She represents private equity funds, institutional and non-institutional real estate investors, REITs, developers and operators in all areas of real estate, including acquisitions, permanent and construction financing (mortgage and mezzanine), joint ventures, dispositions and work-outs.

Allison’s practice includes a variety of asset classes, including office, residential, industrial, senior housing and mixed-use. She also routinely works with developers on large-scale development projects, including structuring, negotiating and implementing public-private partnerships, development agreements and ground leases.

Allison has been recognized as a leading lawyer by:

  • Chambers USA for California Real Estate: Land Use/Zoning in 2024 and 2025
  • Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Real Estate Lawyers in 2024 and 2025
  • GlobeSt Real Estate Forum Women of Influence in 2023
  • The Best Lawyers in America in Real Estate Law from 2020-2026
  • Law360 as a “Rising Star” in 2019

Allison has counselled clients in some of the most high-profile developments in the San Francisco Bay Area, including:

  • The Chase Center in San Francisco;
  • The Oakland A’s Major League Baseball team’s waterfront baseball stadium and 50-acre mixed-use development; and
  • Related’s 240-acre mixed use development adjacent to Levi Stadium in Santa Clara.

Allison received a law degree and master of public policy, with an emphasis on urban development policy, in 2008 from the University of California, Los Angeles. She received her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Columbia in 2001.

Christopher D. Belelieu is a litigation partner and first-chair trial lawyer.  Chris’s practice focuses on complex and high-stakes commercial litigation disputes, representing clients across a range of industries with a particular focus on the financial services industry. Chris represents both plaintiffs and defendants in federal and state courts, as well as in different arbitral forums.  In 2024, Chris was voted a BTI Consulting Group Client Service All-Star.  One client described Chris as “very sharp and very thoughtful about market changes and trends, knows what I’m focused on and tailors his interactions to that and also expands it.”

Throughout his career, Chris has represented companies such as Perella Weinberg Partners, Elliott Investment Management, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Millennium Management, certain Blackstone portfolio companies, MidOcean Partners, Motive Partners, BTG Pactual, Arlington Capital Partners, ATL Partners, Meridiam, Fifth Wall, GEICO, Amazon, SES, WeWork and Forbes.

Chris is a member of the Board of Directors for The Legal Aid Society.  Chris has had a significant pro bono practice throughout his career, and has received several awards for his work, including the Commitment to Justice Award from Her Justice for his work representing a victim of domestic violence in immigration and family court proceedings (2012) and an award from The Legal Aid Society for his work litigating on behalf of homeless families with children for the provision of shelter (2007). 

Chris received his law degree from the Columbia Law School where he was recognized as a James Kent Scholar, a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and a recipient of the David Berger Memorial Prize in International Law.  He also served as Editor-in-Chief of The Columbia Journal of European Law and as Executive Editor of The Columbia Journal of Transnational Law.  After graduating from law school, Chris served as a clerk for Judge Rosemary Barkett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Chris earned an A.B. summa cum laude from Georgetown University and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.  At Georgetown, he was a member of the men’s varsity tennis team.

Chris is a member of Gibson Dunn’s Global Diversity Committee.

Recent Representative Experience

Trials

  • Lead trial counsel in a seven-week bench trial for Perella Weinberg Partners in New York state court against former members of the firm related to violations of both their contractual (including their restrictive covenants) and fiduciary duties.
  • Lead trial counsel in Delaware Court of Chancery trial for Samvit Ramadurgam, the co-founder of Destiny XYZ and Destiny Tech 100, a publicly-traded closed-end fund giving retail investors exposure to private start-ups, against his co-founder and other Board members for, among other things, breaches of fiduciary duty.

Securities and SPAC Litigation

  • Lead counsel for SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. and certain officers and directors in securities class action and shareholder derivative lawsuits related to European demand and inventory levels.
  • Lead counsel for Driven Brands and certain officers and directors in securities class action and shareholder derivative lawsuits related to its cash wash business and the integration of its auto glass segment. 
  • Lead counsel for former directors and officers of Fifth Wall Acquisition Corp. in Delaware Court of Chancery litigation related to de-SPAC merger with SmartRent.
  • Lead counsel for Millennium Management, Suvretta Capital Management and TOMS Capital Investment Management in litigation in New York state court related to PIPE investments in SPAC.

Earnout Disputes

  • Lead counsel to a portfolio company of Arlington Capital Partners in an earnout dispute in Maryland state court.
  • Lead counsel to a portfolio company of ATL Partners in an earnout dispute in Delaware Court of Chancery.

Other Commercial Disputes

  • Representing Amazon in litigation in New York federal court related to its Key for Business.
  • Represented Marsh McLennan in litigation related to purported breaches of new hires’ restrictive covenants with their former employer.
  • Represented Guy Carpenter in litigation against a competitor and certain individuals related to their breaches of their contractual (including restrictive covenants) and fiduciary duties.
  • Represented SES, the world’s largest satellite company, in bankruptcy court against leading competitor, Intelsat.