Senior legal editors

Jennifer Coon joined Practical Law from Dechert LLP, where she was an associate in the antitrust group handling a variety of merger, counseling and litigation matters. Jen was responsible for managing the US premerger notification program at Dechert, including analyzing premerger notification requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and preparing required HSR filings.

Ira Levee has over 30 years of bankruptcy experience. He joined Practical Law from Lowenstein Sandler LLP where he was of counsel in the Bankruptcy, Financial Reorganization and Creditors' Rights practice group, representing debtors, creditors, and other stakeholders including securities class action plaintiffs. Previously, he was a partner in a bankruptcy boutique in Roseland, NJ.

Jordanna Nadritch joined Practical Law from Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP, where she was a partner in the Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring group, handling all aspects of chapter 11 reorganizations and out-of-court workouts. Previously, she was an associate in the Bankruptcy and Restructuring group at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP.

Aliza Reicher joined Practical Law from Brown Rudnick LLP, where she was a senior associate in the bankruptcy and corporate restructuring group focusing primarily on creditor committee, equity committee and equity holder representations in bankruptcy. Previously she was an associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP where she focused on debtor representations in bankruptcy and prior to that a bankruptcy associate at Lowenstein Sandler LLP.

Kelly Brennan joined Practical Law from the private practice of law. She was previously a member at White Arnold & Dowd PC and prior to that a member at Balch & Bingham LLP. She also served as general counsel to a broker-dealer.

Jerry Carannante joined Practical Law from Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, where he was a senior associate in the Corporate and Finance group, specializing in a variety of capital markets transactions and complex corporate matters for large public companies.

Joe Green joined Practical Law from Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP, where he was a senior associate advising startup and emerging growth technology companies and venture capital firms. Previously, he was an associate in the capital markets practice group at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York.

Tricia Groot joined Practical Law from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, where she was a counsel in the corporate department, focusing on capital markets and corporate governance. Previously, she was an associate in the corporate department at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, where she focused on capital markets, banking & credit, and mergers & acquisitions.

Alain Kuyumjian joined Practical Law from Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, where he was counsel in the capital markets and Spain and Latin America practice groups, advising on public and private capital markets debt and equity transactions, as well as corporate governance, public disclosure, securities law compliance, and general corporate matters. Previously, he was an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP practicing in the corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions practice groups. He is also a consultant on governance and other corporate advisory matters including board reviews.

Allison Coplein joined Practical Law from Stillman Welch, LLC, a boutique firm in Atlanta, where she was an attorney specializing in mergers and acquisitions and commercial law. Previously she practiced as a corporate and tax attorney at several law firms in Atlanta, including the firm now known as Baker, Doneslon, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC.  Allison, also a CPA, started her career as a federal and international tax consultant with KPMG and Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC).

Charles Donefer joined Practical Law from Squishable.com, Inc. where he was General Counsel focusing on transactional matters, licensing and consumer product safety. Previously, he was an associate attorney at Kaye Scholer LLP (now Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP) in New York.

Tod Eggenberger joined Practical Law from Thomson Reuters, where he held a number of editorial management roles. Before that, he was a commercial litigation associate with Dorsey & Whitney LLP, where he worked in their New York office while at Columbia Law School, and in Minneapolis upon graduation. While at Columbia, Tod published a journal article cited by the US Supreme Court in a landmark RICO case. Tod is the Managing Editor of Practical Law's jurisdictional Commercial Transactions Service.

Paul Horowitz joined Practical Law from private practice. Previously, he was a partner in the customs and international trade practice groups at Baker McKenzie and Coudert Brothers LLP in New York. Before that, he was a senior associate at a customs and international trade boutique in New York.

Lawrence Hsieh joined Practical Law from private practice. Previously, he was in-house counsel with Nissho Iwai American Corporation, and a corporate associate with Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver, Komatsu & Koma and Shea & Gould. He is the author of the Corporate Transactions Handbook.

Sharon Kohn joined Practical Law from Kraft Foods, where she was Chief Counsel, Marketing Services and Planters, focusing on marketing, advertising, and privacy law and commercial contracts. Previously, she was Marketing and Advertising Counsel at McDonald's Corporation and Assistant General Counsel at Rand McNally & Company. Prior to that, she was an intellectual property associate at Kirkland & Ellis.

Mary Anne Martin joined Practical Law from US. Foods where she was a Director in the Commercial Law Department. Previously she practiced as Senior Director and Managing Counsel of the Merchandising and Marketing Law Department at Walgreen Co. and Senior Counsel at Sears, Roebuck and Co. Prior to Sears, she practiced at law firms in Chicago, Illinois including Peterson & Ross and Martin, Craig, Chester & Sonnenschein, LLP.

Karl Ahlm joined Practical Law from Gould & Ratner LLP, where he had been a partner in the business counseling and transactional group. Previously, he was a partner at DLA Piper US LLP specializing in private equity and M&A transactions, and before that a corporate associate at Winston & Strawn LLP, focusing on a broad range of M&A, finance, and securities matters.

Karen Bertulli joined Practical Law after practicing with Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A., where she was a shareholder in their Corporate department. Karen's practice focused on public and private securities compliance and general corporate counseling. Previously, she was an associate at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP in their Litigation and Corporate groups. Karen is the Managing Editor of State Corporate Content.

Catherine Chang joined Practical Law from Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, where she was an associate in the corporate group. Previously she was an associate at both Morrison Cohen LLP and Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP.

Melanie Arad Fitzpatrick joined Practical Law from Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, where she was an associate in the tax department. Previously she was an associate in the tax department at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.

John Gathings joined Practical Law from Moore & Van Allen, PLLC where he was a member in the Corporate practice group, representing both buyers and sellers, assisting clients from pre-transaction planning and structuring through due diligence, negotiating and drafting definitive documentation, financing, closing and resolution of post-closing adjustments and other post-closing issues. Previously he clerked for the Honorable Donald J. Russell of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Ana Guzman joined Practical Law from Greenberg Traurig, LLP, where she worked as a senior attorney in the corporate and securities department. Previously, she was a senior associate in the business transactions practice group at Schulte, Roth & Zabel LLP, where she handled a wide range of corporate transactional matters.

Amy Adams joined Practical Law from Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, where she was an associate in the employee benefits and executive compensation department.

Jessica Cherry joined Practical Law from the New York office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, where she was a partner in the employee benefits and executive compensation department. Previously she worked as an associate in the global equity services department of Baker McKenzie in San Francisco.

Jessica Faith joined Practical Law from Principal Financial Group, where she was in-house counsel for the retirement and income solutions business unit. Previously, she was an associate in the ERISA, benefits, and executive compensation group of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP.

Maria Barclay joined Practical Law from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where she was a senior corporate attorney in the finance group. Previously she was an attorney in the banking and finance team at the Auckland, New Zealand office of Bell Gully.

Eric Berman joined Practical Law from Sidley Austin LLP, where he worked as an associate in the corporate finance group, specializing in derivatives, securitization and structured finance, prime brokerage and securities lending.

Jeremy Estabrooks joined Practical Law from Axiom Law, where he worked at the general counsel's office of American Express and dealt primarily with banking, M&A and regulatory issues. Before that, he worked in the financial services group at Goodwin Procter LLP in New York. Before that, he worked in the finance and corporate and securities groups at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, also in New York. Jeremy began his legal career as a Stimson Fellow, working on various legal reform initiatives with the Russian government in Moscow, Russia.

Tim Fanning joined Practical Law from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, where he was senior counsel in the corporate finance group, representing investment funds, banks and corporations as borrowers and lenders in connection with credit facilities and a range of other financings. Tim is the Managing Editor of Practical Law's Finance team.

Mark Baker joined Practical Law from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, where he was counsel focusing on patent litigation matters. Before that, he was an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where he specialized in patent litigation and intellectual property transactions.

Rita Berardino joined Practical Law from Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where she was counsel and previously a partner focusing on intellectual property and information technology matters in corporate transactions and licensing and collaborations primarily in the areas of pharmaceuticals and software. She previously was an intellectual property litigation associate at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Beth Bruns joined Practical Law from Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, where she was an entertainment and new media attorney in the motion picture, television, and music transactions group. Previously she was a Senior Business Affairs Attorney at the Public Broadcasting Service, focusing on production, licensing, and distribution of PBS television and new media content. Before that, she was a corporate and securities associate at Hunton & Williams. She is also an Adjunct Professor teaching Entertainment Law.

Michael Burling joined Practical Law from Paul Hastings LLP, where he was a litigation associate focusing on patent litigation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields. Previously Michael was an intellectual property litigation associate at Ropes & Gray LLP.

Michael Chiappetta joined Practical Law from Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu, PC, where he was counsel focusing on trademark and copyright litigation. Previously, he was an entertainment litigation associate at Troop Meisinger Steuber & Pasich, LLP in Los Angeles.

Jessica Davis joined Practical Law after counseling in-house legal and business teams regarding patent litigation and licensing issues. Previously she was a patent litigation associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.

Rakiya Diggs joined Practical Law from DLA Piper LLP, where her practice focused on technology-related intellectual property and commercial transactions, including licensing, outsourcing, e-commerce, and intellectual property aspects of corporate transactions. She has experience both in the law firm setting and as an in-house attorney representing clients in the software, financial services, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, transportation, and energy industries. Previously, she was an associate at King & Spalding LLP.

Frank Forman joined Practical Law from Cooper & Dunham LLP, where he focused on pharmaceutical patent prosecution matters.  Previously, Frank was Senior Patent Counsel at Astellas US LLC and Senior Corporate Counsel at Pfizer Inc., where his responsibilities included pharmaceutical patent strategy, prosecution, transactions, and litigation.  Before that, Frank was a medicinal chemist at Sphinx Pharmaceuticals.

Melodi (Mel) Gates, CIPP/US joined Practical Law from Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP, where she was a senior associate focusing on cybersecurity and privacy issues, including in the health information technology field. Prior to practicing law, Mel worked for over twenty years in the telecommunications industry, last serving as chief information security officer (CISO) for a large network provider. She is also an appointed member of the Department of Homeland Security's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee (DPIAC).

Francesca Albert qualified as a solicitor in 2001, training with, and later becoming Of Counsel, at Herbert Smith (now Herbert Smith Freehills). She specialized in international commercial and investment treaty arbitration working in Herbert Smith's London, Tokyo and Moscow offices. In 2013 she moved to Dechert Russia LLC as National Partner and joined Practical Law as Arbitration Editor in 2015. Francesca taught LLM modules on the protection of foreign direct investment at Queen Mary, University of London and lectured on investment treaty arbitration to Masters students of international law and finance at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). She co-founded the Moscow Arbitration Forum 40 (now Russian Arbitration Association 40) and sat as Co-Vice Chair of the Nominating Committee of the Russian Arbitration Association. She has spoken extensively and been published widely on international arbitration matters. She is fluent in five languages including Russian.

Victoria Kummer joined Practical Law in 2015 after retiring from Dickstein Shapiro, where she was a partner in the Business Litigation group for 12 years. Previously at Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Baer Marks & Upham, she practiced for more than 20 years as a commercial litigator before courts and arbitral tribunals around the world. Since 1998, she has also been an arbitrator, serving on panels of the AAA, ICDR, FINRA, CPR, and ICC, and a mediator for the NY Supreme Court Commercial Division, the SDNY and the Second Circuit. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Cardozo School of Law, teaching Legal Writing and an upper level course on Pretrial Practice.

Chris Alber joined Practical Law from Proskauer Rose, LLP, where she practiced immigration law for more than seven years. Before joining Proskauer, Chris spent more than seven years as an immigration attorney with Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Lowey, an international boutique immigration firm. Chris frequently speaks and writes on immigration topics.

Delyanne Barros joined Practical Law from Outten & Golden LLP, where she was an associate representing plaintiffs in employment-related matters for over six years.

Suzanne K. Brown joined Practical Law from Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., where she was a litigation associate in the labor and employment group, concentrating on wage and hour litigation and compliance. Previously Suzanne was a labor and employment associate with Gibbons, P.C., McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP, and the Law Department of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Gay F. Chase joined Practical Law from the United States Merit Systems Protection Board, where she served as an Administrative Judge adjudicating federal employment cases. Previously she was an Assistant General Counsel for the United States General Services Administration specializing in federal labor and employment litigation. Before that she served as a Labor Attorney for the United States Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor.

Barbara Harris joined Practical Law from DLA Piper LLP, where she served as Counsel in the labor and employment group for more than 10 years. Previously, Barbara spent seven years as Counsel at Solomon, Zauderer, Ellenhorn, Frischer & Sharp, a boutique litigation firm in New York City. Before that, she was an associate at Alschuler, Grossman & Pines in Los Angeles.

Frances Faigenblat joined Practical Law from Sunbeam Products, Inc., where she was Senior Counsel, Corporate, handling a wide range of corporate, commercial and employment matters. She previously was a partner in the International and Cross-Border Transactions practice group at Holland & Knight LLP and before that an associate at Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand (now DLA Piper).

Michelle Graham joined Practical Law from private practice and as an in-house consultant advising legal and business teams on a wide range of intellectual property and litigation matters. She was previously counsel in the Intellectual Property practice group at Kilpatrick Stockton LLP and special counsel in the Intellectual Property and Technology practice group at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP.

Jessica Brand joined Practical Law from Sills Cummis & Gross PC, where she was a senior associate in the litigation group. Her practice focused on complex commercial and real estate litigation on the trial and appellate court levels in both state and federal courts. Previously, she clerked for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas in the District Court for the District of New Jersey, and was named a New York Super Lawyers Rising Star for several consecutive years.

Brian Birke joined Practical Law from Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C. where he was a shareholder in the Complex & Business Litigation, Appellate, and Insurance Coverage & Defense groups. His practice focused on a wide range of disputes, including complex contracts, unfair trade practices, and bad faith and extra-contractual claims. He has been selected as a Super Lawyers Rising Star and a Super Lawyer for Business Litigation.

Wayne Chang joined Practical Law from Bloomberg L.P., where he worked on the legal research product. He was previously a litigation associate at Jacob, Medinger & Finnegan LLP.

Amera Z. Chowhan joined Practical Law from Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, where she was Counsel in the firm's litigation department. In her twenty years of practice, she focused on complex commercial litigation at the trial and appellate court levels in both New York and federal courts.

Victoria Cioppettini joined Practical Law from Cole Schotz P.C., where she was a partner in the Litigation Department. Her practice focused on complex commercial disputes in New Jersey state and federal courts, through which she gained significant trial and appellate experience. Victoria also handled arbitration and mediation proceedings, counseled clients on e-discovery issues, and conducted internal investigations. Previously, she clerked for the Honorable Jose L. Fuentes, Presiding Judge of the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey.

Robert Conrad joined Practical Law from the New York office of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where he was the firm's managing attorney. Previously he was a legal analyst at Bloomberg L.P. Before that, he worked as an associate in the litigation and products liability groups at Chadbourne & Parke LLP.

Beth Crawford joined Practical Law from Lone Star College System where she was Acting General Counsel. Previously she was litigation counsel at Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP, concentrating on commercial litigation and appeals. Before that, she clerked at the Texas Supreme Court and First Court of Appeals where she later served as a Senior Staff Attorney. She is also an Adjunct Professor teaching Business Law.

Dharma Betancourt Frederick joined Practical Law from Davis Polk & Wardwell, where she was a litigation associate focusing on securities litigation and white collar defense in federal and state court and in regulatory proceedings. Previously, she clerked for the Honorable Dora L. Irizarry in the District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Matt Gayle joined Practical Law from Lavin, O'Neil, Cedrone & DiSipio, where he was an associate and later a shareholder in the firm's Philadelphia office. His practice focused on litigation of product liability and toxic tort matters in both state and federal courts. He previously clerked in the Superior Court of New Jersey.

Kelly Griffith joined Practical Law from Spilman Thomas and Battle, PLLC, where she was a litigation partner, e-discovery Counsel, and Director of Litigation Support. In addition to representing clients in various types of civil litigation, she worked with clients, colleagues, and technologists to develop, implement, and manage e-discovery protocols in all manner of cases.

Nicholas Haddad joined Practical Law from the New York office of Jones Day, where he was an associate in the Issues & Appeals group. His practice focused on appellate litigation and motion practice in both state and federal courts. Before joining Jones Day, he clerked for the Honorable Robert A. Katzmann in the Second Circuit and the Honorable Jed S. Rakoff in the Southern District of New York. Before that, he was a litigation associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Legal Writing at Fordham Law School.

Yen Hope joined Practical Law from Gilchrist & Rutter, where she was a partner in the firm's litigation department. She was previously a litigation associate at the Los Angeles office of DLA Piper. Her practice focused on business, real estate, and land use litigation. Yen is a Senior State Content Editor for California.

Lauren Hornsby joined Practical Law from Cokinos, Bosien & Young, where she was a principal in the firm's Irving office. Her practice focused on construction defect litigation, commercial litigation, product liability litigation, appellate practice, and insurance recovery. Prior to that, she was a partner in Thompson & Knight LLP's Trial Section in Dallas, where for more than thirteen years her practice included commercial litigation, consumer protection litigation, ERISA litigation, product liability litigation, insurance defense litigation, and international business disputes.

Robert Iscaro joined Practical Law from the New York office of Jones Day, where he was Counsel in the litigation department. His practice focused on product liability and toxic torts in both state and federal courts. He previously clerked in the New Jersey State Superior Court.

Scott Kaiser joined Practical Law from the New York office of Gerard Fox Law, P.C. where he was Of Counsel in the firm's litigation group. He was previously an associate in the New York office of Bryan Cave LLP. His practice focused on complex commercial litigation, financial services litigation, securities litigation and regulatory enforcement, and labor and employment.

Victoria Kummer joined Practical Law in 2015 after retiring from Dickstein Shapiro, where she was a partner in the Business Litigation group for 12 years. Previously at Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Baer Marks & Upham, she practiced for more than 20 years as a commercial litigator before courts and arbitral tribunals around the world. Since 1998, she has also been an arbitrator, serving on panels of the AAA, ICDR, FINRA, CPR, and ICC, and a mediator for the NY Supreme Court Commercial Division, the SDNY and the Second Circuit. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Cardozo School of Law, teaching Legal Writing and an upper level course on Pretrial Practice.

Brian Lavin joined Practical Law from Hartman & Craven LLP, where he was a senior associate in the litigation department. Previously he was a litigation associate at Hogan & Hartson LLP. Before that, he was an associate at Clifford Chance LLP. Brian is a Managing Editor with Practical Law's Litigation Service.

Brandon Levitt joined Practical Law from Hall, Lamb & Hall, where he specialized in complex commercial and terrorism litigation. Previously he was a senior associate in the Business Litigation department of Shutts & Bowen LLP in Miami.

Melissa Lorenzo-Herve joined Practical Law from Fortent, a compliance information management company, where she was a legal editor. Previously she was an associate in the M&A group at Troutman Sanders LLP and before that was an associate in the corporate and litigation groups at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP.

Ruth Marshall joined Practical Law from the New York office of Winston & Strawn LLP, where she was a litigation associate concentrating on securities litigation and complex commercial litigation. She was previously a litigation associate at the New York office of Bryan Cave LLP. Ruth is a Managing Editor with Practical Law's Litigation team.

Gay F. Chase joined Practical Law from the United States Merit Systems Protection Board, where she served as an Administrative Judge adjudicating federal employment cases. Previously she was an Assistant General Counsel for the United States General Services Administration specializing in federal labor and employment litigation. Before that she served as a Labor Attorney for the United States Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor.

Grace I. Cheng joined Practical Law from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of the General Counsel, where she served as senior Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy counsel. Prior to that role, Grace served as Chief of the Government Information Law Division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, where her practice included FOIA, privacy, congressional oversight, records management, as well as a wide range of regulatory and policy matters related to government information disclosure. Prior to her government service, Grace was in private practice, specializing in civil litigation and commercial arbitration.

Cathy Cunningham joined Practical Law with more than thirty years of municipal law experience. Most recently, Cathy was in private practice at Boyle & Lowry, LLP, where she advised municipal and special district clients on matters including utility and right-of-way, zoning and land use, personnel, code enforcement, and budget and tax. Previously, she was a Senior Attorney in the Irving, Texas City Attorney’s Office, where her activities were later recognized by the Texas House of Representatives with a Resolution and a flag in honor of her public service. Before that, Cathy worked for the City Attorney’s Office for the City of Abilene, Texas.

Brett T. Egusa joined Practical Law after more than eighteen years as a civilian and military attorney in the Federal Government. Most recently, he served as Associate Chief Counsel, Procurement and Fiscal Law Division at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), where he specialized in procurement, fiscal, and grants law. Prior to his time at FEMA, Brett practiced procurement and fiscal law at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Previous to that, Brett was an active duty Army Judge Advocate General (JAG), where he practiced procurement, fiscal, operational, labor and employment, and criminal law.

Julian Grant joined Practical Law with more than 20 years of local government experience. He previously served as the first City Attorney of Kyle, Texas, the Deputy City Attorney of Temple, Texas, and Senior Assistant City Attorney for the City of Corpus Christi, Texas. Julian also served for nearly ten years as the highest ranking municipal law attorney for the State of Texas as the head of the Texas Attorney General's Local Government Section. He is currently the co-chair of the Land Use Section and the Finance & Economic Development Section of the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA), and is an IMLA Local Government Fellow.

Julie Antalffy joined Practical Law from an in-house counsel position at Situs, a global real estate advisory firm. She previously served as in-house counsel for US Bank in the special assets group and as a senior real estate and transactional associate at the boutique firm of Christian Smith & Jewell LLP. In her practice, Julie handled all aspects of commercial real estate, including lending and workouts, acquisitions and dispositions, commercial property management, and leasing.

Regina T. Baldwin joined Practical Law from Kelley, Drye & Warren LLP, where she was of counsel in the real estate department. Previously, she was of counsel in the real estate departments of Sills, Cummis & Gross, PC and Winston & Strawn LLP. In her practice, Regina focused on all aspects of commercial real estate, including financing, sales and leasing.

Jill H. Blumberg joined Practical Law from Hunton & Williams LLP, where she was a Senior Attorney in the real estate department focusing on commercial real estate matters. Previously, she was an in-house attorney and the Head of Equity Closings at New York Life Investments. Before that, she was a Counsel in the real estate group at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP.

Brenda Cooper joined Practical Law from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, where she was Assistant General Counsel in the Real Estate Unit of the Investments Department. Previously, Brenda was Counsel in the real estate department of Herrick, Feinstein LLP, and a real estate associate at Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP and Rogers & Wells LLP. Brenda has handled all aspects of commercial real estate transactions in the U.S. and internationally representing developers, institutional investors and lenders, including acquisitions; dispositions; mortgage loan origination and servicing; warehouse line, subscription line and other complex structured financings; joint ventures; developments; and asset management.

Rebecca Gemmel joined Practical Law from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, where she was an attorney in the real estate department with a focus on real estate finance. Previously, she was an attorney with McKenna Long & Aldridge and Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps where she represented lenders and borrowers in commercial financing transactions, purchasers and sellers in commercial real estate acquisitions and dispositions, and landlord and tenants in leasing transactions. In her practice, Rebecca has also represented developers in land acquisition and development, as well as non-profits new market tax credit and charter school bond financings.

Andrew Lettington joined Practical Law from Sills Cummis & Gross P.C., where he was of counsel in the real estate department. In his practice, Andrew focused on commercial real estate, including the leasing, acquisition, and disposition of office, retail, and industrial properties.

Jennifer Leung joined Practical Law from Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP, where she was of counsel in the real estate department. Previously, she was of counsel at the real estate boutique firm of Lubin Olson LLP and a real estate associate at DLA Piper and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. In her practice, Jennifer focused on all aspects of commercial real estate, including acquisitions, dispositions, financing, joint ventures and leasing. She represented borrowers and lenders in financing, purchasers and sellers in the acquisition and disposition of single property and multi-property portfolio transactions, landlords and tenants in leasing, sponsors and equity partners in joint ventures.

Lindsay Mishcon Cohen joined Practical Law from White & Case LLP, where she is of counsel in the Private Clients group focusing on trust and estate matters for high net worth individuals and families. Previously she was an attorney in the Private Clients group at Sidley Austin LLP.

Claire Hofbauer joined Practical Law from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, where she was an attorney in the Estate Planning and Personal Representation group handling estate planning, trust administration, corporate, tax, and real estate matters for high net worth individuals, families, and closely held businesses. Previously she was an associate at Wayne Johnson & Associates, PLC.

Robert Hull joined Practical Law from Lewitt, Hackman, Shapiro, Marshall & Harlan, where he was an attorney in the Trusts & Estates group handling a wide range of estate planning, probate and trust administration matters, including income and wealth transfer tax minimization, and multigenerational and business succession planning.