NEW YORK, Feb. 27, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Duval & Stachenfeld LLP announced today the addition of leading real estate attorneys, Tom O'Connor and Alan S. Cohen, as partners in its New York office. Mr. O'Connor was formerly the chair of Cooley LLP's National Real Estate Practice Group and Mr. Cohen was a senior partner in the Group. Both partners worked out of Cooley's New York office.
"This is an exceptional acquisition for us," stated Bruce M. Stachenfeld, co-founder and managing partner of the Firm. "Tom and Alan are very well-known as top practitioners in the New York real estate community and their addition adds tremendous breadth and depth to our already leading real estate practice, particularly in the areas of structured real estate finance, construction and development and Latin America transactions."
"We are very excited to be joining Duval & Stachenfeld and its nearly 50 attorney real estate practice in New York," stated Tom O'Connor. "The reservoir of talent here is just incredible and will enable us to continue to practice at the highest level and deliver high quality, cost-effective legal services," added Mr. O'Connor. "This move is a win-win for both us and our clients," noted Alan Cohen. "We will now be able to offer our clients additional services, a deeper and broader bench, as well as new clients and contacts with whom to network and partner in transactions," added Mr. Cohen.
Tom O'Connor's practice focuses in the area of commercial real estate with particular emphasis on real estate finance, including the origination, workout and sale of debt and preferred equity at all levels of the capital stack and the acquisition, restructure, and disposition of distressed debt, both on a one-off and portfolio basis. He is well known as a "lender's lawyer," but also has extensive experience on the borrower side.
Prior to joining Duval & Stachenfeld LLP, Tom was a partner at Cooley LLP in New York, and formerly chaired its National Real Estate Practice Group for nearly 6 years. Tom started his career as an associate attorney at Weil Gotshal.
Alan Cohen has handled all aspects of complex real estate transactions for over 25 years, with a particular emphasis on acquisitions and dispositions, construction and development, real estate finance and hospitality matters. His clients include mortgage REITs, banks and other financial institutions, real estate companies and developers, and institutional investors, both domestic and foreign-based.
Prior to joining Duval & Stachenfeld LLP, Mr. Cohen was a partner at Cooley LLP, a partner at Morrison Cohen LLP (where he chaired its Real Estate Practice Group) and an associate at Shearman & Sterling in New York.
Mr. Cohen currently serves as Corporate Secretary and a member of the Board and Executive Committee of the New York chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP).
Mr. O'Connor and Mr. Cohen are joined by their former Cooley LLP colleagues, Maureen Hannon and Michael Estreicher. Ms. Hannon will be of counsel to Duval & Stachenfeld and Mr. Estreicher will be a senior real estate associate in the Real Estate Practice Group.
Background on Duval & Stachenfeld LLP
Duval & Stachenfeld LLP is a 15-year old law firm based in Manhattan that focuses on complex real estate transactions, litigation and arbitration, tax, corporate and M&A, bankruptcy, structured finance strategies, environmental, and tax exempt organizations. With approximately 50 attorneys, the Duval & Stachenfeld Real Estate Group has the largest real estate legal team in New York City. For more information, visit www.dsllp.com.
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