Attorney Intel is pleased to announce The Top 25 Retail Attorneys of 2025. This group includes attorneys with a broad and specialized practice in retail law, offering expert counsel on critical legal issues facing the industry. From handling complex real estate transactions and retail leasing agreements to navigating class action lawsuits, employment disputes, and intellectual property challenges, these attorneys have helped retail brands address their most pressing legal matters. They also bring significant experience in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, advising major retailers on strategic investments, partnerships, and corporate reorganizations.
These attorneys serve as trusted advisors to national and regional retail clients, guiding them through regulatory compliance, product safety and recall matters, and sensitive internal investigations. Whether assisting with the restructuring of distressed retail assets or advising on the legal implications of e-commerce and data privacy, their expertise ensures that retail businesses operate efficiently, maintain compliance, and protect their reputations. Their impact is felt across the industry as they help shape the legal and strategic direction of retail companies at the forefront of global commerce.
Among this year’s awardees is Lynn Kappelman, Partner at Seyfarth Shaw, who has spent over 37 years advising national retail clients on employment litigation, including class actions, trade secrets, and non-compete disputes. Paul Foley, Partner at Akerman, specializes in advising retail investment advisers on securities law, compliance, and regulatory matters, including guiding them through SEC inquiries and internal investigations. Grace Tso, Partner at Baker McKenzie, leads the firm’s Asia Pacific Consumer Goods & Retail industry group, providing strategic advice on cross-border M&A and corporate transactions for major retail clients, including Unilever and VF Corporation.
This year’s awardees were selected for their exceptional ability to guide retail businesses through complex legal challenges, demonstrating both technical expertise and a deep understanding of the retail sector. Please join us in celebrating The Top 25 Retail Attorneys of 2025.
1. Lynn Kappelman
Partner, Seyfarth Shaw
Lynn Kappelman is a Labor and Employment Partner in Seyfarth’s Boston office and has served as the Chair of Seyfarth’s national Retail, Wholesale, and Distribution industry group for the past 12 years. Throughout her 37-year career, Lynn has worked extensively with large national retail clients, helping them navigate their most sensitive employment issues and business-critical employment litigation. Her work focuses on single-plaintiff and class action discrimination litigation, as well as trade secrets and non-compete litigation.
A seasoned trial attorney and chair of the firm’s Trial group, Lynn has represented retailers in over 25 jury trials during her career, including multiplaintiff and class action trials, as well as single-plaintiff trials and arbitrations in state and federal courts all across the country. Lynn also regularly guides clients through internal investigations, often at the executive level, helping them to navigate highly sensitive and confidential situations to protect their business and reputation. This includes working with clients on a strategic post-investigation plan, involving steps such as discipline, trainings, internal messaging, and changes to policies and processes.
Lynn serves as a liaison for Seyfarth to a number of national retail industry groups, including RILA, keeping the challenges and solutions for retail clients top of mind every day.
2. Paul Foley
Partner, Akerman
Paul Foley is a Partner at Akerman LLP. Foley concentrates his practice in the areas of securities and corporate law, with a particular focus on investment fund formation, investment adviser regulation, and corporate representation. Foley regularly represents investment advisers, hedge funds, mutual funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, funds of funds, institutional investors, broker-dealers, financial institutions, and other entities with regard to complex federal and state securities regulatory matters.
Foley regularly advises clients on structuring, forming, and offering investment funds, including hedge funds, mutual funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, funds of funds, and real estate funds. He also provides fund managers with ongoing advice regarding investments, transactions, compliance, and securities law matters, including applicable federal and state investment adviser registration requirements.
Foley has extensive experience representing institutional and retail investment advisers with regard to various securities, compliance, and business matters, including drafting and reviewing investment advisory agreements and other material contracts, developing and implementing customized compliance policies and procedures, mergers and acquisitions, and registration on Form ADV. He is also experienced in conducting internal investigations and advising clients with regard to examination and enforcement-related inquiries and investigations by the SEC, self-regulatory organizations, and state agencies.
Previously, Foley was a partner at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton and, before that, a senior associate at WilmerHale. Earlier in his career, he worked with Wells Fargo as an analyst in the fixed income quantitative research and financial strategies group. Foley earned a JD from the University of North Carolina School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Queens University of Charlotte.
Paul Foley's Insight
"As an attorney, I take great pride in representing retail investment advisers in all aspects of their businesses. My practice focuses on guiding these professionals through the complex legal and regulatory landscape they face, particularly as it relates to the unique relationships they maintain with their retail clients. Whether advising on compliance matters, drafting client agreements, or addressing regulatory matters, I am dedicated to helping retail investment advisers serve their clients with integrity and confidence.”
3. Grace Tso
Partner, Baker McKenzie
Grace Tso is a Partner at Baker McKenzie’s Hong Kong office, where she leads the Asia Pacific Consumer Goods & Retail (CG&R) industry group. With a specialized focus on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, foreign direct investment in the region, and multi-jurisdictional corporate reorganizations, Grace provides invaluable strategic advice to multinational clients navigating complex CG&R transactions.
Her expertise has been instrumental in achieving significant commercial successes for clients, including facilitating Unilever Prestige's e-commerce joint venture, guiding VF International Sagl's disposal of the Supreme® brand, and advising METRO AG on its strategic partnership with Wumei Technology Group.
Grace combines strong technical and legal expertise, having earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s degree in information systems management before pursuing a legal qualification. Grace's dedication to her clients and remarkable achievements in the field have solidified her reputation as a leading authority in the retail law sector.
Grace Tso's Insight
“I am honored to be recognized among the Top Retail Attorneys for 2025. Over the years, I have had the privilege of supporting many leading companies in the consumer goods and retail sectors on their complex transactions, including some of the most significant cross-border M&A and corporate restructuring projects in China and Asia. It is extremely rewarding to see clients achieve their commercial goals and maximize the value of their transactions. I look forward to continuing to deliver strategic advice that enables my clients' success.”
4. Michael Goldstein
Partner, Goodwin Procter
Michael Goldstein is a Partner at Goodwin Procter LLP. Goodwin is a global law firm with more than 1,800 lawyers in its offices located in the United States, Europe, and Asia. A veteran restructuring and insolvency lawyer with over 35 years of experience, Goldstein represents debtors, sponsors, bondholders, creditors, committees, and purchasers of distressed assets. His representations span a variety of industries, including chemicals, consumer goods, finance, health care, hospitality, high-tech printing, municipal debt, real estate, retail, and technology.
Goldstein is also the Chair of Goodwin's Financial Restructuring practice. His recent representative engagements include the representation of Foris Ventures, LLC and certain affiliated entities as prepetition lenders, DIP lenders, and plan sponsors in the chapter 11 cases of Amyris, Inc. and its affiliates, which successfully discharged approximately $1 billion in secured and unsecured debt and renegotiated key customer contracts, streamlined manufacturing operations, and funded $190 million of new capital for reorganized Amyris’ operations.
Previously, Goldstein was a partner at Greenberg Traurig LLP and, before that, a shareholder at Stutman, Treister & Glatt. Goldstein earned a JD from Harvard Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Franklin & Marshall College.
5. Colby Smith
Partner, Holland & Knight
Colby Smith is a Partner at Holland & Knight LLP. Holland & Knight is a global law firm providing comprehensive legal services across a wide range of practice areas and industries. Smith focuses his practice on a variety of business law matters, with an emphasis on middle-market merger and acquisition transactions.
He represents clients in a variety of industries, including technology, life sciences, healthcare, manufacturing, distribution and logistics, aerospace and defense, sports and entertainment, retail, and consumer products. He represents seed, institutional, and venture capital investors, with a focus on corporate venture capital investing. In addition, he represents private equity funds and their portfolio companies in general business law and transactional matters. One significant transaction included representing Harris Freeman & Co. Inc., a private brand tea manufacturer, in its sale of certain subsidiaries to TreeHouse Foods Inc.
Before joining Holland & Knight LLP, Smith was a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and, before that, an associate at The Edison Group. Earlier in his career, he worked with Senator Ron Wyden as a project coordinator. Smith graduated from Rutgers Law School with a JD and from Hobart College with a bachelor’s degree in political science and government.
6. Trevor Ingram
Partner, A&O Shearman
Trevor Ingram is a Partner at A&O Shearman. Ingram focuses on high-yield debt offerings and other international leveraged finance and capital markets transactions. He advises clients in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, mining, engineering, telecommunications, cable television, retail, and financial services.
Ingram has represented both issuers and underwriters in offerings of securities into the United States and internationally, including U.S. registered public offerings and Rule 144A and Regulation S placements of high yield debt and investment grade debt, project bonds, initial public offerings, and international rights offerings, as well as on restructuring transactions, tender offers and liability management transactions. Notably, he represented Coca-Cola Europacific Partners plc in its international senior notes offerings to fund the acquisition of Coca-Cola Amatil Limited, a significant deal in the retail and beverage sector.
Ingram first got his start in 2001 as an associate at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. From there, he went on to serve as an associate at Fried Frank before joining A&O Shearman. Ingram graduated from New York University with an LLM in international law and legal studies and from Dalhousie University with an MBA in international finance.
7. Constantine Skarvelis
Partner, Kirkland & Ellis
Constantine Skarvelis is a Partner at Kirkland & Ellis. His practice focuses on representing large and mid-market private equity funds as well as public and private companies in complex domestic and cross-border mergers & acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, carve-out transactions, minority investments, joint ventures, divestitures, and corporate restructurings. He has broad experience counseling clients in a variety of industries, including industrial, manufacturing, aerospace, technology, software, business services, healthcare, consumer products, retail, media, and telecom.
Notably, Skarvelis has advised Vestar Capital Partners in its acquisition of Woodsteam Group, Inc., and has worked on Vestar Capital Partners’ investment in Simple Mills, Inc. He also represented Vestar Capital Partners in its acquisition of Mobile Technologies Inc.
Previously, Skarvelis was an associate at Latham & Watkins and, before that, an associate at Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP. Skarvelis earned an MBA in finance from the Tulane University A.B. Freeman School of Business, a JD from Tulane University Law School, and a bachelor’s degree in marine transportation from the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
8. Emily Taylor
Partner, Latham & Watkins
Emily Taylor is a Partner at Latham & Watkins. Taylor advises emerging companies, particularly in the life sciences, technology, and retail industries, as they structure and form new businesses and on complex business transactions. She also provides practical advice on day-to-day corporate matters throughout a company’s lifecycle.
Taylor draws on extensive experience with founding and growing companies—including a past position with Millennium Pharmaceuticals—and brings a practical approach to advising clients and helping companies achieve their strategic goals. She has advised Rent the Runway in its venture capital financings and Wayfair in its acquisition of DwellStudio, its late-stage financing, IPO, and 144A convertible note offering.
Taylor is a frequent speaker at industry events held by organizations such as the Boston Bar Association and the Silicon Valley Directors’ Exchange. Taylor has served on several industry committees, including as co-chair of the Venture Capital and Emerging Companies Committee of the Boston Bar Association and as a vice chair of City Year’s Legal Community Breakfast. She currently serves as Co-Chair of Latham’s WEB Committee in Boston.
Before joining Latham & Watkins, Taylor was a senior associate at WilmerHale and, before that, she worked in government relations and public policy, ethics, and corporate responsibility at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Taylor graduated from Georgetown University Law Center with a JD and from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in American studies.
9. Victoria Landsbert
Partner, White & Case
Victoria Landsbert is a Partner at White & Case LLP. White & Case is a global law firm with deep cross-border experience, offering innovative legal solutions through its integrated teams of local, U.S., and English-qualified lawyers to help clients navigate complex multijurisdictional deals and disputes. Landsbert combines significant experience in both commercial real estate finance and commercial real estate transactions, and joined the firm in 2003.
Landsbert has acted on the seller, buyer, lender, and sponsor side of a very wide range of real estate investment and development mandates, involving all real estate asset classes. This includes acquisition and disposal transactions involving logistics, industrial, retail, and office real estate assets across Finland, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, and the UK. Landsbert provides added value to her clients by being able to advise on both the acquisition, disposal, and development documents as well as the debt documents. Landsbert graduated from Imperial College London with a master’s degree in chemistry and biochemistry and received a post-graduate diploma in law from London Metropolitan University.
10. Jenny Nieves
Partner, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen and Loewy
Jenny Nieves is a Partner at Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen and Loewy. Nieves designs and implements customized, innovative immigration policies focused on compliance, streamlined case management, and cost-effective strategies for managing large numbers of foreign national employees. Nieves is also the supervising partner of the firm’s Japanese practice and previously served on the New York office’s Management Committee.
Nieves is dedicated to maintaining the highest quality service while meeting the demands of ever-evolving challenges and expediting the ability to swiftly address their needs. She counsels a wide array of clients on global workforce mobility issues and immigration due diligence considerations related to mergers and acquisitions and other corporate restructurings. Her representations include industry-leading multinational corporations in the financial services, pharmaceutical, retail, technology, insurance and risk management, and human resource consulting industries.
Relying on more than three decades of immigration experience, Nieves is a trusted partner for her long-term clients, frequently presenting to in-house legal and human resources personnel on nonimmigrant and immigrant employment-based matters and compliance. Previously, Nieves was an associate at Ronald W. Freeman, P.C. She earned a JD from New York Law School and a bachelor’s degree in political science from New York University.
11. Jennifer Seale
Partner, Sidley Austin
Jenny Seale is a Partner at Sidley Austin. Sidley Austin is an elite global law firm, with 2,300 lawyers, an annual revenue of $3.4 billion, and experience that spans nearly 160 years. The firm has a reputation for working at the forefront of complex transactional and litigation matters, serving clients across a wide range of industries and jurisdictions. Seale has 15 years of experience and began her career in 2010.
Seale focuses her practice on cybersecurity, crisis management, internal investigations, and regulatory compliance, as well as complex administrative, civil, and criminal litigation. She advises organizations on significant cybersecurity matters, including destructive malware and ransomware incidents, and leads internal investigations related to complex cybersecurity matters. She advises clients in numerous industry sectors, including the financial services, retail, hospitality, transportation, healthcare, and technology sectors.
Before joining Sidley Austin, Seale was a partner at Baker McKenzie. Earlier in her career, she worked with Hunton & Williams LLP as an associate. Seale graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law with a JD and from Georgetown University with a bachelor’s degree.
12. Maria Rodriguez
Partner, McDermott Will & Emery
Maria Rodriguez is a Partner at McDermott Will & Emery. Rodriguez advises U.S. and international corporations with regard to employment law compliance and mergers and acquisitions, and defends employment cases and class action litigation. She is a trusted advisor to clients, helping them avoid or resolve disputes and protect resources through proactive and strategic planning. Rodriguez is experienced working with clients in the sports, media and entertainment, technology, food and restaurant, airline, transportation and distribution, healthcare, and fashion industries.
Rodriguez advises on and defends against class, collective, representative, and individual claims arising under state and federal employment laws such as the FLSA, ADA, FMLA, Title VII, FEHA, CFRA, and PAGA. Her litigation experience includes wage-and-hour, harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation, breach of employment contract, unlawful business practices, non-solicitation, trade secrets, and other employment-related cases. She has achieved wins in high-profile cases, including dismissals through early motions and summary judgment, as well as a defense verdict in an eight-week jury trial involving civil rights claims brought by 26 plaintiffs.
Rodriguez serves as the global co-head of McDermott’s Employment Practice Group. She first got her start in 1997 as an associate at Silver & Freedman. From there, she went on to Seyfarth Shaw LLP and Winston & Strawn LLP, before eventually rising to partner and western region head of U.S. employment at DLA Piper, her most recent position prior to joining McDermott Will & Emery. Rodriguez graduated from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, with a JD and from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in political science.
13. Michael Egan
Partner, Cooley
Michael Egan is a Partner at Cooley LLP. Eagan has focused on cyber/data/privacy issues in the areas of technology, innovation, retail and consumer solutions, life sciences, manufacturing, financial services, and healthcare since 2007. He advises clients on all legal aspects of global privacy and data protection, data security, data breach, information technology, and related restrictions on data collection and transfer. He has represented companies before numerous government agencies and bodies, including the US Federal Trade Commission, the US Department of Justice, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as data protection authorities around the world, regarding disclosure of data security compliance issues, internal investigation findings, remediation measures, and settlement terms.
Eagan’s practice focuses primarily on the ever-changing privacy and security regulatory landscape faced by companies in the US and globally. He also advises companies on how best to address the requirements related to personal data, consumer protection, data security and breach preparation and response, cookies and marketing, cross-border data flows, e-monitoring, eDiscovery procedures, outsourcing, social media, and other privacy-related issues.
Previously, Egan was a partner at Baker McKenzie. He earned a JD from Boston College Law School and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Georgetown University.
14. Andrew Rocks
Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
Andrew Rocks is a Partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. At Morgan Lewis, its team of more than 2,200 lawyers and legal professionals provides comprehensive corporate, transactional, litigation, and regulatory services across major industries, including energy, financial services, healthcare, life sciences, retail and e-commerce, sports, technology, and transportation. The firm focuses on both immediate and long-term goals with its clients, helping them address and anticipate challenges across vast and rapidly changing landscapes.
Rocks counsels clients on various business law matters, with a focus on public and private mergers and acquisitions (M&A) (including spinoffs and other divestitures, joint ventures, strategic investments, and recapitalizations), private equity, venture capital investments, corporate reorganizations and restructurings, and general corporate and securities law matters. He counsels clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies and private equity funds and their portfolio companies to entrepreneurs and emerging businesses across many industries, including sports, technology, retail, consulting, manufacturing, healthcare, and energy.
Before joining Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Rocks was an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. Rocks graduated from the Villanova University School of Law with a JD and from Franklin & Marshall College with a bachelor’s degree in business, organizations, and society.
15. Ozan Akyurek
Partner, Jones Day
Ozan Akyurek is a Partner at Jones Day. Practicing in the area of commercial litigation and international arbitration, Akyurek assists large French and international companies in disputes related to product liability, industrial risks, post-acquisition disputes, and business torts. Akyurek also has substantive experience in insurance, aviation, and information technology (IT) law.
Akyurek is active in diverse industry sectors, including energy, aviation, automotive, IT, transportation, and logistics, as well as steel and retail. He is particularly involved in the aviation and airline industries and has represented major manufacturers and airline companies in aviation litigation.
Akyurek also has substantial internal investigation and compliance experience. He recently acted on behalf of a leading chemical company and a U.S. pharmaceutical company in Turkey in conducting investigations focused on anticorruption matters. His experience also includes a criminal investigation related to alleged credit card fraud committed by the employees of a leading U.S. company in Morocco.
Akyurek has authored articles on litigation and regulatory matters, such as product liability and aviation law. His articles are published in French economic and legal publications. He is also a lecturer in international business law at the University of Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense. Akyurek first got his start in 2001 as an associate at Herbert Smith. He graduated from the University of Exeter with an LLM in international business law.
16. Karen Johnson-McKewan
Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Karen Johnson-McKewan is a Partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. Johnson-McKewan focuses on litigation that crosses the boundaries between traditional legal practices and therefore requires inventive and strategic approaches. These solutions are why leading technology and Fortune 500 companies hire Johnson-McKewan to resolve their most complex litigation matters.
Over the past 36 years, Johnson-McKewan has first-chaired state and federal trials and arbitrated more than a dozen disputes. She has managed intellectual property and commercial disputes for companies such as Oracle, NVIDIA, Netflix, and VMWare. In addition to her legal background, Johnson-McKewan’s relationship management skills give her clients a significant advantage. She knows how to pull together and lead the best team, from multiple disciplines within Orrick, and often involving multiple law firms.
Previously, Johnson-McKewan was a partner at Clifford Chance and, before that, an attorney at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison. Johnson-McKewan earned a JD from the University of California, Davis School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.
17. Rohan Massey
Office Managing Partner, Ropes & Gray
Rohan Massey is an Office Managing Partner at Ropes & Gray LLP. Massey is a trusted advisor to many of the world’s largest corporations and private equity funds, focusing on complex data protection, cybersecurity, and intellectual property matters across Europe, the U.S., and Asia.
His expertise focuses on the intersection of the extra-territorial scope of national data protection laws and data transfer issues for multinational organizations. Massey has advised on a number of leading breach data management cases and has assisted clients in successfully obtaining BCR approval from EU regulators.
Massey also advises on issues of risk and value in relation to data and intellectual property in corporate transactions. His industry-focused expertise covers asset management and financial services, life sciences and clinical trials, as well as media, sponsorship, advertising, sales promotions, and intellectual property issues, marketing issues in the sports apparel and food and drink sectors.
Massey served as the chair of the Sedona Conference’s 12th Annual Sedona Conference International Programme, and sits on The Sedona Conference’s WG 11. The mission of WG11 is to identify and comment on trends in data security and privacy law, in an effort to help organizations prepare for and respond to data breaches, and to assist attorneys and judicial officers in resolving questions of legal liability and damages.
Before joining Ropes & Gray LLP, Massey was a partner at McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP. Earlier in his career, he worked with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme as an assistant language teacher. Massey graduated from University College London with a bachelor’s degree in history and received a postgraduate diploma in law from City St. George’s, University of London.
18. Cassandra Gaedt-Sheckter
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Cassandra Gaedt-Sheckter is a Partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's Palo Alto office, where she co-chairs the global Artificial Intelligence (AI) practice, and is a key member of the Privacy, Cybersecurity and Data Innovation practice, including as the leader of the firm’s State Privacy Law Task Force.
With extensive experience advising companies on AI, data privacy, and cybersecurity issues, Gaedt-Sheckter focuses on strategic product counseling, regulatory compliance counseling, global program development, regulatory enforcement matters (including in connection with the California Attorney General’s Office, California Privacy Protection Agency, and Federal Trade Commission), and complex transactional representations. Gaedt-Sheckter advises clients in various industries, including technology, retail, luxury fashion, gig economy, financial, energy/oil and gas, and transportation.
Gaedt-Sheckter is also a prominent thought leader in the fields of AI and privacy. She has served as Chair of the Practicing Law Institute’s annual AI program in 2023 and 2024. At Gibson Dunn, Gaedt-Sheckter plays a key role in publishing dozens of the firm's client alerts on these topics, including the comprehensive end-of-year publications Artificial Intelligence Review and Outlook and U.S. Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Review and Outlook.
Gaedt-Sheckter is Gibson Dunn’s Palo Alto office Hiring Partner and Professional Development Committee Member. She is a member of the State Bar of California, a licensed patent attorney, and a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US). Gaedt-Sheckter graduated from the UCLA School of Law with a JD and from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in physical and biological anthropology.
19. Gjina Lucaj
Partner, Foley & Lardner
Gjina Lucaj is a Partner at Foley & Lardner LLP, having joined the firm in 2010. Lucaj is a solutions-driven M&A lawyer who understands clients’ business objectives and gets deals done in a manner that aligns with them. She is a trusted advisor whom clients regularly rely on to analyze risks and rewards and to provide sound business and legal advice.
Lucaj concentrates her practice on domestic and international strategic and private equity transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, financing, and public and private debt and equity offerings. She serves private equity-funded clients, public companies, and privately held businesses in various industries such as aerospace, manufacturing, information technology, industrial and professional service, consumer products, retail, food, and distribution, with a focus on the middle market. She has also represented a large public company and retail seller of shoes and accessories in numerous acquisitions of privately held companies within the shoe industry, both domestically and internationally.
Previously, Lucaj was a product specialist and narrator at Subaru of America. She earned a JD from Wayne State University Law School and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan.
20. José Vivanco
Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
José Vivanco is a Partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Vivanco focuses his practice on cross-border mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, and other corporate matters, with a particular emphasis on Latin America. His experience spans both public and private transactions and includes representing companies in complex, high-profile deals, such as global auctions, tender offers, and joint ventures. Vivanco operates fluently in both English and Spanish across all aspects of M&A transactions.
Vivanco has represented a Mexican sporting goods retailer in its acquisition of a minority interest in, and option to acquire up to 100% of, a major sporting goods distributor in Latin America. He also serves as the North American regional forum liaison officer for the Young Lawyers’ Committee of the International Bar Association. He previously served as the Committee’s national representative for the United States.
Before joining Skadden, Vivanco was an associate at Barros & Errázuriz Abogados and, before that, an assistant professor at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez. He graduated from UCLA with an LLM and from Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez with a bachelor’s degree in law and a master’s degree in business law.
21. Nicola Smith
Partner, Squire Patton Boggs
Nicola Smith is a Partner at Squire Patton Boggs. Squire Patton Boggs is a full-service global law firm that provides insight at the point where law, business, and government meet, delivering commercially focused legal solutions across multiple industries and jurisdictions.
Smith specializes in regulatory compliance. Her expertise spans alcohol and entertainment licensing, food and feed law, and general product compliance, safety, and recall, including general consumer products, cosmetic products, medical devices, and food contact materials. She also specializes in road vehicle/driver laws, including public inquiries before traffic commissioners. Additionally, Smith has extensive experience in reviewing and advising on due diligence systems, drafting operations manuals, and providing training to clients and organizations on licensing requirements, product recalls, allergen laws, and the management of global product recalls.
Smith represents a wide range of businesses, from listed companies to entrepreneurs, and has acted for clients in enforcement actions, including interviews under caution and hearings. She is also experienced in providing training, including to managers on inspections, test purchases, and mock interviews, and has written articles on alcohol licensing and product recalls. Smith first got her start in 2000 as a licensing solicitor at Hammonds LLP. She graduated from the University of Birmingham with a law degree.
22. Ahmad Sabbagh
Partner, Honigman
Ahmad is a Partner in Honigman’s commercial transactions practice group who drafts and negotiates various forms of commercial contracts regarding the purchase and sale of goods and services, including supply contracts, terms and conditions of purchase and sale, and service agreements for a variety of goods and services in the automotive, retail, general manufacturing, technology, and other industries.
Ahmad also represents clients in information technology transactions, including intellectual property license agreements, software development agreements, and software as a service agreements. Ahmad routinely advises clients on contract disputes, contract interpretation, contract termination and transitions, and other contractual matters.
23. Wade Houser
Partner, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith
Wade Houser is a Partner in the Denver office of Lewis Brisbois, a chair of the Commercial Lending Practice, and co-chair of the Real Estate & Land Use Practice. He is also a member of the Banking & Finance Practice. He is a skilled real estate attorney, experienced in commercial real estate transactions of all types, with an emphasis on commercial lending and leasing. He represents financial institutions, retail businesses, developers and other companies in a wide range of real estate and finance matters.
Houser's real estate experience includes representing regional and national commercial banks and lending institutions in real estate and construction loans, loan workouts, foreclosures, and disposition of creditor-owned assets. His leasing practice includes years of experience representing regional and national retail clients in leasing and acquisition transactions. He also has extensive experience in office and industrial leasing and in the acquisition and disposition of commercial real estate.
Houser’s comprehensive real estate experience includes the representation of contractors, owners and financial institutions in connection with construction contracts, mechanic's lien disputes, asset and business acquisitions and sales, and entity formation for commercial real estate and other transactions.
Previously, Houser was a partner at Kutak Rock, and, before that, a shareholder at Isaacson Rosenbaum P.C. Earlier in his career he worked with Ballard Spahr LLP as an attorney.
Houser earned a JD from the University of Iowa and a bachelor’s degree from Central College of Iowa.
24. Darwin Beauvais
Partner, Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel
Darwin Beauvais is a partner in Obermayer’s Business and Finance Department, where he focuses his practice on zoning and land use as well as local government affairs. Beauvais is certified by the U.S. Green Building Council as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional. This designation gives him an industry-leading understanding of green building practices and principles.
Beauvais represents real estate owners, developers, and investors in a wide variety of development and construction projects, including residential, commercial, corporate, and alternative energy. In his practice, Beauvais works closely with elected officials and municipal agencies for the benefit of his clients. Additionally, Beauvais was selected as the exclusive Real Estate member for Pennsylvania in IR Global, the world’s largest exclusive network of advisory firms. He has extensive experience in representing commercial and retail banks expanding in the City of Philadelphia and a local community development corporation in the leasing and management of a shopping center in North Philadelphia.
Before joining Obermayer, Beauvais was a partner at Dilworth Paxson LLP, and, before that, a shareholder at Zarwin Baum. Earlier in his career, he worked with the City of Philadelphia as counsel to the majority leader. Beauvais graduated from the Seton Hall University School of Law with a JD and from Rutgers University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and Africana studies.
25. Christopher Rizza
Partner, Harvest
Christopher Rizza is a Partner at Harvest LLP, based in Los Angeles. Rizza’s practice focuses on commercial leasing and related real estate transactions spanning all major asset classes, from retail and industrial to office and mixed-use. On the landlord/developer side, he represents REITs, institutional investors, pension funds, and development companies. On the tenant side, he represents national and regional tenants as well as individual, closely held businesses.
Rizza has extensive experience in the retail sector, including negotiating numerous retail lease agreements with sophisticated national and regional tenants for one of California's largest privately held REITs in connection with a portfolio of high-end shopping centers in Southern California. He has also represented national and regional shopping center developers in the acquisition and lease-up of several shopping centers anchored by big-box retailers, including Target, Wal-Mart, Costco, Sam's Club, Kohl's, Home Depot, and Lowe's. Additionally, Chris has advised a large, privately held real estate investment company in connection with leasing-up, repositioning, and redeveloping its portfolio of retail properties in the western United States.
Prior to joining Harvest, Rizza was a partner at Crosbie Gliner Schiffman Southard & Swanson LLP (CGS3) and at Elkins Kalt Weintraub Reuben Gartside LLP. He started his career in-house for a private real estate development company before joining the ranks of law firms, initially at McGuireWoods and then at Cox Castle & Nicholson. Rizza has been interviewed on several occasions to discuss the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on retail leasing and how he helped landlords and tenants successfully navigate through the global economic shutdown.
Rizza graduated from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, with a JD, from Loyola Marymount University with an MBA, and from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in history.
Christopher Rizza's Insight
“As a commercial real estate attorney with over 20 years of experience, I specialize in negotiating complex lease agreements. I understand the importance of negotiating leases in a timely and efficient manner, while protecting my clients’ interests and never losing sight of my clients' business goals. I pride myself on resolving issues practically and creatively, minimizing delays, and maximizing value for my clients.”
