BCLP announces 2023 partner class

International law firm BCLP has elected 21 new lawyers to partnership in the firm, effective Jan. 1, 2023. This brings the total number of partners to 483. This new class draws from more than a dozen offices across the globe and spans key practices, including Corporate Transactions; Litigation & Investigations; Energy, Environment & Infrastructure; and numerous sub-practices within Real Estate from across the US, UK, Asia and France.

“Creating the right conditions for our people to thrive and grow at BCLP has always been a priority, so we’re really proud to see these individuals recognized for their significant contributions and dedication in reaching this milestone,” said firm Co-Chairs Lisa Mayhew and Steve Baumer. “Drawn from our global platform, we’re excited for their continued success as we work together to build the future of BCLP and capture the growth opportunities that lie ahead.”

The new partners are:

Tom Bacon, London

Tom has a broad practice with experience acting for both domestic and international clients on public and private M&A, equity capital markets transactions and advising on general company law and corporate governance requirements. Tom has a particular focus on the public markets and regularly works with public companies and investment banks on capital raisings and other corporate transactions and has gained first-hand experience of these transactions and the continuous obligations applicable to public companies from his time on secondment at a London-based investment bank.

James Banks, London

James specializes in big-ticket real estate investment transactions across a range of sectors including offices, life sciences, senior living, logistics and hotels. He often acts on complex, structured and multi-disciplinary transactions and his clients include private equity real estate firms, REITs, funds, lending banks, institutions, property companies and inbound investors. James has acted on several high-profile transactions, including C C Land’s acquisition of “The Cheesegrater” building in the City of London for £1.15 billion in 2017 – at the time the second-largest single asset property deal ever done in the UK.

Benjamin Blacklock, London

Ben advises on a wide range of complex and high-value commercial disputes, with a particular emphasis on competition and finance litigation. He has acted on cases in the High Court, the Competition Appeal Tribunal and the Court of Appeal in England, and the Grand Court and Court of Appeal of the Cayman Islands.

Suzanne Crespo, Colorado Springs

Suzanne represents more than 20 sports national governing bodies and international federations in domestic and international arbitration and in internal grievance proceedings, including in the areas of athlete protection, team selection, “opportunity to compete” and compliance claims, doping cases, and a wide array of other disputes within the Olympic and Paralympic Movement and sports more broadly. She is also known for her work advising sports clients on, among other things, safe sport policies, bylaws, audit issues, corporate governance and sponsorship deals. In addition, Suzanne regularly represents sports organizations and other clients in commercial litigation and arbitration.

James Emanuel Jr., St. Louis

James has a national practice focused on complex products liability, mass tort and commercial litigation matters. He regularly defends major pharmaceutical, biomechanical, medical device and consumer products manufacturers in state and federal courts throughout the country in complex, high-stakes litigation, including in multidistrict litigation and consolidated mass tort proceedings. James also has a robust alcoholic beverage practice with experience that spans all tiers of alcohol production for clients in the beer, wine and spirits industries.

Peter Hansen, Denver

Peter has more than 25 years of experience working with clients in the energy and natural resources sectors, including a decade of service as in-house general counsel of ADA Carbon Solutions, LLC, in Littleton, Colorado. His experience as a member of an executive management team has provided him the opportunity and experience of working with senior leadership teams and boards of directors to manage operational activities, financings, merger and acquisition activities, and regulatory matters, particularly for clients in the Colorado and Rocky Mountain region. Peter’s practice is focused on acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and commercial transactions in the energy and natural resources space, and he also handles financing matters in a variety of industries.

David Harford, Irvine

David focuses his practice on the resolution of disputes related to franchise law. He has litigated cases regarding the termination of franchise and distribution rights; the assertion of franchise rights; the relations between franchisors and franchisees; and the representations made in connection with the purchase and sale of franchise, trademark and distribution rights. David also represents a wide variety of other commercial institutions such as lenders, new and internet media companies, financial institutions, and logistics and distribution companies.

Angela Hsu, Atlanta

Angela has extensive experience across a multitude of real estate deals. She has led legal teams in developing, buying and selling billions in assets; negotiated M&A transactions involving the sale of various portfolios and platforms; and led the legal team that created a $1 billion joint venture. Angela represents developers, sellers, purchasers, landlords and tenants in commercial real estate transactions including mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures. She also has substantial experience in corporate governance, corporate responsibility, health care and performance management for public companies gained during her 18 years as in-house counsel. Angela additionally has consulted on legal department operations and restructuring. Angela is passionate about the legal community, and outside of work has served as the chairman of the Board for the State of Georgia Commission on Equal Opportunity and was the president of the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association. She regularly speaks on a range of topics concerning the Georgia AAPI Community and subjects within area of specialization. Angela was named to the Georgia Asian Times (GAT) 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia list in 2021.

Anne Jump, St. Louis

Anne has a diverse estate planning practice that encompasses all aspects of estate planning and estate and trust administration. This includes pre- and post-death wealth transfer planning for individuals, trusts and estates, including the structuring and implementation of significant gifts and sale transactions and business succession planning; charitable planning, including the creation and administration of private foundations and charitable trusts; preparation, filing and representation of estate tax returns and gift tax returns; and the representation of individual and corporate fiduciaries.

Evan Kaufman, New York

Evan has experience representing owners, operators, developers and private equity funds in the acquisition, disposition and development of a wide variety of commercial real estate assets. He also advises clients regarding the formation of joint ventures and represents commercial real estate lenders in the origination of mortgage, mezzanine and preferred equity financings throughout the United States.

Aaron Lang, New York

Aaron counsels clients in corporate transactions. He has significant experience in mergers and acquisitions representing public and private companies in domestic and international mergers, stock and asset acquisitions, dispositions and carve-out transactions, as well as private equity investments, reorganizations, joint ventures and corporate governance matters. He also provides counseling to startup companies and institutional investors with respect to alternative investments. In addition, Aaron is a certified public accountant.

James Litwinovich, Irvine

James’ practice encompasses a wide range of financial services matters within the real estate and banking industries. He has extensive experience representing institutional lenders in sophisticated commercial real estate secured financing involving properties located throughout the United States. Prior to attending law school, James worked as a teacher at a private elementary school in Laguna Beach.

Tricia Macaluso, Dallas

Tricia has 23 years of civil litigation experience representing a broad range of corporate and individual clients in state and federal trial and appellate courts. Tricia’s practice encompasses all phases of complex commercial and injury litigation across multiple industries, including banking, real estate, and pharmaceutical and medical device.

Tun Zaw Mra, Singapore

Tun has more than 12 years’ experience advising on the full spectrum of corporate transactions including mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganisations, business transfers and joint ventures in the UK, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. Tun has particular experience in the real estate, energy and infrastructure, insurance, financial services, technology and hospitality sectors. Tun’s practice also involves assisting multinational companies on their existing businesses as well as market entries into Asia. He also advises Asia-based clients on the corporate aspects of outbound investments in a wide variety of real estate assets in the UK and Europe. Tun is currently the pro bono coordinator for the Singapore office.

Eleanor Penton, Southampton

Eleanor practices within the firm’s Real Estate Finance Team. She has experience acting for many clearing banks, specialist funds, corporate borrowers and joint ventures. She has worked on a variety of deals ranging from simple single-asset bilateral lending to syndicated multi cross-jurisdictional structured finance in relation to acquisition finance, development finance, refinancing and restructurings.

Kimberly Roberts, London

Kimberly has a wealth of experience in a broad range of non-contentious engineering and construction matters with a particular emphasis on strategic and procurement advice and in drafting and negotiating construction and engineering contracts across sectors. This includes building contracts, alliance agreements, framework agreements, development agreements and other related documents. She has experience working with a range of clients, including international and national developers, investors, public authorities, consultants, contractors and funders. Kimberly is a net-zero champion and proactively looks at ways construction contracts can implement sustainability.

Cyrille Rumen, Paris

With extensive real estate finance experience, Cyrille advises French and global lenders or borrowers in the origination or syndication of all type of financing transaction including acquisition, construction, refinancing, senior, bridge and mezzanine financing, cross-border financing and inter-creditor matters. His experience extends to a wide variety of assets and in particular office, retail, logistics, hotels and properties portfolio. Cyrille’s practice also includes renewable energy projects financing and he advised on mixed financing for the construction of real estate properties, including rooftop solar power plants.

Logan Rutherford, Kansas City

Logan practices with the Commercial Litigation Client Service Group. He has a broad litigation practice handling commercial cases, constitutional litigation and criminal subpoenas, from the pleading stage through the appellate process. Prior to joining the firm, he clerked for the Hon. Mary Murguia of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Phoenix, Arizona. Alongside his busy litigation practice, Logan also participates in the firm’s pro bono work. He was part of the team that helped free pro bono client Kevin Strickland from prison in 2021. Mr. Strickland spent more than 40 years in prison for three murders he did not commit. The BCLP team worked in partnership with the Midwest Innocence Project (MIP) to free Mr. Strickland in a case that garnered national attention.

Emma Sadler, Southampton

Emma advises on all areas of non-contentious commercial real estate law, with particular experience in the retail, life sciences and logistics sectors. She has significant experience in the acquisition, disposal, development and asset management of commercial and mixed-use properties for both property companies and institutional investors. Emma works closely with the firm’s Real Estate Finance Team, advising both borrowers and lenders on the full spectrum of real estate asset classes.

Margot Wainger, Miami

Margot focuses her practice in all aspects of commercial real estate financing. She represents lenders, borrowers, investors and developers in real estate financing transactions and related matters involving a wide variety of assets, including office, retail, industrial, residential and mixed-use properties, hotels, land development and property portfolios. She has experience in the origination, purchase, sale, syndication and securitization of a variety of lending transactions, including construction, permanent, bridge and mezzanine financing transactions. Her experience also includes loan restructuring and workout/foreclosure alternatives for distressed loans.

Andy West, London

Andy has experience in all areas of corporate taxation in the UK, with a focus on real estate tax. He specializes in advising on the tax aspects of real estate and corporate transactions, with particular experience working on warranty and indemnity insurance-backed deals, and on advising, establishing and acting for UK REITs. He regularly advises on the tax aspects of property acquisitions, disposals and joint ventures, including stamp duty land tax, capital allowances, VAT and direct taxes.