Greenberg Traurig has secured a six-partner real estate finance team from Winston & Strawn, one of whom has been tasked with opening a new office for the firm in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The rest of the team is based in Manhattan and across the firm’s three regional offices in New York State. 

It is led by partners Corey Tessler and Michael Moser, who are to become co-chairs of the Miami-based firm’s 100-lawyer real estate finance practice. Tessler, who served as chair of Winston & Strawn's real estate group, will split his time between the firm’s offices in Manhattan and Bridgehampton, Long Island, while Moser joins in White Plains, New York. 

The duo specialise in developing mortgage conduit and securitisation programs for lending institutions in the US across several asset classes, including office, hospitality, multifamily residential and retail. 

Also joining Greenberg in White Plains is Jarrid King, with Brian Smetana and Christine Spletzer set to join the firm’s Garden City base, also on Long Island. The trio will become shareholders upon joining Greenberg, the firm said. 

The additions to its New York network come three months after the Greenberg hired a group of lawyers from Farrel Fritz to open two offices in Bridgehampton and Garden City in a move it claimed made it the first global law firm to establish a ‘substantial presence’ on Long Island. 

Rounding out the incoming team is Brian Bailey, who has been tasked with launching the firm’s new office in Charlotte as managing shareholder. Additional team members are set to join the office in the ‘near future’, the firm said. The outpost is Greenberg’s 34th office in the US and 43rd globally. 

Richard Rosenbaum, Greenberg’s executive chairman, said: “We have known Corey and Michael for a long time, and while we are already well known for our real estate practice across the US, this team will take us to another level in real estate finance. We are opportunistic when it comes to growth, adding quality and additional service offerings that fit our strategic direction, not only for today, but for the future.”

Earlier this year, Rosenbaum revealed Greenberg’s revenues topped $2bn for the first time in 2021 coupled with a “substantial increase in profits”. The early indication of the firm's performance means it achieved growth of at least 16% on the $1.73bn revenue it posted for 2020. 

The firm made several substantial hires across its platform in Europe last year, including nabbing a seven-strong group of real estate lawyers from Dentons to replenish its bench in Warsaw, having lost 10 lawyers to CMS in November. 

It also added a six-partner disputes team from Mischon de Reya in London, which brought the number of lawyers the firm added in the city during the Covid-19 pandemic to around 50 and its litigation practice to almost one-third of the office. 

And back at the end of 2020 Greenberg hired a five-strong team of real estate lawyers in Amsterdam from Dutch law firm NautaDutilh led by real estate transactions and disputes partner David Van Dijk, as it sought to broaden its reach in Europe.