McDermott Will & Emery has hired six partners in cities across the US as it seeks to bolster its transactions practice group.

The new hires include Brian Gordon in Atlanta, Marcus Helt in Dallas, Parker Lee in New York, Mal Serure in Los Angeles, David Solander in Washington DC and David Wolff in Chicago. The six partners add a range of deal-making expertise, from private equity and M&A to real estate and restructuring.

Harris Siskind, global head of the firm’s transactions practice, said: “Providing top legal talent for corporate clients in an increasingly active, technical and regulated post-pandemic market is our number one priority. With our continued growth across our transactions practice platform, we are able to deliver creative and efficient legal solutions that match the diverse needs of our clients.”

Gordon arrives from DLA Piper, where he spent 15 years. He specialises in advising venture capital-backed technology companies in M&A deals, financings, corporate governance and employment matters. He was also previously an associate at WilmerHale.

Helt, meantime, joins after just over three years at Foley & Lardner, having had earlier stints at Gardere Wynne Sewell and Husch Blackwell. His practice focuses on restructuring and insolvency matters.

Lee is a commercial real estate lawyer and joins from Hunton Andrews Kurth and legacy firm Andrews Kurth before that. He also had spells as an associate at Baker & Hostetler and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.  

LA-based Serure is also a commercial real estate lawyer, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience gained at firms including Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.

Solander joins from Goodwin Procter, where he spent roughly four-and-a-half years, the last eight months of which as partner. He specialises in regulatory and compliance issues related to the asset management industry.

And Wolff joins after almost a decade at Kirkland & Ellis, where he advised on real estate transactions involving private equity sponsors, real estate investment trusts and others. He will lead the firm’s Chicago real estate practice.

Michael Poulos, head of strategy at McDermott’s, said: “The transactions landscape has evolved greatly over the last year, and it’s vital we continue to build out our firm’s in-demand transactions practice and bring on new teams to meet our clients’ growing needs.”

The firm also hired Squire Patton Boggs’ Singapore co-managing partner Ignatius Hwang in March, as it prepares to relaunch in Asia with a Singapore office focusing on energy and infrastructure, while back in January it added competition partner Hendrik Viaene from Deloitte Legal in Brussels. Viaene, who headed up Deloitte Legal’s global antitrust and regulatory hub, brought with him deep experience of Belgian, and, in particular EU antitrust law, having previously spent 18 years at leading Benelux independent law firm Stibbe.