Practice areas of particular emphasis in the Charlotte office include:
Finance
The Finance Group routinely represents various Charlotte-based and other financial clients in securitization, mezzanine finance, investment grade and leveraged senior finance and other general banking transactions, and often counsels the Office's corporate clients in connection with their capital markets transactions.
Through continuous coordination within the Firm's national finance practice, the Group brings Mayer Brown's extensive securitization and finance expertise to clients. Interaction between the Office and the Firm's offices in such other financial centers as New York, London, Chicago, and Los Angeles enables the Office to counsel its clients with respect to a broad range of capital markets transactions, including public securitizations, 144A private transactions, CLO's, CDO's, sale-leaseback transactions, derivatives and commercial paper conduits.
Representative transactions handled during the past 12 months demonstrate the range of the Office's expertise and have included: in securitization, approximately $4,000,000,000 of transactions relating to distressed loans, commercial and residential mortgages, auto loans and leases, credit card receivables, trade receivables, student loans, equipment loans and leases (including aircraft, computers, construction equipment, containers, rail cars, etc.), insurance premiums and other types of financial assets; in mezzanine finance, debt and preferred stock investments in several privately held companies; and in general banking, various secured and unsecured transactions.
The Firm intends to continue to expand the Group's size within the national finance practice in the next few years and is recruiting qualified attorneys as laterals and directly on campus. Attorneys in the Group participate in meetings and training programs administered by the national finance practice and, as their schedules permit, also work on transactions originating in other offices. Attorneys in the Group may arrange tours of duty in other offices to diversify and deepen their practice skills.
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Corporate and Securities
The Corporate and Securities Group provides a full range of services to a variety of multi-national, regional and local companies. The Group regularly advises clients regarding: mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances; securities law compliance; private investment funds, including hedge fund and private equity fund formation and investor counseling; e-commerce issues; and general corporate matters. In addition, the Group takes advantage of the resources of the Firm's other offices and practice areas in order to provide cutting edge national expertise to clients throughout North Carolina and the Southeast region.
The Group is experienced in mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances, private placement of equity and debt spin offs, management buyouts and leveraged buyouts. The Office's Tax Group is renowned for its skill in structuring taxable and tax-deferred transactions. The Firm's international reach, particularly through the Firm's recent merger with London-based Rowe & Maw, enables the Group to provide particular value to businesses seeking to expand operations or conduct business internationally.
The Group also represents public and private companies in all types of domestic and international securities matters. The Group's expertise combined with the Firm's significant presence in New York and London enables the Group to provide a complete array of services. These services include: public and private debt and equity offerings, including initial public offerings, shelf registrations, Regulation S (international) offerings and Rule 144A transactions; venture capital transactions; proxy solicitations, proxy contests, takeover battles and tender offers; going private transactions; periodic reporting under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940; broker/dealer and investment advisor regulatory advice; public disclosure counseling; stock exchange registration and compliance.
The Charlotte Office has an extensive and experienced private investment fund practice. The Group represents issuers, such as domestic and offshore hedge funds, private equity funds, fund of funds and real estate-related funds; sponsors of private investment funds, such as financial institutions and investment advisers; managers of private investment funds; placement agents for private investment funds; and investors in private investment funds, including financial institutions, universities and ERISA plans. Services include: organization of private funds; private placement distribution; ongoing compliance under securities and ERISA laws; structuring the acquisition and disposition of portfolio investments and investment adviser and broker-dealer regulatory advice.
The Group utilizes its merger and acquisition, securities and general corporate expertise to represent companies involved in technology and e-commerce businesses and transactions. Its clients includes newly formed "dot com" companies, major "clicks-and-mortar" companies, Internet service providers, telecommunication companies, technology companies and financial institutions
Finally, the Group is skilled in the formation of corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, business trusts and special purpose entities. It acts as corporate counselor to multi-national, regional and local companies in numerous industries (including financial institutions) regarding a variety of business matters, including shareholder, employment, executive compensation and non-competition agreements. It also prepares and negotiates all types of commercial agreements on behalf of businesses, including marketing, manufacturing, distribution, supply, licensing, service and agency agreements. We regularly advise clients on numerous corporate governance matters, including the conduct of boards of directors, audit committees and other governance bodies.
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Tax Controversy and Transfer Pricing
The Tax Group represents public and privately held corporate and individual clients in both tax controversies and transactional planning, including all aspects of representation before the Internal Revenue Service and in court. The practice includes domestic and international finance and financial products, banking, corporate matters (including mergers and acquisitions), partnerships and joint ventures, leasing, employee benefits, and bankruptcy and work-out issues. Like the Office's other Groups, the Tax Group interacts with other offices of the Firm that have experience in financial institution tax matters and has been instrumental in tax-sensitive financial product development including asset securitization, leasing, preferred stock offerings, and convertible debt offerings. The Office and the Firm represent clients before Congress, the Treasury Department, the Internal Revenue Service and the United States Tax Court on legislative, regulatory, administrative and litigation matters. Many lawyers in the tax practice are Certified Public Accountants, have a Master of Laws in Taxation, have previous experience in the U.S. Justice Department Tax Division and/or have clerked on the United States Tax Court.
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Real Estate
The Real Estate Group has a diversified practice and provides a full range of commercial real estate legal services. Our clients include developers, financial institutions, pension and opportunity funds, real estate investment trusts and other corporate users of real estate in connection with their acquisition, disposition, construction, development, financing, leasing, joint venture, management and real estate tax matters. At the center of Charlotte's thriving real estate market, the Real Estate Group has significant expertise not only in the area of real estate development but also in the area of real estate finance, including conventional acquisition, development, construction, mezzanine and permanent financing. In addition to, and as a benefit to the local practice, the Real Estate Group is an integral part of the Firm's worldwide real estate group which consists of over 50 partners and more than 150 lawyers throughout the United States and Europe. This collective experience offers significant national and international market knowledge and a familiarity with virtually every complex real estate structure in practically any jurisdiction in the world.
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Litigation
The Litigation Group represents corporate, commercial and financial clients at all levels of the state and federal court systems and in arbitrations and mediations. Lawyers in the group have tried numerous jury cases and have substantial experience obtaining and defending against temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions. The Group handles appeals in the state and federal courts and works closely with the appellate experts in the firm's Washington and Chicago offices. Particular areas of expertise in Charlotte include: contracts, banking and commercial disputes, accountant liability, employment-related disputes including non-competition agreements, class action defense, letters of credit, SEC investigations, construction disputes, employee fraud investigations, defamation, anti-trust, trade secrets, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and condemnation. More than a third of the firm's attorneys worldwide work in trial and appellate litigation, and the Group's lawyers interact and work with litigation attorneys in our other offices and are able to draw on the Firm's expertise and depth in all areas.
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