Our private investment fund practice includes the representation of private funds and their sponsors in connection with fund formations, portfolio investments and transactions, fund administration and regulatory matters, and disposition transactions. Our private investment fund clients include financial institutions, investment banking firms, insurance companies, investment advisers, commodity pools and broker-dealers, as well as pension funds, universities, and other institutional investors. According to the Private Equity Analyst (2008), Mayer Brown is ranked as one of the top five most active law firms with respect to  the number of private equity and venture capital funds that we negotiated and structured on behalf of general partners and limited partners. We believe that the breadth, depth and diversity of our private fund practice are exceptional, giving us a broad knowledge of the private funds market, trends, and issues. We also pride ourselves on our creative structuring and problem-solving approach in achieving our clients' goals. 

Our Approach

We help our clients maximize value by focusing on the issues that are relevant to value creation and risk allocation for both fund sponsors and investors. Our guiding principle is that our advice should be accurate, clear, commercial, timely and at a reasonable cost. Our lawyers are used to working on tight deadlines, and they take a proactive approach to ensuring that issues are fully anticipated and resolved. In practice, this means proper analysis of the transaction at its outset, the early identification of potentially problematic areas, and rigorous project planning and timelines. We pride ourselves on forging successful and lasting relationships with our clients and strive to provide clear thinking and straightforward answers on any issues that may arise.

Like the leading global businesses, we capitalize on the cultural diversity of our lawyers-we do not believe in cultural divides. As our client, you will benefit from using lawyers who not only have a thorough knowledge of the legal system in which they are based, but also know the political, cultural and commercial influences that are likely to have an impact on the success of your transaction.

Our Firm

Mayer Brown is one of the largest law firms in the world, with lawyers in the Americas, Asia and Europe. BTI Consulting's 2003 survey of corporate counsel at the world's largest buyers of legal services cited Mayer Brown as one of four leading firms that "stand out above the rest for superior client service." When counsel were asked which firms are the best at "understanding the client's business," Mayer Brown ranked number one in the 2003 worldwide survey as well as number one in BTI's 2004 Survey of U.S. Fortune 1000 In-House Counsel. In 2003, Chambers USA ranked our firm as number two in the US legal market in terms of the number of leading lawyers. Just two years after our 2002 US/UK merger, Chambers and Partners, through a worldwide panel of judges consisting of leading in-house counsel, named Mayer Brown the 2004 UK Law Firm of the Year and runner-up for 2004 US Law Firm of the Year.