Fiona Kelly > Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP Offices

ONE NEW YORK PLAZA
NEW YORK, NY 10004
NEW YORK
United States
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Fiona Kelly

Work Department
Corporate Real Estate
Position
Fiona J. Kelly is a corporate partner resident in Fried Frank’s New York and London offices and is co-head of the Firm’s Corporate Real Estate Transactions Practice. Ms. Kelly advises private equity funds, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, developers and investors on joint ventures, acquisitions and dispositions of interests in private real estate companies and other transactions relating to the real estate industry. Her practice is largely international in nature and she regularly represents clients investing in overseas markets and international clients investing in the United States.
Career
Ms. Kelly joined Fried Frank as partner in 2011. Ms. Kelly was previously a partner in the London office of a Magic Circle law firm. Prior to that, she was a partner at an international law firm in New York and Toronto, and Senior Vice President, Corporate, of TrizecHahn Europe.
Memberships
Ms. Kelly is a member of Fried Frank’s Finance and Audit Committee, and the Women’s Forum Planning Committee, a representative group directing Fried Frank’s firm-wide women’s affinity group. Ms. Kelly was previously a member of the Firm’s Governance Committee. She is also on the Steering Committee of the US Chapter of the 30% Club, a global campaign to increase gender diversity at board and senior management levels, and a member of the Board of Directors of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.
Education
Ms. Kelly received her LLB (Hons.) from the University of Toronto and her BA from the University of British Columbia.
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Real estate > Real estate finance
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP’s group is composed of a finance practice and a corporate practice, providing its clients with in-depth advice in both domains. The practice has maintained its longstanding reputation for its borrower-side representation and continues to grow its lending practice. The practice draws on deep real estate and corporate expertise to advise on the full range of mandates from joint ventures and preferred equity investments to portfolio transactions and recapitalizations. The CRE practice is led by Fiona Kelly while the real estate finance practice is co-headed by Michael Barker and Michael Vines. Barker is a go-to for the origination of mortgage and mezzanine loans and pre-development loans while Vines is a stellar lender-side counsel, covering the sale of mortgage and subordinate debt for clients like JPMorgan, for which he is the firm’s key client contact. CRE specialist Kelly concentrates on joint venture platforms and their investments and property and equity transfers. Steven Rudgayzer ‘s practice centers on complex joint venture transactions, predominantly acting for private equity funds. Kabaye Liku represents large institutional syndicate and balance sheet lenders on originations for a range of property types including office and multifamily buildings and data processing centres. Patrick Dowd is well-versed in preferred and common equity joint venture arrangements and has substantial expertise in hospitality, particularly with leading hotel acquisition, disposition and financing transactions. Matthew Aldana is also highlighted. All aforementioned lawyers are located in New York.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Investment fund formation and management > Alternative/hedge funds
- Real estate > Land use/zoning
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- Real estate > Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Real estate > Real estate
- Finance > Structured finance: derivatives and structured products
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
Firm Rankings
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- Real estate > Real estate finance
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Finance > Commercial lending > Advice to direct lenders/private credit
- Finance > Commercial lending: Advice to bank lenders
- Government > Government contracts
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Real estate > Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Private equity buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense