Richard Birns > Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP offers a multidisciplinary practice encompassing contentious and non-contentious issues for sports industry clients, with a strong capability in corporate and commercial agreements for sport sector clients. Directing the practice out of New York are Richard Birns, who co-chairs the firm’s private equity group and handles high profile transactions in the sports industry, and Maurice Suh, who acts for a diverse range of household-name clients, and is particularly active in litigious matters in the federal and state courts.

Highly active on both the buyer and seller side of transactions, the team at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP represents a diverse range of funds, portfolio companies, financial sponsors, and sovereign wealth funds including KKR, Platinum Equity and Aurora Capital. The firm has recently bolstered the depth of their expertise with some significant lateral hires in Houston from Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP between March and May 2022, including partners Michael De Voe Piazza and Jess Myers, as well as of counsel Adam Whitehouse. De Voe Piazza joins as co-chair of PE in Houston, who brings extensive experience advising in GP stakes transactions, leveraged buyouts, and portfolio investment and fund formation projects. Richard Birns and Ari Lanin also lead the team from New York and Los Angeles respectively, both highly skilled handling high-value acquisitions including Evergreen Coast Capital’s $16.5 billion acquisition of Citrix Systems and Platinum Equity’s $6.5bn acquisition of Solenis. New York-based Steven Shoemate handles a steady stream of club deals and recapitalizations, while in Century City Candice Choh counsels sponsors on firm structuring and internal governance. Sean Griffiths has a solid reputation for complex carve out and spin-off transactions in New York.