Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP > Los Angeles, United States > Firm Profile

‘Knowledge, experience, accessibility.’

‘Liz Zimmer puts together a stellar team, is fully across the deal and yet allows efficient allocation of resources to cater for budget limitations while not compromising on the quality of the work and service. That Pillsbury has a non-legal team to bridge the legal / commercial requirements (eg. technical and commercial requirements and documentation) reflects their comprehensive appreciation of the nature of outsourcing deals and an understanding of the needs of in-house counsel (who often have to lead the non-legal aspects in order to drive the overall deal).’

‘We worked with Elizabeth Zimmer and associate Brittney Sandler. Liz is the full service partner – takes care of the relationship, take time to understand the needs of the client, uncompromised legal skills. Brittney – blown away at the talent of this associate. From technical legal skills, to the critically relevant “soft skills” of managing both internal client and the counterparty.’

‘Excellent and holistic client service management, use of initiative in our client care, obvious investment in a capable group of associates that give us comfort in the whole team, value creation in appropriate staffing of our matters and innovative support of our projects, solid expertise and bulletproof work product’

‘Liz Zimmer has shown us first-class client service, and has established a true partnership. John Barton makes you feel like you are his only client, and has demonstrated excellent focus on strategy and execution. Mia Rendar is an incredibly bright and promising professional, and a solid associate – one to watch!’

‘The Outsourcing practice at Pillsbury is excellent. The Pillsbury resources are subject matter experts, provide practical advice and always meet our expectations and time-frames. The team is collaborative with each other as well as with its clients. As a client we benefit for their internal collaboration and willingness to work together internally. In order to meet client expectations, the team often proposes unique and innovative ways to tackle a new deal whether its streamlining resources or leveraging technology. Pillsbury’s global presence and global perspective also makes this team unique.’

‘The Pillsbury team is always willing to roll up its sleeves and dive into complicated transactions despite challenges, obstacles and time constraints. The team brings a global perspective which greatly benefits us as their client. The entire team is top notch.’

‘Incredible team. Led by Mario Dottori, this team has depth of legal expertise across entire companies – Tech, HR, BPO, etc. They combine the legal expertise with a PMO, and thus are the best firm I’ve ever used to conduct carve outs, outsourcing and acquisitions on large scale M&A transactions.’

‘The team is very collaborative and creative in its solutions.’

‘Marques Peterson and his team are fantastic at communicating with all levels of technical and management staff within its clients’ organizations.’

‘Pillsbury has a very diverse offering of practice areas. As a general counsel, it is important that the firms I work with have capabilities to support many different areas of law. This creates efficiencies among different partners/associates because it allows them to easily collaborate with each other, which results in faster service and saves money when working with Pillsbury. The firm delivers invoices accurately and timely.’

‘John Jensen is our relationship partner and he adds tremendous value to our federal government contracts activities. John is extremely knowledgeable in government contracting and protests, as well as many other aspects of government interactions with private industry. He is very attentive and responsive, which provides me great comfort everyday knowing that any support we need is always available. One of the best attorneys I have ever worked with!’

‘Availability, flexibility and tenacity.’

‘Alex Tomaszczuk and his team are outstanding attorneys. They are experts in the government contracting field.’

‘They get the job done and done well. Simply, they know their stuff. Alex Tomaszczuk’s written communication skills are second to none.

‘Superior knowledge of government contracting, excellent results in matters handled for my company, excellent legal advice provided. The ability to reach the attorneys is outstanding and they are very responsive. Billing is never an issue. This is a superior law firm.’

‘The firm’s advice to insureds is far more practical, sophisticated, successful, and cost-efficient than other firms in this space.’

‘Tamara Bruno is a gem. Always willing to help and provide winning strategies. Summarizes the key issues extremely well and knows how to make you look good before your internal stakeholders.’

‘Very aggressive policyholder representation and Joe Jean gets results.’

‘Joe Jean is a beast and works diligently to get his client paid.’

‘This firm is on the cutting edge of advocating for policyholders with respect to business loss claims sustained during the COVID-19 pandemic.’

‘They are always quick to respond. If not immediately available, they get back to me quickly.’

‘The Pillsbury insurance advice and policyholder practice is top notch. They are responsive, foresee industry trends, proactively manage legal and business risk, and are able to ensure that their clients are protected in complex insurance disputes.’

‘Joseph Jean, Aryeh Kaplan, and Peter Gillon are sophisticated thinkers but can distill problems into their constituent parts to generate innovative solutions that benefit their clients. Indeed, when COVID-19 began ravaging the country the above individuals were able to develop rapidly a complex insurance recovery matrix that was different from any of their competitors and which allowed them to pursue recoveries on behalf of their clients that have resulted in significantly higher success rates than others. This is a testament to their bold thinking, sound judgment, and substantive legal skills.’

‘Very responsive, knowledgeable and trustworthy.’

‘Very experienced in aviation aircraft lease-related disputes.‘

‘Good interaction with the regulatory authorities.‘

‘They are always quick to respond with accurate answers and practical solutions.‘

‘They have very good teamwork, cooperating smoothly on complex issues, and they are very flexible on billing.‘

‘Charles Donley has the ability to organize and coordinate resources so as to find the best solution for his clients. He never argues over differences, but always has his own way of convincing others by focusing on common ground.‘

‘Charles Donley is an expert in his field. We value his attitude and how he handles cases.‘

‘Josh Romanow is great, and very sensitive to clients’ needs.‘

‘Pillsbury provides a well-unified, collaborative team that leverages each others knowledge base to demonstrate “big picture” understanding as well as specialized advice within categories of issues.’

‘Pillsbury is recognized as a leading cost-effective, value-adding firm for CFIUS guidance. This is especially critical during the pre-deal diligence phase, where we can rely on Pillsbury to provide comprehensive risk assessments of potential foreign investors. While other firms have demonstrated good knowledge, Pillsbury stands-out with greater depth.’

‘Nancy Fischer and Matthew Rabinowitz provided timely, responsive, and detailed guidance on complex CFIUS considerations, all in an easily digestible format. This, in itself, is a remarkable art-form as the ever-changing political winds make adaptability difficult.’

‘Nancy Fischer stood out as extraordinarily well-versed on current trends impacting CFIUS; she is a go-to source where there are challenging issues about recent transactions, regulatory, or legislative developments.’

‘Benjamin Cote provided expert advice on international trade as it relates to export control matters of regulation compliance and governmental application/approval requests.’

‘We are mostly working with Pillsbury Winthrop on trade compliance and export controls. What differentiates Stephan Becker and his team from competitors is a deep knowledge of the matter, the stakeholders and players as well as the ability to understand the business challenges and technical issues.’

‘Mr. Becker has provided exceptional guidance, advice, and strategic thinking in preparing lengthy and complex pleadings in all aspects of the proceedings. He is well versed in the intricacies of the US trade remedy regime and very quickly familiarized himself with the nuances of the issues at hand.

‘Aaron Hutman has served as our primary point of contact in dealing with the detailed preparations of pleadings and submissions. His thorough knowledge of the law and procedures along with his grasp of the key issues served us well.’

‘Clients cover the full spectrum of the energy space – oil and gas; midstream and downstream petroleum; nuclear; traditional electric; and renewables.’

‘I referred a multibillion dollar litigation matter to Matt Morrison, a partner in Pillsbury’s Washington DC office. Matt is an 18 year veteran of DOJ and EPA. He has a very client focused orientation and is sensitive to litigation costs.’

‘Matt has a very client focused orientation and is sensitive to litigation costs.’

‘Pillsbury is unique in that they represent many lenders and borrowers, and are extremely knowledgeable about complex transactions.‘

‘Pillsbury has a strong aviation practice. Their associates are very responsive and helpful, and the partners have strong knowledge of aircraft leasing and ABS structures.‘

‘You would be hard pressed to find an aircraft financing/leasing transaction that they have not been involved with.‘

‘Pillsbury has a very good aviation practice. They are especially good with capital market deals, but this is not their only strength. They are also very nice to work with.‘

‘Very responsive and commercially oriented.‘

‘Mark Lessard is terrific – very knowledgeable, hardworking and most of all, practical.‘

‘Mark Lessard is an excellent negotiator and well respected in the industry. He is a zealot advocate for his clients and easy to work with.‘

‘Melissa Jones-Prus has a very strong legal base and offers an excellent service. I have very much enjoyed working with her over the years.‘

‘Knowledge, experience, accessibility’

‘Excellent and holistic client service management, use of initiative in our client care, obvious investment in a capable group of associates that give us comfort in the whole team, value creation in appropriate staffing of our matters and innovative support of our projects, solid expertise and bulletproof work product’

‘Liz Zimmer has shown us first-class client service, and has established a true partnership. John Barton makes you feel like you are his only client, and has demonstrated excellent focus on strategy and execution. Mia Rendar is an incredibly bright and promising professional, and a solid associate – one to watch.’

‘Pillsbury has a unique team approach. Led by Mario Dottori, no job is too big (thousands of medium vendors, one large vendor) or too small (simple NDA). They keep going and do not break stride during a challenge. They have capabilities across all areas of outsourcing – complex technology, employee and HR matters, data privacy, GDPR, etc. The PMO is incredibly unique – able to manage and track hundreds of vendors and thousands of legal documents and where those vendors and contracts are in the execution pipeline. For a large deal, they are able to break it down and parallel process the aspects, providing excellent advise on the gives/gets of legal guardrails.’

‘Too many to name- Mario Dottori, Lee Rubin, Benjamin Dean, Christine Richardson, Rachel Newell, Meighan O’Reardon, Joseph Kendall, Ash Masrani — across the board a lot of expertise and the team applies itself to conduct large scale acquisitions – no delays in procurement no matter the topic. The team is incredible. I have used them on three all-year deals in the past four years, and cannot recommend them highly enough.’

‘Rob James is our point of contract and handles most of the work. Rob and his team are very timely in their responses to our requests and provide simple but comprehensive direction on how to handle issues.’

‘Rob James is a very experienced and knowledgeable attorney in design, construction and real estate issues. He provides perspective from all sides of issue and serves up solutions to move things along.’

‘High level of professionalism and expertise’

‘We work directly with Mathew Oresman who is an exceptional professional and hands on on’

‘We have worked with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP for several years and they have been vital pro bono advisers to our ambitious sustainability initiative. With our organisation we are developing a new approach to sustainability reporting hence there are a number of new challenges on which we are breaking new ground. Far from being phased the Pillsbury team has helped us address and overcome each challenge in turn and lay the foundations for large-scale systems change. Their level of commitment to this cause, general professionalism, and the collaborative nature of their team has been outstanding and we have enjoyed working with them thoroughly.’

‘Pillsbury’s plan design team is excellent overall. They listen very closely to the specific needs of the client and then design plans to meet those needs. At the same time, they not only respond to the client’s interests, but proactively propose ideas that serve the client’s interests that they have not yet identified. They are also wonderful people with whom it is a pleasure to work.’

‘Jonathan Ocker is exquisitely competent, and, at the same time, extremely effective with helping lay clients understand the law and counselling them through decision making.’

‘The Pillsbury lawyers with whom I’ve worked with pride themselves in being experts in their fields, and their expertise shows. They not only respond to what they are asked for by the client, but guide us in what would be most beneficial for us under the circumstances. Christine Richardson is a wonderful professional in the retirement and health and welfare spaces and Mark Jones is the same in the executive compensation space.’

‘Jonathan Ocker is exquisitely competent, and, at the same time, extremely effective with helping clients understand the law and counselling them through decision making.’

‘Great old school team with fabulous understanding of the NY RE market.’

‘Andrew Weiner. A must for anyone new in the Manhattan RE jungle’

‘We use Pillsbury for specialized litigation and regulatory matters. They have experienced and knowledgeable attorneys in this area.’

‘Maria Galeno is a consummate lawyer; she never stops fighting for her clients.’

‘Maria Galeno knows her stuff, and is a great strategist; she is also strongly committed to pro bono work.’

‘William Sullivan does an excellent job manoeuvring complex legal issues in the white-collar crime area, taking particular attention to business implications.’

‘William Sullivan does a nice job representing executive and high-net-worth individuals facing serious fraud charges.’

‘They are the top of the line in civil fraud and criminal claim litigation against top opposing counsel.’

‘Having worked with several large global firms over the years, I have found the quality of the Pillsbury work to be outstanding.’

‘Oral advocacy, argument structure, writing, and presentation skills are all strengths of the team that supports us as a client.’

‘Amazing ability to address client’s business concerns, while adequately balancing the costs to address legal issues. Very focused on client’s needs, including the need to keep work and costs reasonable in light of the importance of each issue.’

‘Eric Fishman is personally invested in the relationship with clients.’

‘My work with Pillsbury is California tax specific. They have the reputation of being the premier California tax law experts and I have found them to be exactly that – extremely knowledgeable and very well connected to the people working to enforce the tax laws at the Franchise Tax Board and the Office of Tax Appeals. The connection to the people is immeasurably important.’

‘Carley Roberts is incredibly bright and knows California tax law inside and out. She is easy to work with, very much has the client’s best interest front and center and will always go the extra mile for the client. She also has a long history of working in this particular field and her contacts and connections are equally important. Robert Merten is also very knowledgeable of California tax law and has the same client focus that Carley has. Having Robert on Carley’s team is a true asset.’

‘Jeff Vesely and Annie Huang of Pillsbury’s San Francisco office are both top-notch State & Local Tax experts, and incredibly important to have in the State of California. They represented our company on a significant tax dispute with California, providing insightful advice and direction, and positioning the case where the State dropped the case entirely.’

‘Cutting-edge expertise in SALT law, very responsive to client, and very effective in representation.’

‘Pillsbury takes the time to learn their client and their institution, allowing more effective and efficient solutions. Pillsbury’s people are good at leveraging each other’s expertise and providing cohesive solutions without requiring the client to do the legwork.’

‘Michael Kosnitzky is a tremendous advocate. Michael brings unparalleled foresight into the equation, ensuring his clients are proactively protected from future adversities.’

‘The personal service, attention and responsiveness is exceptional. I have been a practicing CPA for nearly 30 years and have not seen a large firm with this level of service, attention and responsiveness. Needless to say the knowledge of the people I worked with at the firm is outstanding. Not only is their knowledge in their specific area outstanding, each of them have good general tax knowledge even outside their specific area.’

‘Michael Kosnitzky is a top level tax attorney. His knowledge and “out of the box” thinking is better than any tax attorney I’ve worked with, and I’ve worked with many over the course of my career.’