Mr Michael Gerstenzang > Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP > San Francisco, United States > Lawyer Profile
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP Offices

650 California St
Suite 2000
San Francisco
CALIFORNIA
94108
United States
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Mr Michael Gerstenzang

Position
Michael A. Gerstenzang is the firm’s managing partner based in the New York office. Mr. Gerstenzang’s practice focuses on private investment funds, including forming and advising private equity, credit, growth, special situations, infrastructure, venture capital and hedge funds, and other types of alternative investment vehicles. Practice also includes secondary transactions and co-investment arrangements, as well as representing LPs in connection with private investment funds. Has experience representing fund sponsors and investment teams in connection with negotiating “seed” investments, spin-outs, joint ventures, and other general partner/management company arrangements.
Career
Mr. Gerstenzang joined the firm in 1992 and became a partner in 1999. From 1994 through 1996, he was resident in the Brussels office.
Memberships
Mr. Gerstenzang is the former Chair of the International Bar Association’s Subcommittee on Private Investment Funds, and is a member of the Private Investment Fund Forum, a group comprised of lawyers practicing primarily in the private investment fund area. Mr. Gerstenzang regularly speaks on private investment related topics, including at the IBA/ABA International Conference on Private Investment Funds and the Private Equity Forum sponsored by the Practising Law Institute. Mr. Gerstenzang is a member of the Bar in New York, and is admitted to practice before the United States District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
Education
Mr. Gerstenzang received a J.D. degree from Columbia University in 1989, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, and an undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1986. From 1989 to 1991, Mr. Gerstenzang served as a law clerk to the Honorable Frank X. Altimari, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. From 1991 to 1992, he was a legal assistant to the Honorable Richard C. Allison at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in the Hague.
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton advises a range of private funds, covering credit, real estate, infrastructure, real estate funds, social impact private funds and buyout funds. The group has a particular strength in life sciences and healthcare funds, as well as sustainable environmental funds. Such funds are among the workload often handled by Elizabeth Lenas who leads the team. Lenas works on key fundraises for the group’s largest clients such as fundraising for TAO Additional Commitments. The group’s deep bench also includes managing partner Michael Gerstenzang, a practitioner who is key for the group’s work on secondary transactions. Additionally, Adrian Leipsic‘s practice covers an array of private fund strategies. Jamal Fulton is key for the group’s feeder fund practice with large clients. Maurice Gindi has large alternative asset managers such as Blackstone among his varied client base, reflective of the wider group’s fund clients who include large global investors who invest in a number of jurisdictions globally. All named practitioners are based in New York.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: global offerings
- Antitrust > Cartel
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Dispute resolution > E-discovery
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Tax > Financial products
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Finance > Financial services regulation
- Dispute resolution > International litigation
- Tax > International tax
- Finance > Project finance
- Energy > Energy transactions: electric power
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Real estate > Real estate finance
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Finance > Structured finance: derivatives and structured products
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
Firm Rankings
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- International trade and national security > CFIUS
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Intellectual property > Patents: licensing
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Private equity buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Finance > Structured finance: securitization
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Energy > Energy transactions: electric power
- Energy > Energy transactions: oil and gas
- Finance > Fintech
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- Intellectual property > Copyright
- International trade and national security > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Finance > Project finance
- Real estate > Real estate
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: design
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense