Stacy Paz > DLA Piper LLP (US) > Silicon Valley, United States > Lawyer Profile

DLA Piper LLP (US)‘s wide-ranging transactional capabilities span M&A, private equity, SPACs, restructurings, fund formations, capital markets, and financings. Recently, the team has been active in a number of emerging industries, including crypto, insurance, media, sports and entertainment. Silicon Valley-based practice head Stacy Paz is known for handling a significant number of the firm’s M&A mandates, while Gerald Rokoff  is dedicated to the tax structuring of asset management and financial product transactions. Chicago-based Tom Geraghty, who advises fund sponsors and investment advisors, is an established authority on investments in digital currencies. Frank Mugabi shifts his focus between international tax planning and transactional tax, with a particular focus on the oil and gas sector. Other recommended individuals include Drew Young and Boston-based associate Kurtis Weaver. All named lawyers are based in New York unless noted otherwise.

With ‘a phenomenal team of professionals specialized in financial products’, DLA Piper LLP (US)‘s transactional tax group excels at advising fund sponsors, banks and asset managers on complex tax-efficient structures, with a focus on asset-backed securities and CLOs. The team also demonstrates strength in transformative sectors and emerging industries, where it is increasingly retained to handle acquisitions and securitizations. The practice’s leadership is split between New York-based Gerald Rokoff, who is ‘deeply connected within the industry’ and ‘knows how to right-size the response to a particular issue’, and Stacy Paz in Silicon Valley. From Chicago, Tom Geraghty is the go-to adviser for US and non-US issuers and underwriters of debt and equity instruments, while New York-based Witold Jurewicz is well versed in tax-efficient structures for non-US investments. At the associate level, ‘incredibly smart’ John Wei in Boston is noted.