Jesse Criz > DLA Piper LLP (US) > Chicago, United States > Lawyer Profile
DLA Piper LLP (US) Offices
444 WEST LAKE STREET
SUITE 900
CHICAGO, IL 60606-0089
ILLINOIS
United States
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Jesse Criz
Work Department
Corporate; Finance; Global Investment Funds; Investment Management and Funds; Mergers and Acquisitions; Real Estate Finance; Real Estate Funds and Private Equity; Real Estate Investment Trusts; Tax; Transactional Tax Planning; Real Estate
Position
Partner; Head, Investment Management and RECM Practice; Co-Managing Partner, Chicago Office
Career
Jesse Criz heads DLA Piper’s Investment Management and Real Estate Capital Markets practice. He also co-manages the firm’s Chicago office. For more than 20 years, Jesse has guided clients through their most critical transactions and advised them on strategic decisions in all aspects of their businesses, creating true partnerships with his clients.
Throughout his career, Jesse has practiced in the areas of taxation, corporate and vehicle formation. Today, he focuses on advising investment management firms in all aspects of their businesses, primarily regarding the structuring and formation of private investment vehicles and all of their investment activities, both in the United States and globally.
Jesse is formally trained as a tax attorney and has extensive experience representing real estate investment trusts (REITs). He regularly advises firms on structuring all types of funds, co-investments and separate accounts. In addition, he has experience in M&A transactions in the investment management sector. He has led numerous highly complicated domestic and international real estate, corporate, and partnership transactions, including going private transactions, public and private REIT formations and securities offerings, REIT mergers and acquisitions, partnership rollups and UPREIT transactions.
Jesse has also structured and advised global investment management firms on cross-border real estate investments and the formation of foreign real estate funds, most recently in Europe and Canada.
Education
J.D., Loyola University Chicago School of Law; B.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; CPA, Illinois
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
DLA Piper LLP (US)
continues to maintain its reputation as a leading investor-side offering, with the team providing ‘well thought out, comprehensive and bespoke advice‘ to more than 250 institutional investors, including some of the largest and most active sovereign wealth funds, endowments, insurance companies, public pension plans and financial institutions. Recently, the team has also been increasing its focus on sponsor-side work, and has developed particular strength in real estate, energy, and infrastructure fund formation. This dual focus is exemplified by the group’s leadership structure, with key specialized practitioners split between the Chicago and Austin offices; the former location fields Jesse Criz – who co-chairs the investment management practice – and Nathaniel Marrs – who oversees sponsor-side work, while the latter is the base for Criz’s counterpart, David Parrish, and Marrs’ opposite number, investor-side specialist Nicole Brennig. Another illustration of the firm’s ever-growing dedication to sponsor-side mandates was the recent arrival of Ken Muller, formerly of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, to the San Francisco office.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Real estate > Land use/zoning
- Dispute resolution > International litigation
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m)
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Intellectual property > Patents: licensing
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: pharmaceuticals and medical devices
- Real estate > Real estate
- Media, technology and telecoms > Telecoms and broadcast: regulatory
- Media, technology and telecoms > Telecoms and broadcast: transactions
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Venture capital and emerging companies
Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Advertising and marketing: transactional and regulatory
- Industry focus > Cannabis
- Antitrust > Cartel
- Dispute resolution > E-discovery
- Tax > Financial products
- Media, technology and telecoms > Fintech
- Tax > International tax
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- Real estate > Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- Energy > Renewable/alternative power
- Finance > Structured finance: securitization
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: non-contentious (including prosecution, portfolio management and licensing)
- Tax > US taxes: contentious
- Labor and employment > Workplace and employment counseling
- Insurance > Advice to insurers
- Insurance > Insurance: non-contentious
- Labor and employment > Labor and employment disputes (including collective actions): defense
- Labor and employment > Labor-management relations
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: automotive/transport
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: toxic tort
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Healthcare > Service providers
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: litigation
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Real estate > Construction (including construction litigation)
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: litigation
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: transactional
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Private equity buyouts
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: consumer products (including tobacco)
- Intellectual property > Patents: prosecution (including re-examination and post-grant proceedings)
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Finance > Project finance