AKIN GUMP EXPANDS TAX PRACTICE IN NEW YORK
Geoffrey E. Secol has joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as a partner in the tax practice in New York, the firm announced this week. Mr. Secol will help lead an interdisciplinary corporate services group for the tax, investment funds and real estate practices in the firm’s New York office.
Mr. Secol’s practice focuses on merger and acquisition transactions. He has advised public and private companies in connection with a wide variety of business matters, including mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, private equity and hedge fund investments, joint ventures and strategic alliances, hostile contests for corporate control and corporate restructurings, including bankruptcy-related restructurings. His practice also includes the representation of financial institutions in their roles as lenders on M&A transactions.
Mr. Secol has extensive cross-border M&A experience, including in the energy and telecommunications sectors. He also has significant experience in tender offers, private stock and asset purchases, and private placements of equity securities. He joins the firm from Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP in New York and Tokyo. Previously, he practised at Baker & McKenzie in New York and Hong Kong.
Mr. Secol received his B.A. with honors in 1990 from New York University and his J.D. in 1997 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was a National Security Education Program fellow and a Monmouth County Bar Foundation scholar. He also received a certificate of study from Capital Normal University in Beijing.
Stuart Leblang, a partner in Akin Gump’s tax practice, stated, “Geoffrey’s considerable depth of experience related to mergers, acquisitions, dispositions and equity investments will be of tremendous value to our clients. Geoffrey will further enhance our capability to meet the needs of our clients in the planning and negotiation of domestic and international business transactions.” Patrick Fenn, chair of Akin Gump’s tax practice, added, “We are thrilled to have Geoffrey and believe he will add significant value to our practice and our culture.”
Mr. Secol said, “Akin Gump provides a tremendous platform for me to grow my practice with an extraordinary team of attorneys. I am very happy to join Akin Gump, a firm with the expertise, resources and vision to capitalize on opportunities in a dynamic marketplace.”
Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, a leading international law firm, numbers more than 900 lawyers with offices in Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Dubai, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, New York, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Taipei and Washington. The firm has a diversified practice and represents regional, national and international clients in a wide range of areas, including antitrust; appellate; banking and finance; capital markets; communications and information technology; corporate and securities; corporate governance; employee benefits; energy; entertainment and media; environmental; financial restructuring; global security; government contracts; health; insurance; intellectual property; international trade; investment funds; labor and employment; land use; litigation; mergers and acquisitions; private client services; private equity; privatization; project development and finance; public law and policy; real estate development and finance; Russia/CIS; tax; and technology.