Clients and lawyers at Reed Smith turn to Ben to skillfully manage complex mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships, private equity and venture capital transactions, restructurings, and leveraged buyouts.
Whether working for CEOs and in house counsel at publicly traded companies, principals at private equity and venture capital funds, or founders at start-ups and emerging growth companies, he is universally appreciated for his ability to efficiently manage transactions and counsel clients, including large cross-functional transactions across multiple jurisdictions. He often manages multiple transactions at various stages for multiple clients, ranging from $20 million divestitures to $3.7 billion recapitalizations.
Ben conducts all facets of transactions and matters, including the letter of intent stage, managing and coordinating diligence, and drafting and negotiating purchase agreements, corporate governance documents, ancillary agreements, and suites of investment documents.
With clients and within Reed Smith, he has a reputation for practicality, reliability, responsiveness, and a willingness to work exceptionally hard to deliver excellent results. As an example, material issues arose relating to the transfer of intellectual property and data from the target to the client about twenty-four hours before the closing. The client had a hard funding deadline, so, without raising alarms, the team negotiated and finalized a transition services agreement with broad sweeping services to allow the transfer of the intellectual property and data from the target to the client after the closing. This solution allowed the transaction to close about 15 minutes before the deadline.
In addition to Ben’s transactional practice, he also works on general corporate matters, serving as an overall advisor to help clients think through and solve daily challenges that are both legal and operational.
Ben’s business acumen, work ethic, and leadership skills were honed well before becoming a lawyer. His ability to understand the nuances of a client’s business and their financing is partially due to the knowledge and skills he acquired while earning his accounting degree from Penn State. He was also a student body president and was a Student Representative on the Penn State Board of Trustees during the aftermath of the Sandusky Scandal, where he worked with multiple Fortune 200 CEOs and leaders of major companies. One of the major lessons learned was to trust people, but also verify their statements. He finds that wisdom is important in his practice, which results in a collaborative approach and excellent client results.
At Georgetown University Law Center, he was a member of the Executive Comment in the Student Bar Association at Georgetown. He participated on the Georgetown Alumni Board and served as a certified student attorney at the Social Enterprise & Nonprofit Law Clinic providing pro bono legal services.
An in-demand speaker, Ben presents to clients and trade communities about general corporate matters, the current state of the M&A market and how the pandemic has impacted the business and legal communities. He is also actively engaged at Penn State Smeal College of Business and Georgetown University Law Center.
