Jim’s experience includes representations of:
- Corporate boards of directors and committees in matters ranging from internal investigations, to mergers and acquisitions, to asset dispositions, restructurings and liquidations;
- Some of the largest allocators of capital to alternative investment vehicles worldwide, in matters ranging from investment selection and due diligence, to monitoring, to monetization, to restructuring and dispute resolution;
- Investors, Liquidators, Trustees, and Receivers in some of the largest and most complex U.S. and foreign hedge fund and other financial vehicle-centered disputes litigated to date in U.S. Courts;
- Cayman, Anguilla, BVI, Bermuda and Bahamian Investor-Selected and Court-Appointed Liquidators in connection with large and precedent-setting offshore liquidations;
- Committees of Independent Directors, and Investor-Selected Independent Monitors, in internal investigations and reviews of hedge fund operations and management; and
- U.S. Bankruptcy Creditors’ Committees, Debtors, Chapter 11 and 7 Trustees, and equity holders in some of the most complex and hotly contested bankruptcy cases in history.
In addition to the above, Jim’s diversified practice also includes representation of high net worth individuals and public figures, including in the entertainment and sports fields, in major transactions and disputes.
Among other professional accolades, Jim was named one of the American Lawyer’s Newsmakers of the Year in 2014.
Jim began his legal career in Washington, D.C., as a member of the Honors Attorney Program with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's (PBGC) Office of the General Counsel. Upon returning to New York in 2000, he joined Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel's Commercial Restructuring & Bankruptcy Group. In 2005, Jim joined Reed Smith.
In addition to his work directly on behalf of clients, Jim speaks regularly on issues relating to hedge funds and distressed investing, and he has been quoted in multiple mainstream and industry publications on issues relating to hedge funds and alternative investments.
The broad spectrum of experience found within the Investment Management Group that Jim chairs spans the most currently relevant substantive areas of law, including, to list but a few examples: investment management and banking regulation; securities regulation and compliance; litigation, arbitration, mediation and other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms; restructuring and liquidation; derivatives and structured products documentation, analysis and dispute resolution; fund formation; portfolio transactions; investment adviser activity; broker-dealer issues; trust and fiduciary matters; product development; and the evolving field of hedge fund, mutual fund, and funds of funds merger & acquisitions.
