New York, March 8, 2007 – LAWFUEL – Law, Legal News – Dewey Ballantine LLP, a leading international law firm, announced today the addition of two partners to its New York City headquarters. John J. Altorelli and Jeffrey A. Potash will join the firm’s Structured Finance Group effective immediately. The two partners join the firm from the New York office of Reed Smith.
James A. FitzPatrick, Jr., Chair of the firm’s Corporate Department, said of their arrival, “We are delighted to welcome John and Jeffrey to the firm. Their practice fits well with our strategy to offer clients the most sophisticated advice on the most complex corporate transactions. As the lines between private equity, hedge funds and structured finance become increasingly intertwined, practitioners with experience like this are invaluable.”
Mr. Altorelli’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, reorganizations, private placements and public offerings of securities. John represents private equity funds, operating companies, investment banks and financial institutions in a variety of industries. His clients include Capmark Financial Group, Blackstone Group and State Street Bank. Mr. Altorelli earned his B.S. summa cum laude from Southern Connecticut State University and his J.D. from Cornell Law School. He is an accomplished speaker and author, and served as an adjunct faculty member of the University of Connecticut School of Law.
Mr. Potash has a diverse corporate practice and broad experience including in-house counsel and executive positions with public and private companies, including Central European Media Enterprises, Ltd. and Repap Enterprises Inc. Jeffrey has represented Sara Lee Corporation and the World Bank. He received his A.B. from Harvard College and his J.D. from Cornell Law School.
“Structured finance as a practice area is moving toward a linking of the traditional asset classes and structuring techniques with the transactional activities of hedge funds and private equity firms,” said Chris Di Angelo, Chair of Dewey Ballantine’s Structured Finance Group. “In light of this, I see a tremendous fit, and unrivaled match, between our world class structured finance group and John’s team, particularly in areas such as highly structured ‘asset-backed buyouts’ which will compete against traditional LBO’s in the future.”
Joseph A. Smith, Chair of Dewey Ballantine’s Private Equity Group, added, “John and Jeffrey’s terrific skills and network of clients will really complement our platform. This is a great opportunity for our firm.”
“The decision to join Dewey Ballantine was an easy one,” Mr. Altorelli said. “Dewey is in a league of its own when it comes to offering the waterfront of services that companies require in increasingly complex and interdisciplinary transactions. I look forward to working with Chris and Joe and all the other lawyers of Dewey Ballantine as we aspire to take the firm to even greater heights.”
