Thomas McLain Joins Arnold & Porter’s Los Angeles Office
Washington, D.C., September 12, 2006 – LAWFUEL – Law Jobs, Law News – Arnold & Porter LLP announced that Thomas McLain has joined the Los Angeles office yesterday as a partner. Mr. McLain has extensive experience in handling major international transactions in a range of industries, with particular expertise in establishing entertainment venues throughout Asia. Mr. McLain, who has lived and worked in Asia, has substantial experience in legal and business issues affecting businesses operating in Japan, Korea, and China. Mr. McLain is fluent in Japanese.
Mr. McLain has handled significant transactions that include negotiating the rights to build Tokyo Disneyland; establishing the joint venture to build and operate Osaka Universal Studios; monetizing the real estate assets of Northwest Airlines in Japan; and representing The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Mitsubishi Securities Corporation in forming joint ventures, strategic alliances and a private equity fund.
“Tom’s unique legal expertise in Asia, along with his business acumen, further strengthens the firm’s strong bench of talent in international transactions and demonstrates our commitment to a growing platform in Asia,” said Chairman Michael Sohn. In September of 2005, global transactional lawyer Murali Neelakantan joined the firm’s London office strengthening the firm’s ability to service clients in Japan, India, and China.
Ronald Johnston, head of Arnold & Porter’s Los Angeles office, said, “Tom’s experience will expand our West Coast transactional capabilities, which are integral to our national corporate, private equity and intellectual property transactional practices. In addition to his work in Asia, Tom’s significant experience in domestic hedge fund and private equity matters dovetail with our substantial East Coast practice in these areas. Moreover, Tom’s contributions to the Los Angeles civic and business communities in developing business and cultural ties with Asia, are widely recognized.”
Commenting on his impending arrival at Arnold & Porter, Mr. McLain said, “I look forward with great enthusiasm to working with a talented team of lawyers at a firm known for its sophisticated international regulatory and transactional practices.”
Mr. McLain has significant experience in private practice at major law firms, and has worked in key business positions in the U.S. and Asia. Later this month, he will join the Board of Directors of Mitsubishi UFJ Securities (USA) as a key strategic advisor in the United States. From 1989 to 1992, he served as a partner at the Los Angeles-based Wings, a merchant bank formed by private investors for the purpose of acquiring Northwest Airlines. After NWA was acquired, Mr. McLain assisted with the monetization of its real estate assets in Japan and other strategic initiatives through Asia, Europe, and the U.S. Prior to that, he served as Executive Vice President at Balcor/Shearson Lehman International Realty Company. Based in its Tokyo and Los Angeles offices, he structured and marketed real estate investment products in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand and ran the company’s real estate operations throughout Asia.
Mr. McLain is a Trustee of the Asia Society and Past Chairman of the Asia Society Southern California Center, and he is a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. He has served as a Commissioner of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, as a member of the United States-Japan Committee on Cultural and Educational Exchange, and as a director of the U.S.-Japan Bridging Foundation.
Arnold & Porter LLP and LexisNexis China will hold a seminar in Beijing on Nov. 2-3 called “Identifying and Solving Regulatory Problems When Investing in U.S. Companies and Properties.” Mr. McLain will be one of the featured speakers at the conference, along with a group of Arnold & Porter’s lawyers, including Luc Gyselen from Brussels and Chairman Michael Sohn (antitrust); Lawrence Schneider (international trade); Ronald Lee (national security); Matthew Seiden (intellectual property); Eric Rubel (consumer product safety and product liability); Michael Gerrard from New York (environmental); and Patrick Doyle, head of the firm’s financial institutions group.
Arnold & Porter’s Los Angeles office provides experienced counsel in a wide range of specialties and represents a diverse client base. A group of 60 attorneys practice in the areas of litigation, antitrust and trade regulation, intellectual property and technology, employment, partnership disputes, corporate transactions, securities regulation, real estate, federal and state taxation, internal investigations, and white collar defense.
Arnold & Porter LLP, an international law firm of more than 600 attorneys, has offices in Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, London, and Brussels. The firm, founded in 1946, maintains more than 25 practice areas spanning a broad spectrum of the law, with a primary focus on litigation, transactional matters, and regulatory issues.
