Ropes & Gray, Proskauer expand senior secondaries teams

Two of the most active law firms in secondaries have announced a series of hires and promotions.

Ropes & Gray has promoted Boston-based Caitlin Mulligan and John Wang to counsel, among 24 promotions firm-wide, according to a statement.

Mulligan advises asset management clients on structured secondaries transactions and fund restructurings, and represents institutional investors in relation to primary, secondaries and co-investments. She joined the firm as an associate in 2011, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Wang advises US and international institutional investors investing in private funds on a primary, secondary and co-investment basis. He joined the firm as an associate in 2010, his LinkedIn profile notes.

New York-based Lindsey Goldstein, a fund formation lawyer with experience forming secondaries funds, has been made partner, the statement adds.

Proskauer has hired Aranpreet Randhawa as special funds counsel in its London private funds group. She advises fund managers on spin-outs, co-investments, portfolio sales and end-of-life restructurings, among other things, according to a statement. She joins from Linklaters.

According to Secondaries Investor‘s legal tally conducted in April, Ropes & Gray did 145 deals worth a total of $7.2 billion in 2018, split 70/30 between fund stakes and GP-led transactions.

Proskauer advised on $14.2 billion-worth of deals, including six strip sales and four transactions involving preferred equity. The majority of its deals by value – 84 percent – were traditional fund stake transactions.