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Overview

"Our clients value experience and sound judgment. They know we provide practical, goal-oriented advice that is borne out of an intimate understanding of the investment management industry."

Investment managers seek Brian’s guidance throughout the complicated process of starting private equity, real estate and hedge funds, from legal documentation, including disclosures and partnership agreements, to marketing practices and tax issues. Clients rely on his experience to better understand investor expectations and focus on implementing their investment strategies. An emphasis on each client’s particular fundraising and investment goals allows Brian to provide effective advice on fund structure and a variety of regulatory concerns, including registration under the Investment Advisers Act and exemptions from securities registration requirements under the Securities Act.

Institutional investors, including public pensions, university endowments and foundations, also regularly engage Brian to evaluate and negotiate investments in private equity, private debt, hedge funds, funds-of-funds and other alternative assets. Through long-standing relationships with these clients, he delivers counsel with an emphasis on legal, financial and tax concerns specific to each client and a view toward their respective long-term investment objectives. 

Clients also depend on Brian to protect their interests in secondary transactions, which often entail purchases and sales of large portfolios of private equity and venture capital fund interests. Brian’s transactional experience and knowledge of the private fund industry enables him to minimize client risk and reduce transaction costs. 

Brian also advises clients on real estate joint ventures, subscription credit facilities, co-investments, continuation fund investments and other strategic transactions.

Recognition

Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® for Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Securities/Capital Markets Law, Best Lawyers in America, 2022-2024

Selected for inclusion as a “Rising Star,” Mergers & Acquisitions, Virginia Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2017-2022

Named to “Legal Elite” (Young Lawyer), Virginia Business, 2020

  • Best Law Firms 2022
  • Rising Starts 2021

Experience

Experience

Recent fund formation and other sponsor matters

  • A $200 million real estate fund investing in multifamily properties
  • A $40 million real estate fund investing in multifamily properties
  • A $100 million real estate fund investing in office and hospitality properties
  • A $400 million private equity co-investment fund
  • A $50 million real estate fund investing in retail properties
  • Numerous qualified opportunity zone funds formed to develop multifamily properties in the Southeastern U.S.
  • A fund-of-funds trading public and private assets with a focus on sustainable strategies
  • Negotiation of a $15 million subscription credit facility for a real estate fund sponsor
  • $37 million acquisition of distressed debt fund interests by a fund-of-funds

Recent institutional investor matters

  • $200 million investment in a real estate fund by a public pension
  • $250 million investment in a global buy-out fund by a public pension
  • $100 million investment in a global co-investment fund by a public pension
  • $25 million investment in a private equity fund-of-funds by a private foundation
  • $100 million investment in a U.S. industrial real estate fund by a public pension
  • Two $1 billion separately managed accounts for a public pension
  • $200 million fund-of-one focused on distressed issuers in emerging markets for a public pension
  • $56 million secondary sale of private equity and venture capital fund interests by a university endowment
  • $178 million secondary sale of private equity and venture capital fund interests by a university endowment
  • $550 million secondary sale of private equity fund interests by a public pension
  • $100 million investment in a software, data and tech-enabled solutions-focused private equity fund by a public pension
  • $5 million investment in a global credit-focused fund by a university endowment
  • Restructuring of a university endowment office to streamline the investment process and reduce administrative burdens 

Perspectives

Speaking Engagements

Community

Community

Professional Affiliations

Richmond Bar Association, Business Law Section, Chair

Business and Civic Organizations

Richmond Downtown YMCA, Board of Management

William & Mary Law School, J.D., magna cum laude

  • Staff Member, William & Mary Law Review

The College of New Jersey, B.S., summa cum laude

  • Virginia
  • Pennsylvania (inactive)
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