DLA Piper raids Thelen Reid for eight-partner team

DLA Piper has launched an eight-partner raid on US firm Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner in a bid to bolster its real estate and structured finance practice.

Six of the group - led by former Thelen real estate chairman Jeffrey Steiner - will be based in New York, while two partners, Marc Friedman and Robert Mower, will move to London.

The team specialises in restructuring loan portfolios as well as deal financing and capital markets.

DLA Piper joint-CEO Nigel Knowles said: "Jeff is an innovative leader who recognised the need for a global platform that supports sophisticated cross-border work.

"DLA Piper is a great strategic fit because we have the right mix of capabilities and global reach to support the practice that Jeff and his partners have built."

In London, Friedman is a real estate finance specialist, while Mower is a corporate partner with an emphasis on structured finance, securities law and M&A financing.

The other partners to join in the US are Scott Weinberg, Rand Peppas and Jason Goldstein in real estate and finance, and Robert Unger and Kenneth MacCallum in corporate.

The group is expected to work closely with DLA's teams in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

The move comes just a month after the firm made five lawyers redundant in the London technology, media & communications group amid a firmwide review of staff levels in all its practice groups.