News

16 Nov 2009

DLA Piper names Mendelsohn Chair of Corporate and Finance practice in Chicago

Press Release

DLA Piper announced today that David E. Mendelsohn has been named chair of the firm’s Corporate and Finance practice for the Chicago office, its largest office in the United States.

In his new role, Mendelsohn will guide the Corporate and Finance practice’s strategic growth and management by focusing on lateral recruitment, strategic development of the practice, and business development efforts in Chicago. Mendelsohn also co-chairs the firm’s Financial Services practice and is chair of the Insurance and Reinsurance Transactions practice.

“The firm’s strong footprint in Chicago continues to evolve, while the changing financial landscape is creating new opportunities for us to deepen the services we offer clients through our global platform,” said Mendelsohn. “I look forward to helping the firm expand our client offerings in Chicago, beginning with our already strong transactional practice.”

“We are working to further develop our corporate and securities practice in Chicago by taking advantage of our existing resources and expanding our capital markets, general public company, securities, private equity and M&A practices,” explained Jay Smith, co-chair of DLA Piper’s Corporate and Finance practice. “As a recognized leader in the Chicago legal community, David will be a great asset in helping maximize the full range of opportunities presented in Chicago, as well as those created by our other offices around the globe.”

Mendelsohn focuses his practice in the area of insurance and reinsurance transactional and regulatory matters. He has experience representing many insurers, reinsurers, brokers, and other clients on a wide variety of transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, complex regulatory, and finite, structured risk and reinsurance matters. Mendelsohn's practice also includes counseling clients on investigations, compliance and information management matters.

Mendelsohn was one of only only 148 attorneys in the US who were named to the 2008 BTI Client Service All-Star Team for Law Firms, which recognizes lawyers who deliver "the best client service to Fortune 1000 clients." Lawyers appear on the list only when they have been named by clients in an unprompted manner through BTI's independent research. He is also only one of a handful of attorneys in the United States named to the BTI Client Service All-Star Team list for three consecutive years.

Mendelsohn received a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology; a Certificate of Completion in Insurance Regulation from the Insurance Institute of America; an Associate degree in Reinsurance Designation from the Insurance Institute of America; and an LL.B with honors from University College of London.