Boston, MA. Nixon Peabody LLP is proud to announce the law firm’s 2024 counsel class, promoting 12 attorneys from a wide variety of practice areas and representing each of the firm’s three legal departments. The counsel promotions are effective as of February 1, 2024.
“Our new counsel class includes a broad range of backgrounds and perspectives, and the attorneys in this group have blazed their own trails within the firm,” said Stacie B. Collier, Nixon Peabody Chief Talent Officer. “This group of attorneys illustrates that we have a deep pipeline of talent at Nixon Peabody, and our firm’s counsel program continues to provide a solid steppingstone to the partnership ranks.”
Illustrative of how integral the firm’s counsel program has become to attorney development, 12 of the 14 attorneys in Nixon Peabody’s 2024 partner class are being elevated from counsel.
Nixon Peabody’s 2024 Counsel Class
Business and Finance Department
Matthew Bobrow, Corporate, New York City
Matt advises private investment funds, public pension funds, and institutional investors on private equity investments and fund structuring. As part of the Private Equity & Investment Funds team, Matt represents investors and sponsors throughout all stages of a fundraise including fund formation, the offering process, side letter negotiations, placement arrangements, secondary transactions, and regulatory and governance matters. He has a niche background in secondary transactions and has counseled emerging growth companies and startups on how to raise private capital and complete corporate transactions. Among his pro bono work, Matt represents Living Redemption, focused on reducing recidivism in Harlem.
Shaziah Singh, Corporate, New York City
Shaziah represents private equity firms and their portfolio companies, family offices, established public companies, and other businesses in US and cross-border transactions. Her experience emphasizes mergers and acquisitions, debt transactions, managing corporate matters, and exit and investment transactions across a wide range of industries. Shaziah also has experience in equity financings, securities compliance, and other strategic transactions in a variety of industries including food and beverage, behavioral health, manufacturing, medical device, and security services verticals. In addition, she advises clients on general corporate matters, commercial agreements, entity formation, and corporate governance matters.
Litigation Department
David Pattee, Complex Disputes, Chicago
David is a commercial litigator who focuses on product liability, trade secret litigation, and other complex commercial disputes, with a particular emphasis on the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. David’s breadth of experience across a diverse range of matters, and his deep industry knowledge and business-first focus serve as valuable assets when crafting defense strategies for clients across the country. He represents clients in a variety of additional commercial litigation matters—from False Claims Act and tax-related actions brought by the United States to professional liability claims and intellectual property litigation.
Angelo Christopher, Intellectual Property, Chicago
Angelo, who co-leads the firm’s Post-Grant Proceedings team, focuses his practice on patent litigation, patent prosecution, and general intellectual property counseling. Using his mechanical engineering background, he advises clients across various technologies, including printed circuits, enterprise software, light-emitting diodes, graphical user interfaces, lithium-ion batteries, and consumer goods. Angelo has experience in all phases of patent litigation before federal district courts and the International Trade Commission, including pre-suit diligence, claim construction, expert reports, trial, and appeals. He also has extensive experience in all aspects of inter partes and post grant review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Hillary Baca, Labor & Employment, San Francisco
Hillary focuses her practice on defending clients in employment litigation and providing advice and counseling to clients with both union-represented and non-union employees on how to navigate complex labor and employment matters. Working with clients across a broad range of industries, Hillary has represented employers in both federal and state court and before administrative agencies. She has also represented employers in collective bargaining agreement negotiations and proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Public Employment Relations Board (PERB).
Leslie Hartford, Privacy & Technology, Boston
Leslie is a skillful litigator and Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) who assists clients in trademark and copyright enforcement and litigation, trade secret litigation, and cybersecurity response and litigation. She handles all stages of trademark and copyright enforcement and defense, working to ensure clients’ marks are protected and also to defend clients when their own intellectual property use is challenged. As a CIPP/US-certified attorney, Leslie is well-qualified to assist clients in responding to cyber incidents and to represent clients in related litigation. She closely follows consumer data breach litigation across the United States, which informs her guidance in helping clients avoid similar costly, class-based claims.
Project Finance, Infrastructure & Real Estate Department
Kelly Behr, Affordable Housing & Real Estate, Washington, DC
Kelly works with clients across the country on all aspects of affordable housing transactions with a particular focus on obtaining regulatory approvals from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and other federal, state, and local agencies. She counsels clients on multifamily affordable housing acquisition, construction, ownership, development, financing, rehabilitation, and preservation. Her skills and versatility are essential to clients working to alleviate the nationwide housing shortage. In addition to her affordable housing practice, Kelly regularly provides pro bono representation to unaccompanied immigrant minors seeking legal status.
Nicole Hixon, Community Development Finance, Boston
Nicole helps equity investors, syndicators, and lenders leverage tax credits—including low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs)—to finance housing and community development projects throughout the United States. She works with clients to structure transactions that qualify for federal LIHTCs and other tax credits and benefits. These transactions typically involve multiple layers of public and private financing, including tax-exempt bonds. Nicole is adept at helping clients resolve issues that may arise during the tax credit compliance period. She conducts necessary due diligence and identifies key issues in the early stages of the deal structuring process and finds cost-effective solutions for clients.
Ninteretse Jean Pierre, Affordable Housing & Real Estate, Rochester
Ninteretse (JP) focuses his practice on all aspects of commercial real estate transactions, representing borrowers and lenders, real estate developers and companies, and property owners. He assists clients in structuring and negotiating a variety of commercial real estate transactions, which can include acquisitions and dispositions, leasing, title and survey review, and negotiation of other real estate instruments. JP has continued to expand his experience in complex real estate and construction and design transactions. Recently, he has negotiated and drafted design and construction agreements for multi-use buildings, hospitals, restaurants, and office buildings.
Emily Schwebke, Affordable Housing & Real Estate, Chicago
Emily’s practice focuses on counseling and representing clients across a wide spectrum of commercial real estate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, and leasing, as well as developing, managing, and financing commercial real estate assets across the country. These transactions involve a broad range of industries including seniors and multifamily housing, urban retail and restaurant spaces, power centers, office buildings, warehouse and industrial properties, and mixed-use properties. Emily also has significant experience in advising tax equity investors in solar leasing and renewable energy transactions as well as experience in assisting with the representation of institutional tax equity investors in affordable housing transactions. She is active in pro bono work, providing legal services to Chicago Youth Centers.
Sebastian Torres, Project Finance & Public Finance, New York City
Sebastian represents issuers, underwriters, and borrowers nationwide on a variety of public and project finance transactions, including complex financings and restructurings for large municipal agencies. He provides legal advice to state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, investment banks, and financial institutions in connection with the financing of infrastructure projects that have a positive impact. Sebastian was a member of the Nixon Peabody team that advised the Government of Puerto Rico in connection with the largest municipal restructuring in US history. He is a member of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and a board member of Young Professionals in Infrastructure.
Dia Walrath, Project Finance & Public Finance, San Francisco
Dia serves as bond, disclosure, and underwriter’s counsel on matters related to the issuance of tax-exempt and taxable municipal securities. Her practice primarily involves assisting states, cities, counties, school districts, airport authorities, transportation authorities, and 501(c)(3) nonprofits to achieve their refunding and capital improvement financing needs. Dia drafts legal documents for general obligation bonds, certificates of participation, commercial paper, Mello-Roos financings, lease revenue bonds, and other various types of debt financing. Dia serves as one of the chairs of the firm’s Black Resource Group and is a member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee. She also serves as a board member for the AIDS Legal Referral Panel.
