NEW YORK – Barnes & Thornburg announced today that Jahan Sharifi, a partner at the firm and veteran investment funds and transaction attorney, has been named chair of the firm’s Corporate Department. Sharifi, who joined the firm in 2020 as the firm expanded into New York, succeeds David Gotlieb, who will be stepping down to focus on his corporate practice.
Sharifi will remain co-chair of the firm’s Private Funds and Asset Management Practice Group and Fintech Practice Group.
Sharifi has nearly three decades of experience representing private funds and other investors in structuring investments and completing acquisitions across a wide range of industries in the U.S. and globally. He has executed transactions in sectors including healthcare, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, software and technology, media and internet, real estate development, financial services, consumer retail and franchised businesses.
“Our Corporate Department has seen tremendous growth in size, reach and capabilities over the past few years, and Jahan’s strategic and operational talents will make him an excellent chair,” said Andrew J. Detherage, firm managing partner.
Providing counsel on investment and financing transactions of virtually all kinds, Sharifi’s experience includes private equity transactions, venture capital and growth equity investments, mezzanine capital, mergers and acquisitions, direct lending transactions, convertible instruments, recapitalizations and restructurings, joint ventures and other specialized investment structures.
“I’m honored to be named chair and to build on David’s sustained success, which advanced the capabilities of the firm substantially,” said Sharifi. “It’s a testament to the strength of the department and the firm that we’ve had such tremendous success and continued expansion despite a global pandemic and the biggest downturn in transactional volume since 2008. I look forward to extending the growth of our already robust offerings, particularly in the capital markets, private funds and emerging companies spaces, in the years to come.”
Sharifi’s elevation to chair caps not only a successful year, but also a long period of strategic growth for Barnes & Thornburg’s Corporate Department, which has expanded its roster of attorneys through continued lateral additions nationally and in key markets like New York, along with the opening of the firm’s Nashville office earlier this year. Dedicated to providing innovative and best-in-class legal services to clients, the Corporate Department continues to invest in developing a premier national practice – with a particular emphasis on M&A and private equity, private funds and asset management, securities and capital markets, debt finance, international trade, and private client services, among others – while also deepening the firm’s transactional work in entertainment, emerging companies, fintech and financial services.
Barnes & Thornburg’s Corporate Department is comprised of more than 165 attorneys.
With more than 800 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from offices in Atlanta, Boston, California, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, South Florida, Texas, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com or on Twitter @BTLawNews.
