Corporate Lawyer Joins DLA Piper

January 21, 2014 – DLA Piper announced today that Christina Houston has joined the firm’s Corporate and Finance practice as a partner in the Wilmington office.

Houston advises clients on alternative entities such as limited liability companies and partnerships, focusing on organizational, operational and governance issues. In the utilization of alternative entities, she has experience in domestic and cross-border structured finance transactions, securitizations and general commercial transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, investment transactions and public and private offerings, among others. Specific to special committees of alternative entities, Houston advises on conflicts committees of publicly traded master limited partnerships, and in connection with committees’ review and negotiations of transactions where directors may have conflicts of interest. She also drafts and negotiates opinion letters on a wide range of Delaware law matters, including corporate opinions, enforceability and limited liability opinions, cross-border opinions and opinions pursuant to the Uniform Commercial Code.

“Christina’s wealth of knowledge and experience with regard to alternative entities and their governing statutes will be a tremendous asset to our growing presence in Delaware, which remains one of the preeminent centers for business enterprise formation in the country,” said Jay Smith, chair of DLA Piper’s US Corporate and Finance practice.

Houston joins DLA Piper from K&L Gates. She is active on several committees of the American Bar Association (ABA) Business Law Section, including serving as chair of the LLCs, Partnerships and Unincorporated Entities (LPUE) Committee’s Legal Opinions Subcommittee; co-chair of the LPUE Committee’s Membership and Diversity Subcommittee and liaison to Business Law Section’s Membership Committee; and vice-chair of the LPUE Committee’s Model Single Member Limited Liability Company Operating Agreement Subcommittee. She also serves as chair of the Website Subcommittee of the ABA Business Law Section’s Committee on Legal Opinions.

“The addition of Christina strengthens the firm’s ability to handle complex alternative entity transactions,” said Stuart Brown, managing partner of DLA Piper’s Wilmington office. “She is a talented lawyer who will deepen our bench strength and expand the scope of services we provide to our clients.”

Houston earned a J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law and a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross.

About DLA Piper

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