Goodwin Procter Names Pappas to Chair LA Office

LOS ANGELES, June 25, 2014 — Goodwin Procter, a national Am Law 50 firm, announced today that partner Dean Pappas has been named chair of its Los Angeles office, succeeding founding partner Lewis Feldman.  Pappas will oversee the firm’s operations in its 35-attorney Los Angeles office.  He succeeds Feldman, who joined Goodwin in 2006 to found its Los Angeles office.

“Dean has been a key member of our Los Angeles real estate team and his leadership skills will contribute significantly to the execution of our strategic growth initiative in Southern California,” said Regina M. Pisa, chairman of Goodwin Procter. 

“We are very grateful to Lew for his pioneering leadership.  He was instrumental in establishing and elevating our presence in Los Angeles and throughout the state.  Goodwin’s rapid growth in California is a testament to his vision and leadership.  Today, we have three offices and over 130 lawyers in California.  After serving in firm management roles for 25 years, Lew is looking forward to focusing all of his attention on continuing to lead the Public Finance Practice at the firm and to build out the firm’s Real Estate Capital Markets Practice, including the rapidly developing area of on-line crowd funding for real estate projects.”

Goodwin’s Los Angeles office opened in 2006 and provides both corporate and litigation services.  Its attorneys have particular expertise in real estate, real estate investment management, public finance, private equity, mergers & acquisitions, public equity and debt offerings, complex commercial litigation, securities litigation and white collar defense, IP litigation and the defense of financial institutions in consumer financial services class actions.

About Dean Pappas

Dean Pappas, a partner in Goodwin’s nationally acclaimed Real Estate Capital Markets Group, focuses his practice on structuring, negotiating and closing real estate and corporate transactions, including joint venture formation, merger, acquisition and disposition transactions, construction, mortgage and mezzanine loan transactions, and public contracting, leasing and other various transactions.

Regarded as one of L.A.’s leading real estate transactional lawyers, Pappas was recently included in the Los Angeles Business Journal’s“Who’s Who in L.A. Law: Angelenos to Know in Real Estate Law” (2013) and is listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and U.S. News-Best Lawyers in the specialty of Real Estate Law.  He serves as chair of the Equity Investment Structures Committee of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL).

Pappas has advised on numerous high-profile real estate transactions throughout his career, including co-leading a team of Goodwin attorneys advising client Essex Property Trust in its merger with BRE Properties, creating the nation’s only publicly traded West Coast multifamily REIT and the third-largest multifamily REIT in the country.

Pappas received his J.D. and B.S. from University of Southern California. He can be reached at 213.426.2525 or dpappas@goodwinprocter.com

About Lewis Feldman

Lewis Feldman, a partner in Goodwin Procter's Real Estate Capital Markets Group, heads the firm’s Public Finance Practice and chairs the firm’s Crowdfunding Practice. Feldman has been selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business every yearsince 2000 and is considered to be among the nation's leading attorneys, specializing in large-scale debt and equity raises for government institutions and the private sector.

Feldman is a founding board member and chairman of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate at the Anderson School of Management, the leading research university for graduate real estate studies in the United States. He is also a member of the Milken Institute’s California Center Advisory Council, identifying emerging challenges and opportunities in the world of business law and policy.

Over the past 32 years, Feldman has advised clients on more than $100 billion in debt and equity transactions for market-rate and affordable apartments, master-planned residential communities, industrial and manufacturing facilities, urban entertainment centers, primary, secondary and university educational facilities, retail malls, hospitals, mixed-use projects, destination resorts and hotels, brownfield remediation, green building, mitigation banks, transportation projects and all forms of public infrastructure, such as water, wastewater, and energy facilities.

Feldman received his J.D. from University of California, Davis and B.A. from University of California, Santa Cruz. He can be reached at 213.426.2688 or lfeldman@goodwinprocter.com

About Goodwin Procter

Goodwin Procter LLP is a leading Global 100 law firm, with offices in Boston, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. The firm provides corporate law and litigation services, with a focus on matters involving real estate capital markets; private equity; technology companies; financial institutions; intellectual property; products liability and mass torts; and securities litigation and white collar defense. Information may be found at www.goodwinprocter.com. Follow us on Twitter @goodwinprocter.