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150 MoFo Attorneys Named in Best Lawyers in America 2025

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Morrison Foerster achieved significant recognition in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers in America, with 150 attorneys receiving 224 individual accolades across practices and offices in the United States.

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Morrison Foerster achieved significant recognition in the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers in America, with 150 attorneys receiving 224 individual accolades across practices and offices in the United States.Three MoFo attorneys received Lawyer of the Year designations, including:<ul><li>Guy W. McPherson – Real Estate Law</li><li>Ragesh K. Tangri – Bet-the-Company Litigation</li><li>Ragesh K. Tangri – Litigation – Patent</li></ul>Five MoFo attorneys were recognized for the first time in the new edition of Best Lawyers in America, including:<ul><li>Tyler J. Sewell – Corporate Law</li><li>Theresa A. Foudy – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law</li><li>William F. Tarantino – Natural Resources Law</li><li>John E. Smith – International Trade and Finance Law</li><li>James A. Newton – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law</li></ul>Established in 1983, Best Lawyers is one of the oldest and most respected peer‑review publications in the legal profession. Lawyers are selected based on receiving the highest overall peer feedback. Only one lawyer for each specialty and location is designated as a Lawyer of the Year.View the <a href="https://www.bestlawyers.com/" target="_blank">complete list of this year’s rankings</a>.

150 MoFo Attorneys Named in Best Lawyers in America 2025

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Guy McPherson’s practice focuses on real estate finance transactions, including representation of both borrowers and lenders in some of their largest and most complex matters.Guy has extensive experience with financing transactions of all types, including syndicated construction financing, acquisition financing, senior and subordinate debt arrangements, and revolving credit facilities. He also represents clients in the disposition and acquisition of real estate assets and in real estate joint ventures. Guy’s practice also involves representing funds and lenders in connection with subscription line credit facilities. His experience extends to a variety of real estate asset types, including office, commercial, retail, industrial, multi-family, and hospitality.Guy is a member of the Distressed Real Estate Group and represents clients in workouts and restructurings. Guy is recommended by Best Lawyers in America 2026.Guy received his J.D. magna cum laude from Fordham University School of Law, where he served as an associate editor of the Fordham Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. While at Fordham, Guy published a student note in the Fordham Law Review on the subject of rent regulations in New York City.

Guy McPherson

Of Counsel

Ragesh Tangri brings diverse experience representing clients ranging from individuals to Fortune 100 companies in high-stakes intellectual property and trade secret disputes, in addition to commercial litigation and legal malpractice, in jurisdictions across the country. Ragesh regularly represents major technology companies, law firms, and individuals in their most significant disputes.Ragesh has litigated matters involving high-stakes breach of contract and tort claims, as well as legal malpractice and professional negligence claims arising from work done in a variety of underlying areas, including intellectual property litigation, patent prosecution, general corporate matters, and tax. He has, during several pleadings motions, obtained complete dismissal of all claims asserted against law firm clients.Ragesh also has substantial experience with intellectual property litigation, including representing Palo Alto Networks in trade secret and patent litigation, Uber in trade secret litigation, Intel in inventorship litigation, Google in a hotly contested trade secret action brought by Microsoft, and helping secure a $180M award for Cadence Design Systems in its long-running dispute with Avant! Corporation.Ragesh has earned consistent recognition as a top practitioner in California and across the United States. Among his numerous awards, Chambers recently highlighted his “excellent” skill “in handling a range of contentious IP proceedings” in its guide for trademark, copyright, and trade secret litigation, and clients have called him “incredibly diligent and smart.” Ragesh has also been repeatedly ranked by publications including Best Lawyers and IAM Patent 1000.Ragesh serves on the Boards of the Northern District Historical Society (president), the California Law Review, and the Shotgun Players. He is a past president of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers and the Edward J. McFetridge Inn of Court, a former member of the Board of Governors of the Bar Association of San Francisco, a former member of the Board of Governors of the Justice and Diversity Center, a former member and co‑chair of the Lawyer Representatives of the Northern District of California to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, a former member and chair of BASF’s Judiciary Committee, and a former member of the Board of Directors of Slow Food Nation. He has taught the Introduction to Civil Procedure and Law on Lawyering courses at Berkeley Law School and spoken frequently on issues, including trade secret law, professional negligence, ethics, claim construction, and the differences between the U.S. and Canadian legal systems.Ragesh earned his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. He clerked for the Hon. A. Raymond Randolph on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In 2009, Ragesh co‑founded Durie Tangri, a premier litigation boutique firm acquired by Morrison Foerster in 2022.

Ragesh Tangri

Partner

Tyler Sewell is a corporate partner in the firm’s Denver and Washington, D.C. offices and serves as Lead of the M&A Practice Group. He focuses his practice on advising clients on a broad range of corporate matters, with an emphasis on M&A and private equity transactions.Tyler has significant experience representing businesses and private equity funds (and their portfolio companies) in a broad range of corporate matters, including acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, joint ventures, growth equity investments, and divestitures. Clients rely on him for both his sophisticated legal counseling as well as his sharp business acumen.Tyler advises clients in all aspects of their investment activity across a wide variety of industry sectors, including aerospace, defense and government contracting; business services; technology (semiconductors, software, and Internet); consumer products; e-commerce; healthcare; industrials; and transportation.Prior to attending law school, he served as a surface warfare officer on the USS Russell and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><ul><li>Alpha Omega Integration, which specializes in digital modernization, AI, and cybersecurity,</li><ul><li>in its acquisition of SeKON Enterprise, which provides Federal health IT systems professional services advisory</li><li>in its acquisition of Macro Solutions, an IT and management consulting firm</li></ul><li>Astroscale U.S. in its acquisition of assets of Effective Space Solutions R&D</li><li>Aurotech in its partnership with OpenGate Capital</li><li>B&A, a leading information technology systems integrator, in its investment from DFW Capital Partners.</li><li>Babel Street in its acquisition of certain assets of Dunami</li><li>Betterer Foods in its sale of RightRice to The Planting Hope Company</li><li>The Building People in its acquisition of InfoNarus</li><li>California Cryobank in its acquisition of Donor Egg Bank</li><li>CBRE Group in its acquisition of Tax Credit Group</li><li>Continental Mapping Consultants in its acquisition by Bluestone Investment Partners</li><li>Cydecor, Inc., which delivers mission-enabling technology solutions to national security and defense agencies, in its acquisition of Artel, provider of network solutions to the U.S. Government</li><li>Definitive Logic in its acquisition of Digital Mobilizations</li><li>Dynamo Technologies in its acquisition of Victory Solutions</li><li>Envision Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: EVHC), its operating subsidiaries and affiliates in multiple transactions, including the acquisitions of Guardian Healthcare Group; Life Line Ambulance Service; Phoenix Physicians; Emergency Medical Associates of New Jersey; Scottsdale Emergency Associates; Questcare Medical Services; and Emergency Physicians Medical Group</li><li>eTelligent Group in strategic investment from IMB Partners</li><li>Excellere Partners in its investment in Concord Technologies</li><li>Grant Thornton in the sale of its Public Sector Advisory practice to Guidehouse, a portfolio company of Veritas Capital</li><li>Intelligent Software Solutions in acquisition of Xpect Software</li><li>iovation in its acquisition by TransUnion</li><li>iPharma in its acquisition by Kindeva</li><li>KRG Capital Partners in multiple transactions, including, its acquisition of F.A. Richard & Co.; its sale of Avizent to Abry; and its sale of Tronair to Levine Leichtman</li><li>LinQuest, a portfolio company of Madison Dearborn, in its acquisitions of Capability Analysis & Measurement Organization, LLC (CAMO) and Hellebore Consulting Group</li><li>Markon Solutions, a government consulting firm backed by Sterling Investment Partners,</li><ul><li>in its acquisition of Advanced Systems Engineering Corp., a small business that provides services in management, systems engineering, finance, cybersecurity and software development</li><li>in its acquisition of JY Systems, which provides engineering and integration service for DoD</li><li>in its acquisition of Leverage Information Technologies LLC (LIT), a software engineering and data science consultancy</li><li>in its acquisition of PLEX Solutions and PLEX Cyber</li><li>in its acquisition of Millenium Corporation</li></ul><li>McKesson Corporation in its acquisitions of Vantage Oncology LLC and Biologics, Inc.</li><li>Minerva Engineering in its acquisition by ManTech International</li><li>Mountaingate Capital in multiple transactions, including its investments in platform companies Rep Data and Ignite Visibility, as well as Ignite Visibility's acquisitions of EverConnect, Outliant, and Rallio.</li><li>Novaria Group in its acquisition of Fitz Manufacturing Industries</li><li>onsemi in its acquisition of GT Advanced Technologies</li><li>REPKON USA Holdings Inc., a technology leader in the aerospace and defense market, in its definitive agreement for the acquisition of McCormick Stevenson Corporation.</li><li>RH in its acquisition of Waterworks</li><li>Sedgwick Claim Services, a portfolio company of Carlyle, in its acquisition of Managed Care Advisors</li><li>ShowingTime in its sale to Zillow Group</li><li>Sigma Defense Systems, a portfolio company of Sagewind Capital and a leading provider to DoD,</li><ul><li>in its acquisition of Juno Technologies, which specializes in delivering IT engineering, systems integration, software development, and technical support to the DoD</li><li>in its acquisition of the business of Sub U Systems</li></ul><li>SoftBank Corporation in multiple transactions, including its acquisition of a controlling interest in Brightstar Corp. and its sale of its controlling stake in Finnish gaming company Supercell Oy to Tencent Holdings</li><li>Splunk, Inc. in its acquisition of Caspida, Inc.</li><li>Sweetwood Smoke & Co., maker of FATTY Smoked Meat Sticks, in its sale to Conagra Brands (NYSE: CAG), one of North America's leading branded food companies.</li><li>Telesis in its partnership with Belcan</li><li>Tomkins Ltd. in multiple transactions, including its acquisition of Du-Tex; its divestiture of Dexter Axle to Sterling Partners; and its sale of Aquatic US Holdings to Sterling Partners</li><li>Unilever in its acquisition of Dollar Shave Club</li><li>VariQ in its sale to Capgemi</li><li>Washington Harbour Partners</li><ul><li>in its over $60 million strategic growth investment in Raft LLC</li><li>in its strategic growth investments in Trusted Space, LLC</li><li>in its acquisition of Outpost Mission Services (formerly known as Radome Services)</li><li>in acquisitions by its portfolio company SIXGEN, a full-spectrum provider of cyber products, operations, and solutions, of Secure Enterprise Engineering, Inc. and Boldend.</li></ul><li>Westfire, Inc. in its sale to Tyco SimplexGrinnell</li><li>Yahoo! in multiple transactions, including its acquisition of Brightroll</li><li>zipLogix in its acquisition by Lone Wolf Real Estate Technologies</li></ul>

Tyler Sewell

Theresa Foudy is a partner in the New York office and leads the firm’s Bankruptcy Litigation practice group. With more than 25 years of experience in bankruptcy litigation, she has advised Chapter 11 debtors, creditors’ committees, indenture trustees, secured and unsecured creditors, private equity sponsors, independent directors, and distressed investors through all stages of the restructuring process. Theresa also represents clients in a wide range of complex commercial litigation matters, including class‑action securities and accounting fraud, white‑collar criminal matters, and general commercial disputes.Throughout her career, Theresa has worked on many of the United States’ largest and most complex bankruptcy cases, including serving as lead trial counsel in several of the most prominent bankruptcy matters of the last decade. She has advised clients on all types of bankruptcy-related disputes, including suits by or against bankrupt companies, investigations into what led to bankruptcy filings, avoidance actions, and litigation of reorganization plans.Theresa’s representative high-profile matters include: serving as lead trial counsel for wholly owned subsidiaries of a multinational commodity trading and mining company as defendants in a four-day bench trial concerning the rejection of a lease to a power plant in an adversary proceeding before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas; serving as lead trial counsel for defendant directors in a 15-day bench trial on a creditors’ committee’s motion for standing to assert claims for breach of fiduciary duty and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the directors’ approval of a merger transaction and, after prevailing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, handling the successful defense of subsequent appeals by the creditors’ committee to the District Court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and defending a private equity sponsor against clawback claims seeking over $350 million in dividends and management fees.Theresa also has extensive experience in general commercial, appellate, and criminal litigation. She has represented clients in connection with contract disputes, commercial torts, and accounting fraud and malpractice suits in state and federal courts, as well as in arbitration. In addition, prior to entering private practice, she argued over 100 appeals to New York Appellate Division First Department, New York Court of Appeals, and Second Circuit Court of Appeals as a member of the Appeals Bureau for the New York County District Attorney’s Office and the Office’s Civil Litigation Coordinator.Theresa’s exceptional litigation skills, widely recognized by The Legal 500, Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers, are complemented by her role on the Thomson Reuters Practical Law Bankruptcy Advisory Board.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><h5>Bankruptcy Litigation</h5><ul><li>In re Saks Global Enterprises LLC, et al. (Bankr. S.D. Tex) Counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors of Saks Global Enterprises LLC and its affiliated debtors in their chapter 11 cases. Saks Global Enterprises, a division of Hudson's Bay Company, is a luxury retail conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It includes prestigious department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Off 5th.</li><li>In re Thrasio Holdings, Inc., et al. (Bankr. D.N.J.) Counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors of Thrasio Holdings, Inc. and its affiliated debtors in their chapter 11 cases. Thrasio is an acquisition entrepreneurship company that focuses on acquiring and scaling businesses within the Amazon third-party seller ecosystem.</li><li>Toys “R” Us Litigation Trust v. UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. (Bankr. E.D. Virginia). Successfully obtained summary judgment for the defendant dismissing a $12 million, plus interest, preference claim brought by plaintiff litigation trustee.</li><li>In re Clovis Oncology, Inc., et al. (Bankr. Del.) Counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors of Clovis Oncology, Inc., and its affiliated debtors in their chapter 11 cases. Clovis is a biopharmaceutical company focused on acquiring, developing, and commercializing cancer treatments in the United States and abroad. Clovis filed for chapter 11 to implement a sale of their assets pursuant to section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code.</li><li>In re GVS Portfolio I B, LLC (Bankr. D. Del.). As counsel to a secured junior mezzanine lender, obtained dismissal of a Chapter 11 case filed by a mezzanine borrower as a bad faith filing following an evidentiary hearing.</li><li>In re Great Value Storage, et al. (Bankr. N.D. Tex.). As counsel to secured creditors holding over $300 million in debt in the Chapter 11 cases of a company with a portfolio of 64 self-storage facilities, prosecuted a numerous contested matters, including a motion to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee.</li><li>In re Valaris plc, et al. (Bankr. S.D. Tex.). Counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors of Valaris plc and its affiliated debtors in their Chapter 11 cases. Valaris is a leading provider of offshore drilling services to the international oil and gas industry. It currently operates the industry’s largest modern offshore drilling fleet of 67 rigs, and maintains drilling operations in nearly every major offshore market spanning 24 countries. Valaris’s customers include many of the leading national and international oil companies, in addition to numerous local and independent offshore exploration and production companies. The company listed total assets of approximately $13 billion and total debts of approximately $7.85 billion in its first day filings.</li><li>Counsel to an ad hoc group of holders of bonds issued and/or guaranteed by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (“constitutional debt”) in connection with the first restructuring proceeding under the newly enacted Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act. Working in coordination with other holders of constitutional debt, the ad hoc group has engaged in targeted litigation and efforts to negotiate a plan for the Commonwealth’s restructuring, while simultaneously defending attempts to invalidate more than $6 billion of the Commonwealth’s $18 billion of outstanding constitutional debt.</li><li>Lead trial counsel for defendant directors in 15-day bench trial on motion of the official committee of unsecured creditors for standing to assert claims against directors for breach of fiduciary duty and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty in connection with their approval of a merger transaction. After prevailing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, also handled successful defense of subsequent appeals by the creditors' committee to the District Court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.</li><li>Conflicts counsel for plaintiff Chapter 11 debtor, a leading provider of residential mortgages. Participated in all aspects of litigation and trial of adversary proceeding against junior secured noteholders.</li><li>Lead trial counsel for a creditor, a state-owned oil and natural gas company, in an evidentiary hearing in connection with a motion to dismiss bankruptcy case pending in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.</li><li>Lead trial counsel for defendant, an alternative investment manager, in a 16-day bench trial of creditors' committee complaint seeking equitable subordination, re-characterization, and disallowance of transferee noteholders' claims in adversary proceeding pending in Chapter 11 case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.</li><li>Conflicts counsel for an official committee of unsecured creditors in contested evidentiary hearing on debtors' motion to extend exclusivity in Chapter 11 cases pending in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.</li><li>Represented co-chair of an official committee of unsecured creditors for a global paper and packaging company during a contested confirmation hearing, in which equity holders challenged the valuation of a bankruptcy estate in cases pending in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.</li><li>Argued before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of plaintiff, a global financial services firm, in defense of summary judgment motion brought by defendant, a financial services multinational, seeking dismissal of claims for actual fraudulent conveyance arising from the client issuing a guarantee to defendant of billions of dollars of intraday exposure days before filing for bankruptcy.</li><li>Briefed and argued, on behalf of plaintiff, an institutional lender, as a trustee for the holders of $250 million in senior secured notes, oppositions to motion to dismiss complaint and amended complaint alleging breach of contract claims against junior noteholders for violations of an intercreditor agreement in Chapter 11 cases pending in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.</li><li>Briefed and argued a successful motion to dismiss, on behalf of a global supplier of automotive seating systems, a $264 million patent infringement claim brought in Chapter 11 cases pending in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.</li><li>Briefed and argued a successful motion to dismiss, on behalf of provider of liquidation services, claims for equitable subordination or re-characterization of debt brought by an official committee of unsecured creditors in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.</li><li>Obtained dismissal, on behalf of an accounting firm, of a third-party complaint brought by an investment bank seeking a contribution and indemnification from a client in connection with claims for fraud brought by a bankruptcy estate in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.</li></ul><h5>Commercial Litigation</h5><ul><li>Lead trial counsel for defendants, wholly owned subsidiaries of a multinational commodity trading and mining company, in a four-day bench trial seeking declaratory judgments as to numerous property rights and contractual damages associated with the rejection of a lease to a power plant in an adversary proceeding before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.</li><li>Lead trial counsel for plaintiff in an ICC international arbitration against a global energy company that provides equipment, services, and technology in a dispute over breach of equipment supply and construction contract.</li><li>Won a jury verdict for plaintiff, the exclusive distributor of brand-name clothing products in Latin America, suing for breach of contract for premature termination of a license agreement.</li><li>Brought successful motion to dismiss in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, on behalf of a Panamanian financial institution, of claims alleging breach of fiduciary duty and conspiracy arising from sale of an investment company.</li><li>Prevailed in motions for summary judgment and sanctions in defense of $60 million claim for fraudulent inducement and breach of contract against provider of liquidation services in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and successfully defeated appeals from same provider before the First Circuit Court of Appeals.</li><li>Represented an accounting manager at a “Big 4” accounting firm in connection with allegations relating to the preservation of work papers in a proceeding brought by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).</li><li>Prevailed in a motion for summary judgment defeating an accounting malpractice claim brought against a “Big 4” accounting firm.</li><li>Won motion to dismiss a state court claim while representing a “Big 4” accounting firm against allegations of malpractice in providing tax advice.</li></ul>

Theresa Foudy

Drawing on his considerable experience in environmental health, William (Bill) focuses his practice on environmental and consumer protection law, with an emphasis on climate-related goals and claims, hazardous substances, mass torts, and consumer product safety. Bill started his career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Regional Counsel in San Francisco, and he currently leads the firm’s environmental practice.Bill routinely advises clients in connection with their carbon reduction and climate-related goals and claims (including carbon neutral and net zero carbon commitments) and helps clients substantiate their claims and avoid greenwashing claims. He frequently advises clients in connection with the Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides, state consumer protection statutes, and a broad range of sustainability and chemical disclosure laws. He defends clients in environmental and consumer class action litigation in courts throughout the country and is highly regarded for his ability to coordinate technical, legal, and communications teams to counsel clients through crises. He has tried cases in state and federal courts for a variety of complex and multidistrict litigation matters, including product liability claims and environmental and land use disputes.Bill represents the firm’s clients in nearly every aspect of environmental regulation and supports the firm’s global transactional practices in all areas of U.S. environmental law. He is also a member of the firm’s Sustainability + Corporate Responsibility Steering Committee.<h5>Environmental Litigation and Regulatory</h5>Bill has represented the firm’s clients before a broad range of environmental regulatory agencies in rulemaking proceedings, permit applications, and appeals and enforcement actions. Bill heads MoFo’s environmental due diligence teams and serves as the lead on transactional negotiations involving environmental liability risks, including significant experience in cross-border transactions.<h5>Consumer Class Action, False Advertising, and Product Liability</h5>Bill has broad experience in consumer class action and false advertising litigation, especially concerning claims of health or environmental benefits. He has also advised numerous well known life sciences, technology, and consumer product companies on consumer disclosures and warnings, including compliance with U.S. and European requirements governing product safety.<h5>More About Bill</h5>Before entering private practice, Bill clerked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX Office of Regional Counsel, where he assisted in the prosecution and resolution of cases brought by the U.S. Department of Justice for violation of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.Bill received his J.D. with honors from the Georgetown University Law Center and completed the Law and Public Health program sponsored by Georgetown University and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Through this program, he earned a master’s in public health, as well as specialty certification in environmental health risk assessment from the Johns Hopkins Risk Sciences and Public Policy Institute. At Georgetown, he was an executive editor of the Georgetown International Environmental Law Journal and received the CALI Award for Excellence in International Environmental Law. In 2000, he studied law at the Universidad de Mendoza, in Mendoza, Argentina, as an international law fellow. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

William Tarantino

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe class="sticky-video" allowfullscreen="1" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" frameborder="0" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/JqKSMBInKJ0?rel=0" title="Meet John Smith" title="iframe"></iframe></div>John E. Smith, former Director of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), is head of Morrison Foerster’s Economic Sanctions practice, former co-chair of its National Security practice, and a member of the Crisis Management group and Investigations + White Collar group. After serving 11 years as a top official at OFAC and three years as its Director, Mr. Smith brings to the firm unmatched experience in <a href="/capabilities/national-security.html#SanctionsEmbargoes">economic sanctions</a>, enforcement, and national security.Both in the United States and globally, clients turn to Mr. Smith for his deep experience and unique perspective on the complexities and escalating risk of U.S. and multilateral sanctions. He is a trusted advisor for clients navigating significant civil and criminal enforcement actions by U.S. and other government prosecutors and regulators.While serving as a top official at OFAC, Mr. Smith was centrally involved in all aspects of developing, implementing, and enforcing U.S. government sanctions requirements. As OFAC Director, he oversaw every OFAC enforcement case against financial institutions and global operating companies.  Mr. Smith played a pivotal role as OFAC moved to the center of our nation’s response to the world’s most complex and challenging national security and foreign policy crises, working closely with other governments and multilateral agencies and the private sector.Mr. Smith has leading expertise on U.S. sanctions, anti-money laundering (AML), and export controls cases and policies. While serving at OFAC, he worked closely with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to pursue major sanctions and export controls enforcement matters, including significant civil and criminal penalties against major global actors and noteworthy cases against malicious cyber actors. He has overseen the U.S. government’s economic sanctions efforts, imposing sanctions on heads of state, countries, and illicit actors, conducting enforcement actions against dozens of major financial institutions and companies around the world, and developing innovative sanctions enforcement policies to address evolving U.S. national security priorities.Under his leadership as a top official at OFAC, Mr Smith:<ul><li>Supervised the investigation, preparation, strategy, and settlement of dozens of major enforcement cases for hundreds of millions of dollars involving apparent sanctions and export control violations by global financial institutions and corporations; </li><li>Led the development and imposition of some of the most significant sanctions ever involving Iran, Russia, North Korea, Syria, supporters of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction proliferators, malicious cyber actors, transnational criminal organizations, and narcotics traffickers; and</li><li>Acted for a period as the Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI), overseeing economic sanctions, illicit finance, and AML efforts by OFAC and other TFI components, including the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). </li></ul>Prior to Mr. Smith’s 11-year tenure at OFAC, he served as the only American on a Security Council panel of experts charged with monitoring the implementation of UN-mandated sanctions on Al-Qaida and the Taliban. In this role, he led assessment visits to more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Gulf, meeting with top-ranking government officials, central banks, customs and export control offices, and intelligence agencies, as well as many of their financial institutions.Mr. Smith also served as a trial attorney in the Civil Division of the DOJ for five years. During his tenure, he defended U.S. agencies including OFAC in challenges to significant government programs and statutes, including the USA PATRIOT Act, the 2000 Census, and other matters involving highly sensitive and classified information. Mr. Smith acted as the lead trial counsel in defending the first legal challenges to the terrorist asset freezing program implemented by OFAC following September 11, 2001.Mr. Smith has received numerous noteworthy accolades throughout his career, including the Alexander Hamilton Award, the top award given by the U.S. Department of the Treasury (2018); and the Special Commendation for Outstanding Service (Anti-Terrorism), awarded by the DOJ (2002).Before joining the DOJ, Mr. Smith was a litigation attorney at a major international law firm. He also served as a law clerk for The Honorable Anthony J. Scirica on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.Mr. Smith received his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law as a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems. He graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-Columbia, with dual degrees of a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a Bachelor of Journalism.

John Smith

James Newton is a partner in Morrison & Foerster's Business Restructuring + Insolvency Group. James advises companies, boards of directors, investors, lenders, and other stakeholders across the full range of restructuring, special situations, and distressed financing matters—both in and out of court, and in the corporate and municipal contexts.James works on financial distress from every vantage point. He counsels companies and their directors on restructuring alternatives, liability management, balance-sheet recapitalizations, and the fiduciary and governance questions that arise during periods of liquidity stress, and he represents investors, lenders, committees, and other parties in interest in developing creative solutions to help their borrowers navigate those same situations.His experience spans out-of-court workouts and exchange offers, prepackaged and traditional chapter 11 cases, distressed acquisitions and financings, and complex sovereign and municipal restructurings.James received his J.D. and M.B.A. from Temple University, his LL.M. in bankruptcy law from St. John’s University, and a B.S.B.A. in finance from the University of Florida.<h4>Liability Management and Other Out-of-Court Workout, Financing, and Distressed M&A Matters</h4><ul><li>Ad Hoc Group of KLDiscovery Convertible Noteholders Advised an ad hoc group of convertible debenture holders through an out-of-court restructuring, resulting in an exchange of approximately $266 million (100%) of KLDiscovery Inc.’s issued and outstanding debentures for approximately 96% of the company’s common equity.</li><li>Diversified Healthcare Trust Refinancing Transaction Represented initial purchasers in a $941 million Rule 144A offering of zero coupon senior secured notes of Diversified Healthcare Trust (Nasdaq: DHC).</li><li>Puerto Rico Infrastructure Financing Authority Represented alternative asset managers in connection with an out-of-court workout of “double-dip” bonds issued by the Puerto Rico Infrastructure Financing Authority and guaranteed by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.</li><li>Ad Hoc Group of Puerto Rico Ports Authority Bondholders Represented two separate ad hoc groups of Puerto Rico Ports Authority bondholders in connection with restructuring over $190 million in funded debt obligations owed by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority. The initial restructuring transaction became one of the first successful restructuring efforts under the newly enacted Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act.</li><li>Ad Hoc Group of Education Management Corporation Lenders Represented an ad hoc group of term and revolving lenders to Education Management Corporation in connection with negotiation and implementation of a strict foreclosure on their collateral and subsequent efforts to monetize that collateral.</li><li>Ad Hoc Group of Dream Center Education Holdings Term Lenders Represented an ad hoc group of term lenders to Dream Center Education Holdings in connection with Dream Center’s distressed spinoff of two not-for-profit education systems to new ownership and the simultaneous restructuring of existing debt facilities.</li><li>PREPA Administrative Expense Financing Advised leading alternative asset manager in connection with a bespoke transaction involving the purchase of the “first dollars” recovered on account of a $390 million administrative expense claim asserted by Cobra Acquisitions LLC against the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA).</li><li>Aircraft Financing Workout Led efforts to acquire and work out a loan secured by multiple aircraft and engines operated by a U.S. airline. </li></ul><h4>In-Court Restructuring Matters</h4><ul><li>In re Synthego Corporation Representing sole prepetition secured lender, debtor-in-possession lender, and stalking horse bidder in the chapter 11 case of Synthego Corporation.</li><li>In re Village Roadshow Entertainment Group Advising holders of senior secured notes in connection with chapter 11 cases by Village Roadshow Entertainment Group (BVI) Limited and its affiliated debtors, including in connection with structuring and implementation of bespoke debtor-in-possession financing to bridge to a sale of the debtors’ film library.</li><li>In re Silvergate Capital Corp. Representing global institutional alternative asset management firm in connection with multiple claims in the chapter 11 cases of Silvergate Capital Corp. and its affiliated Debtors, including in connection with its holdings of over 95% of the debtors’ Junior Subordinated Notes due 2031.</li><li>In re JER Investors Trust Inc. Advised global institutional alternative asset management firm in connection with bankruptcy of JER Investors Trust Inc., a real estate investment trust that managed a portfolio of commercial real estate mortgage and other assets, in connection with the restructuring of the company’s Junior Subordinated Notes, including challenges to REIT management agreement termination fee.</li><li>Ad Hoc Group of Constitutional Debtholders Represented an ad hoc group of holders of bonds issued by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and certain of its instrumentalities in connection with Puerto Rico’s efforts to improve its fiscal situation and, ultimately, in connection with the restructuring of their debt under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act and related Commonwealth laws.</li><li>Ad Hoc Group of PBA Funds Represented an ad hoc group of holders of bonds issued by the Puerto Rico Public Buildings Authority (PBA) advancing “double-dip” claims against the PBA and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, including pursuit of litigation seeking administrative expense claims for lease rental payments owed to the PBA. The PBA Funds’ efforts led to a significant increase in the price of PBA bonds and established an administrative expense claim that ultimately served as the centerpiece of a plan of adjustment for both the PBA and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.</li></ul>