Carlton Fields’ Los Angeles Office Expands Its Transactional Practice
September 26, 2019
Levinson, who serves as Carlton Fields’ West Coast Chair of Business Transactions and Finance, maintains a broad transactional practice that includes representing a variety of industries including consumer, tech, food service, sports, real estate, cannabis, and municipal finance.
Markoff handles a wide range of real estate and domestic and cross-border corporate transactions in the securities, financial services, and technology sectors, with particularly deep experience in Asia-based finance.
The shareholders practiced together before moving to Carlton Fields. They will continue to serve existing client relationships in the United States, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Mexico.
The attorneys grow the footprint of Carlton Fields’ nationally known Business Transactions Practice, which boasts approximately 80 lawyers in 10 offices. The firm earned national rankings in Corporate Law, Mergers & Acquisitions Law, and Securities/Capital Markets Law in the 2019 U.S. News and World Report and Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” guide. Markoff also adds depth to the firm’s equally preeminent and extensive Real Estate and Finance Practice, which has been nationally ranked by Best Lawyers in America and recognized by Chambers USA as an “outstanding” practice “offering deep knowledge of all aspects of real estate transactions” across the country.
“Adding top talent is important to our firm’s strategic growth plans, particularly as we continue to strengthen our market position in Los Angeles,” said Mark A. Neubauer, Carlton Fields’ Los Angeles Office Managing Shareholder. “Mark and Brad have earned their reputations as top-tier transactional lawyers. The insights and experience they bring to the table will benefit our clients immeasurably.”
Levinson said, “Carlton Fields is a sophisticated, high-energy, and business results-oriented law firm. Their collaborative culture and commitment to excellent client service dovetails seamlessly with our approach to execute transactions in a cost-effective and practical solutions-focused fashion.”
Markoff added, “We are excited to join Carlton Fields, which has an excellent reputation in the real estate and financial services industries. The firm has significant regulatory experience with financial technology and other cutting-edge developments in complex financing. Our clients will benefit greatly from Carlton Fields’ platform.
“Mark and I look forward to continuing to build on the firm’s outstanding reputation, which is defined by excellence, collegiality, and collaboration, and growing the firm’s transactional practice in Los Angeles,” noted Markoff.
Carlton Fields’ National Business Transactions Practice Chair James Walker IV said, “We’re thrilled to welcome Brad and Mark, who bring skills and experience that meet the complex and growing needs of our clients. They are significant additions and will further expand our transactional practice and presence on the West Coast."
Levinson is active in several professional and community organizations. Currently, he serves as president of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce California Regional Chapter, and as an executive committee member of the Southern California Israel Chamber of Commerce. Both are prominent binational organizations that promote trade and investment between the United States, Mexico, and Israel. In the Los Angeles community, Levinson is a board member of the Coalition for Engaged Education, a member of the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors, and a trustee of National Jewish Health.
Levinson earned his J.D. from the Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and his B.A. from Brandeis University. He is a member of the California and New York bars.
Markoff has a broad-based international practice focused on capital markets and complex financing transactions, including cross-border transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic investments in a wide variety of industries such as real estate, hospitality, financial services, technology, and entertainment and media. His clients include national governments and governmental agencies, public and private real estate companies, real estate investment trusts (REITs), investment and commercial banks, and private equity funds.
He represents private and public companies, partnerships, and funds in a variety of U.S.-based domestic and Asian-based cross-border capital markets transactions, including capital raising in private offerings and IPOs, secondary offerings of debt and equity, mergers and acquisitions and roll-up transactions, and real estate portfolio acquisitions and dispositions.
Through his involvement with the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) and the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA), Markoff works with various governments around the globe to develop innovative financing structures and legislative initiatives, such as China’s asset-backed securitization law, the Philippines’ REIT framework, and NAREIT’s response to the corporate financial reporting and accounting requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
He earned his J.D. from Washington University School of Law and his A.B., with distinction, from Duke University. He is a member of the California and Missouri bars and was previously licensed as a registered foreign lawyer in Hong Kong. Markoff has consistently been recognized as a leading lawyer in the fields of Real Estate and Corporate Law by Best Lawyers® since 2001 and for his expertise in Real Estate Investment Trusts by Chambers Global.
