Katten has hired a senior capital markets partner from DLA Piper to open an office in Miami, the Chicago-based firm announced Monday.
Josh Kaufman has joined as managing partner of the new office – the firm's 12th globally and tenth in the US – and will also serve as lead partner of the firm’s public company advisory practice.
Katten said the office would position it to better serve clients across the private wealth, hedge fund, private equity, private credit, M&A, real estate, financial services, family office, capital markets, public company and emerging growth sectors that continue to drive investment throughout South Florida.
Katten chairman Gil Soffer said the launch "allows us to deliver Katten’s full capabilities to clients in South Florida and reflects our commitment to investing in talent and key markets".
He added Kaufman brought "strong relationships and a market-leading practice in one of the country's most compelling business centres".
Kaufman has spent the past two years at DLA Piper, where he was co-chair of the capital markets and public companies advisory practice. Before that, he was a partner at Cooley for nearly nine years and also spent a decade at Skadden as counsel.
He advises on equity and debt capital markets transactions, including IPOs, alternative public offerings, secondary offerings, registered direct offerings, at-the-market programs and PIPEs, among others, as well as investment-grade and high-yield debt offerings. He has represented public companies before the SEC, Nasdaq and NYSE and in matters of Delaware, New York and Florida corporate law.
Katten’s Miami move follows Seyfarth Shaw launching in the city last month after hiring former Littler shareholder Juan Carlos Varela.
A wave of Big Law firms opened in Miami during the early 2020s to follow the mass migration of corporate, private equity and venture capital clients and drawn by its role as a bridge to Latin America. Entrants included Kirkland & Ellis, King & Spalding, Winston & Strawn, Sidley Austin, Quinn Emanuel and Cooley.
Orrick also opened there last year after hiring a trio of corporate partners from local heavyweight Akerman. The momentum has slowed since 2023, however, driven partly by the historically limited pool of lawyers, making it difficult for some firms to find the right opportunity to recruit local talent and launch, Reuters reported.
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
