Amid an ongoing real estate boom in New York and beyond, Davis Polk & Wardwell has recruited a shareholder and recent head of the real estate practice at Greenberg Traurig.
Michael Rishty, who advises clients in the real estate sector on M&A, joint ventures, dispositions, development, leasing, and restructuring, comes to Davis Polk’s offices in Manhattan as a partner. Rishty has extensive experience in the representation of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in transactions.
“I have a very broad practice. I’ve done a lot of work for institutional clients, family offices, developers, REITs and private equity funds in all types of transactions, mostly on the equity side but also on the debt side,” Rishty told IFLR1000.
“The platform here at Davis Polk will lend itself to the obvious institutional clients, but also some of my existing clients; traditional real estate owners and operators in New York will consider Davis Polk as a viable option for their real estate work,” he added.
Rishty observed that in the boom currently underway in New York, many foreign investors are looking to invest in the city and are particularly keen on investing in New York real estate.
“In the downturn in ‘08 and ’09, certainly, I did a lot of distressed work, loan restructurings, and recapitalizations,” Rishty noted. “If the market turns, I expect that to become part of my practice again. As the market’s flying today, I don’t see too many distressed workouts.”
The move to Davis Polk places Rishty in the company of partner Brian Lichter, with whom Rishty had many interactions in the days when Lichter practiced law at Fried Frank.
Rishty holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. from Princeton University.