Benesch, the Cleveland, Ohio-based national law firm, has scored a massive haul of 20 attorneys from Reed Smith, as it launches a structured finance platform and real estate finance team.
Jodi Schwimmer and Randy Eckers, both partners, are currently based in New York City, according to their Benesch profiles. They will lead a practice with a substantial presence in Miami, a new Benesch office, while half will be based in its New York office, according to people familiar with the company.
Schwimmer will work out of the Miami office once it is established and maintain a presence in New York while helping to lead efforts to establish and grow the Miami office.
Schwimmer was Reed Smith's global co-head of its financial industry group and highly respected in structured finance and securitization.
"This move creates an opportunity to join a firm that is investing strategically in growth while offering our clients access to a broader, more integrated platform across the deal lifecycle," according to a statement from Schwimmer.
Eckers was also a partner at Reed Smith, with 25 years of commercial real estate industry experience.
The new group will represent the full spectrum of clients across commercial real estate financings, including debt funds, private equity funds, institutional investors and bondholders as they complete CMBS transactions, originations, bridge lending, mezzanine financing and commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE), among other transactions.
Schwimmer has advised on hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of deals, including CMBS, commercial real estate CLOs, bridge-to-securitization structures and warehouse facilities.
"We are adding exceptional talent in commercial real estate finance, expanding our capabilities in secondary market transactions and establishing a premier structured finance practice that immediately enhances what we can offer clients," according to a statement from Jeff Wild, Benesch's real estate practice group chair and firm administrative partner.
Before Reed Smith, Eckers, whose practice includes CMBS, C-PACE, bridge, construction and mezzanine lending, was previously chair of Akerman's real estate finance group.
"Or clients can now access a seamless team that helps them originate, finance and access the capital markets more efficiently, creating new opportunities and financing solutions that simply weren't available before," said Eckers.
