A five-lawyer real estate group has left Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr and set up shop at Venable. The group includes partners Thomas Millspaugh, Brian Gurtman, and Patrick Lincoln and associates Kamaal Jones and Joseph Creech.
Millspaugh will be based in Venable's Washington and Baltimore offices. Lincoln will be based solely in Washington. Gurtman will work out of the firm's New York office.
The group advises clients on multi-state property deals and has been counsel to several investment management firms on real estate matters. They also advise pension funds and other institutional investors, fund advisors, developers, corporate property owners and private equity investors.
Millsbaugh is a former Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe (now-DLA Piper) partner and joined Wilmer in 1999.
Gurtman was previously counsel at Wilmer after joining that firm in 2002. According to The New York Law Journal, earlier this year, Gurtman represented asset management group Legg Mason Inc. on a sublease of 72,647 square feet at 399 Park Ave. in New York to Pinebridge Investments. Pinebridge was the the former global investment arm of American International Group Inc. before it was sold to Hong Kong-based Richard Li's Pacific Century Group for $500 million.
Lincoln was also counsel at Wilmer after joining that firm in 2001. His practice focuses on the acquisition, disposition and financing of various types of commercial property.
In a written statement, Millspaugh said, "The last two years have been particularly tumultuous for virtually anyone touching the real estate industry. As a result, our clients have looked to us to provide strategic advice that is more valuable than ever, not only on their existing projects which have been challenged by the recent financial crises, but also on new deals in the ultra-competitive marketplace. Venable provides a terrific platform from which to serve these important players in the business."
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