McDermott Will & Emery has built its London real estate bench today with a dual hire from Fried Frank, including the firm’s former head of European real estate.
McDermott has announced today (26 June) that Darren Rogers and Devina Rana have joined the firm’s transactions practice group as partners.
Rogers (pictured) previously led the European real estate practice at Fried Frank, where he spent nearly seven years with Rana, who was special counsel. The pair also moved together to Fried Frank from Ashurst in 2017.
Harris Siskind, the global head of McDermott’s transaction group, emphasised that strengthening the firm’s real estate practice has been a ‘long-standing goal’ in London. ‘We are thrilled that Darren and Devina are joining the team as they complement and enhance our global real estate offering and will support our strategic outlook,’ he said.
Rogers’ focus is on equity-related investment matters, including real estate capital markets transactions, major London leasing joint ventures, and mixed-use development projects, while Rana brings experience in handling high-value investment transactions for UK, US, and broader global clients, along with real estate finance expertise.
The duo’s expertise complements real estate finance partner Usman Khan, who joined the firm last year from Kirkland & Ellis.
Commenting on the hires, newly appointed London managing partner Aymen Mahmoud said: ‘Darren and Devina are excellent real estate lawyers and will further enhance our real estate capabilities in London and beyond, dovetailing neatly with our wider global practice to offer our clients a solution across-geographies.’
Mahmoud highlighted that the new hires complement the firm’s cross-border growth strategy, citing recent additions like White, Chris Kandel from MoFo, and Fatema Oreja from Sidley, and indicated plans for further strategic hires in the near future in an interview with LB last month.
Less than two weeks ago, the firm also saw leadership changes with Matthias Kampshoff appointed as its new Germany managing partner, succeeding real estate partner Jens Ortmanns.
