Proskauer has expanded its Real Estate Capital Markets Group with the addition of Leslie (Les) H. Loffman as a Tax Partner in the firm’s New York office. Widely regarded as one of the country’s premiere REIT tax lawyers, Loffman was most recently a partner at DLA Piper, where he served as co-chair of its REIT practice, and before that director of national REIT services at Ernst & Young.
“Les’s name is synonymous with the REIT industry, and we are delighted to welcome him to our team,” said Andrea S. Rattner, Proskauer Partner and Chair of the firm’s Tax Department. “He’s a superb lawyer with exceptional market acumen and knowledge, and he will be a tremendous resource for our clients and for our practice overall.”
Loffman provides tax structuring and business advice to both listed and non-listed REITs and private investment funds and their partners in the United States and worldwide. He has more than 30 years of experience handling all aspects of tax and business structuring matters for REITs, including going private and merger transactions, private equity funds, partnerships, corporations and limited liability companies.
“Les is the real deal when it comes to REITs,” said Peter M. Fass, Proskauer Partner and co-head of the firm’s Real Estate Capital Markets Group. “There isn’t another lawyer out there who is as fluent as Les on the topic of complex real estate investments. He literally wrote the book on the subject.”
Loffman is recognized as one of the leading REIT and real estate tax lawyers in the country. A past national chairman of the ABA’s Real Estate Tax Committee, he currently serves as co-chair of the Practising Law Institute’s Annual Real Estate Tax Forum in New York and is a member of the advisory boards of the National Real Estate Institute and Tax Management, Inc. He is the co-author of the two-volume treatise Tax Aspects of Real Estate Investments, published by Thomson Reuters Westlaw®.
“Les has worked with many of the leading real estate private equity funds, their general partners, public and private REITs, developers and investment banks in a variety of cutting-edge transactions,” said Jeffrey A. Horwitz, Proskauer Partner and head of the firm’s Private Equity Real Estate Group. “He also has significant involvement with REIT legislation around the world and extensive experience in forming and operating global real estate funds.”
Proskauer’s REIT and Real Estate Private Equity practices are recognized for their skill and experience. A pioneer in the use of innovative structures and techniques and creative approaches for executing highly complex transactions, the firm regularly counsels a premium roster of clients – including investment banks, REITs, real estate funds, hedge funds, institutional and specialty lenders, sovereign wealth funds and pension advisers – across a broad spectrum of transactions, ranging from public debt and equity offerings and private placements, mergers and acquisitions and mortgage and mezzanine financings and restructurings, to joint ventures, distressed real estate and workouts and real estate dispute matters.
