Akin announced that Wendy Dodson Gallegos and Jason Wagenmaker have joined the firm from Mayer Brown. The pair has practiced together for nearly two decades, providing comprehensive advice and bespoke solutions to prominent investment managers and companies pursuing investments in real estate and infrastructure. They add depth to Akin's market-leading real estate fund formation and M&A practices, advising on complex investment vehicles and structures around the globe. Both will continue to be based in Chicago.

Gallegos co-led the global private funds and investment management practice at Mayer Brown, along with leading its real estate funds practice. She represents many of the largest real estate private equity firms and sector-specific operators and allocators in forming open-end and closed-end private equity funds with a wide range of real estate and real estate-related investment strategies across the U.S., Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Wagenmaker co-led the infrastructure M&A strategy at Mayer Brown. He brings nearly 20 years of experience advising investors and strategic companies in complex M&A transactions across transportation, social infrastructure, digital infrastructure, energy, real estate, steel, chemicals and technology.

Wendy and Jason are exceptional lawyers at the top of the market, and their practices align perfectly with our real estate funds practice and global transactional platform serving the largest and most respected alternative asset managers around the world, said Abid Qureshi, Akin's co-chair.

We are thrilled to bring on such a prominent team with enormous depth of experience in fundraising, structuring and sophisticated transactions. Their addition strengthens our market-leading investment management and corporate practices and significantly bolsters our capabilities, said Barbara Niederkofler, co-head of Akin's investment management practice.

The firm's energy & infrastructure practice is a terrific fit as we support our clients deploying capital across the full range of infrastructure and other transactions, said Wagenmaker.

Akin has one of the leading global investment management practices in the market and our clients will benefit from access to its premier platform with top fund and tax structuring, transactional, regulatory, litigation and public policy practitioners focused on the needs of asset managers and strategic clients, said Gallegos. We look forward to getting started.

This news story was originally published on the firm’s website.