Paul Donohue, John Baron and Jamie Daniel Join Alston & Bird's Charlotte Office

Paul S. Donohue, John F. Baron and James A.L. Daniel, Jr., prominent banking and finance attorneys from Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, have joined Alston & Bird’s Charlotte office as partners. Donohue will lead the office’s leveraged capital team, and Baron will be the firm’s lead tax partner in Charlotte. Daniel will join the leveraged capital team with a focus on real estate finance and CMBS loan servicing. Including these partners, a total of 13 lawyers are joining Alston & Bird in this move.

“We are honored to have Paul Donohue, John Baron and Jamie Daniel join us at Alston & Bird,” said Ben Johnson, Alston & Bird’s managing partner. “They bring extraordinary experience and expertise in the banking and finance and tax arenas. They significantly enhance our presence in Charlotte and serve to underscore our growing commitment to the Charlotte and greater Carolinas marketplace.”

“The legal representation of financial institutions is an evolving field,” said Paul Donohue. “We chose to bring our practices to Alston & Bird in order to provide our clients with the skills and experience necessary to suit their needs as this evolution takes place. Alston & Bird’s nationally recognized leveraged capital group, which consists of some of the best lawyers and resources in the country, was a perfect fit to suit these needs.”

Paul S. Donohue, who led Parker Poe’s banking and finance practice, is well known in banking and capital markets for his expertise in capital market transactions representing financial institutions, lenders, and investors in a wide variety of secured and unsecured transactions, including syndicated financings, structured financings, real estate financings and restructurings. During his time at Parker Poe, Donohue was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of financial institutions and transactions law and was also named to Business North Carolina magazine’s “Legal Elite” in business law. Donohue is a member of the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association.

John F. Baron, who led Parker Poe’s tax practice, will be joining Alston & Bird’s tax group and will be the lead tax partner in the Charlotte office. His practice is principally transactional in nature and his clients include both domestic and foreign companies, as well as financial institutions. Baron has significant experience in international tax, M&A and structured finance, with an emphasis on transactions involving REMICs. He was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America and was also named to Business North Carolina magazine’s “Legal Elite” in tax and estate planning. Baron is a member of the International Tax Institute, the International Tax Association, the REMIC Task Force of the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association and the Tax Section of the New York Bar Association. He is the Treasurer of the Carolinas Chapter of the International Fiscal Association. He frequently authors books and articles on legal matters in tax and domestic and international financial industries.

James A. L. Daniel, Jr., who was a partner in Parker Poe’s capital markets practice, has expertise in real estate finance, CMBS loan servicing and construction lending and is well-known for representing loan portfolio servicers, institutional lenders and finance companies in secured and unsecured financial transactions, including loan assumptions and transfers, real estate financings, structured financings, loan restructurings and a wide variety of loan servicing transactions. During his time with Parker Poe, Daniel wrote several manuals and lectured on real estate finance and loan servicing issues. He is a member of the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association and the Mortgage Banker’s Association.

Also joining Alston & Bird is Robert Sullivan as counsel and the following associates: Stacy G. Ackermann, Nachael L. Bright, Michael Cecka, Theodore C. George,
David Gildernew, Jonathan E. Kutner, Clay A. Littlefield, Ashley B. Menser, and
Jason J. Solomon.