White & Case law firm said Wednesday it has added two partners to its flagship New York practice: a former Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer to its white-collar crime defense group and a longtime Paul Hastings LLP partner to its real estate finance practice.
The new hires include LaDan Stewart, a former deputy director at the SEC and regional litigation counsel leading the agency's cryptocurrency and cyber litigation unit, and John Cahill, who previously served as head of the real estate finance practice group at Paul Hastings.
Cahill will divide his time between New York and Hong Kong, while Stewart will be based in New York.
Stewart has worked at the SEC for eight years, and in his most recent role there, he was tasked with building a new trial unit, the SEC's first dedicated litigation unit, as well as overseeing the SEC's cryptocurrency litigation program, according to the company.
She oversaw a variety of high-profile cases at the office, including lawsuits against FTX founder Sam Bankman Freed and cryptocurrency trading platforms Coinbase and Bittrex.
White & Case said she is well-positioned to advise players in the cryptocurrency industry and protect them from regulatory and private action.
She said in an interview that she felt it was time to apply what she had learned in public service to the private sector.
“At the SEC, I've been fortunate to be at the center of the agency's crypto and cyber efforts in the enforcement arena,” she said in an interview. “Crypto will be front and center for the foreseeable future, so now was a good time to make the move. I look forward to using the skills and expertise I developed at the SEC to advise companies and individuals seeking to comply with the increasingly complex set of regulations surrounding the cryptocurrency industry.”
At the SEC, Stewart also worked on investment adviser and broker-dealer misconduct, disclosure violations, insider trading and other violations of the federal securities laws.
Nicole Erb, a partner and regional head of White & Case, said in a statement that Stewart “advises clients undergoing SEC examinations and investigations and provides excellent counsel to strengthen clients' compliance programs to minimize the likelihood of future SEC investigations.”
Cahill focuses on raising capital for real estate investments with borrowers, sponsors and institutional investors in the U.S. and Asia. Within that structure, he has particular experience in the back-leverage market for real estate-focused funds.
According to Cahill's LinkedIn profile, he joined Paul Hastings in June 2020 and had been with the firm for nearly 24 years.
Cahill said the move was made possible by customer demand.
“I know a lot of the people here and have co-advised with them on a number of transactions in Asia,” Cahill said. “They have full offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and China, which makes them ideal for my clients in Asia. The asset acquisitions my clients are making are taking place in these regions. Unfortunately, my previous firm did not have the on-the-ground resources I needed and I ended up looking at transactions I couldn't do myself. So I called White & Case and it was almost seamless.”
A representative for Paul Hastings could not be reached in time for publication.
John Rice, global head of M&A at White & Case, said that despite market headwinds, “our clients continue to take advantage of real estate opportunities in the region, making Asia a strategically important market for further growth for our M&A team.” He said Cahill's hire fits into this strategy.
White & Case has been active in the M&A space, with Cahill recently joining Towry Seitzer in New York and Patrick Saatchi in London.