Law360 Names Three MoFo Partners MVPs of the Year

Morrison Foerster partners Greg Smith, John Smith, and Mark Edelstein have been named to Law360’s list of MVPs of the Year in Project Finance, Compliance, and Real Estate, respectively. The award recognizes attorneys with extraordinary wins and significant contributions to their practice areas in the past year.

Greg Smith, co-lead of MoFo’s Agency Finance Group, is a global leader in project finance. Greg advises lenders, host country governments, project sponsors, and private equity funds in connection with the development and financing of projects in various industries, including energy, financial services, hospitality, housing, manufacturing, microfinance, mining, petrochemicals, telecommunications, and transportation.

His work representing clients in first-of-their-kind renewable energy innovations has a transformative impact on the effort to confront climate change. The impact of Greg’s counsel creates new pathways for clean energy agencies, making Greg a valuable resource for cutting-edge projects.

John Smith, co-head of MoFo’s National Security practice, advises governments, global financial institutions, and fintech, online commerce, telecommunications, shipping, logistics, and other companies, as well as non-governmental organizations, in the U.S., Europe, and Asia in real-time on the legal and reputational risks posed by sanctions.

With 11+ years’ experience as a top official at U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (three of which he spent as Director) and 8+ years’ experience providing sanctions oversight at the U.S. Department of Justice and United Nations, John has an unparalleled understanding of economic sanctions, compliance, and national security, both in the United States and globally. His expertise and unique perspective on the complexities and escalating legal, reputational, and security risks of U.S. and multilateral sanctions are invaluable to clients.

Mark Edelstein is chair of the Global Real Estate Group and co-chair of the Distressed Real Estate Group. He has over three decades of experience representing leading financial institutions, real estate companies, lenders, owners, acquirers, sellers, and investors. Mark practices in the areas of real estate, REIT, and fund finance; private equity; workouts; restructurings; and bankruptcies. Mark has been routinely involved in numerous projects that have reshaped and are reshaping the nation’s skylines and in workouts and bankruptcies involving some of the highest-profile projects and owners across the United States.