Philippe Phaneuf, Greenberg Traurig partner
Image: courtesy photo
Philippe Phaneuf, 37, partner
Greenberg Traurig
Phaneuf specializes in cross-border and international hospitality-industry transactions. From the start of his career, he found success handling complex mergers and acquisitions, developments and financing agreements. In a recent transaction, he was the mastermind behind the restructuring of a $700 million condominium-hotel construction project in Hawaii. He also supervises litigation teams that handle Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act and purchaser-remorse real estate cases across the country. In addition to his regular practice, he collaborated on an amicus curiae brief urging the California Supreme Court to protect the status of previously married same-sex couples caught in the wake of the fight over Proposition 8. He continues to push for fairness, justice and equality on issues impacting the LGBT community as a current board member for the Equality California Institute.
Word that best describes you?
Determined.
What you would do with a year off?
Become a white-water rafting guide.
Most unusual hobby?
Taking hang gliding lessons.
Favorite quote?
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Stress relief?
Skiing, running, meditation.
Name a lawyer you admire.
Pierre Elliot Trudeau. As one of the original conceivers of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, he created a constitutional framework that protected the rights of minorities within a multicultural society in a way that has been influential across the world in post-colonial multicultural constitutional democracies.
A trial or deal you wish you could have worked on?
Bush v. Gore. In addition to being such an important case, it happened so quickly, which would have provided some exciting challenges in terms of having to come up with relevant arguments quickly and with little time for preparation.
