(Courtesy photo)

Cross-border M&A specialist Christian Moretti has left Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis to join Cozen O'Connor's growing corporate practice group as a partner in New York.

Moretti serves as primary U.S. outside counsel for many Italian and other European businesses and agencies, and advises private equity firms in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and cross-border and commercial transactions.

While some firms have struggled, Cozen O'Connor has fared well during the pandemic that hit the U.S. in mid-March, continuing to attract a cadre of notable laterals to the firm's corporate group, including Moretti.

"The large number of attorneys joining Cozen shows the firm is growing and is focused on the corporate group, particularly in this climate during the pandemic. It shows that Cozen is well managed and looking to grow," Moretti said.

"It's an organic growth, without any mega-mergers—Cozen is good at picking lawyers that fit the firm's culture," he said.

Moretti, who joins as vice chair of the international practice, is the 12th attorney to join Cozen O'Connor's corporate group in 2020—in addition to Frank Pugliese in New York; attorney Katheryn Gettman, who joined the Minneapolis office in May; and nine attorneys from Baer Crossey McDemus, who joined the Philadelphia office in May. Also, business attorney Katayun Jaffari recently joined Cozen O'Connor, from Ballard Spahr, as a partner and chair of the firm's corporate governance and securities group in Philadelphia. And Philadelphia-based class action litigators Meredith Slawe and Michael McTigue recently joined Cozen O'Connor from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

"Cozen's firm revenue has been very stable during the pandemic," said Larry Laubach, co-chair, of the firm's corporate practice group. "For example, the real estate group, trusts and estates, and other groups that we acquired from Wolf Block back in 2008 demonstrate our stability—we are building for the long haul, even acquiring lawyers during the great recession."

Cozen O'Connor's corporate group includes about 65 lawyers, said Laubach, with roughly 10 in New York, 40 in Philadelphia, five in Pittsburgh, four in South Florida, and a half-dozen in Minneapolis. Like many Philadelphia-based firms, Cozen O'Connor remains interested in increasing its foothold Minneapolis, which is home to the headquarters of several Fortune 500 companies.

"Cozen has ambitious plans to grow their corporate group in New York, and my practice is a good fit for their strategic goals," Moretti said. "I was looking for a law firm with more geographic reach, and more practice areas, such as regulatory compliance, real estate, cutting-edge technology and health care."

Moretti grew up in Italy and has been practicing in the U.S. for more than 20 years. He said his clients, mostly European, are emerging from the pandemic at this point—being hit before the U.S.—and are returning to business.

Moretti serves as outside general counsel for a number of global companies and private equity firms.

"My work has increased during the pandemic, because my clients witnessed many commercial disputes, litigation matters, contractual and leasing matters," adding that he has been providing "ongoing advice on many issues, such as HR and employment issues related to COVID," said Moretti, as well as disputes between distributors and suppliers. He described the other half of his practice as purely M&A and contractual work.

"I have a good flow of M&A deals in the middle market, approximately 10 per year, on behalf of strategic buyers and private equity firms in a variety of industries, primarily European companies," he said.

Although, the outbreak of COVID-19 slowed deal-making. Deals that were started before the pandemic have continued, according to Laubach, and while some new deals are starting, he estimated that the group is doing about 70% to 75% of the transactions they were doing pre-pandemic.

"It will depend on how the economy rebounds. The instability is creating more apprehension," Laubach said. "A lot of the recovery will depend on when a vaccine becomes available, and how effective it is."

Moretti's client list, which will move with him, represents a range of industries, including banking and finance, real estate, food and beverage, fashion, life sciences, new media/technology, manufacturing, and energy.

His recent deals include representing a global manufacturer of swabs that plays a critical role in COVID-19 testing in a joint venture with a Fortune 100 tech company to develop technology to ramp up production during the pandemic, he said. Other notable clients include an Italian company that manufactures medical devices such as vials and syringes.

Moretti spent six years at Schnader as a partner before joining Cozen O'Connor.

"We wish Christian well and appreciate his contributions to Schnader," Nicholas LePore, managing partner at Schnader, said of Moretti's move.