The international law firm McDermott Will & Emery has expanded its global direct investing practice in response to the intensifying trend of high net worth investors opting to make their own wealth decisions.

The international law firm McDermott Will & Emery has expanded its global direct investing practice in response to the intensifying trend of high net worth investors opting to make their own wealth decisions.

Matthew Sperry and Matthew McKim – latterly of the law firm DLA Piper - have joined McDermott as partners in New York and Chicago, IL, the firm said today.

McDermott's direct investing practice brings together practitioners from the firm’s corporate, tax and private client practices to provide HNW clients with legal services as they invest in and operate businesses globally. Sperry and McKim will help the firm expand its work with wealthy families in Asia, Europe and Latin America, as well as the financial institutions that cater to such families.

McDermott said it recognizes that global wealth is becoming increasingly concentrated among individuals and families who are choosing to make their own investment decisions.

“Such wealth may be of the first or several generations, but its scale, and the scale of their investing, require a broad range of international tax, estate planning and family succession expertise,” the firm said.

Sperry and McKim counsel trustees, financial institutions and HNW clients on domestic and international corporate and tax-planning matters. They assist wealthy and entrepreneurial families and individuals, directly and through trust companies, in the analysis, structuring and negotiation of tax-efficient business and personal wealth transactions, as well as planning for the creation, preservation and transmission of wealth among generations. 

“Our sophisticated HNW clients think multi-generationally and globally, and more and more they have concluded that an integrated direct investing model works best for them,” said McDermott private client partner, Henry Christensen.

“Increasingly, wealthy families are turning away from more traditional investment strategies and hiring professional managers to oversee their investments on a direct basis,” added David Goldman, head of McDermott’s global corporate advisory practice group.

McDermott’s direct investing practice is led by McDermott's corporate advisory practice group leader David Goldman. As well as Sperry and McKim, other senior team members include: corporate advisory partners Mark Selinger and Jake Townsend; private client partners Henry Christensen, Carlyn McCaffrey, Richard Lang, William Butler and Andrew Vergunst; and tax partners Gary Karch and Daniel Zucker.

McDermott Will & Emery has offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, Rome, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. The firm also has an alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.