On Wednesday, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, the New York based law firm, announced the opening of its new office at Washington, DC with two new partners. The new lawyers to join Stroock & Stroock are Christopher Griner and Robert E. Plaze.
Griner is reputed as one of the country’s top lawyers on national security issues and matters before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Plaze is a former Deputy Director of the Division of Investment Management of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and has over 30 years experience in handling cases related to investment management at the SEC. In his role in the SEC he was responsible for money market legalities and was investment advice and was responsible for overseeing many of the Dodd Frank regulations that affected asset managers.
Speaking on the occasion of launching the Washington DC office, the co-managing partners of the law firm issued a statement observing, “Stroock’s Washington DC office is a logical expansion of the firm … Chris Griner is both an exceptional lawyer and a skilled manager, and his renown in national security/CFIUS compliance presented an opportunity to add a market-leading practice area that complements Stroock’s strengths in areas such as private M&A, government relations, energy, project finance and financial services regulation.”
Stuart Coleman, co-managing partner and head of the Investment Management Group of the law firm also said, “Bob Plaze is widely regarded as a key architect of many of the rules governing regulated investment advisers, investment companies and private fund advisers … His work has shaped the modern regulation of the asset management industry in so many different ways. We are delighted that he is joining the practice.”
According to Stroock’s press release, the law firm represents nearly $1 trillion in assets under management, or approximately 7 percent of all U.S. investment company assets.
The new Washington office of the law firm would be headed by Chris Griner who would act as Managing Partner for the office. Prior to joining Stroock & Stroock, Griner was the chair of the National Security/CFIUS practice in Kaye Scholer for 22 years.
On his part, Griner said, “I am excited to join the Stroock family … Stroock’s corporate and regulatory platform is a perfect fit for my practice, and Washington, DC offers a wealth of complementary talent to Stroock’s recognized practices focused on areas such as bank regulation, commodities & derivatives, energy and investment management.”