Which Orange County legal team has led litigation that recovered $16 billion on behalf of clients and other claimants?
Hint: They also oversaw trading platforms that handle $18 trillion annually.
There’s only one possible answer for the winner of the in-house legal team category of the Business Journal’s annual General Counsel Awards: Pacific Investment Management Co., also known as PIMCO (see other profiles, pages 1, 4, 8 and 10).
“They have been at the forefront of innovative new product creation, including the world’s largest actively managed bond fund and the first dynamic multifactor equity ETFs and commodity index funds,” said B. Shayne Kennedy, managing partner at law firm Latham & Watkins, when introducing the award.
“You have to be a near genius just to understand what they actually do,” Kennedy told the audience of more than 400.
Among recent deals, Newport Beach-based PIMCO settled its dispute with co-founder Bill Gross in March, thus avoiding a trial that likely would’ve been headline-worthy. The company reportedly paid an estimated $81 million to Gross, who is donating the money to charity.
In December, PIMCO agreed to pay nearly $20 million to resolve a dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission that said it misled investors in 2012 about the performance of one of its first bond exchange-traded funds.
“PIMCO is committed to conducting its business in a manner that meets or exceeds the expectations of its regulators,” said a PIMCO statement following the agreement. “Accordingly, the firm has enhanced its policies and procedures relating to valuation of smaller-sized positions and performance attribution disclosure.”
PIMCO’s in-house legal team has 29 attorneys, 56 paralegals, and support staff covering legal issues in 11 countries before 19 different regulatory bodies.
David Flattum, global general counsel and a managing director based in the Newport Beach office, accepted the Business Journal award on behalf of his team.
Prior to joining PIMCO in 2006, Flattum served as managing director, U.S. general counsel and chief operating officer of Allianz Asset Management of America. He was also a partner at Latham & Watkins, where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and undergraduate degrees in philosophy and electrical engineering from the University of Southern California.
Other top PIMCO lawyers mentioned for the award include:
• Richard R. LeBrun, deputy general counsel and a managing director. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2005, he was an associate with Ropes & Gray focusing on investment management and private equity-related matters. He holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and received an undergraduate degree from Northwood University.
• Arthur Ong, executive vice president and deputy general counsel, who joined PIMCO in 2004. He’s a director of the PIMCO Foundation. Previously, he was associate general counsel with Barclays Global Investors and an executive director at Morgan Stanley. He holds a J.D. from the Fordham University School of Law and an undergraduate degree from Cornell University.
• Michael M. Cheng, executive vice president and senior counsel, Asia Pacific. Previously, he was head of the legal division of Morgan Stanley Investment Management Asia. He has a degree from the College of Law, London.
• Tracey Jordal, executive vice president and senior counsel, who oversees derivatives. She has a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College.
• Joshua Ratner, executive vice president, senior counsel and head of registered funds legal group, who has a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and a bachelor’s from Brandeis University.
• Thomas Rice, executive vice president and chief legal officer for PIMCO Europe. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Birmingham. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2004, he was legal counsel for the Investment Management Association in the United Kingdom and legal and compliance director for Lazard Asset Management.
• Karen A. Aspinall, senior vice president and senior counsel, who has a J.D. from American University College of Law and a bachelor’s from American University.
• Nadia Zakir, senior vice president and senior counsel. She previously was associate director of the division of clearing and risk at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. She has a J.D. from American University College of Law, a master of arts from the University of Chicago, and a bachelor’s from the University of San Diego.
