Les Koltai | Hot 40 2014

Les Koltai, DLA Piper

Les Koltai | Hot 40 2014
Les KoltaiLes Koltai, DLA Piper

Joining from Ashurst in 2012, DLA Piper’s Les Koltai has been instrumental in realigning the firm’s real estate practice in Australia, after being quickly promoted to head the group. Koltai has used his expertise in crossborder real estate transactions to transform and expand the nature of the firm’s client base, which now includes well-known global REITs, private equity groups, asset managers and pension funds including The Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group, Mapletree REIT and SEB Bank. He has also managed to boost domestic traction, adding clients such as Mirvac Group, Investa Property Group, Charter Hall and Abacus Property Group. As a result, Koltai has ensured the firm is being pitted against traditional ‘tier 1’ players on deals of greater size and complexity, with large portfolio instructions valued from $100m to $1bn. Koltai is also proving an asset to the firm’s corporate, finance and tax groups, managing to personally represent 60% of all referrals to those groups.


Check out who else made it on Australasian Lawyer's Hot 40.
 
 
CAREER
Current: 
  • Partner, DLA Piper (2012)
  • Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
Previous:
Owner, Blake Dawson (1999-2011)
Years of Experience:
Over 20 years of experience in commercial law
ACHIEVEMENTS/RECOGNITIONS:
  • Recommended as a Leading Real Estate Lawyer in the current editions of :
    • Chambers Global 
    • Chambers Asia Pacific
    • PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook
    • Euromoney's 'World's Leading Lawyers'
    • International Who's Who of Lawyers
    • AsiaLaw Leading Lawyers
    • ALB Leading Real Estate Lawyers    
    • Australian Financial Review's 'Best Lawyers' 
    • Guide to the World's Leading Real Estate Lawyers
AFFILIATIONS:
  • Head of our Australian Real Estate practice
  • Property Council of Australia
  • Property Industry Foundation
  • Asia Public Real Estate Association 
EDUCATION:
  • Master of Laws (LL.M.), University of Sydney
  • Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.)/Bachelor of Arts, University Of New South Wales (1981-1986)
Current Town Sydney, Australia
Hometown  
Family  



To read the full feature, download Australasian Lawyer's Hot 40 2014 feature on PDF.

 

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