Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo has added Robert Koen from Mayer Brown, where he focused on real estate transactions, finance and complex restructurings for both lender and borrower entities involved in real estate deals.

Koen, who joins Mintz as a member, is a former head of Mayer Brown's New York real estate practice. He has experience with negotiating and structuring acquisitions, dispositions and co-investment transactions. He has also had a hand in structuring real estate joint ventures and partnerships and has worked on commercial and construction lending matters and transactions involving real estate investment investment trusts (REITs).

In a statement, Mintz's managing member Bob Bodian welcomed Koen to the firm and touted the incoming lawyer's expertise in the real estate transaction world.

“Bob is a well-respected and experienced attorney whose extensive knowledge of the real estate industry will serve our clients well,” said Bodian. “Bob adds depth and breadth to our highly regarded real estate practice and is an excellent addition to our talented team. We are delighted that he has joined us.”

In an interview Monday, Koen said he holds his former firm in the “highest regard,” but saw Mintz's smaller size, mix of practices and approach as an attractive platform. Specifically, he said Mintz has good relationships with funds involved in real estate transactions, but also tends to work more closely with developers, and that's an area of Koen's practice that he sees as expanding.

“The practice I think will expand here; there's more of a focus … on the developer side, which is where I see the growth in my client base,” he said.

At his new firm, Koen joins what has been an expanding operation over the past several months. In late January, Mintz announced the addition of private equity partner Loretta Shaw-Lorello, who joined from Covington & Burling, where she had been vice chair of the firm's private funds practice.

Mintz also added two partners in September—former Manhattan federal prosecutor and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner Jason Halperin, and Daniel Conley, a former district attorney in Massachusetts' Suffolk County, who joined Mintz as a Boston-based special counsel and senior adviser to the law firm's lobbying arm, ML Strategies.

Mayer Brown, meanwhile, also announced a hire of its own Monday. Fritz Lark, a former Bracewell lawyer, has joined Mayer Brown's corporate and securities practice as a partner, bringing more than 20 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions. Lark's specialties include representing utilities and infrastructure funds in connection with public and private company mergers, joint ventures, equity investments and other kinds of deals.

“Mayer Brown's comprehensive global offerings, collaborative culture and commitment to client service will provide an excellent platform for me to further build my practice, and I look forward to working with my new colleagues as we continue taking the firm's energy and infrastructure capabilities to the next level,” Lark said in a statement Monday.