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Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher hired real estate finance partner Michael Weinberger from the New York office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Gibson Dunn announced Friday morning.
Weinberger arrives with 31 years of experience—all at Cleary Gottlieb—and a practice focused on commercial mortgage-backed securitization, as well as balance sheet, restructurings, mezzanine and construction loan originations and secondary market transactions.
In an interview, Weinberger said he increasingly found himself opposite Gibson Dunn’s real estate lawyers in the past few years and was impressed by the breath of the firm’s real estate practice. Gibson Dunn’s focus on balance sheet debt also created a synergistic opportunity when combined with Weinberger’s focus on CMBS-adjacent debt.
Michael Weinberger, partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Courtesy photo
“I found in many cases we were serving the same clients but in separate, adjacent spheres,” Weinberger said. “It occurred to me that there was a really positive synergy that could come from me moving my practice over to Gibson Dunn.”
Weinberger arrives during a period of turbulence for portions of his practice, such as office properties, which will require real estate lawyers to apply lessons from the Great Recession and come up with new ideas. “There’s a lot of underwater office debt out there,” he said. “We’ll be spending quite some time unraveling that and finding the right solutions.”
Simultaneously, areas such as hospitality, data centers, cold storage and life sciences centers are thriving, Weinberger said, and there are “surprising pockets of strength” in retail as well.
“His experience, particularly on real estate financing, is simply unparalleled and will serve as a tremendous asset for the Gibson Dunn real estate platform,” said real estate practice co-chair Eric Feuerstein in a press release.
Weinberger is the fourth partner to join Gibson Dunn’s New York office this year, following the hiring of former O’Melveny & Myers head of U.S. restructuring Joseph Zujkowski in May, fintech partner Jason Cabral in March, and the January arrival of bankruptcy partner C. Lee Wilson from Jones Day. The firm also added a West Coast real estate finance partner this March when Lauren Giovannone joined the Los Angeles office from Paul Hastings.
In response to Weinberger’s departure, Cleary Gottlieb said in a statement, “We wish Michael well in his future endeavors.”
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