Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC –The Hartford, Connecticut-based global real estate investment managers has hired two managing directors-- Joy Winter field in Chicago and Albert Yang in London. Both start in September. Winter field is managing director of global portfolio management and part of Cornerstone's global executive team. Yang is head of business development – Europe. Winterfield has more than 25 years of experience, more than half of which has been focused on the private equity and real estate investment industries. Previously she worked eight years at Allstate Investments LLC, where she most recently was director of global private equity real estate. Yang joins Cornerstone after four years at JP Morgan Asset Management (NYSE: JPM), where he was executive director of global real assets, responsible for capital raising, investor relations and business development for institutional investors in the Europe-Middle-East-Africa region investing in global real estate. Cornerstone has nearly $50 billion in assets under management.


DLC—The Woodland Hills, California, provider of on-demand finance and accounting solutions, including M&A due diligence and post-merger financial integration services, has hired Sonata Taman and Erin Cohen client services directors in Los Angeles. Taman started her career at Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) as an SAP project manager, worked as project manager ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and Equity Residential, and then worked in business development at RHMR. Cohen has more than 15 years of professional services experience in the finance and accounting space including Century Group, Resources Global and Lucas Group. Her business development efforts Fortune 500 clients in media and entertainment, healthcare, aerospace and defense, and financial services. Before joining DLC, Cohen was a director of business development with RGP.


Dresner Partners—The Chicago-based middle-market investment bank hired Steve Horkay as a managing director to cover technology and lead the firm’s efforts in private investments in public equity (PIPE) transactions. Horkay will work from Dresner’s Irvine, California, office. He has more than 20 years of investment banking experience advising and raising capital for public and privately-held companies.  Before Dresner, Horkay was a senior vice president at Wedbush Securities, leading coverage of some technology investment banking industries, including transactions in M&A, public offerings and private placements of equity and debt, including PIPEs.  Horkay has also served as a senior banker in Banc of America Securities’ media and telecommunications group, completing public equity, M&A and leveraged finance transactions in the wireless, competitive local exchange carrier, broadcasting, cable TV and telecommunications industries.


Haynes and Boone LLP –The international corporate law firm has added the partners and associates of Mavrakakis Law Group LLP, a boutique intellectual property firm that Haynes executives say will play to their strengths in private equity, finance and real estate in the Chicago market. All Mavrakakis personnel will join, expanding the Haynes and Boone office in Palo Alto, California, and adding a new office for the firm in Chicago. Mavrakakis partners Tom Mavrakakis and Brian Kwok in Chicago and Jim Shimota and Howard Levin in Chicago are part of the move. Mavrakakis is the former director of patent strategy at Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL). Kwok represents clients in patent licensing and litigation matters. Levin focuses patent litigation and arbitration, strategic patent portfolio management, patent acquisitions and counseling. Shimota concentrates on post-issuance patent practice. Associates joining Haynes and Boone are Amy Liang and Christopher Lubeck in Palo Alto, and Aaron Taggart and Braden Tilghman in Chicago.


Morrison & Foerster –One of the global law firm’s partners, Roxann Henry, has assumed the position of chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Antitrust Law for the 2015-2016 term. Henry is a partner in Morrison & Foerster’s global antitrust law practice group. The ABA’s antitrust section has more than 8,000 members from antitrust and competition law, trade regulation, consumer protection, and economics fields. Henry has practiced antitrust law for more than 30 years, including antitrust, including criminal defense, treble damage litigation, and merger and non-merger investigations. She has appeared before federal and state courts, the Federal Trade Commission, every regional office of the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice, state attorneys general and overseas authorities.


Saul Ewing LLP—The U.S. and international law firm has added Michael Gold as a partner in its venture capital/private equity and M&A practices, working from the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Gold has more than 20 years of experience, including work in stock and asset acquisitions, mergers, joint venture arrangements, and public and private offerings. He has also advised companies, boards of directors and outside shareholders regarding corporate governance practices, proxy solicitations, tender offers and federal securities issues. Gold’s experience also includes working with investors and issuers in private equity, hedge fund and venture finance transactions; advising emerging-growth companies on organization, venture finance, employee and technology issues; and counseling clients on delisting procedures, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission no-action requests, securities law violations and internal control concerns.  Before becoming an attorney, Gold was a financial analyst for Goldman, Sachs & Co. Before joining Saul Ewing, Gold was a partner at Baker Botts.


TSG Consumer Partners LLC—The San Francisco-based strategic equity investor has promoted Michael Layman to principal of the firm. Layman joined TSG in 2009 and has worked with several TSG  investments, including Planet Fitness, e.l.f. Cosmetics and popchips. He has also worked in structuring and conducting due diligence for new investment opportunities, as well as working with TSG’s partner companies. TSG is an investment firm focused on the branded consumer sector, including the food, beverage, restaurant, beauty, personal care, household, apparel and accessories, and ecommerce sectors. The firm has about $3 billion in equity capital under management.


Zepponi & Company—The Santa Rosa, California-based M&A advisory firm has hired Kevin O'Brien as a senior vice president responsible for project management and market analysis in the firm's core wine business, as well as its broader activities in the beverage alcohol industry. O'Brien has more than 10 years of experience advising businesses in the beverage, consumer packaged goods and manufacturing sectors, with his beverage experience focused in the wine, beer and distilled spirits industries. Before Zepponi, he was director of business advisory at Irvine & Company, a beverage alcohol accounting and consulting firm, where he worked with winery, brewery and distillery clients on corporate advisory matters. Before that, he was an investment analyst for GESD Capital partners, a San Francisco-based consumer product focused private equity firm. He started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the firm’s private company group.