Bryan Rakes Named a Co-Chair of Venable’s Business Division
Venable LLP is pleased to announce that W. Bryan Rakes will join Lisa A. Tavares as a co-chair of the firm’s Business Division. As a co-chair, Mr. Rakes will be a member of the firm’s Management Committee.
Stuart P. Ingis, chairman of Venable, said, “Bryan is an accomplished attorney who is well respected by both clients and colleagues. His leadership within the firm is an excellent representation of Venable’s values. I look forward to the achievements he and Lisa will accomplish together as co-chairs of our Business Division.”
Mr. Rakes, who is based in the firm’s Baltimore office, also serves as a co-chair of Venable’s national Mergers and Acquisitions Practice. He is a pragmatic and experienced business attorney who brings a collaborative approach to corporate matters. He assists clients with complex mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, licensing transactions, joint ventures, and financing transactions. Mr. Rakes represents the business interests of private equity groups, family offices, operating businesses, and senior and subordinated lenders. He often acts as outside general counsel to businesses throughout the United States.
Mr. Rakes has held a faculty appointment in the entrepreneurship and management program at Johns Hopkins University since 2012. He is an active member and former board member of the Maryland Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth and is currently the president of the board of directors of Everyman Theatre. Mr. Rakes is also a former board member and current advisory committee member for Civic Works, a Baltimore-area nonprofit and an AmeriCorps organization that strengthens Baltimore’s communities through education, skills development, and community service.
Venable’s Business Division encompasses a broad range of fully integrated practices addressing every facet of business law, including bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, real estate, corporate, labor and employment, employee benefits, wealth planning, and tax law. This division is trusted by Fortune 100 companies, international and regional entrepreneurs, family businesses, venture capitalists, nonprofits, individuals, and families to provide sophisticated advice on a variety of business matters. Its practices are consistently ranked among the best in the nation by Chambers USA, Legal 500, U.S. News Best Lawyers, and Forbes, which recently recognized Venable as one of “America’s Top Corporate Law Firms.”
Venable LLP is an American Lawyer Global 100 law firm headquartered in Washington, DC that serves as primary counsel to a worldwide clientele of large and mid-sized organizations, nonprofits, high-net-worth entrepreneurs, and other individuals. With more than 850 professionals in California, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Virginia, and Washington, DC, the firm strategically advances its clients’ objectives in the United States and around the globe. Venable advises clients on a broad range of business and regulatory law, legislative affairs, complex litigation, and the full range of intellectual property disciplines. For more information, please visit https://www.venable.com/.
