Ropes & Gray LLP announced today that Paul H. Dykstra and Paulita A. Pike have joined as partners in the firm’s investment management practice in Chicago.
Mr. Dykstra and Ms. Pike represent mutual funds and fund boards in a broad range of matters, including corporate governance, reorganizations, compliance issues, and internal and SEC investigations.
With more than 40 years of experience advising clients in the investment industry, Mr. Dykstra focuses principally on counseling mutual funds and fund boards throughout the United States. He previously served as the head of the investment management practice of a major law firm in Chicago. Mr. Dykstra received his LL.B. from Yale Law School and his A.B. from Princeton University.
Ms. Pike concentrates her practice advising mutual funds, fund boards, investment advisers and fund service providers on a full spectrum of issues, including governance matters, fund mergers, service provider contracts, D&O/E&O matters, and compliance and regulatory issues. Ms. Pike received her J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School and her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.
Mr. Dykstra and Ms. Pike will join Ropes & Gray’s award-winning investment management practice, which represents investment advisers and investment funds of all types and the independent directors of many of the largest and best-known fund groups, at a time of global industry expansion and increasing regulatory complexity. The firm’s investment management clients include more than 1,000 mutual funds, and investment management firms ranging from start-up ventures to those with over $1 trillion in assets under management. The addition of Mr. Dykstra and Ms. Pike is the latest step in the geographic expansion of the firm’s globally recognized investment management practice, which has recently added two partners in London and a counsel in Washington, D.C.
“Paul and Paulita are extremely talented attorneys who nicely complement our existing practice,” said Bryan Chegwidden, co-chair of Ropes & Gray’s investment management practice.
For their successful representation of independent directors and their unique perspective when representing clients, Mr. Dykstra and Ms. Pike have been recognized twice as “Independent Counsel of the Year” by Fund Directions, a highly respected mutual fund industry publication.
Mr. Dykstra and Ms. Pike are involved in numerous professional activities, including serving as adjunct professors at Northwestern University School of Law where they teach mutual fund regulation. In addition, they are frequent speakers at industry conferences and both serve on the advisory board of the Mutual Fund Directors Forum. Mr. Dykstra and Ms. Pike are also both members of the American Bar Association’s Investment Companies and Investment Advisers Subcommittees.
Mr. Dykstra and Ms. Pike join Ropes & Gray’s expanding asset management practice in Chicago, which includes hedge funds partner Deborah Monson, as well as private investment funds partner Matthew Posthuma, who joined the firm in January. The firm’s Chicago office has grown from just three lawyers in 2008 to more than 60 legal professionals in 2015, including 15 partners with the addition of Mr. Dykstra and Ms. Pike.
“The addition of Paul and Paulita to our Chicago office further aligns with the firm’s core strength in the investment management space and adds substantial depth of experience to our Midwest and national service offering,” said Asheesh Goel, managing partner of Ropes & Gray’s Chicago office.
In addition to Mr. Dykstra and Ms. Pike joining Ropes & Gray’s investment management practice, David G. Tittsworth, former president and CEO of the Investment Adviser Association, will join the firm’s Washington, D.C. office as counsel in June. Click here to view the press release for Mr. Tittsworth.
Source: www.ropesgray.com
