Hughes Hubbard Promotes Four to Partnership and Four to Counsel

New York, January 4, 2022 – Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP is pleased to announce that it has elected four new partners and four new counsel, effective Jan. 1, 2022.

“We are proud of this extraordinary group of lawyers, each of whom demonstrates outstanding professional excellence and exceptional client service,” said Ted Mayer, chair of Hughes Hubbard. “We look forward to the continued success of our new partners and counsel as they grow with us in their future careers.”

The new partners are M. Shams Billah, Erin Diers and Amina Hassan in the New York Office, and Marie-Agnès Nicolas in the Paris Office.

The firm also elevated to counsel Jan Dunin-Wasowicz in the Paris Office, Tyler Grove in the Washington, D.C. Office, and Malik Havalic and Alexander Rahn in the New York Office. 

New Partners 

M. Shams Billah is a member of the firm's Banking & Financial Services practice group in New York. He maintains a broad corporate finance practice and is one of the few practitioners in the field that equally represents both lenders and borrowers, providing full-service representation on the entire life cycle of a debt transaction, including thorough restructurings and bankruptcies. Shams has particular experience in acquisition finance and private credit transactions, and is an award-winning thought leader in the niche practice area of Islamic finance. In the past decade, Shams has advised on over $250 billion of transactions for lenders and corporate borrowers globally. He earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude. He received his B.A. in Economics (summa cum laude) from The George Washington University.

Erin Diers is a member of the firm’s Corporate Reorganization & Bankruptcy group in New York, where she focuses on bankruptcy, restructuring and commercial litigation. Erin’s diverse practice includes the representation of debtors and creditors in a wide range of matters, including in and out-of-court restructurings and bankruptcy-related litigation. Erin regularly advises clients on bankruptcy matters in connection with financings and capital markets offerings. She earned her J.D. from Columbia University in 2011 (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar) and received her B.A. (magna cum laude) from American University in 2008.

Amina Hassan is a member of the firm’s Litigation department in New York and represents U.S. and foreign clients in a wide range of matters. She is one of the firm’s up-and-coming trial lawyers. Her practice focuses on complex litigation and investigations. She has successfully represented clients in, among other diverse matters, securities litigation, employment litigation, auditor defense, products liability litigation, and bankruptcy and SIPA litigation. She has experience litigating class actions, handling cross-border matters and representing clients before regulatory and administrative agencies. Born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan, Amina received her B.A. from Lahore University of Management Sciences, graduating top of her class. Amina earned her J.D. from Columbia University in 2007, and was named Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar in 2005 and Charles Evans Hughes Fellow in 2007.

Marie-Agnès Nicolas is a member of the firm’s Anti-Corruption & Internal Investigations group and Litigation department in Paris. Her practice focuses on advising multinational companies on a range of cross-border anti-corruption and corporate compliance issues (including business & human rights), complex internal investigations, white collar criminal defense and commercial litigation matters. She has particular experience representing clients in connection with enforcement actions by the French prosecution services, anti-corruption controls by the French Anti-Corruption Agency, and inquiries by foreign regulators, including the U.S. DOJ and U.S. SEC. She is an accomplished scholar and frequently publishes articles and lectures on corporate compliance. Marie-Agnès earned M.As B.A. from Sciences Po Paris (Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris) and from Université Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne with Honors, in 2007 and 2008.

New Counsel 

Jan Dunin-Wasowicz is a member of the firm’s Anti-Corruption & Internal Investigations, International Trade, and International Arbitration groups. He focuses his practice on cross-border compliance and regulatory enforcement, multi-jurisdictional internal and government investigations, economic sanctions and trade controls matters with an emphasis on EU aspects, as well as international arbitration in both commercial and investor-State contexts. Having received full legal training in both the common law and civil law systems, Jan is an attorney-at-law and an avocat à la Cour. He earned his J.D. from Columbia University in 2012 (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar) and law degrees from the Université de Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne in 2012. He received his M.A. in Affaires publiques from Sciences Po Paris (Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris) in 2007.

Tyler Grove is a member of the firm’s International Trade group in Washington, D.C. He has experience in advising domestic and international clients on economic trade sanctions compliance and enforcement; advising companies in cross-border acquisitions on trade-related contractual provisions, due diligence and filings with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS); investigating and drafting complex voluntary disclosures submitted to the Commerce, State and Treasury Departments; conducting product classifications and de minimis analyses; and preparing Commodity Jurisdiction and Commodity Classification Automated Tracking System (CCATS) requests. Tyler earned his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School in 2011 and received his B.A. from Cornell University in 2007.

Malik Havalic is a member of the firm’s Litigation department in New York. Malik has worked on complex commercial disputes, with a focus on international commercial and investment arbitration. He has been engaged in AAA/ICDR, ICSID, ICC, JAMS and PCJ arbitrations, and represented both sovereign and investor parties in treaty arbitration. He has experience with the oil and gas, nuclear energy, aerospace and defense, life science, pharmaceuticals, financial services and technology, and news media industries, among others. He earned his J.D. from Columbia University in 2011 and received his B.A. from the University of Michigan in 2006 (Phi Beta Kappa).

Alexander Rahn is a member of the firm’s Corporate department in New York. His practice focuses on public and private mergers and acquisitions and corporate control contests, in which Alex advises strategic and financial investors as well as financial advisors. Alex earned his Master en Droit from Université Paris II - Panthéon Assas in 2012. In 2009, he received his LL.M from Cornell Law School and his J.S.D./Ph.D. from Humboldt University of Berlin (summa cum laude).