Seyfarth Shaw Expands CRE Finance Practice With Hire of Varuna Bhattacharyya 

Seyfarth Shaw has added a new partner from a rival law firm as part of a strategic effort to strengthen its commercial real estate finance arsenal.

The firm announced Monday the hiring of CRE finance attorney Varuna Bhattacharyya from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner in Seyfarth Shaw’s New York office. 

“It is rare to have a new partner who checks every box like Varuna” Paul Mattingly, national chair of Seyfarth’s real estate department, said in a statement. “Her wide range of lending experience, debt fund, repo lending, note-on-note and construction lending, as well as deep leasing expertise is a great fit for our clients.”

Bhattacharyya, who was a partner the last three years at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, has counseled borrowers and lenders throughout her two-decade legal career on a variety of financing structures.

Miles Borden, co-chair of Seyfarth’s Real Estate practice, said in a statement that Bhattacharyya is particularly “highly skilled” in navigating complex deals utilizing note-on-note, repo line, mezzanine and debt-like preferred equity financing.

A graduate of University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Bhattacharyya was named as one of Crain New York Business Notable Leaders in Real Estate 2023 by Crain’s New York Business. She is currently president-elect of the Asian American Bar Association of New York.

“Seyfarth offers a rare combination of longstanding strength and stellar reputation, paired with a genuine sense of growth and innovation,” Bhattacharyya said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to join this exceptional real estate team and honored by the opportunity to further develop my practice.”

Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com