Laura M. Brank Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP has hired the one-time managing partner of Dechert LLP's Moscow office, whose practice focuses on advising corporations, banks, investment funds and other clients on mergers and acquisitions matters, cross-border transactions and matters related to emerging markets, the firm announced Tuesday.

Laura M. Brank has joined BCLP's corporate transactions practice as a partner, and will be based in Washington, D.C. She's practiced for more than 30 years, working to advise corporations, high-net-worth individuals and other clients on compliance with international sanctions, complex corporate and financial matters, and corporate governance issues.

Brank was the managing partner of Dechert's Moscow office until the firm shut its doors there in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, alongside White & Case LLP, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and Hogan Lovells.

Brank started her career with Winthrop Stimson Putnam & Roberts, which eventually became part of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP after several mergers.

Following that role, Brank moved to Chadbourne & Parke LLP, which merged in 2017 with Norton Rose Fulbright, where she spent more than 14 years She worked as the head of its Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States practice.

In an interview with Law360 Pulse Tuesday, Brank said she'd lived in Russia while working with Chadbourne & Parke, but in the last few years she'd been based in Dechert's London office, and had then moved to Washington. When Russia invaded Ukraine, she said she was living in the U.S.

"There was a tremendous amount of fallout from that invasion because I had represented so many companies that had invested in Russia over the last 30 years, and then I found myself helping a lot of those companies to exit the market," Brank said. "Which has been extraordinarily challenging because you need to get multiple government approvals just to sell assets sitting in Russia."

Brank said that largely her clients largely are public companies, but the deals she helps them with are private.

"So, it's a public company that is selling a subsidiary, maybe that was sitting in Russia, or even in Ukraine for that matter," she said. "People that are just exiting from the business that they previously had, or maybe consolidated that business. Maybe they had several different lines of manufacturing before, and now they've consolidated to one."

"But it's not a public deal, it's not selling a public company, it's really selling, usually, a subsidiary of a public company to another, private investor," Brank said.

Brank will continue working on those and other cross-border matters, and the firm said her practice "frequently intersects with adjacent practices such as international trade and arbitration."

Some of Brank's other focuses include transactional matters in the mining and energy industries, with technology, media and entertainment businesses, life sciences and manufacturing clients, the firm said.

Brank is a U.S. Army veteran and was stationed in Germany before earning her law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.

That experience helped catalyze her practice focused on cross-border transactions and with working with clients in Eastern Europe and across the globe, she said.

"I had always wanted to be a lawyer, but I didn't know what kind of lawyer," Brank said. "Having that background with Russia, and at the time, I was just starting out and the markets were just opening up in that part of the world ... so I was able to sort of get in at the ground level and start doing deals because I already spoke the language, I understood the culture and that's all attributable to my military career, where I basically studied Russian and studied the culture and the history."

Brank said she wanted to join BCLP because of its global platform. She also highlighted the firm's capabilities in the U.K.

"Just given my clients' interest in investments, I really needed a platform that could help service them in different parts of the world," she said. "And also the sector expertise was very interesting for me. Coming to a firm like this, I tend to represent a lot of corporations, and BCLP is known for acting for a lot of multinational corporations, so all of those things aligned with my interests."

Brank holds a master's of science degree in foreign service, international relations and affairs from Georgetown University, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She serves on Georgetown University Law Center's European Law Alumni Advisory Board, and the advisory board of Georgetown University's Master of Science in Foreign Service program, the firm said.

Brank is also a member of the advisory board of the CEELI Institute, a nonprofit focused on promoting the rule of law, and a board member of the Global Leaders Assembly Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes constructive engagement across borders on global challenges, the firm said.

Brank joined Dechert in 2009 as the managing partner of its office in Moscow and as head of its Russia practice, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Carol Osborne, the global department leader of BCLP's corporate and finance transactions group, said in a statement that Brank's hiring is part of the firm's "strategic approach to building our bench strength in cross-border, strategic corporate transactions," which aligned with Brank's "deep sector-focused experience and proven business generation capabilities."

"Her track record in complex, middle-market corporate and finance transactions and her established client base across key industries and geographies make her an invaluable addition to our global corporate team," Osborne said.

Todd Kaye, the firm's corporate transaction's practice group leader, said in a statement that Brank's hire "reflects our continued investment in top-tier talent with the global perspective and transactional depth our clients rely on."

"Her cross-border M&A experience and strong client relationships across emerging markets will add immediate value to our international platform and enhance our capabilities in Washington, D.C.," he said.