Ilan S. Nissan

Ilan Nissan is the firm’s Head of Private Equity and M&A and is based in New York and Miami. He leads one of the firm’s largest and most active private equity businesses and advises many of the world’s most sophisticated asset managers, including leading private equity and venture capital firms, hedge funds, family offices, and multi-strategy investment platforms.

His clients include founders and CEOs of Fortune 50 companies, prominent media figures, and A-list artists and celebrities in connection with their investing and strategic activities.

With nearly four decades of experience, Ilan is widely regarded as one of the nation’s preeminent advisors in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and technology-driven investing. Ilan advises clients at moments when a transaction, leadership transition, governance issue, dispute, or capital decision could materially affect the direction of their organization. Clients turn to him for his experience and judgment — often seeking his guidance on matters where other firms are engaged.

Many of Ilan’s client relationships span decades and multiple generations of leadership. That continuity enables him to advise with a detailed understanding of the organization, its people, its long-term objectives, and its institutional risk profile. Ilan’s approach is distinguished by a combination of elite legal judgement, relationship intelligence, and an investor’s lens, enabling him to cut through complexity, identify the true sources of risk and leverage, and deliver clear, pragmatic solutions in high-stakes situations.

Ilan is particularly known for advising private investment firms on succession, internal governance, partner economics, carry and compensation arrangements, leadership transitions, and sensitive negotiations among founders and succeeding generations.

For more than two decades, Ilan has been an adjunct professor of law at Columbia Law School, where he teaches mergers and acquisitions, private equity, venture capital, and transactional strategy.

Mergers & Acquisitions / Private Equity. Advises leading private equity sponsors, investment firms, founders, and management teams on complex mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, divestitures, securities offerings, strategic investments, and liquidity transactions.

Strategic Counseling. Provides senior-level advice on critical business and legal matters, including leadership transitions, governance disputes, acquisitions, high-stakes litigation, governmental investigations, and complex regulatory issues. He also has substantial international experience involving cross-border acquisitions, investments, and joint ventures.

Growth Equity, Venture Capital & Technology. Represents growth equity and venture capital funds, family offices, founders, and operating companies, with a concentration on software, internet, artificial intelligence, and technology infrastructure. Ilan has advised investors across multiple waves of AI deployment, from early machine learning platforms to today’s large-scale foundation model infrastructure, helping sponsors and operators navigate both technical disruption and capital strategy.

Fund Formation & Sponsor Advisory. Advises on the formation and restructuring of private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, co-investment vehicles, pledge funds, and secondary transactions. He is frequently consulted by senior sponsors on internal economics, governance, carry structures, compensation frameworks, and sensitive inter-partner negotiations.

Executive Compensation. Represents investors and management teams in structuring executive employment arrangements and equity-based incentive programs.

Film, Media & Entertainment. Represents media personalities and A-list artists in their investment and business activities. He was a producer of the Israeli television series Red Alert, which documents the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, reflecting a broader commitment to projects at the intersection of culture, impact, and storytelling.

Ilan is a co-founder of Soirée Miami Beach, a luxury swimwear and resortwear brand. As an active entrepreneur, he brings an operator’s perspective to his advisory work, offering clients practical insight into brand-building, growth, and execution beyond traditional legal frameworks.

Ilan is actively engaged as an angel investor in early-stage technology companies, reflecting a sustained focus on innovation, product development, and the evolution of technology markets. Ilan also maintains active involvement with the Montreux Jazz Festival Miami, reflecting his commitment to music, cultural platforms, and global creative exchange.

Beyond his legal practice, Ilan maintains active interests across technology, investing, entrepreneurship, media, music, and human performance. His engagement across these fields informs the curiosity, pattern recognition, and practical judgment he brings to complex business and legal matters.

Ilan serves on the boards of directors and advisory boards of multiple asset managers and operating businesses, including Sbarro Holdings, Inc.

He is proficient in Arabic, French, Hebrew, and Spanish and is proudly from Ramat Gan, Israel.

Prior to joining the firm, Ilan was Chairman of the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at O’Melveny & Myers LLP. He was previously a partner at O’Sullivan Graev & Karabell LLP and began his legal career at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, all in New York City.

Ilan was named Lawyer of the Year for Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity by The Best Lawyers in America and is consistently recognized by Best Lawyers, Legal 500 US, Super Lawyers, and International Financial Law Review.