McCormick & O'Brien, LLP

McCormick & O'Brien, LLP, is a New York City-based law firm whose professionals are dedicated to providing the highest quality legal services to our clients. Our lawyers provide practical business solutions to our clients' most complex, mission-critical legal problems. Our professionals combine top law school credentials and large law firm experience with an entrepreneurial spirit and common sense.

Our partners and senior attorneys are actively involved in all client matters, giving our clients direct access to a wealth of sophisticated experience.

Charles F. McCormick leads the Firm's Corporate practice. Charles has extensive experience advising private equity investors and emerging companies in a wide variety of investment and commercial transactions, including LBOs/MBOs, leveraged recapitalizations, non-bankruptcy restructurings, secured and unsecured debt financings, mergers, stock and asset acquisitions, sales, divestitures, joint ventures, public stock offerings, PIPE transactions and venture capital financings.

As Counsel to O'Melveny & Myers LLP and an Associate with White & Case, LLP Charles also advised directors and managers of public and private companies regarding general strategic planning, including intellectual property management and licensing, management employment arrangements, equity compensation programs, SEC, SBIC, Bank Holding Company and other regulatory compliance, NYSE and NASD listed company rules, strategic alliances, shareholder relations and corporate governance.

Charles has managed a variety of complex domestic and international investment and M&A transactions and possesses significant cross-border transactional experience in Canada, Mexico, Latin America and Eastern and Western Europe. A listing of select transactions that Charles has handled is available upon request.

Mr. McCormick is a 1995 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, where he completed course work in Corporate Finance at University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, was a Research Assistant to Professor Geoffrey Miller, a Moot Court Participant and a Clinical Fellow with the Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic Criminal Justice Project.

He was graduated summa cum laude from Fordham University, Fordham College, in 1991, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He is a member of the New York City and American Bar Associations. He is admitted to practice in New York State.

Liam O'Brien leads the Firm's Litigation and Securities Industry Regulatory Groups.  Liam has eighteen years of broad-based experience trying cases as lead counsel in federal and state courts and before arbitration panels. Liam has successfully argued appeals before the United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit and the New York State Appellate Division and has represented clients in a number of other jurisdictions including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Texas and Washington D.C. As Senior Counsel with Theodore A. Krebsbach & Associates P.C., Liam successfully represented many of the major national brokerage firms in arbitration proceedings and tried most of the arbitration matters which proceeded to hearing. As a senior corporate litigation associate at Mendes & Mount, he represented a wide variety of corporate clients in the aviation and chemical manufacturing industries and authored International Joint Ventures: Contractual Problems and Strategic Solutions, Aircraft Builders Council, Inc. Law Report, Fall 1994.

Mr. O'Brien is a 1991 graduate of Fordham University School of Law, where he was an editor/writer for the Fordham International Law Journal. He graduated cum laude from Fordham College, Fordham University in 1988. He is a member of the American Bar Association and New York County Bar Association where he is a member of the Arbitration and ADR committee. He is admitted to practice in New York State and before the United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts.

Elsa Ayoub leads the Firm's Immigration Law Practice. Her practice focuses exclusively on business immigration law. Elsa represents multinational corporations and individuals with respect to doing business and working in the United States in a wide range of industries, including media, financial services, advertising, education, entertainment, banking, consumer products, health care services and health care management services. Elsa has extensive experience representing corporate clients and their foreign national employees in all phases of the employment process and in the transfer of their foreign national executives, managers, professionals, investors, and performing artists to the United States.  In addition, Elsa represents foreign business owners who are immigrating to the United States to establish and manage U.S. operations and take their companies global.

Elsa also counsels individuals, who have demonstrated extraordinary ability in their field of endeavor and who do not require corporate sponsorship to immigrate to the United States.

Elsa has an exceptional record in advising companies with respect to the best short- and long-term visa strategies for their specific needs. Whether it be a short-term business visitor, a treaty trader or investor, a specialty occupation worker, an executive or managerial intracompany transferee, a physician or nurse, or an artist or businessperson of extraordinary ability. Her expertise also extends to representing clients on naturalization matters and in advising them regarding the retention or relinquishment of permanent residence status.

Elsa is a graduate of the American University, Washington College of Law in the District of Columbia, with a Masters of Laws in International Legal Studies. Prior to moving to the United States, she received the equivalent of a Juris Doctor and Masters in International Private Law from the Université Panthéon-Assas in Paris, France.

Elsa is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and is admitted to practice law before the Courts of the State of New York.

-- Outside deal counsel to several venture capital and middle market private equity

-- Outside counsel to various private, venture/PE backed companies

-- US counsel to various non-US based companies establishing a US presence

-- Business immigration counsel to various businesses and entrepreneurs

-- Extensive litigation practice in state and federal courts and in SEC and FINRA enforcement actions

-- Regulatory and litigation/enforcement defense counsel to numerous small to mid-sized broker-dealers