Kramer Levin Elevates Five to Counsel and Three to Special Counsel

Kramer Levin is pleased to announce the promotion of Tristan Bonneau, Elan Daniels, Allison D. Gray, Pauline Plancke and M. Mendel Trapedo to counsel, effective Jan. 1, 2024. The firm has also promoted Michelle Ben-David, William Cavanagh and Ralph C. Mayrell to special counsel, effective Jan. 1, 2024.

New Counsel:

Tristan Bonneau – Private Funds, Paris

Tristan Bonneau focuses on structuring private debt, infrastructure and private equity funds. Tristan also advises management companies with respect to financial regulations, approvals, marketing, ESG integration and portfolio investments and divestments. He earned his master’s degree in economic law from Sciences Po Paris and his master’s degree in general private law from Panthéon-Assas University. He is promoted from associate.

Elan Daniels – Bankruptcy and Restructuring, New York

Elan Daniels advises on corporate restructuring and bankruptcy matters, including representing creditor committees, major secured and unsecured creditors, bondholders, and other stakeholders in both in- and out-of-court restructurings of distressed businesses and in municipal insolvencies. Known for his creativity, Elan routinely advises clients on the opportunities and risk attendant to their positions in distressed situations. He earned his J.D., with honors, from The George Washington University Law School and his B.A., cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania. He is promoted from senior attorney, after serving in investment roles at two New York-based hedge funds.

Allison D. Gray – Immigration, New York

Allison D. Gray advises and represents advertising and marketing agencies, arts organizations, and universities in employment-based immigration matters. Among her most notable work, she has represented a university in an investigation of its H-1B Labor Condition Applications conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor, won an appeal filed with the Administrative Appeals Office that reversed the denial of an extraordinary ability immigrant petition, and filed hundreds of successful O-1 petitions and immigrant petitions for prominent artists and multinational managers. Allison earned her J.D., cum laude, from New York University School of Law and her B.A., magna cum laude, from Davidson College. She is promoted from special counsel.

Pauline Plancke – Employment Law, Paris

Pauline Plancke advises French and foreign companies on employment and labor law, including both individual relations (management of day-to-day human resources issues, termination procedures, negotiation of transactional agreements) and collective aspects of labor law (restructuring, collective bargaining, setting up staff representation bodies), labor-related aspects of mergers and acquisitions, and reorganization. Pauline takes a special interest in issues relating to harassment and gender equality. She conducts internal investigations following reports of psychological and sexual harassment. Pauline earned her master’s degree in social and health law from the University of Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas. She earned her Master 1 in social law from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. She is promoted from senior associate.

Mendel Trapedo – Real Estate, New York

Mendel Trapedo represents purchasers, sellers, investors, developers, lenders and borrowers as well as landlords and tenants in a full range of real estate transactions such as sales and acquisitions, financings, and joint venture and leasing transactions across a broad class of asset types, including commercial, industrial, retail, residential, gaming, hospitality and entertainment properties. Mendel earned his Master of Laws from USC, Gould School of Law. He earned an LL.B. from the University of the Witwatersrand and a B.COM. in law and finance from the University of the Witwatersrand. He is promoted from special counsel.

New Special Counsel:

Michelle Ben-David – Litigation, New York

Michelle Ben-David represents individuals and entities in regulatory enforcement actions, criminal trials and internal investigations involving the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, among others. Michelle’s work also extends to international clients under investigation by U.S. authorities. She earned her J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law and her B.A. and B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley. She is promoted from associate.

William (Bill) Cavanagh – Corporate, New York  

Bill Cavanagh advises sponsors, underwriters, issuers, lenders, borrowers and other service providers in both warehouse securitization facilities and term securitizations across a variety of esoteric asset classes, including solar leases and power purchase agreements (e.g., back-leverage solar tax equity vehicles), solar loans, clean energy land leases, venture loans, health care and life sciences loans, recurring revenue loans, timeshare loans, commercial property assessed clean energy (PACE) assets, life and structured settlement assets, and auto loans. Bill earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University and his B.A. from Binghamton University. He is promoted from associate.

Ralph C. Mayrell – Litigation, Washington, DC

Ralph C. Mayrell handles complex commercial litigation and appeals, including the False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Act and government contracts disputes; civil antitrust claims; bankruptcy adversary proceedings; and commercial disputes between businesses. Ralph has represented clients from several industries, including the defense, health care, pharmaceutical, plastics manufacturing, banking and energy sectors. He earned his J.D., with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law and his B.A., cum laude, from Harvard College. He is promoted from associate.