Six Goulston & Storrs Attorneys Named to Lawdragon’s 2024 Leading 500 U.S. Dealmakers

Goulston & Storrs, an Am Law 200 firm, is pleased to announce that directors Daniel Avery, Gene Barton, Jonathan Calla, Kristen Ferris, Gregory Kaden, and Allison Sherrier, members of the firm’s world-class Corporate Group, have been named to Lawdragon’s 2024 list of 500 Leading Dealmakers in America. According to Lawdragon, “these are the lawyers who know how to get the deal done.”

Daniel Avery is a senior corporate and M&A attorney who has overseen the acquisition or disposition of hundreds of middle market companies in the U.S. and around the world. He represents both PE and strategic buyers and sellers, across a variety of industries. Avery is a nationally known expert on M&A deal term market trends and was a long-time member of the ABA’s Private Target Study Working Group, responsible for publishing the biennial Private Target Mergers & Acquisitions Deal Points Study. He received his J.D. from Boston University School of Law.

Gene Barton is a well-known dealmaker with over 30 years of experience leading middle-market M&A transactions for U.S. and international clients in a wide spectrum of industries, including healthcare. Over the past five years alone, he has been lead counsel on more than $3 billion in M&A transactions. His clients include private and public company sellers, PE firms, strategic acquirers, entrepreneurs, and a broad range of technology companies. Barton received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Boston University School of Law.

Jonathan Calla is a corporate lawyer with 17 years of experience in M&A, PE, venture capital, and securities offering transactions. His clients include publicly listed international businesses, private investment firms, privately-held emerging and middle-market companies – where he frequently serves as outside general counsel – and PE sponsors and their portfolio companies. Calla represents clients on both buy-side and sell-side mergers and acquisitions in a wide range of industries, and often represents companies from formation through multiple fundraising rounds to exit. Calla received his J.D. from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.

Kristen Ferris has more than 17 years of experience representing middle market companies in M&A, PE, and venture capital transactions. She is sought after for her practical approach and ability to handle complicated, multi-faceted global acquisition and disposition deals in a wide range of industries. In addition to being a key contributor to the growth of Goulston & Storrs’ Corporate Group, Ferris is co-chair of the firm’s Strategic Growth Committee and is a member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee. She is particularly focused on helping other women succeed in the M&A arena and was recently named a 2023 “Top Women of Law” by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Ferris received her J.D., cum laude, from Suffolk University Law School.

Gregory Kaden has over 23 years of experience representing buyers and sellers in middle-market M&A transactions across a broad range of industries, including real estate, hospitality, consulting services, manufacturing, information technology, and health care. He also serves as general outside corporate counsel to a number of middle market portfolio companies owned by PE firms and counsels clients in the full spectrum of bankruptcy and restructuring matters. Kaden is co-chair of Goulston & Storrs’ Corporate Group and serves on numerous firm committees. He was named a 2022 “Go To Business Transaction Lawyer” by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and was selected for inclusion in the 2022 edition of Best Lawyers in America®. Kaden received his J.D., with honors, from the University of Chicago Law School.

Allison Sherrier represents middle market, private companies in M&A and corporate reorganization transactions. She has extensive experience counseling buyers and sellers in both domestic and cross-border M&A transactions across many industries including healthcare, technology, manufacturing, and retail. Sherrier serves on the ABA’s Private Target Study Working Group, which publishes the Private Target Mergers & Acquisitions Deal Points Study. She is a member of the firm’s Hiring Committee, Inclusion Advisory Committee, and Summer Committee. She received her J.D., magna cum laude, from American University Washington College of Law.