People

The team.

Senior lawyers from leading global firms, working together on every deal.

Partners

David A. Shulman

Founding Partner · Co-Chair, Mergers & Acquisitions

New York

David Shulman has advised public and private companies, founders, and boards on more than $25 billion in M&A transactions over the past three decades. He is known for sell-side mandates in complex, founder-led exits and for his role as trusted counsel to boards navigating contested situations, take-privates, and strategic combinations. Clients describe him as the lawyer they call when a deal has to close and the path is not obvious.

Before co-founding Shulman Goodwin, David was a partner in the M&A group at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, where he spent 22 years. He has been recognized in Chambers USA (Band 1, M&A) every year since 2012 and is a frequent lecturer at Columbia Law School on deal negotiation and fiduciary duties.

Rebecca J. Goodwin

Founding Partner · Co-Chair, Private Equity

New York

Rebecca Goodwin represents private equity sponsors across the full transaction lifecycle - platform acquisitions, add-ons, recapitalizations, secondaries, and exits. Her practice focuses on the middle market, where she has closed more than 150 sponsor-led transactions ranging from $75M to $2B. She is particularly active in healthcare services, industrial tech, and B2B software, and is a go-to counsel for sponsor-to-sponsor deals where speed and certainty matter.

Rebecca was previously a partner in the private equity group at Kirkland & Ellis, where she practiced for 14 years before co-founding Shulman Goodwin. She serves on the board of the Private Equity Women's Network and is a contributing author to the Practitioner's Guide to Sponsor M&A (3d ed.).

Marcus T. Okafor

Partner · Cross-Border M&A

New York / London

Marcus Okafor leads the firm's cross-border practice, advising US and European clients on inbound and outbound strategic transactions, joint ventures, and minority investments. Dual-qualified in New York and England & Wales, he bridges the two systems on deals where structuring, regulatory clearance, and cultural fluency all matter. He has been lead counsel on transactions across 18 jurisdictions, with particular depth in the UK, Germany, the Nordics, and Nigeria.

Before joining Shulman Goodwin as a founding partner, Marcus was a senior associate and then counsel at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London and New York. He is a member of the International Bar Association's M&A Committee and speaks regularly on FDI screening regimes and CFIUS reform.

Associates