Dhiya El-Saden is a partner in the Los Angeles Office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where he has practiced since joining the firm in 1977. He is a member of the firm's Corporate Department. Mr. El‑Saden is Co-Chair for both the firm’s Financial Institutions Group and the firm's Real Instate Investment Trust (REIT) Practice. He has extensive experience in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures of business entities, including hostile takeovers, proxy contests, acquisitions through bankruptcy and leveraged buyouts; recapitalizations and restructurings; public offerings and private placements of debt and equity securities, representing issuers of securities and investment banking firms; other corporate securities matters; corporate governance matters, including representation of special or independent committees of boards of directors; limited liability companies and partnerships; and general business law matters. His experience extends to business sectors including the banking and thrift industries, real estate investment trusts, investment banking, private equity funds, mutual funds, investment companies, business development companies, the entertainment industry, the hotel/gaming industry and the aerospace industry. Mr. El‑Saden's clients range from privately owned start-up companies to New York Stock Exchange-listed companies.
Mr. El‑Saden's representation of public company boards of directors and committees thereof, including special committees of independent directors, has involved internal investigations, responses to merger and acquisition proposals and corporate governance issues.
Mr. El-Saden has lectured extensively on securities laws, mergers and acquisitions, responsibilities of directors and audit committee members, and other corporate governance matters, in both business and legal forums.
Mr. El‑Saden graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1974. He received his law degree from UCLA in 1977, where he was a member of the UCLA Law Review and the Order of the Coif.
Mr. El-Saden is a member of the American Bar Association and the Los Angeles County Bar Association.