LOS ANGELES — March 18, 2013Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, today announced that Anita Sabine has joined the Los Angeles office as a partner in the Real Estate and Land Use practice. Sabine comes to the firm from O’Melveny & Myers LLP. 

Sabine’s practice focuses on real estate investment and development. She has more than a decade’s experience representing developers, lenders and real estate investment trusts (REITs) in matters ranging from acquisitions, entitlement and finance to leasing and like-kind exchanges. 

Sabine has also worked in project development and infrastructure, representing owners, sponsors, developers and investors in transactions involving infrastructure assets, public-private development projects and other projects with significant government involvement. She has handled secured and unsecured financings, private placements of debt, leveraged acquisition financings, complex subordination and intercreditor arrangements, restructuring transactions, and distressed debt investments.

“Anita is not only a truly excellent real estate lawyer, she is well known for her energy and involvement in the community,” said Tom Muller, co-chair of Manatt’s Real Estate and Land Use practice group. “She has built a great practice handling some very complex projects. She’s a terrific addition to our nationally recognized real estate team. We are delighted to have her join us.”

“With more than 50 real estate professionals, Manatt’s Real Estate and Land Use practice was clearly the best platform for continued growth of my practice,” Sabine said. “The firm is among the top in the nation for real estate and development. The opportunity to work with lawyers I’ve long admired was one I could not pass up. I am really happy to be joining Manatt.”

Sabine received the Outstanding Young Lawyer Award in 2011 from the Real Property Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and was named one of Real Estate Forum’s Women of Influence in 2009. She sits on the Los Angeles Community Involvement Committee, serves on the Executive Committee of Central City Association, and has served on the Planning Committee for the USC Real Estate and Business Law Forum.

Sabine earned her B.A. from the University of California, Irvine, and her J.D. from the University of Southern California.

About Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, is one of the nation’s leading law firms, with offices strategically located in California (Los Angeles, Orange County, Palo Alto, San Francisco and Sacramento), New York (New York City and Albany) and Washington, D.C. The firm represents a sophisticated client base — including Fortune 500, middle-market and emerging companies — across a range of practice areas and industry sectors. For more information, visit www.manatt.com.