NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 18, 2025--
Sterlington PLLC announced today that Lawrence A. Waks, a leading corporate lawyer renowned for advising A-list celebrities, global brands, and businesses on high-stakes M&A and strategic transactions, has joined the firm as a partner. Waks’ addition strengthens Sterlington’s growing corporate practice, particularly in the entertainment, media, and food & beverage sectors.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250318691082/en/
“Larry is a highly respected dealmaker who has been at the center of some of the most high-profile celebrity-backed transactions in recent years,” said Christopher S. Harrison, managing partner of Sterlington. “His ability to bridge the worlds of entertainment, celebrity brands, and corporate dealmaking makes him a natural fit for our firm as we continue to build a platform that caters to top-tier clients across industries.”
Amongst the many deals that Waks has worked on in recent years, he advised founders George Clooney, Rande Gerber, and Mike Meldman on the $1 billion sale of their Casamigos Tequila brand to Diageo, achieving the highest return on investment in spirits industry history. He also advised on the $600 million sale of Aviation Gin (part-owned by Ryan Reynolds) to Diageo and the sale of Conor McGregor’s Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey to Proximo Spirits. His experience spans M&A, joint ventures, and intellectual property transactions across the entertainment, media, food & beverage, retail, and consumer goods industries.
“Sterlington offers a dynamic and entrepreneurial platform that aligns perfectly with my practice and my clients’ needs,” said Waks. “The firm’s innovative culture and top-tier talent make it an ideal place for me to continue advising high-profile clients on their most complex and significant transactions.”
Waks’ arrival is part of Sterlington’s ongoing growth strategy. In the past six months, the firm has added a series of notable lateral partners, including Robert Ray, the former federal prosecutor who succeeded Kenneth Starr as independent counsel; Jonathan Sherman, a decorated litigator who spent much of his career at Boies Schiller Flexner; Courtney Rockett, another highly regarded longtime Boies Schiller litigator; Michael Smith, an international corporate lawyer; Jesse Sherrett, an international arbitration lawyer from A&O Shearman; and Paul Jebely, a leading private aviation attorney serving ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
Before joining Sterlington, Waks was a partner at Reed Smith and Foley & Lardner, with earlier experience at Jackson Walker and Milgrim Thomajan & Lee. Waks serves as a member of the governing committee of the ABA Entertainment and Sports Law Forum. He has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer and is listed in Best Lawyers in America. He holds a J.D. from St. Mary’s University School of Law and a B.Sc. (Hons) from Trinity University. He is admitted to practice in Texas and New York and is fluent in Spanish, French, Russian, and Portuguese.
About Sterlington
Sterlington PLLC is an international law firm focusing on complex corporate, litigation, and transactional matters. By offering high-level legal expertise and customized client solutions, the firm helps clients around the world achieve their business goals. Visit us at www.sterlingtonlaw.com.
Lawrence Waks, partner, Sterlington
U.S. President Donald Trump said the military could end its Iran offensive in two to three weeks and will shift responsibility for the Strait of Hormuz to countries that rely on it for oil and shipping as the White House announced a prime-time presidential address Wednesday evening on the war.
Trump expressed frustration Tuesday with allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the U.S. war effort, telling them to “go get your own oil.” Trump recently has vacillated between insisting there is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war.
He said the U.S. “will not have anything to do with” what happens next in the vital waterway that has been closed by the Islamic Republic. Instead, he told reporters, the responsibility for keeping the strait open will rest with countries that rely on it. Gulf states rely on the waterway for both exports and imports, including food, and 20 percent of the world's oil supply flows through it.
U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 on Tuesday, as the Iran war continues to push fuel prices higher worldwide. Analysts say those high fuel costs will trickle into groceries as businesses’ transportation and packaging costs pile up.
Here is the latest:
A drone attack has killed a citizen of Bangladesh in Fujairah, one of the UAE’s seven emirates, authorities said.
He was killed Wednesday when Emirati air defense systems intercepted a drone, and shrapnel landed in a farm, the Fujairah media office said.
The fatality has brought the death toll in the UAE to nine civilians and two soldiers. A Moroccan contractor with the UAE army was also killed in Bahrain.
Earlier Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed two Iranian drones.
Emergency personnel said an 11-year-old girl was severely wounded in central Israel in the latest missile attack from Iran.
Two more people suffered moderate injuries including a 13-year-old boy and a 36-year-old woman, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services.
Iran’s foreign minister has acknowledged receiving direct messages from U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.
The comments by Abbas Araghchi came in an interview with pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera aired late Tuesday. He insisted that the messages didn’t constitute negotiations.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly described Iran and America has having talks over the war, while Pakistan has been a key intermediary along with Egypt and Turkey during the conflict.
“I receive messages from Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations,” he said.
He added: “We do not have any faith that negotiations with the U.S. will yield any results. The trust level is at zero.”
Asked about a possible ground offensive by the U.S., Araghchi said “we are waiting for them.”
“We know very well how to defend ourselves,” Araghchi reportedly told the Qatar-based broadcaster. “In a ground war, we can do it even better. We are completely ready to confront any sort of ground attack. We hope they do not make such a mistake.”
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said in a preliminary count early Wednesday 21 people were also wounded in the strike in Jnah.
The strike came without warning, and Israel did not declare the target. When it does, it often says it is targeting operatives from the Hezbollah militant group.
Emergency workers rushed to the scene to search for victims.
Israel’s military warned the public Wednesday a missile was incoming from Yemen, yet another attack from the country’s Houthi rebels who have just entered the war on Iran’s side.
Air raid sirens went off in southern Israel, from Beersheba to the Mediterranean coast.
The warning, just around dawn, broke a long lull, more than 19 hours since the last time Israel’s military warned of an incoming missile launch from Iran, and more than six hours from the last alarms in the northern part of Israel, which in past days received near-constant fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon.
A drone attack by Iran and its allies hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a fire, authorities said.
The state-run KUNA news agency said the attack early Wednesday sparked a “large fire” at the airport.
It said there were no immediate injuries from the attack and firefighters were working to control the blaze.
Kuwait International Airport has been attacked before by Iran during the war. The KUNA report suggested the attack may have been launched by Iranian-supported militias in Iraq with Tehran’s support.
In another strike, Bahrain said early on Wednesday morning that it was working to extinguish a fire at a business facility that resulted from an Iranian attack.
Israel said early Wednesday it struck a plant supplying Iran’s theocracy with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, to allegedly use in a chemical weapons program. Iran acknowledged the strike on Tofigh Daru factory, but insisted it only supplied “hospital drugs” used in medical operations.
The strike happened Tuesday, both the Israelis and the Iranians said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted a picture of the factory in Tehran, writing on X: “The war criminals in Israel are now openly and unashamedly bombing pharmaceutical companies.”
Hospitals extensively use fentanyl to treat severe pain. But a small amount of the drug can be fatal.
Both Israel and the United States have warned in recent years Iran was experimenting with fentanyl in munitions. The U.S. previously pointed to Iranian academic research studying how Russia likely used a fentanyl derivative during the 2002 Moscow theater hostage seizure by Chechen militants.
Israel alleged Tofigh Daru supplied fentanyl to an advanced research institute in Tehran, known by its acronym SPND. The U.S alleges SPND has conducted research and testing that could be applicable to the development of nuclear explosive devices and other weapons.
The United Arab Emirates has barred Iranians from entering or transiting the country as the war rages, three major airlines said Wednesday.
Long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad, as well as the lower-cost airline FlyDubai, made the announcements on their websites.
Entry rules can sometimes be opaque in the autocratic United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, the three airlines agreed on the order. It said holders of 10-year Golden Visa residency permits could still enter the country.
Authorities have offered no official comment. But Dubai has already shut down the city-state’s Iranian Hospital and Iranian Club, institutions that date back to the time of the shah.
Residents and Israeli security forces inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A man inspect the wreckage of an Iranian missile that landed near the West Bank village of Marda, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike hits a building near the airport road in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A family who fled Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon warm themselves by a bonfire next to tents used as shelters in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
