NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 29, 2026--
Marcello Hallake has joined Dorsey & Whitney LLP as a Partner in the Mergers & Acquisitions group in New York, the international law firm announced today.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260129023067/en/
With more than 30 years of experience, Marcello is a leading cross-border and international corporate attorney focused on high-profile global M&A transactions. He counsels clients on high-stakes strategic matters involving mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, joint ventures, privatizations, and project and structured financings. He is known for guiding clients through transactions in highly regulated and politically sensitive environments, with particular strength in the energy, natural resources, infrastructure, telecommunications, media, healthcare, and technology sectors. Marcello speaks French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch.
Marcello joins Dorsey from DLA Piper, where he was a Partner. Marcello received his J.D. from Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), his L.L.M. from Georgetown University Law School, his Masters in Public and International Affairs from Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), and his B.A. in Law from UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles.
“Clients value Marcello for his deep regional knowledge, commercial judgment, and ability to navigate complex legal, regulatory, and cultural landscapes to deliver practical, business-driven solutions,” said Jonathan Van Horn, Mergers & Acquisitions Practice Group Co-Leader for Dorsey. “We are thrilled to welcome Marcello to our Mergers & Acquisitions team and our growing New York office.”
“Dorsey’s M&A practice is renowned for its long-standing track record, having executed hundreds of high-stakes global transactions totaling billions in value,” said Marcello Hallake. “I am eager to join this distinguished team and deliver exceptional results for our clients.”
About Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Clients have relied on Dorsey as a valued business partner since 1912. With locations across the United States and in Canada, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region, Dorsey provides results-oriented, grounded counsel for its clients' legal and business needs. Dorsey represents a number of the world's most successful companies from a wide range of industries, including banking & financial institutions; development & infrastructure; energy & natural resources; food, beverage & agribusiness; healthcare & life sciences; and technology.
Marcello Hallake joined Dorsey & Whitney LLP as a Partner in the Mergers & Acquisitions group in New York.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran fired on targets across the Middle East while American and Israeli airstrikes hit the Islamic Republic early Friday as the war neared the end of its fifth week unabated and the U.N. Security Council prepared to meet over Tehran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite claims from the U.S. and Israel that Iran’s military capabilities have been all but destroyed, Tehran has continued to keep the pressure on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors. Bahrain and Kuwait both reported early morning barrages from Iran, while Israel warned of incoming missiles.
Activists reported strikes around Tehran and the central city of Isfahan, but it wasn’t immediately clear what was hit.
Iran’s attacks on Gulf region energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas transits in peacetime, have sent oil prices skyrocketing and is impacting global economies.
Spot prices of Brent crude, the international standard, were around $109 early Friday, up more than 50% from Feb. 28 when Israel and the U.S. started the war with their attacks on Iran.
Shipping had flowed freely through the strait before the war, but U.S. President Donald Trump has said it’s not now Washington’s responsibility to get the waterway reopened, instead putting the onus on others, saying this week that the countries that depend more on fuel shipped through Hormuz should “build some delayed courage” and go “take it.”
The U.N. Security Council was expected to vote Saturday on a proposal from Bahrain that would authorize defensive action to ensure vessels can safely transit the strait. Bahrain’s initial draft would have allowed countries to “use all necessary means” to secure the strait, but Russia, China and France — who have veto power on the Council — expressed opposition to approving the use of force.
Speaking Thursday in South Korea, French President Emmanuel Macron said the American expectation that the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened by force was unrealistic.
Macron said a military operation “would take an infinite amount of time and would expose anyone passing through the strait to coastal threats from (Iran’s) Revolutionary Guard." He added that reopening of the strait “can only be done in coordination with Iran,” through negotiations that would follow a potential ceasefire.
Talks organized by Britain and involving more than 40 countries focused on political rather than military means to secure the strait. The nations, which didn't include the U.S., urged increased diplomatic pressure on Iran and possible sanctions.
More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran during the war, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
More than 1,300 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon, where Israel has launched a ground invasion in its fight with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militant group. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.
Rising reported from Bangkok. AP journalists Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel,Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A boy who fled with his family following Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sits inside the van they are using as shelter in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Israeli security forces and rescue teams inspect a site struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva, Israel,Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
