COSTA MESA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 5, 2026--
Attorneys Terrence Allen, Megan Gess, and Andrew Hagopian have joined Dorsey & Whitney LLP as Partners in the Mergers & Acquisitions group in Southern California, the international law firm announced today. The three distinguished partners are uniting to collectively bring tremendous experience with upper- and middle-market M&A across a range of industries.
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“These seasoned attorneys bring extensive experience handling strategic transactions across most major industries,” said Jonathan Van Horn, Mergers & Acquisitions Practice Group Co-Leader for Dorsey. “We are delighted to welcome this team to our M&A group and our growing Southern California office.”
Terrence Allen
For more than 30 years, Terry has strategically represented private equity funds, public and private companies, and leading entrepreneurs in their most important and complex transactions. Terry’s experience extends to public and private mergers, asset acquisitions and dispositions, leveraged recapitalizations, and corporate reorganizations. Terry has also represented entrepreneurs and executives in the negotiation and implementation of employment, retention, and incentive agreements. Terry has handled transactions in nearly all major industries, including cross-border acquisitions, dispositions and joint ventures, public company acquisitions and sale transactions, and the acquisition and sale of more than 100 privately held businesses, many of them family-owned companies with major regional and national operations. Terry joins Dorsey from Loeb & Loeb LLP, where he was a Partner. Terry received his J.D. from University of Southern California, Gould School of Law, and his B.S. in Business Administration and B.A. in Journalism from University of Southern California.
Megan Gess
Megan has extensive experience guiding clients through sophisticated M&A, private equity, and commercial transactions. Her experience spans a variety of sectors including retail and consumer products, real estate, technology, healthcare, financial services, and life sciences, giving her a broad perspective on the business and regulatory considerations that shape corporate decision-making. Clients appreciate Megan’s thoughtful approach, her genuine interest in their business goals, and her talent for crafting solutions that move deals forward. She takes the time to understand the context behind each transaction and works closely with clients to develop creative, practical strategies for complex challenges. Megan is coming from Stradling, where she was a Partner. Megan received her J.D. from Loyola Law School and her B.A. from University of California, Davis.
Andrew Hagopian
Andrew brings years of in-house legal experience in regulated industries to guide clients through high‑stakes corporate transactions. Andrew has served in general counsel and other legal executive roles at both publicly traded and privately held growth companies, including a health and wellness franchise, a biotechnology and manufacturing start-up, and a sports betting entertainment company. This background gives him a practical understanding of how business priorities, operational realities, and legal risk intersect in fast‑moving environments. With a strong legal and technical foundation and significant work in regulated consumer industries, Andrew is adept at identifying risks, navigating growth-stage challenges, and leading the cross-functional coordination essential to M&A deals. Andrew joins Dorsey from Xponential Fitness, where he was Chief Legal Officer and provided strategic business and legal advice to company leadership. Andrew received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and his B.S. in Business Administration USC Marshall School of Business.
“I have had the pleasure of working with Andrew and with Megan at separate firms, and I’m thrilled to reunite with them at Dorsey,” said Terry Allen. “We are excited to join this eminent group together and deliver excellent 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.
Partner Andrew Hagopian brings years of in-house legal experience in regulated industries to guide clients through high‑stakes corporate transactions.
Partner Megan Gess has extensive experience guiding clients through sophisticated M&A, private equity, and commercial transactions.
Partner Terry Allen represents private equity funds, public and private companies, and leading entrepreneurs in their most important and complex transactions.
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Azerbaijan on Thursday accused Iran of a drone attack on its territory that injured four civilians, and it vowed to retaliate as the war in the Middle East reached into another country.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Iranian drones attacked its exclave of Nakhchivan and damaged an airport building.
President Ilham Aliyev accused Iran of carrying out “a groundless act of terror and aggression,” and said his military has been told to prepare and implement retaliatory measures. The Caspian Sea nation halted truck traffic across the nearly 700-kilometer (over 400-mile) border with Iran.
Iran’s general staff of the armed forces denied it had launched a drone toward Azerbaijan's territory. Iran has repeatedly denied targeting oil infrastructure and other civilian targets in the war, despite its drone and missile fire hitting those sites.
The incident highlighted Azerbaijan's complicated relationship with neighboring Iran, at a time when Baku also has developed military and economic ties with Israel.
Iran has grown increasingly concerned about the U.S. and Israel potentially leveraging the Islamic Republic’s various minority ethnic groups to destabilize the country as it comes under attack. Iran has a large Azeri population and Tehran has accused Baku of allowing Israeli intelligence to operate from there. Azerbaijan, in turn, has sought to give assurances that its territory won't be used for an attack on “neighborly and friendly” Iran.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said an Iranian drone crashed near the airport in Nakhchivan, and another one hit near a school. The Defense Ministry said four drones were fired by Iran toward Nakhchivan, and while one was disabled by Azerbaijani forces, the others targeted civilian facilities — including a school where classes were underway.
It was unclear if it was deliberate or an accident.
The country’s Prosecutor General’s office said four people were injured.
Nakhchivan is separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by a swath of Armenia about 40 kilometers (25 miles) wide. Nakhchivan accounts for about 6% of the country's territory, bordering Azerbaijan’s close ally Turkey and Iran.
“We will not tolerate this groundless act of terror and aggression committed against Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said at a meeting of his country's Security Council in remarks carried by the Azertac news agency. “Iranian officials must provide an explanation to the Azerbaijani side, an apology must be offered, and those who committed this terrorist act must be held criminally liable.”
He said Azerbaijan's military has been instructed “to prepare and implement retaliatory measures.”
The Defense Ministry vowed that Iran’s “attacks will not go unanswered,” adding it was preparing the “necessary response” to protect “the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country, ensure the safety of civilians and civilian infrastructure.” It didn’t elaborate.
Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan “is not participating in operations against Iran -– neither previously nor this time -– and will not do so.”
He added: “We have neither interest in conducting any operations against neighboring countries, nor does our policy allow it.”
The Foreign Ministry said Iran's “actions contradict the norms and principles of international law and contribute to increased tension in the region,” and summoned the Iranian ambassador to lodge a protest.
Baku demanded that Iran "provide an explanation and take the necessary urgent measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents,” the statement said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Aliyev to condemn the Iranian drone attack and express support. The Turkish Foreign Ministry urged a halt to strikes that target “third countries in the region and increase the risk of the war spreading.”
Azerbaijan in recent years has developed ties with Israel and the United States, with Iran's influence in the South Caucasus region diminishing. U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Aliyev and other top officials at the White House last year for a three-way summit with Armenia.
Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a deal aimed at ending a decades-long conflict between the countries, which included an agreement to create a transit corridor to the Nakhchivan exclave through Armenia to be called the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity.”
The proposed corridor “remains a thorn in the Tehran’s side, which could partially explain” the attack on the exclave, said Mario Bikarski, senior Eastern Europe and Central Asia analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.
Without the U.S.-financed corridor, the main overland route to Nakhchivan and Turkey from the main part of Azerbaijan is through Iran, which gives Tehran leverage, Bikarski said. If the corridor materializes, Iran’s regional influence would be weakened because the route would facilitate Baku's normalized trade and diplomatic relations with Turkey and Armenia, and “open up the South Caucasus to increased U.S. presence,” he added.
Aliyev also met Trump last month at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, as well as Israeli President Isaac Herzog. He later hosted Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in Azerbaijan and met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance last month.
Bikarski said tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan have somewhat decreased since 2024 following the election of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has an Azeri father and a Kurdish mother. Still, Azerbaijan’s close ties with Israel makes it "a plausible target of hostile Iranian actions,” he added.
In recent days, however, Baku appeared to try to assuage any concerns Iran might have over its ties with Israel and its possible role in the war, which began Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel unleashed a series of strikes and killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Aliyev was among world leaders who sent a message of condolence over Khamenei's killing to Pezeshkian. On Wednesday, Aliyev visited the Iranian Embassy in Baku to offer his condolences personally to Ambassador Mojtaba Demirchilou.
On Sunday, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov spoke with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi and expressed “serious concern over the tragic escalation of the situation in the region." He also said he hoped for “the prompt cessation of military actions” and stressed that Azerbaijan's territory "cannot be used by any country against neighboring and friendly Iran.”
Bikarski said in his written comments that it is unclear whether the drones "were sent deliberately, but given one of the areas hit was a regional airport, it is likely that Azerbaijan was indeed deliberately targeted.”
He added: “Azerbaijan’s close ties with Israel means it a plausible target of hostile Iranian actions.”
Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed.
In this photo provided by Azerbaijan's Presidential Press Service, Azebaijan's President Ilham Aliyev chairs a Security Council meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Azerbaijan's Presidential Press Service via AP)
This image taken from a video shows damages at the Nakhchivan International Airport following what Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said was a drone attack carried out by Iran on its exclave of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo)
This image taken from a video shows damages at the Nakhchivan International Airport following what Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said was a drone attack carried out by Iran on its exclave of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo)
This image taken from a video shows damages at the Nakhchivan International Airport following what Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said was a drone attack carried out by Iran on its exclave of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo)
In this photo provided by Azerbaijan's Presidential Press Service, Azebaijan's President Ilham Aliyev writes a message in a condolence book for the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Iranian Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (Azerbaijan's Presidential Press Service via AP)
This image shows damages of a school in Julfa following, what Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry says was a drone attack carried out by Iran, on its exclave of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo)
