Tiffany Reeves
Partner – Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath
Description of field of expertise
Tiffany Reeves leads the Institutional Investor practice at Faegre Drinker. She is a trusted adviser to institutional investor clients in domestic and international private investments. Tiffany is recognized by Chambers USA for Investment Funds; Investor Representation, and her experience extends to a broad range of alternative investment strategies, including buyouts, credit, venture, real estate, infrastructure, energy, and natural resources. She also advises institutional investor clients on fiduciary, governance, legislative and general administration matters. Tiffany has significant experience advising institutional asset owners on leading practices. She regularly advises clients on private equity due diligence, co-investments, U.S. Regulatory developments, custody and securities lending matters, secondary transactions, sustainability, and corporate governance matters.
Tiffany is a thought leader on fiduciary, governance, and sustainability topics; frequently speaking and writing on such issues. Tiffany’s superpower is helping boards and executives develop trust and achieve alignment by finding the structure, culture, and consistency necessary to meet their business objectives.
Prior to returning to private practice in 2018, Tiffany served as the chief legal officer and deputy executive director for a defined benefit public employee retirement fund. While serving as the fund’s chief legal officer, she was responsible for a variety of investment matters including negotiation and review of private equity, private real estate and public market investments.
What advice would you offer to new attorneys interested in your field?
Define your core principles and values because this will guide you as your career unfolds and serve as your North Star, even if opportunities or choices present themselves in a way that is unexpected. These are my core principles.
- Surround yourself with smart people and listen to them. Find credible people who are generous with their knowledge, time, experience and wisdom.
- Feedback is a gift. Be open to feedback and refine your skills based on that feedback. Not all feedback is constructive, actionable, or accurate, but you should still take it and consider it; there is insight in every piece of feedback.
- Keep learning—perpetually and be intentional about it. You have to be proactive in seeking knowledge and opportunities to learn more, do more, be more.
- Give generously but consciously. Share your knowledge, your time, your connections, even your resources generously, but only where you see value, alignment, and/or impact in that effort.
- Be disciplined and have a plan. Hope is not a plan. You have to define your goals and come up with a plan to execute (and adapt). Only you can be accountable for the discipline and consistency that it takes to make progress.
Be authentic but read the room. Don’t make yourself big, don’t make yourself small; just show up and be seen. Seek out spaces, clients, and work relationships that value you, and don’t waste time, thought, energy on those who don’t.