Pillsbury Expands Private Client & Family Office Platform Globally with Addition of Family Office & Private Wealth Partner Matthew Sperry

Sperry joins Pillsbury from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP and will divide his time among the firm’s Miami, London and New York offices.

Pillsbury has long been recognized for its sophisticated Private Client & Family Office practice, representing some of the world’s most successful individuals, families and closely held enterprises. Sperry’s arrival broadens that platform internationally, adding a differentiated capability focused on helping globally connected families and family offices navigate the legal, tax, governance, investment and operational issues that arise as family capital interacts with the U.S. His practice reflects the increasingly institutional nature of modern global private wealth and family capital. Increasingly, international families are using the U.S. not simply as an investment destination, but as a platform for deploying, governing and institutionalizing family capital.

“Matthew’s arrival represents an important expansion of our Private Client & Family Office platform,” said Firm Chair David Dekker. “Pillsbury has long served sophisticated private clients and family offices. Matthew adds a distinctive global dimension to that platform, helping internationally connected families use the U.S. to structure, deploy, protect and institutionalize family capital across generations.”

“Matthew brings a practice that sits at the intersection of private wealth, family office advisory, tax and private capital,” noted Nora Burke, Global Head of Tax. “His arrival expands Pillsbury’s ability to serve globally connected families and reflects our commitment to building a differentiated Global Family Office & Private Wealth platform.”

Sperry advises ultra-high-net-worth families, family offices, trustees and private investment platforms throughout Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Canada. He frequently serves as coordinating U.S. counsel for internationally connected families and family offices, helping clients navigate the legal, tax, governance, investment and operational issues that arise as global family capital interacts with the U.S. In that role, he works closely with existing legal counsel and other trusted advisors around the world, including fiduciaries, investment professionals and accountants, to develop integrated solutions for complex cross-border family and investment structures involving the U.S.

Sperry advises clients on family office investment structures and programs, direct investments, private equity and venture capital investments, family governance structures, private trust companies, operating businesses, succession planning and inbound U.S. investment and pre-immigration planning. He regularly works with family offices and international families deploying capital through the U.S., including through direct investments, co-investments, private equity, venture capital, real estate and other strategic investment activities.

“Matthew’s ability to develop and maintain deep, long-lasting client relationships reflects exactly the kind of capabilities Pillsbury prides itself on offering,” said Joshua Becker, Co-Leader of Pillsbury’s Private Client & Family Office practice. “His experience advising international families, family offices and trustees, together with his ability to coordinate sophisticated cross-border solutions, makes him an invaluable addition to our team.”

Pillsbury has welcomed 49 new partners since the start of 2025. Practices with an emphasis on private capital have been a central component of that growth. Among the most recent arrivals have been those of Private Credit partner Jeff Norton in New York; Investment Funds partner Eunice Choi in Silicon Valley and San Francisco; VC Investment Funds partner David Holland in Washington, D.C.; Emerging Companies and Venture Capital (ECVC) partner John Rockwell in Silicon Valley; and ECVC partners Mike Flynn and Saarah Woodby in New York.

In addition, Pillsbury’s Tax practice has welcomed Tax partner Mark Leeds in New York; New York-based Tax partner Lawrence Sannicandro, whose practice focuses on private wealth clients and businesses; and State and Local Tax partner Annie Huang, who recently returned to our San Francisco office.

“I am thrilled to join Pillsbury,” Sperry said. “The legal needs of modern international families increasingly resemble those of sophisticated private capital platforms. Families today are managing family office investment programs, operating businesses, direct investments, private equity and venture capital activities, real estate portfolios and multigenerational governance structures across jurisdictions. They require legal counsel capable of integrating private wealth, tax, investment, governance and operational advice while working seamlessly alongside existing legal counsel and other trusted advisors around the world. Pillsbury’s multidisciplinary platform is uniquely positioned to serve as coordinating U.S. counsel for internationally connected families, family offices and trustees as they preserve, deploy and institutionalize family capital through the U.S.”

For more than a century, Pillsbury has discreetly served as trusted counsel to many of the world’s most sophisticated families, family offices and private capital investors. Today, the firm’s clientele holds more than US$1 trillion in private wealth globally.