Rimon Partner Nicole Kalajian Recognized as One of “The 10 Highly Recommended Lawyers to Watch in 2024″ by The Leaders Global

Rimon Partner Nicole Kalajian was recognized by The Leaders Global magazine on their recently published list of “The 10 Highly Recommended Lawyers to Watch in 2024.” Her interview with the magazine is below. Congratulations, Nicole!

Nicole Kalajian: A Standout Choice in the Legal Representation

Looking for a credible and highly endorsed attorney is crucial in today’s infinitely complex business environment. In a crowd of legal professionals, Nicole stands out as a guiding light. She is a pillar of consistent and enduring excellence in the legal arena. Nicole has consistently proved that she is the exception to the norm, and is hailed as one of the top choices in legal advocacy.

Diving into Nicole’s Charming Yet Mighty Adventure

In Nicole Kalajian’s illustrious legal journey, she has carved a niche for herself in the realm of investment management, as well as in business development across various practice areas. Nicole is a leader in securities and commodities regulation – providing strategic counsel for investment management clients. This includes the launching of hedge funds, commodity pools, cryptocurrency funds, funds of funds, socially responsible investment vehicles, venture capital funds, private equity funds, as well as real estate funds.

Nicole’s tale is brimming with passion for finance and a resilient desire to bridge the gap between the investment services industry and the law. As Nicole entered the maze of business law, a myriad of possibilities unfolded before her. She ultimately decided to pursue both her Juris Doctorate, as well as Masters in Financial Services Law (LLM). Each stepping stone was a witness to her unshakeable determination to bring positive yet impactful change to the legal industry.  Before her journey led her to become the esteemed partner at Rimon that she is today, Nicole had practiced at other world-class investment management firms, such as Stradley Ronan, Vedder Price, and Henderson & Lyman (now part of Greenberg Traugig).

An Unforgettable Case for Nicole

After the collapse of MF Global and Peregrine Financial Group, which were two of the most reputable futures commission merchants in the industry, Nicole rolled up her sleeves to help countless clients navigate the complex legal and regulatory challenges that shook the industry. Through her strategic acumen and commitment, Nicole stood out as a tireless representative of industry clients adversely affected by such collapses.  Nicole assisted not only with fallout litigation, but also negotiated new deals and actively participated in regulatory reforms. Tireless work and ingenuity enabled Nicole to achieve seamless client coverage, causing clients to not only survive – but thrive. Nicole helped them delve into new business lines beyond only the futures services sector, such as securities and cryptocurrency trading, real estate, ESG, and numerous other investment lines.  The business expansion of her clients required that Nicole learn various new laws and regulations. As a result, while very few attorneys are equipped to practice in either futures or securities regulation, Nicole is a specialist in both.

Challenges Having a Legal Career

Nicole being Nicole, she invariably turns problems into opportunities. For her entire career, Nicole saw being one of the only female attorneys, as well as being significantly younger than her Partners, as more of an advantage to her ultimate career trajectory than a hindrance. By working fiercely through various projects, trial by fire became Nicole’s greatest learning tool – catapulting her growth and knowledge base. Nicole proved herself again and again. Nicole triumphed in many instances, such as assisting with a multi-million-dollar resolution for a client early on in her career.  This was a significant achievement for her firm and a huge testament for Nicole’s skills as a financial services lawyer.

Throughout the years, Nicole has also developed a very close and family-like relationship with her clients.  She cares immensely about her clients and keenly is focused on their long-term success.  “Every lawyer-client relationship is based on mutual goals and values, and knowing them is a key task,” expressed Nicole.  She believes that if a person is flexible and eager enough, they can serve their clients exceptionally well, and win trusted friends for life.  Her clients’ victories are Nicole’s victories, because her ultimate goal is to help them achieve their dreams.  We all win together is her motto.

In what is undoubtedly a high-stress high-stakes environment, managing stress and maintaining a calm composure is also a key part of Nicole’s success.  Nicole navigates her way via careful strategic planning. This includes the continuous build out her operations systems, as well as her relationships both inside and outside her firm. Nicole individually crafts her processes and team-bench for each new project, so that clients are seamlessly serviced in a timely and effective manner.

A Well Awaited Tomorrow

Nicole is always moving ahead. She envisions a more cohesive and inventive future for the financial services industry – particularly on the regulations front. In particular, Nicole sees a compelling opportunity for regulatory convergence in various areas between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). In this regard, Nicole envisions the fusing together of those aspects of securities and futures regulation that can and should be cohesively aligned. She envisions an environment of complementary financial services laws that streamline regulatory mandates for those industry participants who invariably straddle the securities and futures regulatory regimes. Nicole desires to mitigate certain regulatory inefficiencies that currently exist, such as duplicative and inconsistent burdens that fall upon the dually registered industry participants. Nicole’s mission is to assist in creating and upholding a regulatory framework that will harness the strengths of each regime, thereby realizing the shared goals of safeguarding investors and creating a thriving, inventive financial ecosystem that uplifts investors and our industry.

Advice to New Attorneys

Nicole encourages all budding attorneys to understand that career success in law is a marathon – not a sprint. Nicole advocates adopting a can-do entrepreneurial attitude, as well as a relentless chase for improvement – not perfection.  Yes, there will ultimately be steps forward and steps back, but the key is to keep moving forward with your dreams.  Nicole also recommends staying up to date with evolving regulations and actively advocating for client interests during times of regulatory transformation. Not only is this one of the most interesting areas of law, but it’s also one of the most fun. In a nutshell, Nicole believes that if you: 1) work hard to become an expert in your field and stay at the cutting-edge of the law, 2) actively seek new business and build your networks (instead of just working at your desk all of the time), and 3) care deeply about your clients and your industry, you’ve got a very high chance at success in the legal industry.

Nicole Kalajian is a Chicago-based attorney who focuses her practice on investment management. Ms. Kalajian represents securities and commodities professionals in a variety of regulatory, compliance and corporate matters. She has extensive experience advising private fund clients, including hedge funds, commodity pools, cryptocurrency funds, fund of funds, socially responsible investment vehicles, venture capital funds, private equity funds and real estate funds…Read more