Overview
A versatile attorney, Manleen is committed to understanding the business of her clients and helping them achieve their goals. She advises businesses of all sizes on all facets of corporate transactional law, including commercial real estate, mergers and acquisitions, international transactions, contract drafting and negotiation, corporate formation and governance, investor-side venture capital, and general business counseling.
Leaning on her years of litigation experience, she strategically negotiates and drafts advantageous contractual provisions for her clients. Manleen represents clients in a variety of sectors, including retail, food and beverage, and manufacturing. She carefully manages multimillion dollar dispositions and acquisitions, commercial real estate transactions, general commercial transactions, and corporate governance issues to put her clients and their businesses in the best position to be successful.
Commercial Real Estate
For over a decade Manleen has used her skills to create success in commercial real estate transactions including managing multimillion dollar arrangements. She excels in this intricate area of practice that touches companies of all sizes and industries. Manleen has represented clients in an expansive variety of fields with proven experience in:
- Acquisitions and Dispositions
- Commercial Leasing
- Permitting
Mergers & Acquisitions
In addition to her numerous noteworthy real estate transactions, Manleen has played key roles in M&A deals in a wide variety of industries such as:
- Online Fashion Retail
- Food Service
- Entrepreneurial Business
- Construction
Outside General Counsel
Manleen also provides outside counsel to companies utilizing her many years of experience to guide organizations with her expertise and insight to ensure the best and most successful outcomes. While providing comprehensive representation to organizations, Manleen is able to assist them with all of their corporate legal needs, including commercial contract drafting and negotiation, employment agreements, vendor contracts, and supply/distribution agreements, investor-side venture capital, corporate restructuring, and corporate formation and governance.
Pro Bono/Community Service
Manleen is dedicated to her diverse pro bono practice, which includes representing clients with criminal records to seal such records, investigating and settling a labor trafficking claim on behalf of a group of immigrant farm workers, and representing a non-profit organization in moving forward with a study critical to the population served by the organization. She also serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of RIA, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to standing with and supporting women in Massachusetts with experience in the commercial sex trade and its associated exploitation, trafficking and prostitution, by providing a range of community-based services. Manleen currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Boston Bar Foundation, the Executive Council as Secretary, and continues to serve on the Boston Bar Foundation Grants Committee.
Credentials
Education
- New York Law School, J.D., magna cum laude; New York Law School Law Review, Associate Editor
- Boston University, B.A. in English and Psychology, magna cum laude
Selected Results
Representative Matters
- Represented the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in connection with the $467 million settlement of a breach-of-contract lawsuit against BioNTech related to unpaid royalties on global net sales of BioNTech’s blockbuster COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty®, which was developed using the school's patented Nobel prize-winning messenger RNA technology.
- Sale of two affiliated apartment facilities in California for a combined purchase price of over $41 million
- Leader on a team representing a cooperative organization in securing three adjacent parcels of land totaling 80 acres for their $90 million development of a new warehouse and distribution facility
- Key member of a lean team serving as enterprise counsel for an electronics manufacturing firm for all of their commercial leasing work nationwide, in addition to purchase and sale transactions and sale/leaseback transactions; the leasing work comprises an estimated $150 million in annual lease transactions covering millions of square feet of leased space
- Key member of a team that sold 3 high value boutique hotel properties and one valuable development site in Manhattan out of bankruptcy for a combined purchase price of $230 million
- Key member of a team that sold a golf club for $12 million in New England
- Closed an equity sale of an online fashion retail company in a highly complex $54 million transaction, involving tax and structural issues, pre-closing mergers and restructurings, and rollover stock issues.
- Closed the sale of an entrepreneur’s food company to a private equity firm in a $108 million equity sale transaction
- Closed a $15 million asset acquisition for a skylight company, enabling the company to expand into a new market
Recognition
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch (2024-2025 editions)
- Named a "Massachusetts Super Lawyer," Super Lawyers (2022-2024)
- Named to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s Pro Bono Honor Roll (2023)
- Named a "Top Woman of Law," Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (2022)
- Named a "Massachusetts Rising Star," Super Lawyers (2014-2019)
- Named “Empire State Counsel” by the New York State Bar Association, for dedication to pro bono work (2010)
Community
Civic
- Board Member, RIA, Inc.
Professional
- Boston Bar Foundation; Board of Trustees, Secretary, Grants Committee
News & Insights
In the News
Speaking Engagements
Legal Insights
Speeches
- 2025 Mansfield Client Forum
Diversity Lab, Remote (March 26, 2025) - Innovative Work Models: Unlocking Flexibility and Success at Law Firms
Panelist, The Women's Bar Association, Boston Massachusetts (February 6, 2025) - How to Not Fall Through the Cracks
Panelist, The Women's Bar Association, Boston Massachusetts (October 29, 2024) - Navigating Generational Dynamics: Law Firm Culture in a Post-COVID World
Moderator, Boston Bar Association, Boston, Massachusetts (April 30, 2024) - Demystifying Corporate Law
Moderator, The Women’s Bar Association, Boston, Massachusetts (November 15, 2023) - Office, Warehouse & Industrial Leasing
National Real Estate Tenants Association (NRTA) 2023 National Conference, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (September 19, 2023) - How to Mentor Remotely: The 60 Minute Lawyer
Speaker, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Webinar (March 4, 2021) - Job Hunting & e-Networking During a Pandemic
Panelist, South Asian Bar Association Greater Boston, Webinar (July 29, 2020) - Representations of Wealth Planning and Conflict in Film and Literature: What Can We Learn from Such Depictions?
Robins Kaplan LLP Wealth Planning, Administration, and Disputes Annual CLE, Webinar (October 7, 2020) - The Attorney Client Relationship
Massachusetts Bar Association, Boston, Massachusetts (July 16, 2015) - Strategic Considerations About Attorney-Client Privilege In Corporate Investigations
Robins Kaplan LLP Webinar (January 6, 2015)
Media Mentions
- "Legal Strategies For ESG Initiatives," JDSupra (October 3, 2022)
- "Commercial Leases and Staying Out of Court," Bloomberg Law (August 18, 2022)
- "INSIGHT: Mentoring Diverse Attorneys During the Pandemic," Bloomberg Tax (May 6, 2020)
Practices
Admissions
- Massachusetts
- New Jersey
- New York
