Big Law Training. Boutique Attention.
When you work with Benedict Advisors, you work directly with the partners and professionals who will champion your interests — not associates learning on your deal.
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Tabber B. Benedict
Founder and Managing Partner, Head of Corporate and M&A
As Founder and Managing Partner at the law firm Benedict Advisors, Tabber brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from over 14 years of work on some of the most complex transactions in the world, valued at over $75 billion in the aggregate. Tabber’s involvement in high-profile mergers, acquisitions, and unique corporate transactions and partnerships across an array of industries places him at the center of deals that require creativity, perseverance, and determination.
Tabber trained at White & Case and Schulte Roth & Zabel and served in-house as Vice President, Corporate Transactions and Corporate, at ACE Limited — experience that lets him sit on the same side of the table as the executives and investors he now advises. He has worked on mergers and acquisitions for clients including Cerberus, Apollo, and Fortress, and for numerous Fortune 500 companies. His tenacity and responsiveness are core to the value he brings to leanly staffed, elite, sophisticated transactional teams. He brings a business-minded, solutions-focused approach to the Benedict Advisors transaction practice.
Education
Columbia Law School, Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, Juris Doctor
Colgate University, Political Science (Highest Honors), Economics, Summa Cum Laude, Bachelor of Arts
Bars & Courts
New York State
Southern District of New York
Eastern District of New York
Representative Transactions
Advising on and co-leading the establishment of a $15 million credit facility (“CF”) for a defense technology company (for strategic M&A to grow the company and expand its intellectual property assets)
Advising Buyer on a series of M&A transactions in the international sports and media industry, valued at over $50 million, in the aggregate, arranging debt financing of approximately $40 to $50 million
Advising on an international corporate start-up (marketing technology industry) structuring, including tax and an asset transfer; estimated $3 to $4 million in gross revenue
Advising (and acting as a principal) on the $4 million acquisition of a funds management business and multiple broker-dealers for approximately $1 million; simultaneously pursuing Series 7 and 24, sponsored by a FINRA-registered broker-dealer
Advising on the acquisition of a solar technology company for $1,100,000.
Advising on and working on the establishment of a $20 million CF for a medical device company
Advising on and working on the establishment of a $1 million CF for a medical device company
Advised on $8 million bridge term loan as debt financing partner for defense technology company, from engagement to a simultaneous sign/close, in 5 business days
Advised a UK technology company on a ~$1.5 million acquisition of a U.S. auditing technology company
Advised micro-M&A deal ($200,000) in the U.S. from pre-LOI to close
Advised a private high-net-worth individual in an attempt to acquire an energy business in Southeast Asia for approximately $500 million
Advised Colony Capital Acquisitions on its acquisition of the $2 billion Xanadu (Meadowlands) project.
Advised Deutsche Bank on its sale of a $2.5 million interest in an offshore investment fund; advised on subsequent negotiation and restructuring of investment fund arrangements with its remaining shareholders
Advised Cerberus on its bid to acquire an international technology company, for approximately $12 billion
Advised Cerberus on its acquisition of a 51 percent interest in GMAC, a subsidiary of GM, for over $10 billion
Advised a family investment fund on its potential acquisition of a manufacturer of parts and materials used in steel production processes for approximately $100 million
Advised a private equity fund on the potential sale of one of its private portfolio companies for approximately $60 million
Advised a venture capital fund on its $5 million investment in a startup technology company
Advised Fortune 500 company on its attempt to acquire the P&C business of The Hartford for approximately $7 billion
Advised Fortune 500 company on two international joint venture deals, each valued in the $100-$500 million range
Advised ACE on its acquisition of New York Life’s Asian businesses in Korea and Hong Kong for approximately $425 million
Shu Phua, Esq.
Senior Tax Of Counsel
Shu Phua is a tax attorney who advises funds, large corporations, and emerging businesses on sophisticated U.S. and international tax matters, with particular depth in transaction structuring, mergers and acquisitions, and cross-border tax planning. She honed her international-tax practice at Ernst & Young, a Big Four firm; served as in-house international tax counsel at MetLife; and began her career with global law firm Baker & McKenzie in Singapore.
Shu regularly structures complex corporate transactions—mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations, and joint ventures—and advises multinational enterprises on the cross-border tax dimensions of their deals. Clients value her ability to translate technical tax analysis into clear, commercially grounded guidance.
She complements this work with extensive experience as general counsel and fractional general counsel to startups, technology companies, and multinational businesses, advising on governance, M&A, intellectual property, and regulatory compliance. That operator’s perspective lets her deliver advice that is both rigorous and practical. At Benedict Advisors, Shu brings this combined fund, transactional, and cross-border tax capability to the firm’s clients.
Shu’s practice is informed by her background as an NCAA scholarship athlete at Northwestern University and a former member of the Singapore national swim team, bringing a disciplined, team-driven approach to client service.
Shu earned her LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law—widely regarded as the preeminent U.S. graduate tax program.
Education
New York University School of Law, LL.M. in Taxation
University of California, Davis, School of Law, J.D.
Northwestern University, B.A.
Bar Admissions
State of New York
Senior Tax Of Counsel
Benedict Advisors has an additional Tax Department Of Counsel (Tax Of Counsel) who brings more than twenty-five years of experience as a transactional tax lawyer, advising funds, corporations, and entrepreneurs on the tax dimensions of their most significant transactions — mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital investments, fund and entity structuring, and executive and equity compensation.
He began his career as a senior attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service, holds an LL.M. in Taxation, and has taught partnership taxation at the graduate level.
Long recognized by his peers among the leading tax practitioners in his field, he gives the firm’s clients tax counsel of a caliber rarely available to companies in the lower middle market.
Education
Boston University School of Law, LL.M. in Taxation
Boston University School of Law, J.D.
University of Massachusetts, B.A. cum laude
Bars & Courts
State of New York
State of Massachusetts
U.S. Tax Court
Sagar Sharma
Of Counsel, Commercial Litigation
Sagar Sharma is a Corporate and Commercial Litigation Attorney, serving in an Of Counsel capacity. Bringing a robust background in high-stakes commercial litigation, Sagar has represented clients across sectors in complex disputes, consistently pursuing rigorous and strategic advocacy on behalf of businesses and individuals alike.
Licensed in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, and California, Sagar regularly appears in both federal and state courts, offering clients broad jurisdictional expertise. Sagar’s experience in transactional practice enables a unique perspective—bridging litigation sensibilities with a comprehensive understanding of deal structure, risk allocation, and negotiation. This dual focus strengthens his ability to safeguard client interests both inside and outside the courtroom.
Education
University of North Carolina School of Law, Chapel Hill, NC, Juris Doctor
University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, Bachelor of Science
Bars & Courts
State of California
State of Connecticut
State of New York
State of New Jersey
State of Illinois
United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Ali S. Khawaja
Senior Paralegal and Executive Assistant
Ali supports operations and leadership coordination in complex environments, with a focus on execution, reliability, and follow-through.
He is a United States Army veteran and a graduate of Pennsylvania State University.