Lathrop Makes Two Leadership Changes to Real Estate, Financial Services Practices

Posed January 23, 2025

Lathrop GPM has appointed two leadership changes to its real estate practices following the firm’s merger with California-based Hopkins Carley last year.

Lathrop announced on Wednesday that Jennifer Johnson and Monique Jewett-Brewster would join the firm’s effort to expand its Real Estate and Financial Services practice groups. Jewett-Brewster will assume leadership of the Financial Services Practice Group, while Johnson will lead the Real Estate Practice Group, according to a release.

Jewett-Brewster, who joined the firm after the merger with Hopkins Carley officially closed in October 2024, is the first African American to assume leadership of a Lathrop practice group. She has over 20 years of experience in insolvency law, including workouts, restructuring and enforcement of commercial loans and business bankruptcy cases.

Monique Jewett-Brewster. Photo credit: Lathrop GPM.

She first joined Hopkins Carley in 2015 serving in the firm’s Financial Institutions and Creditors’ Rights practice group, according to her LinkedIn profile. She has served on the Board of the Black Women Lawyers of Northern California and is a past member of the California Minority Counsel Program’s Ambassadors Council, an organization that promotes the advancement of business attorneys of color.

Johnson, also a former managing partner of Hopkins Carley, will aid Lathrop in real estate transactions with clients from Fortune 100 and 500 companies, investment funds, nonprofits, developers, local businesses, entrepreneurs and investors. Under Johnson’s leadership, the Real Estate Practice Group, comprised of nearly 50 attorneys, will offer complex client services in commercial real estate transactions.

Jennifer Johnson. Photo credit: Lathrop GPM.

She was a shareholder for Hopkins Carley before becoming a managing shareholder for the firm in 2023, according to her LinkedIn profile.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jennifer and Monique to these key leadership roles, bringing their experience and Hopkins Carley’s legacy of excellence to enrich our capabilities,” Managing Partner of Lathrop GPM, Cameron Garrison, said in the release. “This is more than an integration of two firms – it’s the beginning of an exciting new chapter of growth and innovation. Last year’s combination of our firms amplifies Lathrop GPM’s ability to deliver unparalleled services across new geographies, industries and client segments, enabling us to invest in areas that are crucially important to our clients.”

Lathrop first announced it would merge with Hopkins Carley in August 2024 as part of a deal that will bring 62 new attorneys to Lathrop’s roster and raise its total national headcount to about 360 attorneys.