AUG. 11, 2025 – Davis Wright Tremaine LLP welcomes Kevin Roe, a nationally recognized attorney with more than a decade of experience advising leading nonprofit organizations, as a partner in New York.
Roe comes to the firm from the New York office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, where he has practiced since 2013. His arrival represents a significant East Coast expansion for DWT's highly regarded tax-exempt organizations (TEO) practice group.
Roe provides strategic guidance on formation, governance, reorganizations, grantmaking, taxation, and commercial transactions. He also advises public and private companies on corporate social responsibility initiatives and individual donors on major gifts. He has particular expertise in representing leading healthcare organizations as well as philanthropists with strong interests in healthcare.
"Kevin has built a reputation as a talented, hard-working, client-centered attorney," said Hope Levy-Biehl, Los Angeles-based co-chair of the TEO practice at DWT. "His practice incorporates high-profile M&A work, including a $1 billion hospital merger in New York, and high-impact projects including legal guidance in numerous multimillion-dollar grants for medical research and to support medical schools. His arrival directly advances our firm's strategic plan to build national, cross-practice teams and will expand our capacity to serve clients across the nonprofit sector and beyond."
"Our New York office plays a central role in the strategic buildout of our firm's national practices," said Sharon Schneier, New York partner-in-charge. "I'm thrilled to have Kevin join us and help us support the remarkable array of leading academic institutions, corporations, public charities, foundations, health systems, media and entertainment organizations, and others that make up this city's dynamic nonprofit sector."
In addition to serving as principal outside counsel to a diverse set of nonprofit clients, Roe also advises colleges and universities, foundations, hospitals, and other institutions on endowment investment issues, including impact investments.
"Kevin's experience advising on nonprofit investment strategies will be particularly valuable to many of our large, institutional clients," said Thomas C. Schroeder, a Seattle- and Los Angeles-based TEO partner who also leads DWT's recently launched Education Industry Group. "He brings unique expertise in this area and I'm delighted to have him amplify the national reputation of our TEO team and cement our East Coast presence."
"DWT's range of strengths will be of tremendous benefit to my practice," said Roe. "From the extraordinary work of the firm's healthcare regulatory and M&A team to its nationally preeminent practices in media, IP, privacy and security, employment, financial services, and more, DWT offers an exceptionally broad, and values-driven, platform of excellence and I look forward to drawing on that expertise to serve my clients."
Roe earned his B.A. at Yale University and his J.D. at New York University School of Law.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, Roe spent nearly four years working at the Partnership for After School Education in New York, during which time he also earned a certificate in nonprofit management from Baruch College. He is the author of "Understanding Private Foundations" for Thomson Reuters Practical Law and serves as chair of the federal taxation subcommittee of Nonprofit New York's Government Relations Council. Recognized by the Legal 500, he teaches courses on nonprofit law at Fordham University School of Law and is a frequent speaker on charitable giving, advocacy, impact investments, and other issues important to tax-exempt organizations.
About Davis Wright Tremaine
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is an AmLaw 100 law firm with more than 600 lawyers representing clients based throughout the United States and around the world. Learn more at www.dwt.com.