There are so many different questions that come up after watching Inventing Anna, the Netflix series based on the real story of how Anna Sorokin, aka Anna Delvey, conned people (and banks) into thinking she was a German heiress while swindling them out of money.
In the series, Anna hires lawyer Alan Reed (played by Anthony Edwards) to help her as she segues into finance and property development. She asks Reed to help her secure a loan of $40 million to open an exclusive art club. While Reed initially rejects her, he eventually puts her in touch with financial institutions to secure funding. But when the loans do not go through, Reed begins to grow suspicious of Anna’s identity.
In real life, Anna got in touch with lawyer Andrew Lance in 2016, according to HITC. She reportedly used fake financial documents and said that her funds were located abroad before she was connected with City National Bank and Fortress Investment Group. She applied for a $22 million loan, for her ADF art project, but Fortress later testified at her trial that too many red flags popped up.
On the show, when doesn’t receive payment, Alan begins getting suspicious of Anna’s true situation. But…is Alan Reed a real person? Here’s what you need to know.
The character of Alan Reed is based on a real person.
The real Alan Reed is a man named Andrew Lance. Andrew is a partner at a firm called Gibson Dunn, and he connected Sorokin with a bunch of financial institutions including City National Bank and Fortress Investment Group, according to New York Magazine.
“Our client Anna Delvey is undertaking a very exciting redevelopment of 281 Park Avenue South, backed by a marquee team for this type of venue and space,” Andrew wrote in an email obtained by NYM. He continued that Anna needed the loan because “her personal assets, which are quite substantial, are located outside the US."
Anna claims that she talked to Andrew every day.
In the past, Anna complained that she felt condescended to by older male lawyers because of her age and gender, per NYM. Andrew was different. “He knows how to talk to women,” she said. “And he would explain to me the right amount, without being patronizing.”
According to Anna, she and Andrew spoke every day. "He would answer in the middle of the night, or when he was in Turks and Caicos for Christmas," she told NYM.
Andrew Lance has an impressive career.
Andrew works on private real estate equity funds, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds, corporate and individual developers and owners, mortgage and mezzanine lenders, and real estate investment, according to his bio.
He also represents not-for-profit organizations and handles a lot of real estate development projects.
Andrew has been given a bunch of honors.
Andrew is ranked as a leading real estate lawyer by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. He’s also been designated one of the Best Lawyers in America, listed as one of New York Magazine’s “New York Area’s Best Lawyers” edition, and is listed in The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.
He was the lead attorney for transactions that won the Real Estate Board of New York’s Most Creative Retail Deal of the Year Award twice—the lease by Hard Rock Café of the former World Wrestling Entertainment site at Times Square and the lease by Walgreens of the entire building at One Times Square.
He teaches, too.
Andrew is an adjunct professor at New York Law School, according to his bio. He has also been a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School and a lecturer at the New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate.
