JD Journal » banking

K&L Gates Launch of South Carolina Office is 40th Worldwide

rebneely — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:41:53 +0000

Global law firm K&L Gates LLP announced that it has established its fortieth office worldwide with the launch of a Charleston office. This also marks the firm’s 24^th location in the United States.

The office launch follows the addition of seven partners, all from Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP. The partners are Matthew J. Norton, J. Walker Coleman IV, Joshua W. Dixon, Theodore B. Manuel, Bryan L. Walpole III, Jason P. Walton, and James S. Bruce.

The new Charleston office will strengthen the firm’s regional, national, and international capabilities in practices including resort and hospitality, labor and employment, litigation, banking, tax, corporate/M&A, and real estate, among others.

K&L Gates Chairman and Global Managing Partner Peter J. Kalis was quoted as saying in a press release at the firm’s website: “With its expanding port and with South Carolina’s distinctive business-friendly climate,Charleston is uniquely well positioned to continue to attract U.S.and international businesses. The practices of our new partners, moreover, nicely complement our firmwide resources and add leadership-caliber lawyers to our firm. As but one example, we expect that Matt Norton will be a leader in our global resort and hospitality practice.”

With a practice focusing on commercial real estate, resort development, hotels, golf, and real estate financing, Norton advises clients on projects and transactions throughout the southeastern United States, Caribbean, and Latin America.

Norton was quoted as saying: “K&L Gates is the first law firm to establish an office inSouth Carolinathat also has significant offices in world financial centers such as New York, London, Frankfort, Tokyo, Dubai, Hong Kong, and São Paulo. As a result, K&L Gates is the ideal platform for Charleston and South Carolina’s growing and dynamic economy and our international resort and hospitality practice.”

Coleman is an experienced litigator, focusing his practice on complex, high-stakes litigation with an emphasis on employment, intellectual property, commercial disputes, and class actions. He represents regional, domestic, and multinational companies in industries ranging from athletic equipment and aviation to banking, health care, manufacturing, telecommunications, and textiles.

Coleman is joined in the employment and commercial litigation areas byDixon, whose practice also includes white collar criminal defense, internal investigations, and appellate litigation.

Coleman was quoted as saying: “The breadth and depth of K&L Gates’ practices, in combination with its global reach in a single integrated firm, uniquely suits the broader needs of our existing clients doing business around the world, as well as the firm’s multinational clients doing business inSouth Carolina.”

Manuel, Walpole, and Walton work in the banking and tax group, where they represent lenders, servicers, and borrowers in a variety of financing transactions and agreements; banks, investment funds, and private equity firms in the acquisition, workout, and disposition of distressed assets; and real estate and resort developers in the financing, sale, and acquisition of properties, in addition to advising on the tax aspects of such transactions.

Bruce is a corporate transactional lawyer, and represents Fortune 500, middle-market, and emerging growth companies across a variety of industries in transactions including mergers, stock and asset acquisitions and dispositions, and strategic joint ventures. He also has substantial experience handling distressed debt acquisitions and representing real estate developers and owners and operators of golf, hotel, and resort properties.

Global law firm K&L Gates has over 2,000 attorneys in 40 offices located in North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and theMiddle East. The firm counts as clients numerous GLOBAL 500, FORTUNE 100, and FTSE 100 corporations, as well as growth and middle market companies, entrepreneurs, capital market participants and public sector entities.

New Counsel Hired by BuckleySandler LLP

daniel — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:14:23 +0000

Noel M. Gruber is joining BuckleySandler LLP as Counsel. He is a former attorney of Kennedy & Baris LLP and has represented U.S. institutions on securities, corporate, transactional, and regulatory issues.

Co-Chair of BuckleySandler LLC Jeremiah S. Buckley said “Noel is a talented and respected banking lawyer who will broaden and expand BuckleySandler’s financial services industry practice in Washington, DC,” and “His experience in working with industry executives and boards on challenges and issues affecting their institutions will be invaluable to our clients.”

Andrew L. Sandler, litigation group leader, noted “With the growth of our firm’s business during the past year, we have a need for highly experienced financial services attorneys,”

Noel M. Gruber

In-House Lawyer Layoffs at Wells Fargo

Erik Even — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:21:25 +0000

Wells Fargo has partially confirmed online rumors, that the bank is laying off some of its in-house counsel.

Online rumors say that the bank, which recently merged with Wachovia, is cutting up to 20% of its legal department. The bank would not confirm the numbers, but characterized the percentage affected as “small.”

Founded in New York in 1852, San Francisco, California-based Wells Fargo & Co. is the 4th largest bank in the US by assets, and the second largest bank by market cap.

Christensen Vaughan to Merge with Gadens Lawyers

Erik Even — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:00:51 +0000

Perth, Australia law firm Christensen Vaughan will merge with national firm Gadens Lawyers, to form an expanded commercial legal practice in Western Australia.

The combined practice will have six partners and 45 staff.

The merger will extend Gadens’ practices in banking and finance, insolvency, property, financial services recovery, commercial litigation, aged care, resources and infrastructure.

Gadens Lawyers is a top-ten national law firm with 112 partners, 1,030 staff and offices in every mainland state and Papua New Guinea.

Bryan Cave Expands IP Practice

Erik Even — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:35:08 +0000

Bryan Cave has hired three new attorneys.

Chicago partner Greg Hummel, from Bell, Boyd & Lloyd, joins the real estate and banking client service group. He’ll handle real estate development and public-private partnerships.

In San Francisco, the firm has added intellectual property partner Marcy Bergman, and counsel Robert Padway, formerly co-chairs of the IP group at Cooper, White & Cooper. Bergman will handle trademark counseling, copyright, patent prosecution, and trade secret matters, and Padway will work on IP litigation.

Bryan Cave LLP is an international law firm with twenty-five offices worldwide, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It employs round 1,200 attorneys.

Lecture Series Promotes Alternative Legal Careers

Erik Even — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:42:54 +0000

From the Indiana University News Room, a new lecture series discusses alternative careers for law school grads.

Facing an uncertain job market, law students are seeking more than the traditional options to put their degrees to work. Indiana University Maurer School of Law spotlights several of these options in its Alternative Legal Careers panel discussion series. All events are free and open to the public…

The next session in the series, “Legal Careers in Publishing, Communications, Consulting and Development,” will take place at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 12, in the Moot Court Room…

Panelists will explain how they use their law degrees and related skills in their respective careers…

Future events in the series include “Legal Careers in Higher Education” (Feb. 25) and “Legal Careers in Politics and Government” (March 11). Both events will begin at noon.

The series began Jan. 27 with “Legal Careers in Banking, Finance, Tax and Corporate.”

Via Indiana U.