Former Chief Counsel of the Food and Drug Administration Ralph S. Tyler and former insurance Commissioner of the State of Maryland, has joined Venable. He will work out of both the Baltimore and Washington, DC offices.

Tyler’s career spans over thirty five years in the practice of law. He will join the firm’s Litigation and Regulatory Divisions. He was quoted as saying in a press release at the firm’s website: “I look forward to the opportunity of practicing law with the lawyers at Venable, many of whom I have known and admired for years.”

Before holding the position of Maryland’s Insurance Commissioner, Tyler served as Chief Legal Counsel to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and as Baltimore City Solicitor. He also served as a partner in the international law firm Hogan & Hartson LLP; the firm is now known as Hogan Lovells. Prior to that, he served in the Maryland Attorney General’s office holding the titles of Deputy Attorney General, Chief of Litigation and Assistant Attorney General.

Mr. Tyler holds a B.A. from the University of Illinois, a juris doctorate from Case Western Reserve University, and a LL.M. from Harvard University.

Jim Shea was quoted as saying: “We are delighted that Ralph has chosen to join Venable. For years, we have admired both his skills and his commitment to the State of Maryland.  Ralph will be an enormous asset to our firm and for our clients. He brings cutting edge knowledge of the regulatory climate in Washington and a superb resume as both a litigator and a thought leader.  Welcome to Venable, Ralph.”

According to information at fda.gov, litigators at the Office of the Chief Counsel (OCC), which is the Food and Drug Division of the HHS Office of the General Counsel, handle both civil and criminal enforcement cases, and defend challenges to provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), the implementing regulations, and FDA policies, initiatives, and decisions.

The litigators work closely with agency compliance personnel to ensure an adequate evidentiary foundation for enforcement matters, prepare referrals to the Department of Justice, draft memoranda setting out the agency’s interpretation of the law, develop case strategy, conduct negotiations, prepare and respond to discovery, and are key participants in hearings, trials, and appellate proceedings. The litigators act as the liaison to the Department of Justice during active litigation, and in many criminal prosecutions have been asked to work as Special Assistant United States Attorneys, assuming primary responsibility for prosecuting violations of the FDCA or related statutes. The litigators frequently work closely with senior officials at the Department of Justice and play an active role in all of FDA’s cases, including matters before the United States District Courts, the Courts of Appeal, and the United States Supreme Court.

Venable was founded in Baltimore in 1900, and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. With over 500 attorneys practicing in over 70 practice and industry areas covering corporate and business law, complex litigation, intellectual property and regulatory and government affairs, the firm has seven offices throughout the country.

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As a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Chairman of its subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Mr. Stupak played an in instrumental role in setting government policy and legislation in a variety of key sectors, including energy, healthcare, telecommunications and international trade.

Venable Managing Partner Karl Racine was quoted as saying in a press release at the firm’s website: “We are thrilled to welcome Congressman Stupak to our government affairs group. Bart is known as a truly bipartisan leader who not only knows the legislative process, but who took the time to understand critical issues that affect all of us, including affordable health care, energy safety, natural resource management, law enforcement, telecommunications, the integrity of our financial markets, the safety of our food supply and other areas.  As a senior member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, he helped shape a wide range of policies directly impacting the nation’s economy and led numerous investigations involving the public’s well-being.  Our legislative practice and our clients will benefit enormously from Bart’s experience.”

At Venable, Mr. Stupak joins a bi-partisan team of senior Washington insiders, including former U.S. Senator Birch Bayh, former Secretary of Transportation James Burnley and former U.S. Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti as well as veteran Capitol Hill legislative staffers and policy advisors from both sides of the aisle. 

Stupak is also serving as a Fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics and leads a study group on government investigations at the Kennedy School of Government entitled “Investigate or Irritate:  Changing Corporate and Government Behavior.”

Stupak was quoted as saying: “After 36 years of public service, I’m very happy to be starting this new chapter in my life. Venable is one of the most respected names in Washington, and the firm has an especially strong record of leadership in government affairs. I’ve had numerous contacts with Venable partners over the years and am excited about helping my new colleagues and the firm’s clients navigate choppy congressional waters.”

With nearly 600 attorneys in offices across the country practicing in all areas of corporate and business law, complex litigation, intellectual property and regulatory and government affairs, Venable is one of America’s top 100 law firms.

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The survey was sent out to 750 hiring partners and recruiters that were named Best Law Firms in 2010, which is produced by Best Lawyers and U.S. News.  They were given a 1 to 5 scale to rank law schools with, with one being marginal and five outstanding.  Of those who were sent the survey, fourteen percent responded.

Of the other big law schools that were ranked in the survey, the next in ranking were Stanford and Yale, who were tied for second place, with 4.8 out of 5.  Columbia University and the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, were next down the list, and were also tied at 4.7 out of 5.  Next on the list are New York University and the University of Virginia, which both had a score at 4.6 out of 5.  Cornell University, Duke University, Northwestern University, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Chicago were also tied, all scoring 4.5 out of 5. A total of over 100 schools were ranked in the survey.

Although Harvard had a slight edge in this ranking, Yale University is still ranked number one in the Best Law School rankings, which is also published by the U.S. News.

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Ralf Boer, chairman and CEO of Foley, said that the entire firm is grateful to Doyle’s decision to share his expertise and extensive experience on healthcare and energy practices. “Having worked closely with the White House, high ranking Administration officials and other Governors, Gov. Doyle understands the healthcare and energy policy issues facing the Obama administration and Governors across the country as new laws and regulations are considered and adopted, and can help our clients anticipate and comply with the evolving regulatory framework facing those industries.”

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University President Drew G. Faust said in a statement, “The dedication, humility, and commitment to learning with which he has pursued his calling should be an inspiration to any young man or woman contemplating a career in public service.”

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Stephanie Heilborn joins Fulbright & Jaworski in New York as a partner in its trusts and estates practice. Most recently she was a solo practitioner as Heilborn LLC; and she was an associate at Milbank. Heilborn received her AB cum laude from Harvard University, her M.Sc from The London School of Economics, and her JD from Georgetown University Law Center.

Former Florida assistant attorney general William Haselden joins KamberEdelson as a partner in Tallahassee, to found the firm’s new office there. As an assistant AG he was Section Chief of the CyberFraud Section, which he helped found.

Robert Morad joins Miller Canfield as senior counsel in the Troy, Michigan office. He was previously assistant prosecuting attorney for Oakland County, Michigan, and assistant state attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida. At Miller Canfield he will specialize in criminal and civil defense and litigation. Morad received his JD from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

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Robert H. Edwards, Jr. joins from Hunton & Williams as a partner in Mayer Brown’s Washington DC office. He handles project finance and development, with particular strength in projects and policy issues related to renewable energy, climate change, the development and financing of independent power projects and “inside the fence” energy projects.

A 1990 graduate of Stanford Law School, Edwards holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA magna cum laude in economics from Harvard University.

Robert S. Goldberg joins the Houston office from Chadbourne & Parke, as a partner. Goldberg advises lenders, investors, sponsors, developers and other participants in domestic and international project finance and corporate matters, including acquisition and divestiture work.

He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Mayer Brown is one of the largest global law firms both by number of lawyers and revenue. The firm has over 1,800 lawyers in key business centers across the Americas, Asia and Europe

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Harvard University as a whole faces a 30% decline in its endowment.

The law school will leave empty positions unfilled, and is offering an early retirement program, in the hopes of minimizing the number of layoffs.

From our tipster (edited for length):

HLS is planning layoffs and there is no way these layoffs won’t affect the “educational mission” of HLS. The people who work at Harvard all contribute to the educational experience at the school. HLS says it will cut 10% this year and 8-12% the next year – this would inevitably affect programming near and dear to students’ hearts, like clinical programs. Some students here are still asking, “Will the ice rink go?” The answer is an unequivocal “YES!” Dean Jackson already said it, and this is only a drop in the bucket of what would be cut if he sticks with this draconian plan.

Oh no! No more ice rink! I haven’t seen a disaster this dire since UCLA tore out its bowling alley. (Seriously. The year I started at UCLA, they removed the bowling alley. I was bummed.)

There is absolutely no transparency around what landed HLS and Harvard in this situation. (It is not enough to say “the economy is bad,” because Harvard is in a particularly difficult situation and took huge risks with its endowment, which were criticized by many people. It acted like a hedge fund, not an endowment).

Students are very angry that HLS is waiting until summer to make concrete announcements. By the time they are back, the decisions will appear irreversible. Harvard has provided no sufficient justification for its decision to reduce its endowment payout and Dean Jackson needs to stand up to the University Administration to demand a more reasonable response. This is an opportunity for HLS to take a leadership role at Harvard.

Thanks to our tipster!

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