JD Journal » hires new partners

Former Comptroller of the Currency Dugan Joins Covington & Burling

marvins — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:25:36 +0000

In line with the firm’s plan of expanding its work on the Dodd-Frank law, Covington & Burling LLP announced the addition of John C. Dugan, former Comptroller of the Currency, to their firm beginning in January 2011. Dugan will be based in the firm’s Washington office and will work as the leader of the financial institutions law group of Covington & Burling, a leading international law firm. Dugan was a former partner at Covington before he accepted the appointment of Ex-President George W. Bush to a five-year term as comptroller in 2005. Dugan has worked with both the Bush and President Barrack Obama’s administrations working with the national banks during the peak of the financial crisis, overseeing the taxpayer-funded bailouts and lobbying during the debate on the Dodd-Frank regulatory law, the most sweeping financial regulation renovation since the 1930s.

Dugan expressed his sentiments over his upcoming post in the firm. “There is a tremendous appetite and demand for individuals with regulatory expertise because of the crisis, Dodd-Frank, [and] changes in capital requirements. The world had kind of moved away from regulation and Washington in a lot of ways, and now regulation is a part of so many different things, for better or worse.”

Once in the firm, Dugan aims to be an adviser on capital requirements, mortgage regulations and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created by the recent enactment of the Dodd-Frank law. Since there is a one-year ban on lobbying the Treasury Department and OCCC, Dugan said that he will not yet be lobbying the federal government.

K&L Gates Brings on Partners

Erik Even — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:39:32 +0000

Charles D. Holland joins K&L Gates from Morrison & Foerster as a partner in the Palo Alto office. He focuses on intellectual property matters. He has extensive experience in patent prosecution, portfolio review and strategic advice, ex-parte and inter-partes reexaminations, interferences, non-infringement and invalidy analyses and opinions, due diligence reviews for companies and investors, pre-litigation and litigation analyses and assistance, and design-around analyses and advice.

His JD is from the Santa Clara University School of Law.

Vincent Pisano joins from Paul Hastings as a partner in New York. He focuses on securities and mergers & acquisitions matters. He has significant experience representing corporations and investment banks in their public and private offerings, US & international transactions, initial public offerings, high yield debt offerings, special product development and leveraged buyout and other acquisition financings.

He is a graduate of the St. John’s University School of Law.

K&L Gates LLP is a US law firm with over 1700 attorneys worldwide, and is ranked as the 10th largest law firm in the world.

Crowell & Moring Adds 7 to Environmental Group

Erik Even — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:50:07 +0000

Crowell & Moring has snagged a team of five Patton Boggs partners, and two government lawyers, for its Environment & Natural Resources Group.

Senior Counsel Michael Bogert is the former counselor to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. He is also the former Regional Administrator of the EPA’s Region 10, which oversees Alaska and other northwest states. Bogert is a former counsel to the office of then Governor-Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger, and was Chief Deputy Legal Affairs Secretary to California governor Pete Wilson.

Partner Amy Chasanov is an environmental litigator with extensive experience with NEPA, the Clean Water Act, and the Oil Pollution Act. She has participated in state and federal rule-making and litigation, and advises a range of oil & gas and other clients on environmental compliance.

Partner John C. Martin is the former co-chair of the Patton Boggs Environment Group. He represents clients in complex litigation involving natural resources and environmental issues. Martin was an attorney at DOI and the Department of Justice, where he litigated environmental and natural resources issues.

Partner Susan M. Mathiascheck is a recent deputy chair of the Patton Boggs Litigation Department. She advises clients in complex judicial challenges to agency actions and provides counseling on issues concerning endangered species, emergency response, property use and development, air and water emissions, and hazardous waste.

Senior Counsel Robert Meyers is the former Acting Assistant Administrator of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. Prior to joining the EPA, Meyers served as Deputy Chief Counsel for Energy & Environment and Environmental Counsel for the House Energy & Commerce Committee.

Partner Kyle W. Parker is former Assistant Attorney General in the oil, gas, and mining section of the Alaska Department of Law.

Partner Duane A. Siler has substantial litigation experience under CERCLA, RCRA, the Oil Pollution Act, and other federal and state environmental laws.

Parker will be based in Anchorage, Alaska; the other additions will be based in Washington DC.

Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with more than 450 lawyers practicing in litigation, antitrust, government contracts, health care, corporate, intellectual property and a variety of other practice areas. Based in Washington, DC, the firm also has offices in New York, London, Brussels, Los Angeles, and Orange County, California.

Mateer Harbert Hires 3 Lawyers, 6 Staff

Erik Even — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:20:16 +0000

Orlando, Florida’s Mateer Harbert has gone a hiring spree, picking up two new partners, a senior associate, three paralegals and three legal assistants.

The partners are Francis Pierce and Richard Allen; the senior associate is Susan Sewell.

Mateer Harbert is a 44-employee law firm based in Orlando. It has a second location in Ocala.

Debevoise & Plimpton Hires Partners from Goodwin Procter

Erik Even — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:27:18 +0000

Debevoise & Plimpton has hired two banking partners away from Goodwin Procter.

Gregory Lyons joins Debevoise & Plimpton as a partner in New York. He will be Co-Chair for the Americas of the firm’s Financial Institutions Group. He was co-chair of the Financial Services Practice at Goodwin, and chair of its banking practice in Boston.

Satish Kini joins as banking practice co-chair in Washington, DC. He was a member of Goodwin’s Financial Services Practice.

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is a prominent international law firm based in New York City. Founded in 1931 by Eli Whitney Debevoise and William Stevenson, the firm currently employs about 680 lawyers in eight offices throughout the world.

Deeb Petrakis Adds Partners to Business Transaction Group

Erik Even — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:59:58 +0000

Philadelphia’s Deeb Petrakis has added two lawyers to its Business Transaction Group.

Charles M. Naselsky joins from Blank Rome as a partner. His JD is from the Seton Hall University School of Law. He is a member of the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Philadelphia Bar Associations.

Jon G. Hillsberg also joins from Blank Rome as a partner. With Naselsky, he represents entrepreneurial, entertainment, real estate, banking and private equity companies in a broad range of commercial finance, private equity ventures and real estate matters. His JD is from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Founded in 1989, Deeb Petrakis Blum & Murphy is a full-service law firm with headquarters in Center City Philadelphia, and offices in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

K&L Gates Brings on New Partners

Erik Even — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:37:03 +0000

K&L Gates has announced the addition of two partners.

Wilson Chu joins in Dallas from from Haynes and Boone, where he will concentrate his practice on mergers & acquisitions and private equity transactions. Chu represents clients in a broad range of industries, including the Internet, software, information technology, and health care. He is highly regarded for his M&A work on behalf of the American Bar Association’s Mergers & Acquisitions Committee. His JD is from the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.

Roger Crane joins in New York from Nixon Peabody. He focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation for banks, venture capital, investment bankers, brokerage firms, real estate owners, developers, contractors, multinational corporations, accounting firms, telecommunication companies, biotechnology firms, and law firms. His JD is from the Fordham University School of Law and his LL.M from New York University School of Law.

K&L Gates LLP is a US law firm with over 1700 attorneys worldwide, and is ranked as the 10th largest law firm in the world.

Baker & McKenzie Hires Energy Team from Thompson & Knight

Erik Even — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:30:44 +0000

Chicago’s Baker & McKenzie has hired a seven-lawyer energy law group from the crosstown office of Thompson & Knight.

The team includes partners Michael Byrd, Louis Davis and Ben Welmaker; Glen White as of counsel; and associates David Wildes, Cody Carper and James Sonnier.

They will support Baker’s Houston-based Major Projects/Energy practice.

Byrd represents clients in all phases and sizes of acquisitions and divestitures of producing properties and oil and gas companies. He earned a JD with Honors from the University of Texas School of Law.

Davis handles transactional matters regarding oil and gas exploration and production. He was the Oil and Gas Practice Leader at Thompson & Knight. His JD is from the University of Houston.

Welmaker represents oil and gas companies in international and domestic transactions. He received his LL.B from The University of Texas School of Law.

Baker & McKenzie was founded in Chicago in 1949 by Russell Baker and John McKenzie. One of the first law firms to be truly global, it employs more than 3,900 lawyers in more than 70 offices in 38 different countries.

Greenberg Traurig Recruiting Lateral Partners

Erik Even — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:58:05 +0000

Since January, Greenberg Traurig has recruited 45 lateral partners, and plans to acquire more this year.

In 2008, the firm hired 51 lateral partners in the entire year.

The firm’s most recent acquisition is Paul Maher from Mayer Brown, who is founding the UK’s Greenberg Traurig Maher LLP.

Greenberg Traurig LLP is an international, full-service law firm with more than 1,800 attorneys and governmental affairs professionals in the US, Europe and Asia. The firm was selected as the 2007 USA Law Firm of the Year by Chambers & Partners.

Venable Brings on 8 for Tax Practice

Erik Even — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:32:17 +0000

Baltimore’s Venable has brought on eight lawyers for its tax and estate planning practice in Los Angeles.

Brad Cohen, Michael Foster, Robin Gilden, and David Schwartz join as partners from Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen. Name partner Michael Luftman will also soon join Venable. Charles Kolstad joins as of counsel, and Richard Luftman as an associate.

Kyle Neal joins Venable as of counsel from Freeman, Freeman & Smiley.

In March, the firm laid off 64 people and deferred incoming associates.

Venable LLP is a law firm, formerly known as Venable, Baetjer & Howard LLP. It was founded in Baltimore in the post-Civil War period. Today the firm maintains six Northeastern US offices and specializes in patent litigation, labor and employment law and white collar investigations. Venable employs nearly 600 attorneys.

Foley & Lardner Brings on New Partners

Erik Even — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:06:37 +0000

Foley & Lardner announced two new hires this week.

Jeffrey Thrope joins in New York from Manatt Phelps & Phillips as a partner in the firm’s health care practice. He represents hospitals, nursing homes, public health facilities, not-for-profits, and other health care providers.

Etsuo Doi joins in Tokyo from Paul Hastings as a partner in the intellectual property practice. He will co-head the office with Michael D. Kaminski.

Foley & Lardner LLP is an international general practice law firm started in 1842 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It employs 1,000 attorneys, and is the 24th largest firm in the United States.

Virtual Law Hires 5 Partners

Erik Even — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:26:04 +0000

Virtual Law Partners hired five new partners this week.

Ari Kahan was previously general counsel at United Microelectronics Corporation and Prophet Financial Systems. He represents publicly-traded semiconductor companies and Internet start-ups.

Michael Powlen was a founder of virtual firm Global Law. He handles federal and state taxation matters.

Andy Toebben joins from Gunderson Dettmer, and specializes in corporate and securities law.

Brian Swanson counsels health care and technology clients on domestic and international transactions.

Geoff Ossias joins from Cooley Godward Kronish. He focuses on venture finance and public securities in the technology, biotechnology, and life sciences industries.

The term “virtual law firm” refers to a group of lawyers with diverse expertise, connected via web technology rather than a shared office space, to provide a suite or services to its clients. The term was used as early as 2004.

Founded in 2008, Virtual Law Partners is a distributed, web-based law firm that goes beyond the constraints of brick & mortar law firms to provide legal services at rates lower than those of conventional law firms. Powered by a digital infrastructure, VLP eliminates costly physical offices and minimizes environmental impact, while significantly lowering administrative costs and overhead.

DLA Piper Loses 4 Real Estate Lawyers

Erik Even — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:00:09 +0000

DLA Piper has shed four attorneys from its real estate practice in recent months.

Pamela Westhoff left the firm’s Los Angeles office, joining Sheppard Mullin as a partner.

San Francisco attorneys Donald Archer and Sara Hansen Wilson moved to Drinker Biddle & Reath as partners.

Chicago’s Michael Ben-Isvy joined Quarles & Brady as a partner.

DLA Piper is one of the largest law firms in the world, and is the only firm with more than 3,700 lawyers in North America and Europe. DLA Piper is a legal services organization whose members and affiliates are separate and distinct legal entities. Together, the organization operates in 28 countries and 66 offices throughout the world.

Ruden McClosky Lays Off 2 Lawyers, 18 Staff

Erik Even — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:24:41 +0000

Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s Ruden McClosky has laid off two lawyers and at least 18 secretaries and paralegals.

Last Fall, the firm cut one lawyer and 15 staffers. At year’s end, the firm employed 172 lawyers in 11 Florida offices.

The firm has hired four new lateral partners in recent months.

Ruden McClosky is a full-service Florida law firm specializing in intellectual property law, litigation, banking & finance law, and general corporate law.

Glaser Weil Brings on Entertainment Team

Erik Even — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:20:45 +0000

Los Angeles-based Glaser Weil has brought on leading entertainment attorney John Mason and his team. Mason joins the firms as a partner.

Mason brings with him Nashville-based Deborah Wagnon as of counsel.

The group, which will bring on other lawyers from within Glaser Weil, will represent high profile actors, producers, recording artists, athletes and creative talent in all venues of entertainment sports and lifestyle. They will counsel clients in strategic planning, career development, branding, and transitions into new media opportunities.

Glaser, Weil, Fink, Jacobs, Howard & Shapiro, LLP has two offices, in Century City, California and Las Vegas, Nevada. It employs 100 lawyers.

White & Case Expands New York Litigation Practice

Erik Even — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:08:45 +0000

White & Case, which laid off 200 associates and 200 staffers in March, has added two new partners to its litigation practice in New York.

Gregory Little and Scott Hershman come from Hunton & Williams, where Little was head of the firm’s New York Litigation Group and a former member of the firm’s executive committee.

Hershman was previously an assistant district attorney in New York City.

The firm recently brought on three other partners: Joseph Angland, who has more than 30 years’ trial lawyer experience; former Florida Supreme Court Justice Raoul G. Cantero, III; and former US District Judge Jim Lechner, Jr.

White & Case’s Commercial Litigation Practice is comprised of more than 750 lawyers worldwide, and accounts for more than one-third of the firm’s work globally.

White & Case LLP is a leading global law firm with 2,300 lawyers in 38 offices in 25 countries, and a total staff of more than 4,800. It was founded in New York in 1901.

Sheppard Mullin Hires 3

Erik Even — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:46:46 +0000

Los Angeles’ Sheppard Mullin has recently hired three new attorneys in Los Angeles and China.

This week the firm announced that corporate partner Brian D. Weimer from Latham & Watkins, and real estate partner Pamela L. Westhoff from DLA Piper, were joining Sheppard Mullin.

Earlier this month, the firm hired corporate partner Todd Bissett of O’Melveny & Myers’ Beijing office. He will work for Sheppard Mullin out of Shanghai.

The firm has laid off 25 attorneys so far this year, and froze associate salaries in January.

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is an Am Law 100 law firm with over 520 attorneys in 10 offices in the United States and one in Shanghai. Its first office was founded in Los Angeles, California in 1927.

Update: Duane Morris Hires 50 Total From Wolf Block

Erik Even — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:19:16 +0000

We’ve reported here and here about hires of former Wolf Block attorneys by Philadelphia’s Duane Morris.

Now Duane Morris has released complete information about the hires.

The firm picked up a total of 50 former Wolf Block lawyers from the dissolving firm’s litigation, employment, corporate, real estate, bankruptcy and government affairs practice groups. The lawyers will join Duane Morris in Philadelphia, New York, and Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

The 22 members of the Trial Practice Group are led by Wolf Block executive committee members Hersh Kozlov at Cherry Hill and Alan Kessler in Philadelphia,.

The 17 member Employment & Immigration Practice Group is led by partners Jonathan Segal, James Redeker and John Nixon.

The 7-member Business Reorganization & Financial Restructuring Practice Group is led by partners Gerard Catalanello and James Vincequerra, both of WolfBlock’s Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights Practice Group.

In addition, two partners are joining the firm’s Corporate Practice Group, and two others the Real Estate Practice Group.

Founded in 1904 as Duane, Morris, Heckscher & Roberts, Duane Morris LLP employs more than 700 lawyers in 24 offices in the United States, London, Singapore and Vietnam. In addition to legal services, Duane Morris has independent affiliates employing approximately 100 professionals engaged in other disciplines.

Barlow Lyde & Gilbert Poaches Personal Injury Team from DLA Piper

Erik Even — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:00:08 +0000

London’s Barlow Lyde & Gilbert will open a fifth office in Manchester, UK, and has hired two attorneys from DLA Piper to run the office.

Personal injury lawyers Rob Muttock and Mark Hemsted are slated to join BLG by August.

BLG has lost at least four partners as it restructures.

The firm is also preparing to open a sixth office in Brazil.

Barlow Lyde & Gilbert LLP is a leading international legal practice specializing in commercial litigation and dispute resolution, as well as insurance and reinsurance. It has offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore, with its principal office in London.

Edwin Coe Hires Four New Partners

todd — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:49:28 +0000

Litigation team Edwin Coe has just hired four new partners to accommodate their growing list of clients.

Edwin Coe has hired Teacher Stern IP partner Simon Miles, Royds Solicitors Litigation partner Vivien Davies, Fasken Martineau’s former head of employment Ruth Hickling and David Goepel, previously of counsel at Withers. All four will come on as partner.

Christopher Berry, senior partner at Edwin Coe, claims they made the hires in the IP and private client practices to establish a route for succession ahead of partner retirements.

Chief executive Tim Nash said that the practices were “specific areas where the firm has identified opportunities for growth.”

Coe’s David Greene just recently won an instruction from a group of Madoff investors looking into possible action against intermediary banks HSBC, UBS, and Barclays regarding advice they gave in relation to Madoff’s $50 billion.