JD Journal » Hunton & Williams

Venable Adds Five Attorneys to Energy Practice Group

rebneely — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:19:44 +0000

In recent days, Venable LLP announced it has added three partners and two associates to its Energy Practice Group.

David DeSalle, Daniel Malabonga and Brian Zimmet join the firm’s Washington office as partners. In addition, Michael Splete and Jason Wool join as associates. Mr. DeSalle, Mr. Malabonga and Mr. Splete join from Duane Morris and Mr. Zimmet and Mr. Wool join from Hunton & Williams.

Brock Landry, co-Chair of the firm’s Government Division was quoted as saying in a press release at the firm’s website: “Our regulatory practices are at the heart of Venable’s expansion. Energy issues occupy such a critical role in our economy today, and that makes the addition of these three partners both timely and fortuitous. We welcome them to Venable.”

Mr. DeSalle advises clients on a variety of transactional and regulatory issues and represents them before state and federal courts and regulatory agencies. In addition, he assists clients with complex commercial transactions, regulatory compliance, informal and formal investigations, and other relevant matters. He has significant experience with transmission planning and generation interconnection issues, especially with regard to the development of renewable energy resources in less robust areas of the electric grid. He also represents a number of business interests in the emerging regulatory and litigation matters involving unconventional shale formations, especially the Marcellus Shale. He earned his JD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and is a member of the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania bars.

Mr. Zimmet focuses his practice on nearly all aspects of federal regulation and restructuring of the electric utility industry, with a particular emphasis on electric reliability matters. He received his JD from the University of Virginia Law School and is admitted to both the District of Columbia and Maryland bars.

Mr. Malabonga concentrates his practice on electricity and ancillary service markets, and includes matters under the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and state regulatory agencies. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, New York and the Philippines. He earned his law degree from the University of the Philippines College of Law.

Michael Splete joins Venable as an associate from Duane Morris. He focuses his practice on energy law and matters related to generator interconnection, energy markets and regulation. Prior to private practice, he served as law clerk to administrative law Judges Herbert Grossman and Karen Johnson of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. He was also law clerk to the Honorable James E. Baker of the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. Splete earned his JD from George Washington University Law School and his BA from Cornell. He is also certified as an Accredited Professional under the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System.

Jason Wool is an associate who joins from Hunton & Williams, where he worked closely with Mr. Zimmet. Wool focuses on energy and utility regulation, including reliability, renewable energy issues, nuclear energy issues and licensing of generation and transmission facilities. Jason graduated from William & Mary Law School and earned his BA from Haverford College.

Venable’s Energy group has a wide range of experience in the regulation of electricity, petroleum and natural gas markets, and in transactions involving electric, petroleum and natural gas assets and products.

An American Lawyer Global 100 law firm, Venable serves corporate, institutional, governmental, nonprofit and individual clients throughout the U.S. and around the world. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with offices in California, Maryland, New York and Virginia, Venable LLP lawyers and legislative advisors serve the needs of our domestic and global clients in all areas of corporate and business law, complex litigation, intellectual property, regulatory and government affairs.

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Announces Plans to Open Office in Brussels

rebneely — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 08:00:55 +0000

The law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati announced in recent days that it will open an office in Brussels, Belgium.

Michael Rosenthal, who was formerly the managing partner of Hunton & Williams’ Brussels office, will lead the office. He will be joined by Gotz Drauz, the former Deputy Director-General for Competition at the European Commission, and former Hunton & Williams partner Paul McGeown, along with a counsel and three associates.

The team of attorneys combines private practice, industry, and high-level government experience. As well, it offers a broad spectrum of antitrust and competition services at the European Union and national levels in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Chairman Larry Sonsini was quoted as saying in a press release at the firm’s website: “In recent years, the European Commission has become an increasingly important forum for our clients when it comes to antitrust review, particularly concerning mergers and acquisitions and global cartel investigations. Opening an office in Brussels, the seat of the European Commission, is a natural evolution of our mission to serve our clients as they seek to grow and compete on a global basis, and we are excited by the opportunities that it represents.”

CEO Steve Bochner was quoted as saying: “We couldn’t have asked for a finer team to lead our efforts in the European Union than Michael, Götz, and Paul. They are all highly accomplished attorneys whose talents and experience mesh extraordinarily well with the firm’s thriving M&A and antitrust practices. It is with great pride that we welcome them to the firm.”

Dr. Michael Rosenthal joins the firm from Hunton & Williams, where he successfully built that firm’s Brussels office and chaired the European arm of its competition practice. He advises clients on all aspects of EU and German competition law. He is also listed as a leading competition lawyer in the major legal directories, including Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers.

Named as an “elite” practitioner by Global Competition Review, Götz Drauz joins the firm from Shearman & Sterling. There, he practiced antitrust and competition law. Before that, he was a partner in Howrey’s Brussels office. Over the course of his career, he has represented companies in some of the biggest merger, conduct, and cartel investigations in Europe. Before entering private practice, Drauz served for 25 years at the European Commission.

Paul McGeown also joins from Hunton & Williams. He advises clients in a broad range of industries on all aspects of European competition law; he has particular expertise in complex merger cases, industrial partnerships, and State aid matters. He has significant experience representing clients before the EC and United Kingdom competition authorities. McGeown was formerly a partner at Linklaters and, earlier, an associate at Salans in Paris and Slaughter & May in Brussels and London. In addition, he served as in-house competition counsel at a major global engineering corporation.

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati’s antitrust team is uniquely positioned to assist clients on the most important bet-the-company matters as well as with regular counseling and compliance matters. With over 525 attorneys, the firm is recognized as the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and other growth enterprises worldwide.

Hunton & Williams Cuts Back on Attorneys in City Offices

EmploymentCrossing — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:48:54 +0000

US Law firm Hunton & Williams has slashed the headcount of its lawyers by more than 60 percent. In April there were 36 lawyers in City offices and now there are only 14. According to its managing partner, this is a consequence of some corporate partners leaving the firm. In May a strategic refocusing was taking place in its City Offices after five partners left for rival US legal firms.

Read the full article here:
US law firm Hunton & Williams ‘downsizes City offices’

100% of Hunton Williams Full Time U.S. Attorneys Work on Pro Bono Projects

rebneely — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:07:28 +0000

For the second year in a row, 100 percent of Hunton & Williams’ full-time U.S. lawyers have worked on pro bono projects, donating more than 60,000 hours for the firm’s fiscal year ending March 31.

This is the 16^th year in a row that the firm has met or exceeded the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge of donating at least 3 percent of its annual billable hours to pro bono service.

Wally Martinez, managing partner of Hunton & Williams was quoted as saying in a press release at the firm’s website: “I am very proud of the commitment to service again demonstrated by our lawyers. We all know that the weak economy has placed great burdens on many in our communities. I am happy to see that the lawyers at Hunton & Williams stepped up to meet the legal needs of our pro bono clients in a variety of matters, including those affecting their homes, benefits, children, and health care.”

Hunton has championed a wide variety of causes, including lobbying Congress for a legislative waiver to rebuild Haiti, helping immigrants seek asylum from persecution, and providing legal services for the poor and underserved in our country facing recession challenges. This year, the firm stepped up its assistance for older veterans seeking military benefits for themselves and their families.

With over 900 attorneys, Hunton & Williams serves clients in 100 countries in 18 offices around the world.

DLA Piper Continues Expansion of Miami Office

rebneely — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:12:10 +0000

DLA Piper expanded its Miami, Florida office recently with the addition of five prominent lawyers with significant global practices, all formerly partners at Hunton & Williams LLP.

Carlos Loumiet, and John Haley have joined the firm as partners in the firm’s Corporate practice, Craig Rasile and Andrew Zaron as partners in the Bankruptcy practice and Michael Silva as a partner in the Tax practice.

Loumiet was previously partner and co-chair of the Hunton & Williams’ International practice group. Loumiet focuses his practice on the business and financial services fields domestically and abroad.

John Haley was a partner in Hunton & Williams’ International practice group and has represented clients in cross-border transactions and domestic transactional matters.

Roger Meltzer, Global Chair of DLA Piper’s Corporate and Finance practice was quoted as saying in a press release at the firm’s website: “Carlos and John’s sophisticated international practice base matches well with our global platform and helps further strengthen our capabilities in a number of regions around the globe, particularly Latin America.”

Craig Rasile was co-chair of the Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Creditors’ Rights practice at Hunton & Williams and has represented clients in bankruptcy matters in a wide variety of industries.

Andrew Zaron was formerly a partner in Hunton & Williams’ Bankruptcy practice. He focuses on the areas of bankruptcy, workouts, debt restructuring, corporate reorganization and creditors’ rights.

Michael Silva was a tax & ERISA partner and head of Hunton & Williams’ International Private Wealth Advisors practice. He focuses his practice on international tax law.

DLA Piper has 3,500 lawyers in offices throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and the United States.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 00:20:59 +0000

Good morning everybody! Today is Thursday, October 21st. Here’s a quick look back at yesterday’s stories.

The Children’s Law Center, Washington D.C.’s largest provider of free legal services, launched a new six-week campaign, dubbed the Lawyers for Children Campaign….

Winston & Strawn expanded its transactional capabilities in China with a three-person team from Cadwalader…

BigLaw Lends A Hand in New Children’s Law Center Campaign

joshua — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 23:06:21 +0000

The Children’s Law Center, Washington D.C.’s largest provider of free legal services, has launched a new six-week campaign, dubbed the Lawyers for Children Campaign, that’s designed to expose area lawyers and their colleagues to opportunities to improve the lives of D.C.’s children.

In conjunction with the campaign, an 18-member advisory board was selected that’s made up of attorneys from law firms, law schools and corporations throughout the D.C. area. Among the organizations represented are Arnold & Porter, Blank Rome, Bryan Cave, Clifford Chance, Covington & Burling, Crowell & Moring, Fish & Richardson, Hunton & Williams, Jones Day, Latham & Watkins, McDermott Will & Emery, McKenna Long & Aldridge, Patton Boggs, Sidley Austin, Skadden, Williams & Connolly, American University and the Podesta Group.

Evelyn Becker, pro bono director at Children’s Law Center, said the groups “enthusiasm to launching the campaign and introducing their colleagues to Children’s Law Center has been tremendous.”

The campaign will run from October 18 through Thanksgiving. A Campaign Kickoff Happy Hour will be held Tuesday, Oct. 26 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Children’s Law Center offices.

Carmen McLean, CLC Board Member and Chair of CLC’s Advisory Board, and attorney at Jones Day, commented on the campaign in a press release.

“At Jones Day, we just took on our 20th pro bono case through Children’s Law Center and we know how important this work is,” McLean said. “We are excited to spread the word about CLC’s new Lawyers for Children campaign.”

Morning Roundup

joshua — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:10:45 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Friday, August 20th. Here’s a quick recap of yesterday’s stories.

Drinker Biddle & Reath added a four-person team to its customs and international trade practice…

Thompson Hine partner Jeffrey R. Appelbaum was recognized by Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland for his leadership of the Ohio Construction Reform Panel (OCRP)…

Corporate INTL awarded Fakhoury Law Group ‘Immigration Advisory Firm of the Year in Michigan’…

Drinker Biddle Snags International Trade Team

joshua — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:21:26 +0000

Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP has added a four-person team to its customs and international trade practice from Hunton & Williams. Joining the firm’s Washington D.C. office are partners William A. Silverman and Douglas J. Heffner; counsel Richard P. Ferrin; and Eric L. Johnson as a senior international trade analyst.

The team focuses its practice primarily on international trade remedies litigation, concentrating on antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and administrative review proceedings. In addition, the practice involves representing clients in “sunset” reviews of antidumping and countervailing duty orders, as well as Section 201 “safeguard” proceedings under the Trade Act of 1974.

Clients include foreign manufacturing firms and international trading companies that are respondents in trade investigations, and U.S. companies that are petitioners in trade investigations.

“The addition of this well-respected team in Washington allows us to offer our clients additional resources in an area that will only become more important to them as the economy improves and global competition continues to increase,” said Alfred W. Putnam, Jr., Drinker Biddle’s chairman.

Drinker Biddle & Reath is a national law firm with 675 lawyers in 12 offices.

Four White Collar Litigators Move from Hunton & Williams to Katten

joshua — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:13:35 +0000

Katten Muchin Rosenman picked up four litigators today from Hunton & Williams. Three partners, Steven Solow, Whitney Ellerman, and Karl Heisler along with one associate, Kristine Rembach, are making the move to Katten’s Washington DC office. This marks the start of a new white collar litigation practice for Katten, which will be headed up by Solow and Ellerman. Solow will also chair Katten’s environmental litigation practice.

Katten has over 650 attorneys in 8 cities, including an affiliated office in London. The firm was formed by the merger of Katten Muchin Zavis and Rosenman & Colin in 2002.

Law Firm Hirings & Firings

Erik Even — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:22:17 +0000

Recent laterals and layoffs in the legal sector:

Stephen Lamb joins Paul Weiss at the firm’s new office in Wilmington, Delaware as a partner in both the corporate and litigation departments. He was a judge with the Delaware Court of Chancery for 12 years. Lamb earned his JD in 1975 from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Patricia Shiu joins the US Department of Labor as director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. She previously spent 25 years with San Francisco’s Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center, where she was vice president for programs. She was also an associate at Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro. Her JD is from the University of San Francisco School of Law.

R. Hewitt Pate joins Chevron as general counsel, from Hunton & Williams where he was head of the global competition group. He was formerly head of the US Department of Justice’s antitrust division. His JD is from the University of Virginia School of Law. Pate clerked for US Supreme Court Justices Lewis F. Powell Jr. and Anthony M. Kennedy.

Winston & Strawn Brings on Hunton & Williams Partners

Erik Even — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:26:32 +0000

Winston & Strawn has lured three partners and an of counsel away from Hunton & Williams, to join the firm in Charlotte, North Carolina and Washington DC.

T. Thomas Cottingham III will serve as head of the litigation in Charlotte. He was previously the managing partner of Hunton & Williams’ Charlotte office and head of its securities/financial institutions litigation practice. Cottingham earned his JD cum laude from Cornell Law School.

Nash E. Long III joins in Charlotte. He focuses on complex litigation including arbitration, jury trials, bench trials and class actions related to environmental, business torts, commercial contract, intellectual property, construction, consumer law and product liability disputes. While at Harvard Law School, where Long graduated magna cum laude, he served as research assistant to renowned professor and constitutional law expert Laurence Tribe.

Jack M. Knight Jr. also joins in Charlotte. He concentrates on internal investigations, corporate compliance, commercial litigation, white collar criminal defense of corporations and individuals, Grand Jury investigations and civil litigation, and regularly advises corporations on compliance issues. Knight earned his JD cum laude from the Washington College of Law at American University.

Winston’s Charlotte office, founded in 2008, has grown from six to 22 attorneys. The firm expects to hire more lawyers in the near future.

John M. Holloway III joins in Washington, DC. He focuses on environmental issues, energy matters, administrative law and commercial transactions particularly in the areas of energy, procurement and construction contracting. Holloway holds a JD cum laude from University of Richmond School of Law.

Winston & Strawn LLP was founded in Chicago in 1853. It employs about 1,000 attorneys among 13 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Mayer Brown Hires for Global Projects Group

Erik Even — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:51:33 +0000

Mayer Brown has brought on two attorneys for its Global Projects Group.

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

The Week in Law Firm Layoffs

Erik Even — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:24:31 +0000

This week in law firm layoffs:

Collas Day: 6 staff

Matheson Ormsby Prentice: 25 lawyers

Pannone LLP: 35 staff

Thomson Playford Cutlers: 19 lawyers, 5 staff

Fennemore Craig: 7 lawyers, 10 staff

DLA Phillips Fox: 12 lawyers

Blake Dawson: 23 lawyers, 66 staff

Minter Ellison: 11 lawyers, 24 staff

Hunton & Williams: 23 lawyers, 64 staff

Hogan & Hartson: undisclosed

DLA Piper: 24 lawyers, 100 staff

Fish & Richardson: 35 lawyers, 85 staff

Sullivan & Cromwell: 30 lawyers

Day Pitney: 20 lawyers

Willkie Farr & Gallagher: undisclosed

CMS Cameron McKenna: 20 lawyers, 60 staff

Shoosmiths: 25 lawyers, 44 staff

Brown McCarroll: undisclosed

Total: 274 lawyers, 499 staff

Previously:

Week of May 3rd: 274 lawyers, 160 staff

Week of April 26th: 352 lawyers, 220 staff, 70 undisclosed

Week of April 19th: 61 lawyers, 184 staff

Week of April 12th: 67 lawyers, 50 staff, 115 unidentified

Week of April 5th: 144 lawyers, 310 staff

Week of March 29th: 199 lawyers, 474 staff

Week of March 22nd: 455 lawyers, 219 staff

Week of March 15th: 91 lawyers, 177 staff

Week of March 8th: 574 lawyers, 812 staff

Foley & Lardner Hires Three Lawyers

Erik Even — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:42:14 +0000

Foley & Lardner has hired three new partners.

Robert Huey, formerly of Hunton & Williams, will join in Washington DC. He handles international transaction and securities work.

Two former Katten Muchin lawyers, Russell Selman and Bradley Rochlen, are joining in Chicago. Selman does corporate real estate and public utility environmental compliance. Rochlen handles environmental litigation.

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.

Hunton & Williams Lays Off 23 Lawyers, 64 Staff

Erik Even — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:49:13 +0000

Virginia’s Hunton & Williams has laid off 87 people across its US offices.

From the memo:

Today, we reduced approximately 23 associate and counsel positions and 64 staff positions in our U.S. offices. The reductions are spread among most of our teams and offices. We did not come to this very difficult decision lightly. We have, over the past many months, taken aggressive steps to manage our expenses with a principal goal being to avoid across the board layoffs.

What’s the difference between this and “across the board layoffs?”

While the firm remains financially strong, the prolonged nature of this economic downturn, its depth, and its impact on the demand for legal services, has caused us to conclude that we must take this additional step in order to better align our capacity with present and anticipated client needs. The affected attorneys and staff are talented individuals who have made valuable contributions to the firm. We are dedicated to doing whatever we can to help them with their transition.

Severance packages are being offered.

Founded in 1901, Richmond, Virginia-based Hunton & Williams has 19 offices and about 1,000 lawyers worldwide.

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.

Revenue Up at Virginia’s Hunton & Williams

Erik Even — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:47:02 +0000

Richmond, Virginia’s Hunton & Williams posted $668 million in gross revenue in the fiscal year that ended March 31st, a 2.2% increase from the previous year.

Net revenue was $229 million, a 9% increase.

The firm’s payout to equity partners was down 2.5% due to a 12% increase in the number of partners.

Hunton & Williams has 19 offices and about 1,000 lawyers worldwide. The firm was founded in Richmond and has 18 other offices throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. The firm expanded in Texas in the Spring of 2007 by adding a group of almost 100 lawyers from the now-defunct Jenkens & Gilchrist.

Hunton & Williams opened an office in San Francisco in July 2008.