JD Journal » Katten Muchin Rosenman

Attorney from Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP Hired by Pittsburgh Pirates

jim — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:30:53 +0000

The Pittsburgh Pirates, one of Major League Baseball’s oldest franchises, has added former Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP attorney Bryan F. Stroh. Stroh has been hired by the Pirates as their new vice president and general counsel, according to Katten Muchin. A spokeswoman for Katten Muchin confirmed that Stroh had left the firm’s Chicago office for the front office of the Pirates last month. Stroh had been with the firm for six years.

“He is a skilled young attorney who will do a great job. Hopefully, since the Pirates are in the National League, he’ll still find time to root for the White Sox,” the spokeswoman told Law360.

The head of Katten Muchin’s sports law practice, Adam Klein, worked directly with Stroh on quite a few cases. Klein praised the positive attitude and personality that were a part of Stroh’s everyday life.

“I give him a lot of credit: He saw something he was interested in and went for it,” Klein told Law360 on Thursday.

A kickback scandal involving talent scouts arose involving several Major League Baseball organizations recently, and Stroh was the representative for the Chicago White Sox in that scandal. The team was cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was alleged that scouts from the White Sox organization identified future players in Latin America. The scouts would then discuss how much the players would be willing to pay in kickbacks to the White Sox scouts and to David Wilder. Wilder was, at the time, the team’s director of player personnel.

The owner of the White Sox, Jerry Reinsdorf, hired the firm of Katten Muchin to help with the investigation. Reinsdorf was informed about the wrongdoings by a whistleblower. The Dominican players who were forced to kickback segments of their signing bonuses to officials in the organization were interviewed by Stroh and his colleague Sheldon Zenner.

In February of this year, Wilder pled guilty to one count of mail fraud in an Illinois federal court. Jorge Oquendo Rivera also pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud in the same court back in November of this year.

In order to obtain kickbacks, Wilder, Oquendo and Victor Mateo (another scout) did not provide the White Sox organization with the correct amount of the players’ bonuses. Those three men also left out certain information about the payments issued to the players. This caused the organization to pay fraudulently inflated bonuses to players while also purchasing the contracts of players from other teams at high prices.

Stroh also worked with the Cleveland Indians and the White Sox on player salary arbitration cases while employed at Katten. Stroh attended Princeton University for his undergraduate degree and obtained his law degree from the University of Virginia. Stroh was a member of the Princeton University varsity baseball team during his academic career.

“Given his passion for the sport, I’m sure he’d love to get a taste of the operational side,” Klein said.

Former Chicago Mayor Becomes a Part of Katten Muchin Rosenman

EmploymentCrossing — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 21:14:08 +0000

Refusing offers from many prominent law firms, former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has decided to join Katten Muchin Rosenman. In a press release Richard Daley said to the reporters that he chose this firm because this firm has “a well managed group of talented professionals” who work with an “innovative yet practical approach” to help clients while demonstrating a commitment to help the society.

Read the full article here:

Ex-Chicago Mayor Daley Joins Katten Muchin

Barnes & Thornburg Brings On New Partner For IP Division

todd — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:18:28 +0000

Indianopolis-based law firm Barnes & Thornburg has hired Peter Zura as a new partner in its intellectual property division. Zura will work on the patent prosecution team in the firm’s Chicago office.

Before signing on with Barnes & Thornburg, Zura was a partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman.

Zura’s duties will consist of client counsel on patent infringement, validity, an large portfolio due diligence studies.
Barnes & Thornburg is the largest law firm in Indiana and the 97^th largest in the United States. They have approximately 475 attorneys across 7 offices in locations such as Washington D.C.; Columbus, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; among others.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:33:52 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Thursday, July 1st. Here’s a quick recap of yesterday’s stories.

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan ended her Senate testimony…

Lindquist & Vennum attorney John A. Chanin was named president-elect of The Faculty of Federal Advocates…

Greenberg Traurig’s Reorganization and Bankruptcy Practice Group received the Global M&A Network’s 2010 Turnaround Atlas Award…

Four McKool Smith principals have been named to to the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America list…

Nixon Peabody announced partner Kari K. Harris joined the firms’ private equity fund practice in its Boston office…

Fried Frank introduced a partner in its Asset Management Group…

Winston & Strawn adds partner to Trusts And Estates Group…

Clark Hill PLC, through lateral hires absorbed the Chicago based IP firm Trexler, Bushnell, Giangiorgi, Blackstone & Marr…

Fried Frank Introduces New Partner In Asset Management Group

eric — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:11:02 +0000

Risk.net: Robert McLaughlin, co-founder of the structured products practice at Katten Muchin Rosenman, has joined Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobsen as a partner in its asset management and financial services practice group at its New York office. Mr. McLaughlin’s practice focuses financial transactions with a concentration on over-the-counter derivatives, credit extensions, structured products and synthetic investments. His clients include a number of investment and commercial banks and investment management firms.

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 500 attorneys in offices in New York, Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Law Firm Hirings, Firings and Promotions

joshua — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 22:48:38 +0000

Alec Alexander, who served as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana from July 2002 thru April 2010, has joined Jones Walker’s office in Lafayette, La. as a special counsel in its business and commercial litigation practice group. Alexander’s practice focuses on corporate health care compliance, government and internal corporate investigations, and white collar criminal matters…

Ugo Colella has returned to Patton Boggs after 3 ½ years at Katten Muchin Rosenman. He previously was with Patton Boggs from 2000 thru 2006. Colella represents companies in civil litigation, with an emphasis on business-related disputes and mass torts…

Jem Li, an attorney in Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft’s corporate mergers and acquisition department in Beijing, has been promoted to partner. Li’s practice focuses on capital markets and corporate transactions…

Greenberg Traurig has made Meital Stavinsky of counsel to the firm. Stavinsky previously was the Israeli Business Consultant for Greenberg Traurig’s Israel practice. She will continue to direct the activities of that practice…

Winston & Strawn has added attorney Wood W. (Woody) Lay to its Charlotte office from Hunton & Williams, where he led its Charlotte labor and employment practice. Lay’s practice focuses labor and employment law issues with an emphasis on employment, ERISA, non-competition and trade secret litigation…

Thomas Whitelaw announced Melissa Yoon has joined the firm’s Irvine office as senior counsel. Yoon previously practiced at Jones Day and before that was at Morrison & Foerster, where she handled employment and complex commercial litigation.

Katten Deferrals Split Into Three

joshua — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:37:59 +0000

Katten has split its deferred class of incoming associates into three groups. The lucky group will start in February, as re-scheduled. The second group is being pushed back to October of next year, a full 16 months after they graduated from law school, and the third group gets $50k and the door.

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP has offices in Chicago; New York; Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Charlotte, North Carolina; Palo Alto, California; and Irving, Texas; with an affiliated entity, Katten Muchin Rosenman Cornish LLP, in London, England. The firm has over 650 attorneys practicing in more than 40 areas.

Katten Moves Up Start Dates For Six Incoming Associates

todd — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:25:05 +0000

Half a dozen incoming associates to the Katten Muchin Rosenman law firm have reason to celebrate. On Friday, the law firm sent out a statement rescinding their March decision to hold off starting dates for six of their incoming associates. Initially, the associates were to start on February 1, 2010. However, due to what the law firm cited as “an increase in demand for [their] legal services in a number of core practice areas,” six lucky new comers will start their new positions this month.

The hires come in the areas of litigation and intellectual property, but are spread across all of the firm’s 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.

Yale Law Women Choose 2009 Top Ten ‘Family-Friendly’ Firms

Erik Even — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:05:03 +0000

Yale Law Women has announced its 2009 Top Ten Family Friendly Firms List:

Arnold & Porter
Cleary Gottlieb
Covington & Burling
Jenner & Block
Katten Muchin Rosenman
Mayer Brown
Munger, Tolles & Olson
Patton Boggs
Sidley Austin
WilmerHale

From the press release:

YLW believes that the discussion of family friendly firm policies remains salient in the midst of the current recession… YLW hopes leading firms will use this period of transformation as an opportunity to develop more flexible work arrangements and career paths for their attorneys…

Twenty-five percent of firms who responded to our survey offer formal “off-ramp/on-ramp programs,” which allow attorneys to leave the firm for a number of years to pursue other types of legal practice or to take time off to spend with their families.

Flexible and part-time work options are also becoming the norm: 99% of part-time requests were granted on average, and 41% of responding firms automatically grant part-time requests if conditions in a written policy are met…

…YLW remains concerned about the dearth of women in leadership positions, the gender gap in those who take advantage of family friendly policies, and the possibility that working part-time can derail an otherwise successful career.

Yale Law Women is a non-partisan organization that promotes the interests of women within the law school and beyond. To this end, YLW cultivates debate and discussion of issues pertaining to women and gender broadly defined; promotes speech and action by YLW members on issues of import to women; devotes resources to student support and professional development; recognizes and fosters outstanding achievement; and advocates in service of women’s interests in society.

The Week in Law Firm Layoffs

Erik Even — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:52:00 +0000

Here are the law firm layoffs reported this week:

Troutman Sanders: undisclosed

Dunlap & Seeger: 2 attorneys, 3 staff

Mayer Brown: 55 lawyers and staff

Hood Vores & Allwood: 2 lawyers, 4 staff

Katten Muchin Rosenman: 23 lawyers, 46 staff

Jenner & Block: 34 staff

Polsinelli Shughart: 9 attorneys, 16 staff

Morris, Manning & Martin: 6 incoming first-year associates

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips: 12 attorneys, 35 staff

Denton Wilde Sapte: 37 lawyers, 39 staff

Sughrue Mion: undisclosed number of incoming first year associates

Alston & Bird: undisclosed

Blake Lapthorn: 20 lawyers & staff

Total : 91 lawyers, 177 staff, 75 unidentified; 343 in all.

That’s way better than last week’ s 574 lawyers, 812 staff!

Update: Katten Lays Off 69

Erik Even — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:14:11 +0000

Katten Muchin Rosenman has confirmed it is laying off 69 people today, and cutting the salaries of “underutilized” associates.

The firm is also scaling back its summer associate program, and deferring start dates for incoming first years.

From the press release:

…like many law firms, we have had to make some very difficult staffing decisions, including today’s layoff of a relatively small number of our attorneys and staff. These reductions included 12 associates, seven non-equity partners, four other attorneys, six paralegals and 40 staff members.

This layoff was relatively small due to a new Katten program that will creatively reduce costs while preserving dozens of jobs. Under the program, underutilized associates will be placed on a lower compensation scale. This scale reduces an associate’s base salary by 20 percent if he or she did not bill within 200 hours of their billable target in 2008, but offers the chance for them to earn back their total base at the end of this year if they meet their hours going forward…

In conjunction with our new compensation program, we are implementing a number of additional measures designed to cut costs, including reducing the length of our summer associate program from 10 weeks to eight weeks and reducing summer associate salaries by 20 percent. We are also delaying the start date for incoming first-year associates until February 1, 2010, the beginning of our fiscal year. These associates will be compensated with an additional stipend.

Rumor: Katten Layoffs Today

Erik Even — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:03:32 +0000

Katten Muchin Rosenman is laying off around 30 lawyers today, according to reliable sources.

The firm may also announce a 20% pay cut for survivors.

If you know anything about the situation at Katten, please send us a confidential tip!

Winston & Strawn Bankruptcy Team Moves to Proskauer Rose

Erik Even — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:44:29 +0000

Just two years after joining Winston & Strawn to co-chair its bankruptcy group, attorney Jeff Marwil is leaving to join the Chicago office of Proskauer Rose.

Two of Marwil’s bankruptcy partners, Mark Thomas and Paul Possinger, will follow him to Proskauer Rose.

The hop to Proskauer is the third time the three attorneys have changed firms in seven years.

The group spent five years at Jenner & Block, and have also worked together at Katten Muchin Rosenman.

Marwil specializes in distressed hedge funds.

New York-based Proskauer has five partners in its bankruptcy and restructuring practice.