JD Journal » sonnenschein nath & rosenthal llp

Morning Roundup

joshua — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:45:08 +0000

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

Two former Mintz Levin Partners formed their own Boston based boutique…

The combination of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP and Denton Wilde Sapte LLP – SNR Denton – launched as a top 25 firm by lawyers and professionals worldwide…

Sonnenschein Adds Veteran Exxon Lawyer to Energy Practice

joshua — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 00:10:01 +0000

Long-time senior lawyer at Exxon Mobil Corp., Carter B. Simpson, has joined Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP as counsel.

Simpson most recently served the world’s largest publicly-traded international oil and gas company as its senior counsel for antitrust and trade regulation. He will reside in Sonnenschein’s Washington, D.C., office as part of its Energy, Antitrust and Competition, and Global Services practices.

The move comes prior to Sonnenschein’s pending merger with Denton Wilde, which is slated to go live Sept. 30.

“The breadth of our global energy practice, particularly in light of the pending combination to create SNR Denton, continues to demand the type of expertise Carter has mastered in years of service representing the world’s largest oil company,” said Clinton A. Vince, chair of Sonnenschein’s Global Energy practice. “The diversity of his practice across key emerging areas, including antitrust, FCPA, and export control and sanctions is a wonderful complement to our energy sector strength.”

At ExxonMobil, Simpson advised the company on U.S., EU and other international antitrust laws applicable to a variety of business settings. This included information exchanges, benchmarking, standard setting and industry trade matters.

“Sonnenschein’s energy capabilities are extremely impressive and I am very excited to be here in advance of the SNR Denton combination in the fall,” said Simpson. “Energy will be a core strength of the new firm.”

Katten Muchin Bolsters D.C. Health Care Practice

joshua — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:59:55 +0000

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP has added Lisa M. Ohrin to its Washington D.C. office as a partner in its health care practice. Ohrin joins a group of four attorneys who came to Katten from Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP in late January.

Joining Ohrin at Katten Muchin were partners Howard R. Rubin, Joshua G. Berman and Glen Donath. Katten Muchin has made six lateral additions to its Washington D.C. office over the past six months, primarily in the areas of white collar defense, environmental litigation and health care law.

Ohrin bring 15 years of health law experience to the position. Her practice focuses on counseling hospitals, health systems, and other health care organizations on risk management, fraud and abuse, corporate compliance, reimbursement and other general regulatory matters.

She previously served as director of the Division of Technical Payment Policy with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Katten Muchin has over 600 lawyers in offices throughout the United States and in London.

Sonnenschein Lawyer to Head Obesity Initiative

sara — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:13:31 +0000

Sonnenschein senior counsel Larry Kocot will the be the interim leader of first lady Michelle Obama’s new health initiative, Partnership for a Healthier America. The focus of the initiative is childhood obesity. The Partnership for a Healthier America wants to facilitate collaboration between public and private entities to provide information about and improve accessibility to healthy food in school and communities, as well as increase opportunities for exercise.

Kocot was contacted in mid January by the first lady’s office. He says of his new position, “A lot of times as an attorney you don’t find work this gratifying, to work on a pro bono project that is so important to the nation. It’s such a partisan world in Washington, but this hits a nonpartisan chord.”

Kocot is a former senior advisor to the administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In this role he worked with the pharmaceutical industry to develop the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, Part D. Currently he is the deputy director at the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform with the Brookings Institution. He also served as the general counsel to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

Sonnenschein to Slash Associate Pay [Update]

Erik Even — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:40:43 +0000

Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal plans to cut associate salaries, beginning June 1st.

First year salaries, previously a Biglaw standard $160,000, will be reduced to $145,000.

Sonnenschein seeks to make associate salaries performance-based, and will create an associate-partner committee to work out the details. This year, the firm will have a merit-based bonus program; bonuses will be paid in January 2010.

Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP is an international law firm with 700 lawyers and other professionals in the United States and Europe. Founded in Chicago in 1906, it has 14 offices in the US and Europe.

UPDATE

Online sources have obtained further details about the salary reductions for Sonnenschein associates — the longer a lawyer has been with the firm, the more their pay will be cut.

If an associate started in 2004 or earlier, the pay cut is 15%. Those who started in 2005/6 take a 14% cut. And the 2008 class is taking a 10% cut.

Morgan Lewis & Bockius Adds More Sonnenschein Lawyers

Erik Even — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:07:38 +0000

Philadelphia’s Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, which poached six partners from Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal earlier this month, has added two more partners and five associates from the Chicago-based firm.

The team of health care attorneys will join Morgan Lewis’ Washington, DC office, where five of the previously hired partners will be based.

Philadelphia-based Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP is a law firm that was founded as Morgan & Lewis in 1873. It has 1,400 lawyers in 22 offices worldwide.

Morgan Lewis Lures Away Sonnenschein Partners

Erik Even — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:16:38 +0000

Six partners from Sonnenschein have joined Morgan Lewis’ health care regulation practice.

Joyce Cowan, Kathleen McDermott, John Rah, Albert Shay, and Howard Young are joining Sonnenschein’s Washington office, while Reece Hirsch is joining the firm in San Francisco.

Sonnenschein has 18 lawyers in its FDA and health care regulation practice.

Philadelphia-based Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP is a law firm that was founded as Morgan & Lewis in 1873. It has 1,400 lawyers in 22 offices worldwide.

Seyfarth Shaw Poaches Team from Sonnenschein

Erik Even — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:59:11 +0000

A group of five trusts & estates attorneys is defecting from Sonnenschein’s Los Angeles office to Seyfarth Shaw.

The group is led by partner Alan Yoshitake, a resident in the business service group. Yoshitake is joined by Mark Hansen and Edward McCaffery, both of counsel, and two associates.

Seyfarth Shaw employs over 750 attorneys located in nine offices throughout the United States including Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington DC, Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento, as well as Brussels, Belgium.

Sonnenschein Shutters Charlotte Offiche

Erik Even — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:46:23 +0000

(The misspelling in the title is intentional — read it aloud.)

Partners at Chicago’s Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal voted today to shut the firm’s Charlotte, North Carolina office. The decision affects 11 lawyers and eight staff members.

Sonnenschein chair Elliott Portnoy cited “local marketplace realities, the declining demand for legal services in the Charlotte legal and financial markets, and the needs of our financial institution clients” for the decision.

Some lawyers will be offered the chance to relocate, while others will receive severance packages. The closure will take effect April 1st.

Sonnenschein opened its Charlotte office in April 2007 with three lateral partners from Kilpatrick Stockton; John “Jay” Suhr Jr., Jonathan Nugent and James Tucker. They were joined at the time by two counsel and 13 associates.

The firm has discussed relocation with the three partners; no decision has been made yet about their future at Sonnenschein.