The IRS scandal whose exposure led them to apologize to such people as “tea party” political groups has fostered some speculation as to why these conservative groups in particular were unfairly awarded such intense scrutiny. Patrick Howley of the Daily Caller, for instance, exposed that supposedly “apolitical” IRS Exempt Organizations Division director Lois G. Lerner isn’t so apolitical as the mainstream press would have us believe, but is in fact married to attorney Michael R Miles, a partner at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, working in their Washington D.C. office. The connection is supposed to incriminate the Obama administration as Sutherland has “Strong Obama connections.”

To support the claim of strong connections, Howley quotes a few news releases the firm made, as well as referencing their work on the website workerclassification.com which relates to Obama’s work resolving employee misclassification.

But as Overlawyered responded, the connection is tenuous, and Sutherland, as an organization, probably has an equal share of Republican connections, as lawyers within the firm have donated $41,700 to Romney, in comparison with $35,412 to Obama. As Overlawyered concludes, the claim that Sutherland has “strong Obama connections” is certainly overstated, and while this is indeed a formidable scandal, nothing so quick, clean, and neat as Obama’s signature on the deeds can incriminate his organization on the matter. Sutherland indeed seems to have done a lot with and for the Obama administration, but it isn’t so one-sided as all that.

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In recent days, the law firm of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP announced John H. Walsh, a veteran of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with nearly a quarter century of experience, joined the firm’s Financial Services Group and Securities Enforcement and Litigation Team in Washington, D.C.

Sutherland’s Managing Partner Mark D. Wasserman was quoted as saying in a press release at the firm’s site: “We are extremely pleased that John has joined our Washington, D.C., office. His strong background and extensive work experience at the SEC—particularly during one of the most trying financial times our country has seen in decades—will be invaluable to the firm and to our clients.”

Walsh was quoted as saying in the same press release; “Sutherland is extremely well-regarded within the industry and has built an excellent practice that has aspects of securities regulation, compliance and enforcement that I sought. As the line between compliance and enforcement increasingly blurs, I look forward to using my extensive knowledge to help counsel clients on some of their most critical matters and help them navigate today’s new regulatory and compliance hurdles.”

The addition of Walsh to the firm is both strategic and timely; with the landscape of the financial, security and other industries so rapidly shifting, his expertise will be a boon to the firm’s clients, as well as building the firm’s reputation and dominance in the legal industry.

Walsh played a large role in the creation of the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) – the department within the SEC responsible for examining participants in the market, including brokers, dealers, investment managers, funds, self-regulatory organizations, and clearinghouses. Going forward, the responsibilities of OCIE will be more and more focused on finding areas for increased regulation and securities enforcement.

Walsh also played a key role in the design and implementation of the SEC’s securities compliance examination practices. He served first as a Senior Advisor for Compliance Policy and then as Associate Director-Chief Counsel.  

Walsh served as OCIE’s Acting Director in 2009, in the midst of the nation’s financial crisis. He led the effort to retrain hundreds of examination staff on anti-fraud techniques. This effort included the examination and certification of staff as Certified Fraud Examiners. Up through January 2010, when a permanent director was appointed, he testified before Congress and responded to inquiries from the Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office, Congress, and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.

Before his experience at the OCIE, Walsh served as Special Counsel to former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt, from 1993-1995. Prior to this, he worked in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, where he served initially as Senior Counsel, then as Chief of the Branch of Regional Office Assistance. In this role, he made regular appearances before the Commission’s Closed Meetings to present and discuss regional office enforcement cases. Walsh started his long and distinguished career with the SEC in 1988 as an attorney in the Office of General Counsel.

Walsh has been the recipient of numerous awards during his career at the SEC. In both 2010 and 2011, his team received the SEC’s Law and Policy Award for their work on the Dodd-Frank Act. A Certified Fraud Examiner, he has also spoken frequently over the last decade at securities industry legal and compliance conferences.

Founded in 1924, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP has over 400 attorneys. The firm focuses on seven major practice areas: corporate, energy and environmental, financial services, intellectual property, litigation, real estate, and tax.

The post SEC Veteran John H. Walsh Joins Sutherland Asbill & Brennan first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

John L. North and Jeffrey J. Toney join as partners, Laura Fahey Fritts and Jonathan K. Waldrop join as special counsel and Darcy L. Jones joins as associate; all in the firm’s Atlanta office. Jack Minnear joins as partner in the firm’s New York office.

Marc E. Kasowitz, Kasowitz’s managing partner was quoted as saying in a press release at the firm’s website: “We are pleased that John and his highly respected team of litigators have joined our firm. Their impressive track record — particularly in winning complex patent cases — makes them ideal additions to our expanding IP litigation team.”

Kasowitz recently expanded its IP group in San Francisco. As well, the firm announced plans to open an office in Silicon Valley.

North, who served as the former chair of Sutherland’s intellectual property practice group, focuses on patent litigation and trade secret disputes, with many cases involving unfair competition claims and patent misuse throughout the pharmaceutical and other industries. He is also called upon to serve as arbitrator, special master and patent misuse expert in high profile cases. His prominent representations include serving as lead counsel to Teva, Minerals Technology and Gemstar T.V. Guide.

Toney tries patent infringement, trade secret an unfair competition cases before federal and state courts, and also handles transnational arbitration matters, including proceedings before the International Chamber of Commerce. A former chemist, his practice focuses on the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, including commercial disputes involving technology issues related to the design and manufacture of a range of products. Prominent representations include University of Georgia Research Foundation, Emory University, Metso and Raytheon.

Minnear’s practice focuses on patent infringement, trade secret and antitrust matters, including multi-district litigation and Section 337 actions at the United States International Trade Commission. He has litigated patent cases across a broad range of technologies, including substantial experience representing generic pharmaceutical companies in patent infringement cases. 

With over 350 lawyers, Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP is a national law firm specializing in complex, highly sophisticated litigation.

The post Kasowitz Adds Team of Six Attorneys from Sutherland to IP Practice first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

J. Page Scully joins from McDermott Will & Emery, as a member of the tax practice group in Washington, DC. Scully got her JD from the Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law.

Angela R. Fox joins Sutherland’s litigation practice group as an associate in Atlanta. She was a judicial extern for Judge Marvin H. Shoob of the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Her JD is from the Georgia State University College of Law.

Founded in 1924, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan focuses on seven major practice areas—corporate, financial services, energy & environmental, intellectual property, litigation, real estate, and tax. It has 450 attorneys, and offices in Atlanta, Austin, Houston, New York and Washington DC.

The post Sutherland Asbill Hires Associates first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

According to The American Lawyer, the top five firms for appropriately and compassionately handling layoffs were McKee, Nutter McClennen, Michael Best, Stradley Ronon, and Patton Boggs.

Associates at the firms surveys rated their employer for how well they handled the layoffs, and how they communicated the news.

Those deemed the worst were Winston & Strawn, White & Case, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Shearman & Sterling, and Sutherland Asbill.

The post Survey: McKee Nelson Best for Handling Layoffs first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

The law firms of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP and Watson & Band announced an alliance to best serve those clients of either firm having business matters between the United States and China.

“We are pleased to work collaboratively with the attorneys at Watson & Band to serve the global business needs of our respective clients,” said Mark D. Wasserman, Managing Partner of Sutherland. “In recent years, China’s growth as an economic and manufacturing power has meant that many of Sutherland’s clients have expanded (or will be expanding) their businesses into China. Likewise, an increasing number of Chinese businesses are moving their operations into the United States. This working alliance between Sutherland and Watson & Band gives both law firms ready access to a range of services as our respective clients’ global needs grow.”

Sutherland Asbill & Brennan handles matters throughout the United States and worldwide. They focus on seven major practice areas—corporate, financial services, energy and environmental, intellectual property, litigation, real estate, and tax.

Watson & Band is a Shanghai-based firm with its offices in Beijing, Harbin, Wuxi, Hangzhou and Shenzhen. The firm focuses its practice in the areas of intellectual property, corporate and commercial, litigation and arbitration, representing a mix of both domestic and international clients.

The post Sutherland, Watson Team Up To Handle Business In U.S. And China first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

The attorneys include partners Dean Bunch and Andy Bertron, of counsels Melissa Fletcher Allaman and C. Everett Boyd, Jr., and associate Virginia L. Gulde. These attorneys represent most of the automobile manufacturers and importers doing business in Florida.

The group plans to remain at their current Tallahassee offices.

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP is a large US law firm and lobbying group based in Columbia, South Carolina. In 2007, the National Law Journal ranked the firm the the largest in South Carolina and 111th largest in the United States. The firm also ranked 127th in profit per attorney on the 2007 AmLaw 200 survey.

The post Nelson Mullins Launches Florida Office first appeared on JDJournal Blog.