As people returned from the holidays, the month of January saw an uptick in the hiring of disputes attorneys and litigation support consultants in a wide variety of disciplines. We noted 34 partners changing positions. Allen Stevenson Advisors (ASA) places lawyers, economists and other consulting partners into economic and litigation support, investigations, risk management and related roles. We monitor the market for career transitions within these disciplines, as well as for attorneys in law firms who might be a source for business.
Those making changes in January include the following:
BAKER MCKENZIE
January 31 – Baker McKenzie added former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. as a Partner in New York. Vance will serve as Global Chair of Baker McKenzie’s Cybersecurity Practice. He will also be a member of the Firm’s North America Litigation & Government Enforcement Practice as well as the Firm’s Global Compliance & Investigations Practice. Vance led the Manhattan District Attorney’s office for 12 years, overseeing major criminal prosecutions and an office of more than 600 prosecutors. He also co-founded New York City’s Cyber Critical Infrastructure Task Force, the only public–private partnership in the US to address risk and prevent cyberattacks on New York’s critical infrastructure. In addition, with the City of London Police, Vance founded the Global Cyber Alliance, a non-profit cross-border/cross-sector consortium to advise membership from every continent on cyber risks and cyberattack prevention.
BAKER HOSTETLER
BakerHostetler announced the hiring of four partners in litigation roles in Cleveland, Columbus and Atlanta.
January 31 – The firm announced that Brian Troyer joined as a partner as part of BakerHostetler’s Litigation Practice Group and Class Action Defense teams. He was formerly the executive vice president and general counsel of global auto parts manufacturer First Brands Group LLC. There Troyer was responsible for the legal affairs of the company with manufacturing, distribution and administrative operations on five continents.
January 12 — BakerHostetler announced that Brian McEvoy and Brian Rafferty joined the firm as partners in its Atlanta office. They, together with an anticipated team of associates and counsel, will join the firm’s White Collar, Investigations and Securities Enforcement and Litigation team. They were previously partners with Polsinelli where McEvoy served as that firm’s Atlanta office managing partner and chair of that firm’s Government Investigations Group. McEvoy and Rafferty focus their national practices on defending corporate and individual clients in white collar criminal investigations, government and internal corporate investigations, and complex litigation matters. McEvoy was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, Similarly, Rafferty served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia for 11 years, including as chief of the criminal division.
January 4 — The firm also announced that Ali I. Haque joined the firm as a partner in its Columbus office as a member of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. Haque handles complex commercial litigation involving insurance, financial services, health care and employment matters. His practice also includes class action defense. Haque has represented clients in both trial and appellate cases throughout the United States, in both federal and state courts. He was previously a partner with Bricker and Eckler LLP.
FTI CONSULTING
January 31 — FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) announced expansion of the firm’s Cybersecurity practice with the appointment of Todd Renner as a Senior Managing Director based in Atlanta. Renner spent the past two decades with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), where he led complex cybersecurity investigations across the globe and established relationships with domestic and international intelligence agencies. Most recently, he served as a Supervisory Special Agent in the Atlanta field office leading a team of investigators focused on pursuing financially motivated cyber criminals and nation-state actors posing a threat to national security.
STEPTOE & JOHNSON
January 27 – Steptoe & Johnson LLP announced that Jonathan Baum joined the firm’s Investigations & White-Collar Defense Group as a partner based in the San Francisco office. Baum represents individuals and companies in complex criminal and civil proceedings in federal and state court, as well as in investigations by government enforcement authorities. His practice encompasses a range of different issues, including bank and wire fraud, money laundering, bribery, and economic espionage. Baum was previously an attorney with Clarence Dyer & Cohen LLP.
MAYER BROWN
Mayer Brown recently added two litigation partners in Salt Lake City and Washington, DC.
January 27 – The firm added attorney Mark Hindley as a partner in the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice in Salt Lake City, UT. Hindley’s practice focuses on complex commercial disputes. He has represented clients in a variety of cases, including contracts; securities and corporate fraud; trademarks, trade dress, and unfair competition; land-use; mass tort; and natural resources. He has significant experience in both federal and state district courts and has argued before various appellate courts. He was previously a partner with Stoel Rives.
Mayer Brown announced the same day that leading fintech litigator Christopher Leach joined its Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice as a partner in Washington, DC. He joins from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s Division of Financial Practices, where he focused on fintech and fair lending issues. As a lawyer in the FTC, Leach investigated and litigated consumer protection enforcement actions, and developed enforcement policy. His relevant areas of experience include fintech, cryptocurrency, consumer financial data privacy, gig economy, fair lending and consumer telecommunications.
BERKELEY RESEARCH GROUP
January 25 – Berkeley Research Group (BRG) welcomed Rodolfo (Rudy) Pittaluga, Jr. to bolster the arbitration, regulatory, contract disputes, forensic accounting, and construction practices in BRG’s Miami office. Pittaluga joins BRG from Alvarez & Diaz-Silveira, a boutique real estate law firm where he spent the last five years as senior counsel. He brings more than 35 years of experience in legal and consulting services, with expertise advising financial services clients on complex commercial litigation matters in the United States.
NORTON ROSE
January 24 – Norton Rose Fulbright announced the appointment of Sandeep Savla as a partner in New York and US Co-Head of Regulatory, Investigations, Securities and Compliance, joining Washington, DC partner Kevin Harnisch in this leadership role. Savla’s practice focuses on civil litigation and white collar investigations, particularly matters involving securities, financial markets, tax and financial products. During the course of his career, Savla has represented financial institutions, issuers, accounting firms and individuals. Savla, who served as Senior Counsel in the Enforcement Division of the US Securities and Exchange Commission earlier in his career, was previously a partner at Latham & Watkins.
ALSTON & BIRD
January 20 – Alston & Bird expanded its business disputes capabilities with the addition of veteran trial attorneys David Meadows and Alexandra (Alex) Peurach as partners in the firm’s Atlanta office. Joining from Troutman Pepper LLP, where they were partners, Meadows and Peurach bring more than 30 years of collective experience representing Fortune 500 and other major companies in high-stakes commercial litigation. Meadows has spent his career as a trial lawyer, and has served as lead trial counsel in multiple civil litigation matters, including business-to-business contract disputes and securities litigation. Peurach has more than 10 years of experience trying cases.
REED SMITH
January 20 – Reed Smith announced that Nicholas M. Insua joined the firm’s Insurance Recovery Group as a partner in Princeton and New York. His practice focuses on insurance recovery litigation and counseling, as well as general business litigation. He joined from Anderson Kill where he was a Shareholder. Insua represents companies and executives under D&O and E&O policies, as well as under general liability insurance policies, employment practices liability policies, inland marine insurance policies, and fidelity and crime policies.
SQUIRE PATTON BOGGS
January 19 – Squire Patton Boggs announced that Victoria Q. Smith joined the firm as a partner in its Intellectual Property and Technology Practice. Smith, who joins the firm from Perkins Coie LLP, brings nearly two decades of experience managing all phases of patent litigation. Her expertise stems from her computer science background and dozens of patent infringement cases in federal courts across the nation, the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeals Board, and the US International Trade Commission. She speaks Cantonese fluently, and reads and writes Chinese.
MORRISON FOERSTER
January 19 – Morrison & Foerster announced that Edward A. Imperatore joined the firm as a partner in its Investigations + White Collar Defense Group, based in the New York office. Imperatore joined from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), where he has served as Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) since 2012 and a senior member of the Office’s Securities & Commodities Fraud Unit. During his career at the United States Attorney’s Office for the SDNY, Imperatore tried more than a dozen jury trials to verdict, all of which resulted in convictions.
VENABLE
January 18 – Venable LLP announced that Joshua Rosenberg joined the firm as a partner in the Litigation Practice in the Los Angeles office. He was previously a partner with Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump Holley LLP. Rosenberg handles a wide range of complex litigation matters, including breach of contract, copyright and trademark infringement, employment disputes, defamation, invasion of privacy, and general business matters. Rosenberg has represented numerous entertainment industry clients, including studios, production companies, talent agencies, management companies, and record labels, among others.
WILMERHALE
WilmerHale brought a number of partners into the firm with disciplines in civil and criminal law, antitrust and securities and financial services in San Francisco and Washington, DC.
January 18 – The firm announced that Davina Pujari, a trial lawyer whose practice intersects environmental as well as civil and criminal law, and Christopher A. Rheinheimer, joined the firm as a San Francisco-based partner and special counsel, respectively. Until recently, Pujari and Rheinheimer co-chaired the environmental litigation practice at Hanson Bridgett LLP. Pujari’s practice focuses on the defense of civil and criminal environmental enforcement actions and prosecutions, environmental litigation against the government and between companies, allocation of environmental costs, and internal investigations. Pujari was an EPA enforcement attorney and environmental prosecutor, and an Assistant US Attorney in the Northern District of California. Rheinheimer has litigated complex cases in state and federal court for clients in the environmental, energy and real estate sectors.
January 18 – WilmerHale announced that Jennifer Milici, former Chief Trial Counsel for the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition, and Dominic Vote, former Assistant Director of the Bureau and head of the Mergers II Division, joined the firm as partners. Milici and Vote will become part of WilmerHale’s Antitrust Group and will be based in the firm’s Washington, DC office. Milici will also join WilmerHale’s Trial Practice. They anticipate officially beginning at the firm in March. As Chief Trial Counsel for the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, Milici led the Bureau’s Litigation Group and managed its litigation and trial efforts Bureau-wide. Vote joined the FTC in 2010 and has served since 2019 as Assistant Director, Mergers II.
January 4 – The firm announced that Frank Gorman, previously acting deputy director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, joined the firm as a partner in Washington, DC. Gorman will be part of WilmerHale’s Securities and Financial Services Department contending with federal and state regulatory and enforcement agencies and consumer class actions. Gorman joined the FTC in 1998 and was most recently acting deputy head of its consumer protection bureau.
KIRKLAND & ELLIS
January 11 – Kirkland & Ellis announced that Kat Li joined the firm as a partner in the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group based in the Firm’s Austin office. Li focuses on patent and technology litigation, and she has represented Fortune 500 companies in U.S. District Court, the International Trade Commission, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She helps clients manage their global patent strategy and maximize the value of their patent portfolios. Li joined Kirkland from the Austin office of McKool Smith, where she was a principal and firmwide hiring principal.
QUINN EMANUEL
January 10 – Quinn Emanuel is pleased to welcome Robin McGrath, who joins the firm as a partner in the Atlanta office. McGrath most recently served as a team lead for Duane Morris’s fintech industry group. She has extensive courtroom experience in high-stakes patent litigation and regularly appears before the Federal Circuit. McGrath has secured numerous jury verdicts in patent and trademark infringement cases on behalf of her clients.
KING & SPALDING
January 10 — King & Spalding announced that Tamra Moore joined the firm as a partner on the Healthcare team in the Washington, DC office. Moore worked for more than a decade in the public sector as a senior counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch, where she represented the United States and handled a heavy healthcare and life sciences litigation docket. Moore also served as senior counsel at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and as staff attorney at the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. Most recently, she was corporate counsel for litigation at Northrop Grumman.
Earlier in the month, the firm announced that Raphael Larson and Gary Adamson joined the firm as partners on the Special Matters and Government Investigations team. As leading practitioners representing accounting and consulting firms and their professionals in high-stakes regulatory investigations and enforcement actions, the pair adds strength to the firm’s world-class Professional Liability practice. Larson will be based in the Washington, D.C., office and Adamson in the New York office. Both were previously partners at McDermott Will & Emery.
FOX ROTHSCHILD
January 5 – Fox Rothschild LLP hired John Marshall Cook to its Washington, DC office as a partner in the Construction Practice. Cook represents clients through all phases of the construction process, from project inception through dispute resolution. His experience covers the full range of complex construction issues As a seasoned litigator, Cook has resolved multiple disputes in federal and state courts and before administrative tribunals, as well as through negotiation, mediation and domestic and international arbitration. Prior to joining Fox, Cook was a member of a boutique construction and federal government contracts firm, Smith Pachter McWhorter PLC for 28 years.
WINSTON & STRAWN
Winston & Strawn bolstered their IP Litigation Practice with two partners in Dallas and one in Washington, DC.
January 3 – The firm announced the addition of Barry Shelton and Bradley Coburn as partners in the firm’s Dallas office and members of the Litigation Practice. Shelton and Coburn focus their practice on litigating intellectual property cases involving patent infringement, trademark infringement, theft of trade secrets, and unfair competition. The two partners join from the firm they co-founded, Shelton Coburn, a boutique intellectual property and technology law firm in Austin, Texas. Shelton has handled more than 240 patent matters and tried 17 cases in district courts across the United States and before the U.S. International Trade Commission. Coburn has handled more than 50 patent and trademark matters and tried four cases to verdict.
Winston & Strawn LLP announced the same day the arrival of patent litigation attorney Brian E. Ferguson as a partner in the Washington, DC office and a member of the Litigation Practice. Ferguson has argued cases before U.S. district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the International Trade Commission (ITC) and has handled adversarial matters before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Appeal Board (PTAB). Ferguson was previously Co-Head of the Patent Litigation Group at Weil Gotshal & Manges.
MILLER & CHEVALIER
January 3 – Daniel (Dan) A. Solomon joined Miller & Chevalier as a Member in the International Department and comes to the firm from Smith Pachter McWhorter PLC. Solomon’s practice focuses on a wide range of anti-corruption and trade compliance matters, including U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions and investigations, internal and government investigations, economic sanctions, and export controls. Solomon served as General Counsel of SAIC General Motors Corporation Limited in Shanghai, China, and was the Lead Counsel of Global Compliance and the Executive Director for Special Investigations and Anti-Corruption for the General Motors Company (GM).
BATES WHITE
January 1 – Bates White announced that Leemore Dafny, the Bruce V. Rauner Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and a member of the faculty at the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, joined the firm as a Partner in the Antitrust and Competition Practice. Dafny is a leading academic expert on competitive strategy, antitrust issues, and public policy in the healthcare sector. Dafny was the first Deputy Director for Healthcare and Antitrust at the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a position created to enhance the agency’s efforts to promote competition in the healthcare sector. She currently serves on the Congressional Budget Office’s Panel of Health Advisers and the Commonwealth Fund’s Council of Economic Advisers.
JONES DAY
January – Jones Day announced that Kristina N. Hendricks joined the Firm as a partner in its Intellectual Property Practice based in its Chicago Office. She has litigated cases in a variety of complex technology areas, including semiconductor fabrication, computer hardware and software, wireless protocols, telecommunications, database management systems, fintech, and internet security. Prior to beginning her legal career, Hendricks worked as an electrical engineer in the semiconductor industry. Hendricks was previously a partner at Kirkland & Ellis. She studied Chinese Intellectual Property Law at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
