The International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) is pleased to announce that IADC President Amy Sherry Fischer, a shareholder at Foliart Huff Ottaway & Bottom in Oklahoma City, Okla., has been selected as one of this year’s recipients of the DRI Mary Massaron Award for the Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession.

Presented annually by DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar, the Mary Massaron Award recognizes DRI members who have demonstrated a high regard for diversity and a commitment to advocating the inclusion and promotion of women as well as fostering women’s initiatives and actively promoting positive mentoring relationships with other women in the legal profession.

Ms. Fischer has actively supported and promoted women in the legal profession throughout her career, including serving as a mentor and mentee to other female attorneys. As a former IADC board member and past Membership Committee Chair, she kept diversity at the forefront and constantly looked for opportunities to provide female members leadership roles. Her work also includes many years of involvement with the American Bar Association’s Women in Products Liability Litigation Subcommittee, formerly serving as chair of both the group and its conference, as well as moderating and speaking on numerous panels.

Ms. Fischer focuses her law practice in the areas of products liability, particularly drug and medical products, personal injury, and medical liability. She is actively involved in mass tort litigation, including class actions and toxic torts. She serves as local counsel to a number of pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers. In addition, Ms. Fischer represents businesses in commercial disputes and employment-related matters. She also handles cases for insurance companies, including extra-contractual liability.

DRI advocates for nearly 19,000 defense attorneys, commercial litigation attorneys, corporations and corporate counsel, who defend the integrity of the civil justice system. DRI provides world-class legal education, deep expertise for policymakers, legal resources, and networking opportunities to facilitate career and law firm growth. For more information, visit https://www.dri.org.

The IADC is the preeminent invitation-only global legal organization for attorneys who represent corporate and insurance interests. Founded in 1920, the IADC’s 2,500 members hail from six continents, more than 50 countries and territories, and all 50 U.S. states. The core purposes of the IADC are to enhance the development of skills, promote professionalism, and facilitate camaraderie among its members, their clients, and the broader civil justice community. The IADC also takes a leadership role in many areas of legal reform. For more information, visit www.iadclaw.org.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that Michael F. Walker, a partner in the firm’s Birmingham office, has been selected as chair-elect of the Federal Practice Section of the Birmingham Bar Association (BBA). He serves as chair-elect for 2020 and will become chair in 2021.

“We congratulate Michael on his new leadership role with the Birmingham Bar Association’s Federal Practice Section,” said Bradley Birmingham Office Managing Partner Dawn Helms Sharff.

A member of Bradley’s Litigation Practice Group, Mr. Walker handles a wide variety of complex civil litigation matters across a number of industries. Much of his practice involves the defense of product liability and toxic tort claims against businesses that design and manufacture products or operate industrial facilities. He also has represented businesses in commercial litigation, primarily in disputes involving intellectual property, real estate, and class actions. He has tried cases to verdict in court and arbitrated matters to successful conclusions before panels of the American Arbitration Association and JAMS. Mr. Walker also devotes significant time to pro bono matters.

Through his involvement with the BBA’s Federal Practice Section and Civil Courts Committee, Mr. Walker worked with several local federal judges to help re-draft the Local Rules of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

About Bradley
Bradley combines skilled legal counsel with exceptional client service and unwavering integrity to assist a diverse range of corporate and individual clients in achieving their business goals. With offices in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and the District of Columbia, the firm’s over 500 lawyers represent regional, national and international clients in various industries, including financial services, healthcare, life sciences, real estate, construction, technology, energy, insurance, and entertainment, among many others.

Read WFLA 8’s article.

Read the StamformAdvocate’s article.

Read INFORUM’s article.

Farrell Fritz is pleased to welcome Maura A. McLoughlin to its Uniondale office as managing attorney for the firm’s commercial and estate litigation departments.

McLoughlin is responsible for the management and tracking of the firm’s commercial and estate litigation cases. She serves as a resource on planned and implemented rule changes and creates, maintains, and updates forms files with respect to pleadings, discovery, and recurring brief issues.

Prior to joining Farrell Fritz, Maura was managing attorney at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP for almost 18 years.

McLoughlin is a Brooklyn, NY, resident. She earned her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law and her B.A. from American University. McLoughlin is admitted to the New York bar.

So, you’ve decided you need a legal ops resource or department, what’s next?

A relatively new addition to the enterprise organizational chart, legal ops departments are growing in number and taking on more operational responsibility. It has become the driver of innovation and efficiency, taking the lead in reducing spend and being the operational right hand of the General Counsel.

Introducing the legal ops function is a major disruptor in the legal department and calls for changes in process, technology, and culture. But in order to drive value from the legal department, this change is a necessary one.

This guide will walk key stakeholders through the necessary steps for building a legal ops department:

• Defining the function of the department using CLOC’s core competency model
• Determining key performance indicators to measure your efforts
• Deciding on the first hire and key functions of the role
• Managing change effectively throughout the organization.

Download the ebook.

Brown Rudnick LLP, an international law firm, is pleased to announce the promotion of six exceptional lawyers to partner. Thomas J. Braiden, Andrew M. Carty, Kyle R. Johnson, Jessica T. Lu, Joseph M. Mercadante, and Arnaud Moussatoff joined the partnership on February 1, 2020.

This experienced group of attorneys will join five dominant practice groups, Bankruptcy & Restructuring; Litigation & Arbitration; Energy, Utilities & Environmental; IP Litigation; and Corporate.

Brown Rudnick’s 2020 partner class joins amid continued expansion of the firm, which has also welcomed 10 new lateral partners from outside its ranks since the start of 2019.

The newly promoted partners are based in the firm’s Boston, Hartford, London, New York and Paris offices. The firm’s new partners include:

Thomas J. Braiden: Corporate (London)
Braiden advises on a wide range of corporate matters in a number of different industries. He has extensive experience advising public and private companies, as well as family offices and other private investors, on IPOs and secondary fundraisings (both AIM and Official List), mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, venture capital, commercial contracts, corporate governance issues, and other general corporate advice.

Andrew M. Carty: Bankruptcy & Corporate Restructuring (New York)
Carty’s practice focuses on providing effective and efficient solutions to complex corporate restructuring matters. With substantial experience representing secured and unsecured creditors, official and ad hoc committees, equity holders, strategic investors, and other stakeholders in complex reorganization proceedings, his practice spans a wide range of industries, and includes restructuring, finance, and bankruptcy litigation.

Kyle R. Johnson: Energy, Utilities & Environmental (Hartford)
Johnson focuses his practice on environmental issues in real estate and corporate transactions, including environmental due diligence, negotiation of liabilities, and drafting of contractual documents and indemnities, regulatory compliance and enforcement matters, remediation of contaminated properties, and general environmental counseling. Johnson is also experienced in energy and public utility law, including siting, permitting, administrative and appellate litigation, and real estate law.

Jessica T. Lu: Litigation & Arbitration (Boston)
Lu represents clients in general commercial and intellectual property litigation, including patent, copyright, and trademark infringement, contract disputes, business torts, and employment issues. Her practice encompasses stages of litigation from initiation through trial and she also has experience with complex financial and restructuring-related disputes and SEC enforcement actions.

Joseph M. Mercadante: IP Litigation (New York)
Mercadante is an experienced patent litigator with a focus on cases in the field of electronics, including computer hardware and software, automotive technologies, telecommunications, and networking and semiconductors. He represents both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide range of patent litigation matters, including pre-suit investigations, validity and infringement analyses, discovery, Markman proceedings, expert reports and depositions, motion practice, and trial.

Arnaud Moussatoff: Bankruptcy & Corporate Restructuring (Paris)
Moussatoff represents clients in restructuring operations and distressed transactions relating to underperforming or insolvent companies. His practice also includes a wide variety of litigation matters, including French Insolvency Law and the issues arising from financial difficulties affecting businesses, such as complex M&A litigation and managers’ liability. He offers a wide range of counseling to debtors, investors, purchasers, lenders and managers.

Barnes & Thornburg has added Michelle N. Bradford as partner in the Litigation Department in Washington, D.C. As an experienced litigator and former federal prosecutor, Bradford handles issues in connection with white collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation.

Bradford spent over a decade serving as an assistant United States attorney for the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. In this capacity, she prosecuted cases related to healthcare fraud, tax fraud, money laundering, as well as public corruption matters. She tried nearly 30 felony jury trials more than 20 felony and misdemeanor bench trials.

Bradford also served in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, where she handled a variety of civil cases and defended federal agencies in issues regarding Title VII of the Civil Rights Act; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the American with Disabilities Act; the District of Columbia Human Rights Act; the Federal Tort Claims Act; the Administrative Procedure Act; as well as the Freedom of Information Act.

Prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg, Bradford was a shareholder at a financial services law firm, where she represented clients, individuals and companies, in government investigations and proceedings involving securities fraud; healthcare fraud, complex financial fraud; the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; the False Claims Act; and the Anti-Kickback Statute, among others. Further, Bradford has experience serving as counsel for companies conducting internal investigations.

Outside of the office, Bradford is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, teaching trail advocacy, and has served as a faculty member for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA). She also serves as board vice president of the Center of Abused Persons, a nonprofit that provides support to victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

Bradford earned her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and her B.A. from Barnard College.

Barnes & Thornburg has added Stephen C. Smith as a partner in the Intellectual Property Department in Chicago. Smith is the latest addition to the firm’s IP practice, which added a 10-attorney Life Sciences Patent Group in late 2019.

Prior to his legal career, Smith was a supervisor and engineer at a naval power plant facility and joins the firm with deep knowledge of patent law. He counsels a wide range of clients in the consumer product, automotive, medical device and industrial equipment industries on matters including patent prosecution, patent infringement, due diligence, licensing, and disputed matters and litigation. Smith helps clients navigate each stage of prosecution proceedings, including post issuance proceedings, drafting applications and invention harvesting. He also has valuable experience with matters that come before international patent offices and the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Smith earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and his B.S. from Purdue University. He joins from Brinks Gilson & Lione, where he served on the board of directors.

“The question of does a lien exist without a debt for it to secure is a complicated issue that unfortunately does not have a universal answer.” discusses Vincent E. Mauer in Frost Brown Todd’s blog.

“Commercial lawyers know that a properly constructed consensual mortgage or security interest can secure the debt created by funds loaned after the lien is granted.  This is common in commercial revolving loan situations and real estate lines of credit.  The lien continues to exist and dates back to its recording or filing for priority purposes even if the amount owed goes to zero and back up again.”

“What happens in a situation where the lien arguably is not consensual and structured to meet the legal requirements that may permit the lien to continuously exist even when there is no debt to secure?”

Read the article.

“Latham & Watkins is a January bonus player who understands the pain of waiting while your peers at other firms celebrate holiday bonuses. So again this year, Latham is offering a sliding scale of bonuses that top the market base for most associates.” reports Joe Patrice in the Above The Law Biglaw.

According to a Latham memo providing the median and top bonuses by class year there was a bump for the big revenue firm. Bonus payments kicked in at a 1900-hour minimum.

Read the article.

Charles Richard Martin, an Indiana attorney, was arrested early Thursday after an Indiana State Police trooper pulled him over. He was “arrested on drunken driving charges shortly after announcing his candidacy for the state Legislature.” reports The Tribune.

“The 50-year faced misdemeanor charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and was cited for speeding 65 mph in a 45 mph zone, among other things.”

Martin has held several positions in the Republican Party. On Tuesday the attorney sent an email to supporters and journalists announcing his bid to succeed Republican Rep.

Read The Tribune article.

Robert Tobey’s presidency is just one in a long list of leadership roles held by this firm’s attorneys.

• Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
• American Board of Trial Advocates
• Texas Bar College
• State Bar of Texas
• DBA Board of Directors
• DBA Bench Bar Committee
• State Bar of Texas Executive Committee
• State Bar of Texas Council of Chairs

See why lawyers who are leaders make better advocates for clients.

Venable LLP is pleased to announce that New York partner Nicholas M. Reiter and Los Angeles partner Celeste Brecht have been elevated to lead their respective litigation groups. Specifically, Reiter has joined Michael J. Volpe as a co-chair of the firm’s national Labor and Employment Practice, and Brecht has joined Daniel P. Hoffer as a co-chair of the firm’s West Coast Litigation Group.

Geoffrey R. Garinther, chair of the firm’s Litigation Division, said, “We are fortunate to have Nick and Celeste, who are well respected among their peers and clients, join our leadership ranks within the Litigation Division. Both of them have demonstrated exemplary work representing clients in complex matters across a variety of forums, acting as trusted advisors, and expanding the capabilities and reach of two thriving practice groups.”

Reiter joined Venable in 2011 and represents employers in employment and traditional labor matters. He has obtained successful jury verdicts as a first-chair trial lawyer and negotiated new collective bargaining agreements with labor unions. Reiter regularly defends and advises employers in the financial services, hospitality, real estate, and healthcare industries, including multinational hotel chains, restaurant groups, investment banks, and hospitals.

When asked about his new co-chair role, Reiter said, “I am grateful for the opportunity to help lead such a terrific group of employment lawyers. There has been no shortage of legal developments for employers lately, and we expect that trend will continue as federal, state, and local legislatures create new rules for the American workplace. Our Labor and Employment Practice will remain focused on staying ahead of the curve and advising our clients on best practices for managing their workforces.”

Brecht is a first-chair trial attorney who focuses on complex civil disputes for clients in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, consumer products, media and entertainment, and transportation industries. In addition to trial work, Brecht has served as national counsel, managing complex litigation from inception through appeal. In connection with her new role, Brecht said, “Since joining Venable in 2013, we’ve doubled the size of the Los Angeles office and our litigation group while maintaining our collaborative culture. We have a deep bench of incredibly talented litigators who are tireless advocates for our clients, and I look forward to supporting this dynamic group as we continue to level up in the years to come.”

Venable LLP is an American Lawyer Global 100 law firm headquartered in Washington, DC that serves as primary counsel to a worldwide clientele of large and mid-sized organizations, nonprofits, high-net-worth entrepreneurs, and individuals. With more than 850 professionals in locations across the country, including California, Delaware, Maryland, New York, Virginia, and Washington, DC, the firm strategically advances its clients’ objectives in the U.S. and around the globe. Venable advises clients on a broad range of business and regulatory law, legislative affairs, complex litigation, and the full range of intellectual property disciplines. For more information, please visit www.venable.com.

The International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) has announced that Avanti Bakane, a partner at Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP, in Chicago, has accepted an invitation to join the IADC, the preeminent invitation-only global legal organization for attorneys who represent corporate and insurance interests.

“I am thrilled at the opportunity to join a global network of skilled lawyers and look forward to the valuable professional development resources the IADC provides,” Bakane said.

Bakane focuses her practice on consumer and complex class action, antitrust, breach of contract and commercial litigation. A Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP), Bakane also represents businesses and creative professionals in software and e-commerce development, data privacy, data loss, licensing, and copyright infringement disputes. In addition, she has experience representing clients in the cannabis space.

Bakane currently serves as the vice president of communications and formerly was the central regional governor for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. She also is a member and former president of the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago (formerly the Indian-American Bar Association of Chicago). In addition, she is a former board member of Leading India’s Future Today (LIFT Foundation).

Bakane received her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

About the International Association of Defense Counsel
The IADC is the preeminent invitation-only global legal organization for attorneys who represent corporate and insurance interests. Founded in 1920, the IADC has members who hail from six continents, 51 countries and territories, and all 50 U.S. states. The core purposes of the IADC are to enhance the development of skills, promote professionalism, and facilitate camaraderie among its members and their clients, as well as the broader civil justice community. For more information, visit www.iadclaw.org.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that Elizabeth M. Boone has joined the firm’s Jackson office as a partner in the Corporate and Securities Practice Group.

“We are thrilled to welcome Elizabeth to our Jackson office,” said Bradley Jackson Office Managing Partner Margaret Oertling Cupples. “With her diverse experience and background in finance, Elizabeth is a great addition to our team of highly skilled attorneys in the Corporate and Securities Practice Group.”

Ms. Boone focuses her practice on business transactions and corporate law, including mergers and acquisitions, real estate and municipal matters. She advises clients on general business law matters domestically and internationally, including contract negotiation, establishment and maintenance of legal entities, establishment of terms and conditions for the sale of goods, employment matters, and real estate transactions. Her work also includes managing trademark portfolios for clients in conjunction with intellectual property counsel and advising regarding protection of inventions.

Prior to joining Bradley, Ms. Boone was a partner at Watson Heidelberg PLLC, where she focused on business, real estate and municipal law, as well as mergers and acquisitions. Prior to law school, Ms. Boone worked in finance and as a chemist.

Ms. Boone received her J.D. (magna cum laude) from the University of Mississippi School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts (summa cum laude) from the University of Tennessee.

Attorneys in Bradley’s nationally recognized Corporate and Securities Practice Group guide and advise clients in a variety of industries, working with emerging companies, family and closely held business, and publicly traded corporations, as well as venture capital and private equity funds and their operating companies.

About Bradley
Bradley combines skilled legal counsel with exceptional client service and unwavering integrity to assist a diverse range of corporate and individual clients in achieving their business goals. With offices in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and the District of Columbia, the firm’s over 500 lawyers represent regional, national and international clients in various industries, including financial services, healthcare, life sciences, real estate, construction, technology, energy, insurance, and entertainment, among many others.

Freeborn & Peters LLP is pleased to announce that it has finalized the recapitalization with $850 million of funded and committed capital to refinance the existing capital structure and fund future development for its client, Altus Power America, Inc., a market-leading solar power company.

Altus Power America, which provides clean electricity to commercial, industrial and municipal clients across the United States, was represented by Freeborn Partners Cynthia A. Bergmann, Karen A. Hayes, Gary A. Jungels, Jordan H. Peters, Michael J.W. Rennock, Brian A. Smith, and Christopher J. Townsend; Freeborn attorneys Fielden A. Fleming and Zachary K. Iacovino; and firm paralegal Leslie A. Schmidt.

“This is a highly significant recapitalization that will allow Altus Power America to grow its portfolio to more than $1 billion of commercial and industrial solar assets,” said Mr. Jungels, who led the Freeborn team that represented Altus Power America. “We are incredibly proud of our attorneys and staff who worked diligently over many months to complete this deal, also coordinating with nearly 100 attorneys at other firms representing various parties in the transaction.”

The recapitalization consists of preferred and minority equity and investment grade-rated debt financing provided by GSO Capital Partners LP and a consortium led by Blackstone Insurance Solutions, respectively, and a construction-to-term loan facility from a syndicate of commercial banks. The initial phase of the transaction closed in late 2019. The remaining phase relating to future assets closed this month.

The recapitalization includes one of the first-ever privately rated investment-grade financings made up solely of commercial and industrial distributed solar assets.

Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that Michael Hanahan has joined the firm’s Chicago office as a partner in the Construction practice.

Hanahan represents commercial and public project owners and other industry participants on a wide variety of construction-related matters, including contract drafting and negotiations, disputes, and overall contract administration. He also provides procurement counsel to government entities and private organizations, which in the past has included public entities in Chicago. In recent years, Hanahan has helped draft and negotiate contracts with a combined value of over $2 billion.

Hanahan’s addition to the Chicago office follows the arrival of Labor and Employment Partner Sarah Flotte to the office this month. To accommodate Perkins Coie’s continued growth in the Chicago area, the firm will move to a larger, more collaborative office space at 110 N. Wacker Drive in 2021.

Hanahan joins the firm from Schiff Harden where he was a partner in Schiff’s construction practice. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois Chicago Graduate School of Architecture, and has been recognized for his excellence in construction law, including as a “Recommended Construction Attorney” by The Legal 500 United States. Michael earned his J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and received his B.Arch from the University of Notre Dame.

Franklin D. Rosenblatt has joined Butler Snow’s Ridgeland, Miss. office, and will practice with the firm’s commercial litigation group.

Rosenblatt retired as a Lieutenant Colonel with more than 12 years of experience serving in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps as a prosecutor, legal advisor and defense attorney. As a prosecutor, he tried dozens of international, financial and violent crimes cases to verdict. Additionally, he successfully prosecuted four terrorism suspects in the Iraqi court system of Kirkuk, Iraq. As a defense attorney from 2014 to 2018, Rosenblatt served as lead military defense counsel for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in the most publicized court-martial in American history.

Rosenblatt has won national recognition for his legal writing, having authored book chapters and co-authored two books. His latest contribution is the third edition of “Military Justice: Cases and Materials,” a law school textbook recently published by leading law publisher Carolina Academic Press co-authored by Rosenblatt and other prominent scholars. Rosenblatt has also been invited to speak about litigation and internal investigations to several of the world’s flagship institutions, including Yale Law School, The Hoover Institution, The Pentagon and The Peace Palace in The Hague.

Rosenblatt is a member of the Federal Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War, where he serves as vice president for Criminal Law of the United States Chapter. He received his bachelor’s degree from James Madison University, his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law and his Master of Laws from The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School. Most recently, he served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Barbara Jacobs Rothstein in the U.S. District Court, District of Columbia.