Merrill Corporation, a leading global SaaS provider for participants in the M&A lifecycle, today announced the appointment of Patricia Elias as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. Patricia becomes a member of the company’s leadership team, reporting to Merrill Corporation Chief Financial Officer, Thomas Donnelly.

In her role as general counsel, Elias will support the company’s commercial efforts as it continues to expand its business globally. This will include oversight and support on matters related to corporate governance, compliance and intellectual property management, as well as the review and negotiation of a broad variety of commercial agreements such as licensing, technology, services, leases, non-disclosure, independent contractor, vendor, and data privacy agreements, as well employment agreements.

Elias brings a wealth of legal and SaaS experience to her role at Merrill. Most recently, she served as General Counsel for International Decision Systems, a provider of software and services to the global asset finance industry. Before that, she was Associate General Counsel for Infor Inc, a global software provider for customer relationship management, supply chain management, enterprise asset management, property management and other business software to midmarket companies. She has also served in several senior legal roles at SoftBrands Inc., Lawson Software, Abaton.com, and Health Systems Integration.

Patricia holds a JD from the William Mitchell College of Law, and a BA from the University of Minnesota.

Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, today announced that Grasford Smith has joined the firm’s national Litigation Practice Group in West Palm Beach. He joins from Jones Foster P.A., bringing a wide array of experience in complex commercial litigation. Smith has particular expertise resolving matters in the financial services, real estate, hospitality, retail, and maritime industries.

Smith focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation and intellectual property litigation. He has experience representing a diverse range of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, athletic leagues, technology companies, and a U.S. Congressman, in addition to a variety of small and medium-sized businesses. Smith also handles local and national dispute matters concerning corporate governance, government enforcement actions, non-compete and confidentiality agreements, trade secrets, real estate matters, construction defects, franchises, products liability, intellectual property, eminent domain, and disciplinary/admission matters before the Florida Bar.

Smith is an active member of the West Palm Beach business and legal communities. He currently sits on the board of directors of the American Heart Association, Anquan Boldin Foundation, and Urban League of Palm Beach County. Additionally, he served on the City of West Palm Beach Mayor’s Transition Team Committee and the Economic Development & Jobs Policy Subcommittee in 2019. On the legal front, Smith actively holds leadership roles with The Florida Bar, Palm Beach County Bar Association, Florida Supreme Court, and Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County. He also currently serves as president of the National Bar Association’s Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter, vice chair of the National Bar Association’s Minority Partners Division, president-elect of Palm Beach County’s Black Chamber of Commerce, and past president of the F. Malcolm Cunningham Sr. Bar Association.

Smith is the latest lateral partner to further strengthen Akerman’s national litigation bench. In New York, Joel Forman brings decades of experience resolving securities civil litigation and government enforcement cases, while Philip Touitou and Joseph Silver add specialized skills in professional liability to the firm’s litigation offering. The Honorable Ruben Castillo, former Chief Judge for the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, joined the firm’s growing Chicago office upon retiring from the bench. In Atlanta, a newly established and fast-growing market, Anthony Morris and Robin Johnson focus their practices on commercial litigation.

Holland & Hart announced that Richard Schwartz has joined the firm as of counsel in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. A seasoned environmental litigator, Schwartz handles complex, high-profile environmental and toxic tort litigation in federal and district courts across the county.

Schwartz has over 45 years of experience defending environmental enforcement, permitting, and citizens’ suits. He has established a reputation as a nationally respected environmental lawyer, representing clients in major litigation over the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Superfund Act, and state environmental laws. He has helped clients in the mining, energy, and agricultural industries respond successfully to challenges from environmental groups as well as from state and federal agencies.

Schwartz earned his J.D. at the University of Michigan Law School and his B.A. at Yale University. He is admitted to practice in District of Columbia.

Another year, another new wide-reaching regulation designed to protect consumer data privacy.

Signed into law just one month after the EU’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is now also in effect, with a great impact on how businesses handle and manage the personal data of California residents.

Specifically, CCPA applies to businesses that meet any of the following criteria:

*Have gross annual revenue of more than $25 million
*Buy, receive, or sell the personal information of 50,000 or more consumers, households, or devices
*Derive 50% or more of their annual revenue from the sale of consumers’ personally identifiable information

Read the full article

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Jan. 27, 2020) – Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that Chuck Stewart, a partner in the firm’s Montgomery office and co-chair of the firm’s Product Liability team, has accepted an invitation to join the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

The ABOTA is a national organization of trial lawyers with 97 chapters in all 50 U.S. states. Selection for membership into ABOTA carries with it considerable prestige among attorneys, judges and legislators.

“We congratulate Chuck on his earned membership with the American Board of Trial Advocates,” said Bradley Montgomery Office Managing Partner Bobby Poundstone. “Chuck is a well-known litigation leader in the nation who is responsible for many major trial successes for our clients.”

A member of Bradley’s Litigation Practice Group, Mr. Stewart has been a trial lawyer for more than 30 years. He has successfully tried a vast number of cases, primarily in the defense of corporations in product liability, employment, business disputes, class actions, intellectual property, antitrust, construction, and catastrophic personal injury matters. He has represented clients in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah.

Mr. Stewart also speaks regularly on topics within his areas of practice. He has been very active in practice-related organizations such as the DRI, IADC, FDCC, and ALFA International. He served on the board of DRI and as chair of the DRI’s Product Liability Committee, and formerly served as president of the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association.

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.

“It was major legal industry news last April when international business and legal services powerhouse EY entered into an agreement with Thomson Reuters to acquire Pangea3, the legal managed services business.” reports Robert J. Ambrogi in LawSite’s blog.

“Now, 10 months later, EY has laid off at least some of the U.S.-based lawyers who came with the deal.”

“While precise details remain uncertain, reports indicate that EY has let go some 20-30 lawyers who work for it in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota and the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas.”

Read the article.

“A California lawyer practicing in Orange County was arrested today on a federal grand jury indictment charging her with conspiring to sell firearms without a license and distributing methamphetamine.” reports LawFuel.

“Melinda Romines, 41, of Anaheim, was taken into federal custody this morning. She is expected to make her initial court appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in Los Angeles.”

“Romines has been charged with one count of conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license, one count of possession of an unregistered firearm, and two counts of distributing methamphetamine.”

Read the article.

“Bayer AG has asked a California appeals court to overturn an $86 million verdict that found it was responsible for a couple’s cancer caused by its glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup.” reports Tina Bellon in Reuter’s Environment News.

“Bayer in a statement on Monday said U.S. regulators had consistently found glyphosate to be non-carcinogenic and that the Pilliods’ lawyer during trial repeatedly violated court orders in an attempt to inflame jurors.”

“The company denies the allegations made by more than 42,700 plaintiffs in the United States, saying decades of studies have shown Roundup and glyphosate are safe for human use.”

Read the article.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that Frank M. Caprio, managing partner of the firm’s Huntsville office, has been nominated to serve on the Northeast Alabama/Huntsville Regional Council of Leadership Alabama.

“We congratulate Frank on his new regional council role with Leadership Alabama in recognition of his many years of service to the state and local Huntsville community,” said Bradley Chairman of the Board and Managing Partner Jonathan M. Skeeters.

Leadership Alabama is a network of established leaders across Alabama that also provides a structure for this network to seek mutual understanding of problems and priorities for Alabama’s future. Leadership Alabama encourages its members to act, individually and in concert, to move Alabama forward to help the state reach its full potential. Since its founding in 1990, more than 1,500 citizen leaders in Alabama have participated in the Leadership Alabama program. More information about Leadership Alabama is available at https://leadershipal.org/.

Mr. Caprio is a 2004 graduate of the Leadership Alabama Class XIV. Members are selected based on their leadership abilities, career accomplishments, volunteer activities, contributions to their communities, and commitment to help shape a better Alabama.

Chair of Bradley’s Intellectual Property Practice Group, Mr. Caprio focuses his practice on intellectual property (IP) law and assists clients in the protection and use of their IP rights, and in the litigation of various technology-related disputes involving patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret and computer issues. He also regularly speaks about IP issues to business owners and lawyer associations. Mr. Caprio has held leadership positions in local and state bar associations and has served as a board member for the Huntsville Hospital, local YMCA, Biztec (business incubator), local Chamber of Commerce, Emergency Management Agency, and the Vanderbilt NROTC Advisory Board.

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.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that Lane M. Webster has joined the firm’s Dallas office as an associate in the Litigation and Government Enforcement and Investigations practice groups.

“We are pleased that Lane has joined our growing Dallas office and deep bench of skilled litigators,” said Bradley Dallas Office Managing Partner Richard A. Sayles. “Lane has a diverse litigation practice and background that will assist our clients across multiple industries.”

Mr. Webster focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation. He has advocated for clients around the country in multimillion-dollar matters in the technology, healthcare, sports and financial services sectors. He counsels clients in high-stakes cases involving both the False Claims Act and Securities Act, and he has taken on class actions and qui tam suits. He also handles investor and union disputes, as well as bankruptcy hearings.

Prior to joining Bradley, Mr. Webster was an associate at Winston & Strawn LLP. Previously, he spent a year in Washington, D.C., advising trade associations and organizations. He began his legal career in the federal judiciary where he served as a law clerk for Jorge A. Solis, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Mr. Webster received his J.D. (cum laude) from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law and his Bachelor of Science from Texas A&M University.

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.

Chamberlain Hrdlicka is pleased to announce that it has elevated four of its shareholders to equity status and added six shareholders. Moving to equity shareholder are Atlanta attorneys John W. Hackney and Gina M. Vitiello, Houston attorneys Jeff C. Wigginton, Jr. and Justice David M. Medina. In addition, Atlanta attorneys Drew V. Greene, Jennifer Duval Lindy, Christine R. Norstadt and Houston attorneys David N. Calvillo, Julie G. Edelman and Kellen R. Scott were elected as shareholders. These promotions were affirmed during the firm’s annual meeting on February 8 in Houston.

David N. Calvillo
Calvillo has successfully tried, litigated and arbitrated matters in diverse practice areas, including breach of contract, business separation, commercial liability, construction, tax controversy, shareholder rights, professional malpractice, personal injury and wrongful death, employment, debt collection and intellectual property. He is a Civil Trial Specialist, a Texas CPA and earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas School of Law and his Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in taxation from Georgetown University Law Center.

Julie G. Edelman
Edelman focuses her practice on estate, gift and generation-skipping tax planning, as well as estate administration and related matters. She counsels client in preparation of wills and powers of attorney, preparation of trust agreements, probate of wills and estate administration, and the preparation of federal gift and estate tax returns. She earned her undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University and her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law.

Drew V. Greene
Greene focuses her practice on state and federal commercial matters in the discovery, dispositive motions, trial and appellate stages of litigation. She also works on business reorganization matters and bankruptcies. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and her law degree from Emory University School of Law.

John W. Hackney
Hackney represents clients in disputes with the Internal Revenue Service and other taxing authorities. He counsels clients on tax issues, including Section 469 passive activity losses, gift tax valuation issues, captive insurance, accounting method issues, Section 1031 “like-kind exchanges” and Section 183 hobby losses. He earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Virginia, and his law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law.

Jennifer Duval Lindy
Lindy represents individual, partnership/pass-through, and multinational corporate taxpayers, with a special focus on cross-border and international tax issues in disputes with the IRS. She counsels individuals, multinational entities, accountants and other tax service providers on complex international tax matters. She earned both her undergraduate degree and her Master of Laws degree in taxation from the University of Miami, her Master of Business Administration and law degree from Nova Southeastern University and her Master of Laws degree in international law from Emory University.

Justice David M. Medina
Justice Medina works with clients in multiple industries on various trials, appeals and business transactions. Justice Medina previously served on the Texas Supreme Court and authored over 90 Supreme Court Opinions. He earned his undergraduate degree from Texas State University, his law degree from South Texas College of Law and his Master of Laws degree in international arbitration, global energy and environmental law from University of Texas School of Law.

Christine R. Norstadt
Norstadt focuses her practice on all aspects of commercial real estate representing owners, managers and users of office, retail and industrial properties, apartments and land. She counsels clients involved in acquisitions and dispositions, financing, leasing and development matters. She earned her undergraduate degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and her law degree from Emory University School of Law.

Kellen R. Scott
Scott maintains a general civil litigation practice in state and federal courts, with emphasis on employment law, restrictive covenants, and trade secret matters. He counsels employers and businesses in state and federal courts, arbitration proceedings, and in matters before state and federal administrative agencies, including the Department of Labor, the Texas Workforce Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Evansville and his law degree from South Texas College of Law Houston.

Gina M. Vitiello
Vitiello focuses her practice on construction law and contract litigation. She represents owners, contractors, designers and suppliers in the construction industry in contract negotiations and dispute resolution. She advises clients on construction projects throughout the country and internationally and has litigated and arbitrated disputes relating to both public and private projects. She earned her undergraduate degree from St. Lawrence University and her law degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law.

Jeff C. Wigginton, Jr.
Wigginton focuses his practice on commercial litigation matters in state and federal courts representing businesses and business owners in a wide range of industries. He guides clients in matters related to business disputes, real estate, construction, professional liability claims and tort defense. Additionally, he also maintains an insurance coverage practice, which includes counseling clients on property and casualty insurance matters they may encounter. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas and his law degree from South Texas College of Law.

The firm’s entry into Silicon Hills highlights its growth in the U.S. and expanding presence in key markets known for technology and emerging companies

Perkins Coie, an Am Law 50 firm known for representing innovative companies and industry leaders, announced today that it has opened an office in Austin, marking an expansion of its Texas operations. Establishing an office in Austin furthers the firm’s momentum in building a strong tech-based practice in Texas and broadens its ability to counsel companies across the state, including those in computer electronics and other technology industries as well as those in the retail, transportation, healthcare, and pharmaceutical industries, as they increasingly adopt technology-related platforms and applications.

Perkins Coie entered the Texas market 10 years ago by opening its Dallas office, which today has 30 lawyers across a range of practices with particular strength in technology and privacy.

“We continue to build our reputation as a leading technology and privacy firm for many of the state’s biggest companies,” said Dean Harvey, Dallas Office Managing Partner. “We’re excited to welcome our new colleagues in Austin and work with them to further the firm’s service to clients throughout Texas.”

Three partners with extensive experience in technology and other industries are joining the Austin office, the firm’s 20th. They include:

• Andy Smetana, an experienced corporate lawyer who represents entrepreneurs and investors in a wide variety of technology and high-growth enterprises. He advises emerging companies and investors in venture capital, private equity, and other strategic financings, buyers and sellers in mergers and acquisitions, and issuers and underwriters in public offerings. In addition to helping clients with bet-the-company transactions, Smetana routinely advises clients on corporate governance matters. He joins from Vinson & Elkins and was previously General Counsel for Vapor IO.

• Craig Tyler, a veteran trial and appellate lawyer, who has 20 years of experience litigating trade secrets and patent infringements/validity matters in federal and state courts for clients in the LED, LCD, software, internet, telecommunications, medical device, pharmaceutical, gaming, e-learning, semiconductor, VoIP, computer-assisted hardware, and oil and gas industries. He joins from Vinson & Elkins.

• Jose Villarreal, a veteran litigator, trial counsel, and advisor to technology and growth companies, who focuses on patent litigation and alternative dispute resolution, strategic intellectual property counseling, intellectual property licensing and merger and acquisition due diligence. Jose has represented clients in numerous federal district courts around the country and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). He joins from Wilson Sonsini.

Also joining the group as a partner in the firm’s Palo Alto office:

• Wendy Wang, who focuses her practice on IP litigation, including patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights, with a focus on patent litigation involving data storage, sound recognition, software, internet technologies, and computer electronics. Wang works extensively with clients in China and is a fluent Mandarin speaker. She joins Perkins Coie’s Palo Alto office from Vinson & Elkins.

Along with its notable growth in both revenue and lawyer headcount over the past five years, Perkins Coie has achieved one of the highest lateral retention rates among large law firms and has been repeatedly recognized for its collegial and inclusive culture. This includes being named to Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For® list for the past 17 years.

Munck Wilson attorneys have distinguished themselves in numerous areas of practice, earning recognition in leading publications such as Chambers USA, the National Law Journal, Best Lawyers in America, Texas Super Lawyers and Texas Rising Stars, D Magazine in Dallas and the Dallas Business Journal. We are tremendously proud of these past accomplishments and even more excited about our future.

The Dallas 500 – D CEO Magazine
Texas Lawyer Hall of Fame Verdicts
2019 IP Stars – Managing Intellectual Property

The list continues!

King & Spalding today announced that Ingrid Myers has joined as a partner in the firm’s Corporate, Finance and Investments (CFI) practice group in its Houston office. Myers’s practice focuses on the drafting and negotiation of construction-related contracts for the development of energy and other major infrastructure projects.

Myers assists clients in the development of LNG, solar, biomass, and nuclear facilities. She has prepared bid requests and drafted and negotiated engineering, procurement, and construction contracts; technology licenses; and equipment supply, operations and maintenance, and fuel supply agreements. Myers also regularly represents clients in connection with decommissioning projects, particularly decommissioning of nuclear power generation facilities, as well as in the acquisition and disposition of energy industry companies and projects, including coal mining companies and power generating facilities.

Myers joins the firm from Morgan Lewis. Before attending law school, she worked as a geologist in the mining and petroleum industries. Myers received her JD from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, her Ph.D. from James Cook University of North Queensland, Australia, and her M.Sc. and B.Sc. degrees from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The firm’s U.S. construction transactional team is the largest of its kind in the United States, and with the addition of Myers, the firm’s Houston office has four partners and seven associates focusing almost exclusively on the drafting and negotiation of construction-related agreements.

“Federal officials on Monday arrested an Orange County lawyer accused of illegally selling firearms, including to an undercover agent.” reports Kristina Bravo in KTLA 5 News.

“Melinda Romines, a 41-year-old Anaheim resident, has been charged with conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license. She was also charged with possession of an unregistered firearm, as well as two counts of distributing methamphetamine.”

“Romines has an active attorney’s license as of Monday, state records show. Her website says she owns a Fountain Valley-based boutique law firm that handles criminal defense, business and entertainment, and child custody cases, among others.”

Read the story.

“Coinbase Inc., a San Francisco-based digital currency exchange specializing in bitcoin transactions, has gone on an in-house hiring spree a little more than a year after recruiting former Fannie Mae general counsel Brian Brooks to serve as its chief legal officer.” reports Brian Baxter on Bloomberg Law’s Corporate Law News.

“Within the last three months Coinbase has brought on three more top in-house lawyers. One of those additions, former JPMorgan Chase & Co. assistant general counsel Rachel Nelson, was named in January to co-chair a new market integrity working group for the Blockchain Association, a trade association for the U.S. blockchain and cryptocurrency industry.”

“The additions by Coinbase come at the same time as a series of departures from Circle Internet Financial Ltd., a Boston-based blockchain payments company backed by The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Several in-house lawyers have left Circle since last summer amid a series of layoffs and divestitures by the company as it reshapes its business around stablecoins.”

Read the article.

“Most lawyers have a general understanding of the “no-contact rule”  — with a few exceptions, you can’t communicate directly on the subject of the representation with someone you know is represented by counsel.  But where does in-house counsel fit in?  Is in-house counsel “fair game” for ex parte contact by opposing counsel?” asks Karen Rubin in Thompson Hine’s Communication.

“Last month, the Virginia Supreme Court approved Legal Ethics Opinion 1890, and answered “Yes,” in an opinion that also covered some other issues of concern to in-house counsel.”

Read the article.

ContractPodAi®, the award-winning provider of AI-powered contract lifecycle management software, today announced that a majority of corporate counsels use outdated and unsecure technology to manage contracts, according to its report “Down the Road with AI Based Contract Management and Corporate Legal Hazards.” The report highlights the current state of contract lifecycle management and whether corporate legal departments are using technology to improve processes. Despite evolutions in AI for Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM), 62% of companies are still using Excel, SharePoint or email to manage contract data and only 18% are applying contract management technology to gain a competitive advantage.

The report interviewed 50 large corporate legal departments that manage an excess of 10,000 active contracts each, and found significant differences between market leaders and laggards:
• 48% of leaders will adopt AI-based contract risk mitigation technology in the next 12 months.
• 56% of leaders’ corporate general counsels analyze contract performance.
• 62% of laggards use Excel, SharePoint or email to manage contract data.
• 64% of laggards believe it would take at least a year to adopt an AI-based contract management system.

However, even corporate counsels who are lagging behind believe there is value in adopting technology. Regarding technology requirements for 2020, 74% want metrics and analytics to better evaluate contract portfolio performance, and 64% want ready to use contract management tools that don’t require extensive preparation.

“The findings from our report demonstrate the industry’s interest and excitement in moving toward more efficient, technology-driven contract management processes,” said Sarvarth Misra, co-founder and CEO, ContractPodAi. “Trusted AI technology like systems built on an IBM Watson platform can jumpstart a corporate counsel’s digital transformation, automating and streamlining services so that legal teams are empowered to focus on more strategic aspects of their business.”

View the full findings from the report here.

Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C., is pleased to announce that Zack Smith, an associate in the firm’s St. Louis office, has been named to the National Black Lawyers (NBL) Top 40 Under 40 list of leading black attorneys in the United States.

Top 40 Under 40 honorees are black attorneys who are under age 40 and have an outstanding reputation among their peers, the judiciary, and the public. The NBL evaluates nominees based on factors including legal achievements, professional memberships, leadership roles, and rankings from other national organizations.

The mission of the NBL is to develop a strong national network of attorneys and promote their legal excellence. NBL members are plaintiff and defense lawyers from all 50 U.S. states who represent law firms from across the nation and specialize in a variety of practice areas.

A member of Greensfelder’s Litigation practice group, Smith focuses his practice on general and complex commercial litigation, arbitrations, and administrative proceedings in jurisdictions throughout the country. He represents companies of all sizes in industries that include energy, franchising, telecommunications, and securities. He also represents clients in toxic tort litigation.

As a member of the Urban Revitalization Clinic while attending Washington University School of Law, Smith researched laws and policies concerning the St. Louis Board of Aldermen redistricting. In addition, he worked with the law school’s Children’s Rights Clinic, representing juveniles involved in a variety of legal matters, including arguing a bench trial in an adoption case.

Smith received his J.D. from Washington University School of Law. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Lindsey Wilson College.

Leading international law firm Brown Rudnick LLP today announced the appointment of a group of three partners, Neil Foster, Tim Davison and Sarah Melaney, who join from Baker Botts.

The group is led by Mr. Foster who joins the Firm as Global Co-Chair and European Head of Technology. Neil and his team have over 60 years of experience among them of advising companies and their investors on complex domestic and international transactions, including M&A, JVs and financings as well as capital markets advisory. Their expertise spans TMT, fintech, life sciences, energy and impact investing, and they have worked on some of the most high-value deals in some of the most innovative and high-growth segments of technology, including:

– Environmental technology
– Blockchain
– Crypto assets
– Digital health and diagnostics
– Genomics
– Therapeutics
– Digital media
– Ed-tech
– Robotics
– Autonomous vehicles

Bill Baldiga, Brown Rudnick’s CEO said: “These additions are not only strategically important for our clients in Europe, but key to our firm and to our investor and corporate clients internationally. Europe is a hotbed of innovation and home to some of the most sophisticated pools of capital, and London is the epicentre. We are thrilled that Neil will be joining us in a global leadership role.”

Mark Dorff, Chair of the Firm’s International Corporate Group and Co-Chair of the Firm’s Global Life Sciences team said: “The extensive deal-making experience of Neil and his team across Europe and the USA, and their specialist sector knowledge of some of the hottest areas of technology, will be a tremendous asset to the Firm and to our corporate and investor clients. This move is also closely aligned with the Firm’s growth plans in the USA.”

Neil Foster is a corporate technology Solicitor with over 20 years advising on complex transactions. His practice covers mergers & acquisitions, venture capital & private equity and corporate finance. His principal sector experience is in the areas of technology and telecommunications, fintech, media and entertainment, life sciences and energy technology. As well as advising UK companies, venture funds and intermediaries, Neil represents many large U.S., Middle Eastern, South African and Asian corporations on their UK and European deals. Neil qualified in 1996 and became a partner in 2003.

Foster is experienced in complex cross-border transactions. This work is balanced between in-bound deals for large international corporates and deals for UK companies especially where IP and/or technology are the key assets.

Tim Davison has significant experience in the areas of TMT, life sciences and healthcare sectors and advises on a wide range of transactions including corporate finance, M&A, reorganisations, joint ventures and other general corporate and commercial matters. In addition, Mr. Davison advises on general company procedure, corporate law and governance.

Within the technology sector, Davison’s practice includes advising on strategic alliances, licensing and complex technology and sourcing transactions covering the whole range of hardware, software, security and data usage, online assets, IT services, engineering assets, cleantech and alternative energy. In the media and telecoms industries, he advises clients in the sectors of digital media, online and offline brands, mobile and other telecoms, broadcasting, games, television channels, distribution and content. His practice in the life sciences sector covers discovery and therapeutics, devices, diagnostics, services and software.

Melaney has advised on a broad range of corporate transactions, including share acquisitions, joint ventures and private and public equity finance. Her principal sector focuses are in the areas of financial services, media and technology, energy and cleantech. In addition, Melaney has also provided advice to Official List companies, AIM-quoted companies, financial advisers and NOMADs on general company procedure, corporate law and governance and the application of the Listing Rules/ AIM Rules.