Lowenstein Sandler has announced that Robert A. Johnston, Jr. has joined the firm as partner in its White Collar Criminal Defense group. He will be based in the New York office.

Johnston’s practice includes investigations, regulatory counseling, pre- and post-transaction due diligence and monitoring, and compliance monitorships, with a special focus on representing private fund managers and portfolio companies and advising on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), anti-money laundering (AML), and trade sanctions compliance. His previous experience includes investigations and compliance projects in over 30 countries across six continents and matters involving the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commissions, and other state and local regulatory bodies, across a wide range of sectors, including technology, life sciences, consumer and retail, and financial services and private equity.

Prior to joining Lowenstein, Johnston held several compliance and legal roles at Sculptor Capital Management, formerly known as Och-Ziff Capital Management, one of the world’s largest publicly traded institutional alternative asset managers. Most recently, he served as Sculptor’s Managing Director and General Counsel-Asia; previously, he served as Deputy Chief Compliance Officer. During his five years at Sculptor, he developed an industry-leading FCPA and AML compliance program that included the implementation of numerous proprietary, web-based, technological solutions and controls.

Before Sculptor, Johnston practiced securities litigation at Jones Day with a focus on internal investigations, white collar criminal defense, compliance advice, and M&A due diligence. He spent one year in the firm’s Shanghai office, where he acted on behalf of multinational corporations investigating allegations of bribery, corruption, and fraud in their Chinese and East Asian operations. He has experience with investigations on behalf of U.S. and foreign companies into alleged violations of AML, FCPA, OFAC, and RICO; accounting fraud; securities fraud; procurement fraud; vendor fraud; illegal gratuities; tax evasion; and employee embezzlement and misconduct throughout the world.

Earlier in his career, Johnston was associated with DLA Piper. Fluent in French and Spanish, he received his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and his B.A. from Georgetown University.

Century City – Sidley Austin LLP is pleased to announce that Maureen Gorsen has joined the firm in Los Angeles as a partner in its Environmental practice. She joins Sidley from Alston & Bird, where she was a partner in the firm’s Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources practice.

Gorsen has extensive experience defending clients in a wide array of federal and state environmental enforcement actions involving air quality, waste and stormwater, chemical regulation, California’s AB 32 and Proposition 65, product liability, food packaging, and tax and business regulations. She also devotes a significant portion of her practice to regulatory issues, advising clients on environmental, tax, financial, supply chain, and consumer products regulatory matters. Gorsen also works with clients to develop policies to minimize product liability risk and meet conflict minerals, anti-slavery and human trafficking and sustainability requirements.

Previously, Gorsen spent more than ten years in three pivotal state government roles: Director of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, General Counsel of the California Environmental Protection Agency, and General Counsel of the California Natural Resources Agency. These roles provided Gorsen tremendous breadth in terms of her knowledge of and experience in virtually all aspects of environmental law.

Sidley Austin LLP is pleased to announce that Ranah Esmaili, former Assistant Director in the Enforcement Division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has joined the firm in Washington, D.C., as a partner in its Securities Enforcement and Regulatory practice. Esmaili served as Assistant Director of the Asset Management Unit, a national specialized unit that focuses on misconduct by private funds, investment advisers, and investment companies. Esmaili joins Sidley on the heels of Sonia Barros, the outgoing Chief Corporate Governance Counsel in the Division of Corporation Finance at the SEC.

In her role as the Assistant Director of the Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit, Esmaili oversaw investigations into the asset management industry concerning investment strategies contrary to disclosures, undisclosed affiliated transactions and misleading performance history, undisclosed fees and compensation, and undisclosed conflicts arising from side-by-side management. The statutes and rules Esmaili enforced pertained to investment advisors, private equity firms, hedge funds, registered investment companies, venture capital firms, and separately managed accounts

Sidley Austin LLP is pleased to announce that Thomas Ward, who previously served as Enforcement Director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has joined the firm as a partner in the Banking and Financial Services Group in Washington, D.C.

As the CFPB’s chief law enforcement officer, Ward was responsible for enforcing more than 20 enumerated consumer financial statutes and the Consumer Financial Protection Act. He established and supervised the strategy in hundreds of active investigations and cases prosecuted by the CFPB’s Office of Enforcement and managed the agency’s 165 enforcement trial lawyers, investigators, and staff. During his tenure, Ward commissioned and directed an initiative to review and centralize the Office of Enforcement’s investigative, litigation, and negotiation processes and best practices, establishing the roadmap that the Office of Enforcement uses in each of its cases and investigations. Under his leadership, in 2020, the CFPB brought the second highest number of enforcement actions since its inception, secured its fourth highest amount of redress, prosecuted its largest and most complex litigation docket, and recommitted to enforcing the Fair Lending laws, including filing the first contested Fair Lending action in the CFPB’s history.

Prior to his service at the CFPB, Ward served as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Division at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where he was counsel in many of the highest-profile, highest-value cases of the Consumer Protection, Torts, Commercial Litigation, Federal Programs, and Appellate branches. At DOJ, Ward managed more than 400 attorneys and staff and oversaw an active docket of more than 1,000 cases spanning the breadth of the Civil Division’s jurisdiction, including complex Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act, False Claims Act, and Federal Tort Claims Act cases and investigations.

For nearly two decades prior to his service with the government, Ward was an enforcement and litigation partner at a leading global litigation firm where he represented clients in complex enforcement investigations and cases, commercial litigation, and criminal proceedings. Ward served as lead counsel for international financial institutions and investment banks, multiple Am Law 100 law firms, the World Bank, and major global corporations.

CHICAGO (May 3, 2021) – Neal Gerber Eisenberg is pleased to announce the addition of Emer Simic as partner in the Intellectual Property practice group. Simic joins from Green, Griffith & Borg-Breen LLP, where she was a partner in their IP Litigation practice.

Simic’s practice focuses on pharmaceutical patent litigation, post-grant review, opinions, and client counseling. She has additional experience in representing both patent holders and defendants in complex Hatch-Waxman and patent infringement disputes, including successfully arguing cases involving co-pending inter partes review proceedings before the U.S. District Court and Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

With degrees in science and IP law from universities in England, Ireland, and the U.S., Simic brings extensive technical understanding of the pharmaceutical, chemical, and biotech spaces and a global perspective to her work. Simic has found considerable success leveraging this knowledge in the development of innovative IP strategies for her clients. Beyond the courtroom, Simic advises her clients’ business teams on everything from product development and regulatory strategies to market launch.

In addition to practicing law, Emer is a member of the Board of the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law (Chicago Chapter) where she currently serves as Secretary. The Coalition serves to foster career advancement and professional development and provide a support network to help address the many issues facing women lawyers today.

Simic received her J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law, and her Master of Philosophy and B.A. in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University. Before moving to the U.S. from Ireland, Simic earned her Barrister-at-Law degree from the Honorable Society of Kings Inns.

MINNEAPOLIS – April 29, 2021 – Meritas, a global alliance of independent business law firms, announced that it has named Brett Krantz of Kohrman Jackson & Krantz (KJK) law firm in Cleveland, Ohio, as the organization’s new chairperson. Krantz assumed the role at the 2021 Meritas Business Update & Town Hall today. He was elected by unanimous vote of the Meritas Board of Directors and will serve a two-year term. Krantz’s law firm has been a Meritas member since 2010.

Krantz has years of leadership experience within Meritas, including on the executive committee, as chair of the Meritas Quality Assurance Committee (QAC), and as a board member. He led the development of new quality assurance policies, including championing Meritas’ Global Cybersecurity Standards for member firms, which give clients peace of mind that information security is consistently strong across the network.

Krantz is co-owner of KJK, member of its executive committee, and chair of the firm’s litigation department. With more than three decades of experience, Krantz has counseled a diverse client base including individuals, owners of regulated and non-regulated companies, small entrepreneurial entities, and large public corporations. He has litigated business-to-business commercial disputes and securities issues involving Federal Courts, FINRA, the SEC, and state securities regulators.

Outside of work, Krantz and his family are passionate supporters of The Gathering Place. Additionally, Krantz has served on the Board of Directors for Cleveland’s Mandel Jewish Community Center and The Positive Education Program (PEP), an organization dedicated to helping children with severe mental health and behavioral challenges.

Bailey Brauer co-founder selected to D Magazine’s Best Lawyers in Dallas for 2021

DALLAS – For a sixth consecutive year, trial lawyer Alex Brauer, co-founder of litigation boutique Bailey Brauer PLLC, has been recognized among the top attorneys in Dallas by D Magazine.

Brauer was selected to the peer-nominated 2021 Best Lawyers in Dallas listing on the strength of his commercial litigation work for clients across the country.

Brauer’s practice focuses on high-stakes business disputes ranging from allegations of fraud and deceptive practices in commercial transactions to breaches of fiduciary duties and obligations relating to non-compete agreements. He also has assisted several clients with disputes involving the sales and purchases of various businesses.

The Best Lawyers in Dallas selection is just the latest honor for Mr. Brauer. He has also earned recognition from Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America, the Texas edition of Super Lawyers magazine and Texas Lawyer magazine. He also is a fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America and has served on several key Dallas Bar Association committees. He is a supporter of the Readers 2 Leaders literacy program and the North Texas Community Giving Foundation.

Selection to the Best Lawyers in Dallas list is based on a blue-ribbon panel’s evaluation of nominees recommended by their peers. The complete list is featured in the May 2021 edition of D Magazine and available at http://www.dmagazine.com.

Arent Fox is pleased to announce the expansion of its International Trade & Investment practice in Washington, DC with the addition of public international law Partner David Tafuri, Senior Advisor Richard Griffiths, and Associate Jasmine Zaki.

Tafuri’s practice is rooted in vast experience working with clients overseas in frontier markets and in solving complex problems at the intersection of law, diplomacy, and policy. Tafuri has worked in some of the most challenging environments and enjoys representing the underdog in international disputes and taking on novel questions of public international law. He relies upon his previous positions with the US Government and the United Nations to find creative, multi-forum solutions for his clients. Before joining Arent Fox, Tafuri chaired the Emerging Democracies practice at Dentons, working with clients to strengthen democracies abroad.

As part of Tafuri’s team, Richard counsels, advises, and leads the international strategy efforts on behalf of foreign governments in regions across the globe. Jasmine advises clients on commercial matters, including regulation and compliance issues related to companies operating in the Middle East and Africa.

Tafuri’s Experience
Tafuri’s clients include public and private companies seeking to invest in the emerging markets of the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, and US government contractors, NGOs, and intergovernmental organizations.

Tafuri led a legal team that supported the World Bank’s COVID-19 crisis response for sovereign governments in Latin America and Asia. The legal team worked with governments in emerging markets to provide strategic advice concerning the pandemic’s impact on public-private partnerships (PPPs) across a broad array of industry sectors. Tafuri headed up efforts by local lawyers in various countries to reform and restructure large transportation and infrastructure PPPs, while working closely with The World Bank, Ministries of Finance, and national PPP units.

Tafuri leads the legal effort to support security sector reform in a Middle East nation, including reforming legal and institutional structures and creating a national security council, counter-terrorism center, and disarmament programs.

Tafuri previously served as the US Department of State’s Rule of Law Coordinator for Iraq at the US Embassy in Baghdad during the height of the war in Iraq. In that position, he worked directly with the Chief Justice of Iraq and Iraqi ministries to help rebuild the legal system. He was awarded the Department of State’s Superior Honor Award for his work.

He also draws on his previous experience as an aide to the Senate Judiciary Committee and a staff aide to several Presidential and Congressional campaigns to augment his practice. For example, Tafuri was an outside foreign policy advisor to President Obama’s campaign in 2008.

Before entering private practice, Tafuri worked for the United Nations in Turkey. He has served on the board of directors of USA for UNHCR, which supports the UN Refugee Agency, and is the founder and current President of the US-Kurdistan Business Council.

A prolific thought-leader, Tafuri has written articles on foreign affairs issues in a variety of publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Politico, and The Hill, where he is currently a foreign policy contributor. Tafuri also frequently appears on CNN, Fox News, the BBC, and other news networks to discuss foreign policy topics.

Turner Padget is pleased to announce the addition of Virginia “Ginny” Bozeman, of counsel, to the Litigation practice group in Columbia. She focuses her practice on defending physicians, physician practices and hospitals in medical malpractice litigation.

Prior to joining Turner Padget, Bozeman practiced in Tennessee for seventeen years. She spent ten years defending doctors and hospitals in medical malpractice matters. She has additionally served as Assistant County Attorney, Chief Ethics Officer, and Contracts Administrator for Shelby County Government in Memphis and as a senior judicial law clerk for the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals and Tennessee Supreme Court.

Bozeman is active in the legal community, having served on the board of directors for the Association of Women Attorneys – Memphis Chapter in 2016, as a fellow of the Memphis Bar Foundation in 2018, and graduated from the Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law class in 2019. She also serves as an adjunct legal research professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Bozeman earned her undergraduate degree from Rollins College and her law degree from the University of Memphis – Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.

Los Angeles – April 28, 2021 – Dykema, a leading national law firm, announced today that Los Angeles-based Member Ashley R. Fickel has been appointed to serve as Leader of the firm’s Financial Services Litigation Practice Group.

In his practice, Fickel represents financial institutions, manufacturers, and a diverse group of businesses and individuals in complex legal disputes. He has significant trial experience with trials ranging from complex business disputes to catastrophic injury cases. Fickel recently served a lead role in obtaining eight-figure judgments in separate contested foreclosure proceedings on behalf of a large mortgage servicer. He also lead a nationwide effort on behalf of another financial institution client to rescind a series of fraudulently recorded title documents that were recorded as part of a sophisticated mortgage fraud scheme. Most recently, he has been engaged in defending businesses, including major financial institutions and manufacturers, from a variety of consumer and privacy-based claims.

Furthermore, Fickel has extensive experience in many niche areas of litigation, including, automotive, class action, commercial, construction and product liability and toxic tort.

Fickel earned a J.D., cum laude, from Pepperdine University School of Law and a B.A. in History from Westmont College. He’s been named a Rising Star by Southern California Super Lawyers 10 times throughout his career.

Pashman Stein Walder Hayden is pleased to announce that Aidan P. O’Connor, a partner and co-chair of the firm’s Criminal Defense practice group, has been elected president of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey (ACDL-NJ), beginning this month for a one-year term. O’Connor recently served as the ACDL-NJ’s vice president.

Aidan’s experience with criminal matters includes defending individuals against allegations of securities fraud, insurance fraud, health care fraud, tax evasion, bank and mortgage fraud, public corruption, union corruption, kickback schemes, computer intrusions and hacking, embezzlement, trade secrets, antitrust matters, and federal grand jury investigations. He has also represented clients accused of assault, kidnapping, extortion, murder, theft, sexual offenses, drug and controlled dangerous substance offenses, and state parole violations in both state and federal courts, as well as municipal court matters.

Established in 1985, the ACDL-NJ is the primary organized voice for the criminal defense bar in New Jersey. With more than 500 members, the ACDL-NJ advocates as amicus curiae in state and federal appellate courts on behalf of the interests of the criminal defense bar and its clients, as well as weighs in on pending legislation affecting criminal defendants. Pashman Stein partner Joseph A. Hayden, Jr. was the founder and first president of the ACDL-NJ (1985-86). Additional Pashman Stein attorneys who have served as president are partner Justin P. Walder (1987-88), partner Raymond M. Brown(1989-90), and of counsel Alan Silber (1992-93).

About Aidan P. O’Connor
Before entering private practice, O’Connor was an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of New Jersey for 18 years, serving in the Criminal Division, the Organized Crime Strike Force, and as the chief of the Violent Crimes Unit. During his tenure with the U.S. Attorney’s office, he conducted hundreds of federal prosecutions involving long- and short-term investigations, grand jury presentations, witness interviews, wiretapping, and search warrants for offenses including organized crime, RICO, tax fraud and evasion, money laundering, theft of trade secrets, union corruption, embezzlement, commercial and insurance fraud, large stolen property rings, health care fraud, computer crimes, extortion, murder, robbery, and kidnapping.

In addition, he has tried more than 20 federal jury trials, argued hundreds of motions and conducted scores of hearings involving organized crime, tax fraud, money laundering, government program fraud, racketeering, alien smuggling, homicide, bank robbery, narcotics trafficking, civil rights violations and other offenses. He has also argued cases before the Second and Third Circuit Courts of Appeals, as well as the New Jersey Supreme Court.

He was a recipient of the Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an assistant U.S. attorney for his successful prosecution of a RICO case involving hundreds of millions of dollars in excise tax fraud and organized crime. O’Connor has been highly ranked by attorney ratings organizations including Best Lawyers, Chambers USA, and New Jersey Super Lawyers.

O’Connor received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and his B.A. from Columbia University.

Mitigating contract risk is more important than ever in today’s business environment. But, how do you determine which contract risks are acceptable for your business? How do you uncover hidden risk and minimize your exposure to it?

Join us on Friday, May 14th at 1:00 PM ET where our panel will discuss Best Practices for Mitigating Contract Risk using proven and data-driven contract management techniques.

By attending this webinar, you will learn:

-Steps and tools necessary to identify risk in your contracts
-Methods for assessing and scoring risk probability and consequence
-Solutions to mitigating contract risk

Unable to attend? Register anyway and we will send you the webinar recording.

The International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) has announced that Chris Schwegmann, a partner at Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann LLP in Dallas, has accepted an invitation to join the IADC, the preeminent invitation-only global legal organization for attorneys who represent corporate and insurance interests.

Schwegmann is a litigator who is well known as a “go-to” trial lawyer in Texas for business disputes, with an emphasis on claims involving intellectual property. He also tries trademark and copyright infringement, false advertising, antitrust, and other business cases.

After law school, Schwegmann clerked for former Judge Joe Kendall and current Judge Sam A. Lindsay, both of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Schwegmann received his J.D. (cum laude) from New York University School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts (summa cum laude) from Southern Methodist University.

Seasoned maritime lawyer joins as partner in the firm’s New Orleans office

NEW ORLEANS – Schouest, Bamdas, Soshea & BenMaier PLLC, or SBSB Law, continues to strengthen its bench of maritime law experts as the firm welcomes veteran maritime lawyer Elton Foster to its New Orleans office. With more than 30 years of legal experience, Foster joins as partner where he will focus his practice on cases involving Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, Defense Base Act, Jones Act, and general Maritime Law matters.

Prior to joining SBSB Law, Foster served as Senior Maritime Counsel for Travelers Insurance Groups Holdings, Inc. for more than 10 years. He also served as General Counsel for a California-based company providing services to clients in the domestic and DBA workers compensation arenas.

Foster received his undergraduate degree in Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University and his J.D. from Tulane University Law School. During his time at Tulane, he held the position of editor-in-chief of the Tulane Maritime Law Journal.

Foster is licensed in Louisiana and has been admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana.

He also comes from a long line of sea captains and attributes his appreciation for and gravitation to maritime-related matters to his early exposure to waterway commerce.

Barnes & Thornburg has added Austin Bersinger as partner in the firm’s Litigation Department in Atlanta. He joins from Bersinger Law, which he founded in 2019, and focuses his practice on insurance recovery litigation and complex business disputes.

Bersinger serves as counsel to policyholders in trial and appellate matters involving coverage denials, claim presentation and bad faith matters, and does a significant amount of insurance counseling and policy review. He also has experience representing major insurers, giving him unique insight into their approach to litigation and coverage claims.

In addition to his years of law firm experience, Bersinger was an Assistance Staff Judge Advocate for the United States Air Force. During this time, Bersinger handled litigation matters on behalf of the U.S. government in military and federal courts.

Bersinger earned his J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law and his B.A from the University of South Carolina Honors College.

Formerly served as the first Executive Deputy Superintendent for Enforcement at NYDFS and the Acting Chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section at EDNY

New York, NY (April 19, 2021) – Phillips Nizer LLP is pleased to announce that Matthew L. Levine, who has served in senior enforcement and regulatory roles on both the federal and state level, has joined the firm as a partner in its New York office.

Levine joins Phillips Nizer from Guidepost Solutions, a compliance and investigations consulting firm, where he served as President for the Financial and Regulatory Compliance Services practice.

Levine previously served as the first Executive Deputy Superintendent for Enforcement for the New York State Department of Financial Services. There he oversaw complex investigations involving money laundering, terrorist financing, cybercrime, virtual currency fraud, tax fraud, and consumer fraud. He also supervised major monitorships implemented by NYDFS at financial institutions, and served as the main point of contact for other criminal and civil governmental authorities. Additionally, Levine represented NYDFS in high impact litigation in both federal and state court.

Levine also served as a federal prosecutor for nearly a decade, first in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and later in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. In the Eastern District, Levine served as Acting Chief of the Business & Securities Fraud Section, supervising a group of federal prosecutors conducting major securities fraud, cybercrime, money laundering, health care fraud, tax fraud and other white-collar prosecutions.

Levine also assists companies in compliance matters and investigations, including risk assessments, strengthening risk management and compliance programs, remediation efforts, corporate monitorships, and internal investigations. Representative matters involve the financial markets, anti-bribery, cybercrime and intellectual property. Levine previously litigated on behalf of a wide range of clients, including Fortune 100 companies, high-tech startups, and individuals, at two major law firms and in his own practice. Representations include numerous intellectual property matters involving disputes involving trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks, patents and technology licensing.

At Phillips Nizer, Levine is rejoining colleagues who were veterans in enforcement and financial regulation. Levine worked with Phillips Nizer White Collar Criminal Defense Practice Chair Ilene Jaroslaw, who served as chief of the General Crimes Section at the EDNY.

He also worked with Data Technology & Cybersecurity Group Chair Patrick Burke at the NYS Department of Financial Services, where Burke served as a Deputy Superintendent.

All three of them, along with Phillips Nizer Litigation Chair Mark Elliott, previously worked at law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.

Earlier in his career, Levine worked as Deputy Director in the US Department of Justice’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. He also clerked for Chief United States District Judge Barefoot Sanders. He began his career as a legislative aide on Capitol Hill to Representative Les Aspin, the former Secretary of Defense.

Levine received his J.D. from Columbia Law School and his B.A. from Lehigh University.

Washington, D.C. – April 27, 2021 – Dykema, a leading national law firm, today announced the addition of James M. Burns to its Business Litigation Practice Group as a Member in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. Burns joins Dykema after practicing at Akerman LLP’s Washington, D.C., office.

Burns has extensive experience handling health care antitrust matters and litigating antitrust and related claims in trial and appellate courts across the nation. He represents clients, including numerous health care providers, insurers, and health care systems, before the Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission on a wide variety of antitrust matters, including mergers and governmental investigations. Burns also writes frequently on health care antitrust issues in the trade press, and has won several “Readers Choice” awards for his writing on those issues.

In addition to his health care antitrust practice, Burns also focuses on assisting insurance industry clients with unique antitrust issues. He has assisted clients in a number of industries on antitrust compliance, distribution-related antitrust issues, and the application of antitrust laws to intellectual property rights.

Burns also has been actively involved in the leadership of the American Bar Association Antitrust Section for many years. He currently serves as a member of the Antitrust Section’s Long Range Planning Committee and, over the years, has previously served as Chair of the Section’s Membership and Diversity Committee, the Legislation Committee and the Insurance Industry Committee. Burns is also a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Burns earned a J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles and an A.B., cum laude, from Colgate University.

Pashman Stein Walder Hayden is pleased to announce that Lisa M. Buckley has joined the firm as Partner and Chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property practice and Partner in the firm’s Litigation practice. Buckley was previously an intellectual property and litigation partner at a mid-size law firm in Manhattan for more than 20 years.

Buckley’s intellectual property practice includes copyright, trademark and trade secrets matters for start-ups, corporations and individuals, and she is regularly involved in M&A due diligence related to valuation of IP rights. Clients turn to her to safeguard their IP in industries including digital media, software, fashion, cosmetics, perfume, and apparel, often associated with celebrity brands. In addition, she has long worked with music publishers and artists, resolving disputes concerning master recordings. Across her practice, she has litigated many matters that have resulted in multimillion-dollar verdicts.

Buckley’s IP and complex commercial litigation experience extends to real estate, securities litigation, and corporate governance. She litigates in federal and state courts around the country and represents clients before alternative dispute resolution forums including JAMS, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

Buckley received her J.D. with honors from Rutgers University School of Law in 1989 and her B.A. with honors from William Paterson College in 1985. Upon law school graduation, she clerked for New Jersey Supreme Court Associate Justice Gary S. Stein. She has been named to Super Lawyers – New York Metro list in intellectual property litigation annually since 2013.

She is the author of the Entertainment Law Chapter, 2020 edition of the New York City Bar Association’s legendary treatise, Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts.

SHAREHOLDER JESSICA TRAVERS RETURNS TO LITTLER’S ORLANDO OFFICE
Travers is the Second Shareholder to Rejoin in April

ORLANDO, Fla. (April 27, 2021) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has added Jessica T. Travers as a shareholder in its Orlando office. Travers, who rejoins from Akerman LLP, practiced at Littler from 2010 to 2017. Her arrival comes after Lisa Kathumbi’s return to the firm’s Columbus office earlier this month, marking the second shareholder to rejoin the firm in April.

Travers has extensive experience advising large, multi-state, employers in an array of industries, including energy, hospitality, retail, e-commerce, technology, and transportation and logistics. She represents clients in federal and state courts and agencies, appellate courts, and arbitral forums. Jessica provides counsel on a wide range of employment matters, including employment policies and procedures, internal investigations, accommodation requirements, leaves of absence, wage-and-hour compliance, employment-related agreements, terminations, discipline, disability access laws, and manager and employee training.

Travers regularly speaks and publishes on workplace legal issues and is regularly recognized as a leading labor and employment lawyer by Chambers USA and The Best Lawyers in America®. She earned her J.D. from the Tulane University Law School and her B.S. from the University of Florida.

KETTLER, a multifamily developer, real estate investment, and property management company, recently turned to Contract Logix’s contract lifecycle management (CLM) platform to digitally transform the way it manages contracts across more than 20,000 properties in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions. KETTLER’s vast real estate footprint requires the organization to manage a very high volume of contracts, but the company was able to configure the CLM platform to meet the needs of 170 users, eliminate tedious manual processes, and optimize workflows to drive business efficiency and compliance.

Key Facts:

Since 1977, KETTLER, a multifamily developer, real estate investment, and property management company has developed over 25,000 multifamily units, 5 million square feet of commercial space, and more than 71,000 homes in 25 master-planned communities. The company currently manages approximately 20,000 apartments and includes delivering long-term value to the assets that it develops, manages, and delivers among its core values. KETTLER’s vast real estate footprint requires the organization to manage a very high volume of contracts including American Institute of Architects (AIA) agreements, Statements of Work (SOW), Master Service Agreements (MSA), Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MROs) agreements, Purchase and Sale agreements (P&S), Purchase Orders (PO), and more.

KETTLER needed a more robust CLM platform to help streamline its contracting activities while ensuring business rules were followed in a predictable and repeatable manner. Contract Logix’s data-driven and no-code solution enabled KETTLER to easily create and manage automated contract workflows to ensure compliance with its business processes. Using Contract Logix’s drag-and-drop Visual Workflow Builder, KETTLER is able to set up many different workflow types that automatically route contract requests, reviews, approvals, and signatures to the appropriate person in the organization every time.

Increasing the security and appropriate accessibility of KETTLER’s legal agreements was also a key consideration. The company required that the 170 users of its contract management system at each property only be allowed to view and edit the corresponding contracts associated with that property. Using the Contract Logix platform, KETTLER established roles- and feature-based permissions that ensure individuals and organizations have the appropriate access to contract-related information and capabilities of the software. Support for additional security-first functionality such as SOC 2 Type II compliance, multi-factor authentication (MFA), single single-on (SSO) and data encryption were also important in KETTLER’s decision to select Contract Logix.

KETTLER also leveraged Contract Logix’s Customer Success Team and Data Migration Services to accurately and efficiently migrate its existing data and documents from the company’s previous system. And like every Contract Logix customer, KETTLER is assigned an experienced Customer Success Manager (CSM) for the life of its relationship.