Foley & Lardner LLP announced today that Michael (Mike) Lappin has joined the firm’s Transactions Practice Group as of counsel in its Milwaukee office. A proven and trusted C-suite leader and attorney with extensive experience helping to lead multibillion-dollar organizations through growth and complex business matters, Lappin brings additional expertise, depth and in-house perspective in support of Foley’s public and private company clients.

Lappin comes to Foley with nearly 30 years of legal experience and after more than a decade serving in senior executive roles with Advocate Aurora Health, Inc. and Aurora Health Care, Inc., one of Advocate Aurora’s predecessor organizations. His long tenure with the health care system began in 2009 when Aurora hired Lappin as the not-for-profit’s first general counsel. In that role, Lappin established the legal department, which handled numerous significant matters, including acquisitions and divestitures, governmental investigations, regulatory issues and major contracts. More specifically, Lappin served as the co-executive lead on all significant Aurora mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic partnerships, including the formation of Aurora Health Care Medical Group. He later took on additional duties as Chief Administrative Officer, overseeing legal and several other administrative departments.

Then, in 2018, when Aurora combined with Advocate Health Care to form Advocate Aurora Health, Lappin – known for his significant experience in mergers and acquisitions – was tapped to establish and lead a 60-person team that developed and implemented a merger integration plan, which unified the two organizations and resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in annual synergies. Following the merger, he returned to his Chief Administrative Officer role.

In addition to his professional background, Lappin is deeply involved in several nonprofit organizations. He currently sits on the board of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee and Jewish Family Services and has been involved with many other youth, health and education-focused nonprofits over the years.

DALLAS – Jackson Walker is pleased to announce the addition of Patrick Knapp as a partner in the Dallas office. Joining the Energy practice, Knapp brings a wealth of experience handling corporate transactions and energy litigation as in-house and outside counsel to domestic and international upstream, midstream, and downstream energy companies.

In addition to building a strong private practice focused on corporate transactions and litigation in the energy industry, Knapp served as managing counsel of Bridger Logistics, the former midstream division of Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. In his role, he led and managed a series of high-profile M&A transactions and litigation—including the sale of its saltwater disposal, crude oil truck transportation, and midstream logistics businesses, which Jackson Walker handled on Bridger’s behalf in 2018.

In his practice at Jackson Walker, Knapp will focus on mergers and acquisitions, financings, complex commercial transactions, and litigation strategies for midstream, downstream, and commodity financial services companies. He has represented producers, marketers, logistics providers, and refiners in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. His experience extends to virtually all forms of petroleum commodity marketing and transportation, including pipelines, gathering systems, terminals, rail, Jones Act and VLCC charters, truck transportation, and a variety of capital-intense, multimodal blending and processing facilities.

Knapp received his J.D. from Southern Methodist University and his B.B.A. in economics and marketing from the University of Notre Dame.

Venable LLP is pleased to announce that Michael R. Klein has joined the firm as counsel in the Environmental and Natural Resources Group in the Washington, D.C., office. Klein advises clients with infrastructure, mining, trade, or energy projects on environmental issues and opportunities that arise at the intersection of business, law, and government.

Prior to joining Venable, Klein served as the vice president and general counsel to an infrastructure and resource management company facilitating trade between the western U.S. and foreign markets. His in-house experience and entrepreneurial mindset enable him to design creative compliance strategies, effectively represent clients’ interests before the executive branch and federal agencies, and unlock new opportunities for economic development. Klein has experience overseeing budgetary matters and performance metrics, identifying new client targets, attracting international investors, and managing infrastructure projects, including ports and connections to trade corridors. In addition to his background in deal structuring and business plan execution, Klein is well practiced in developing federal strategies to seek executive, legislative, and judicial action on matters of importance to his clients. He has testified before Congress in support of a more efficient permitting process.

Klein received his J.D., magna cum laude; his MBA, with honors; and his B.A. in International Relations from Brigham Young University.

Over collecting data is costly and time-consuming. Existing solutions for Google Workspace (G Suite) provide limited capabilities for targeting collection for discovery, making over-collection inevitable.  Granular control for targeting the scope of collections and powerful culling capabilities enables you to export precisely what you need for legal review. In this session, learn more about how to target your Google Workspace data collections for discovery and see a quick demo of how Hanzo Hold can help.

Speaker

Dave Ruel, Senior Product Manager, Hanzo

Dave is a Senior Product Manager at Hanzo, a pioneer in the contextual capture, and preservation of dynamic web and collaboration content for corporate legal and compliance departments. Dave has more than 20 years’ experience in software and product development and has spent considerable time in the legal, compliance, and information governance space. He has helped develop a broad range of products and solutions for big data challenges and is passionate about emerging technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence, and visual analytics.

Register today!

Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C., is pleased to announce that Christopher A. Pickett, an Officer, member of the board of directors, and chief diversity officer at the firm, has been selected as an inaugural leader for a new initiative by global law firms network Meritas to further its commitment to racial equality.

Pickett is one of six attorneys from across the United States who will serve on the Leadership Council for the newly formed Meritas Black Lawyers Forum. The forum will facilitate connections and mentorship and provide a discussion platform for Black lawyers within the Meritas network to share their experiences. Meritas’ goal for the forum is help create business development opportunities for members and enhance the ability of member firms to hire and retain Black and other diverse lawyers.

Greensfelder is a longtime member of Meritas and the exclusive member firm in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Meritas is the premier global network of independent business law firms with nearly 200 firms in 90 countries worldwide as members.

Greensfelder’s efforts to foster an inclusive, diverse workplace, led by Pickett, share common ground with the mission of the Meritas forum, with a focus on creating an environment that is equitable and people-focused and that welcomes diverse perspectives and experiences. For more information about Greensfelder’s diversity initiatives, visit: https://www.greensfelder.com/about-diversity.html.

In addition to his work as Greensfelder’s chief diversity officer and leader of Greensfelder’s Equity, Retention and Advancement Committee, Pickett is a frequent presenter to businesses, bar groups and other organizations on topics related to equity and inclusion, including dismantling assimilation and increasing diversity in the legal profession.

In 2013, Pickett was named a fellow of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, participating in a national leadership program for high-performing attorneys with diverse backgrounds. He also has received numerous awards and recognition for his work on diversity issues and in business law.

In his law practice, Pickett represent clients from across the country in an array of business litigation matters, particularly in the areas of securities and higher education.

Dykema, a leading national law firm, announced that Christopher D. Kratovil has been appointed as the firm’s National Recruiting Partner. Kratovil, who has served as Managing Member of Dykema’s Dallas office for the past five years, has a proven track record of finding talented attorneys who thrive in Dykema’s highly collaborative culture. Since Kratovil himself joined Dykema as its 11th attorney in Texas a decade ago, the firm has more than quadrupled the number of lawyers in Dallas, and has grown in other offices nationwide, with plans to continue.

Lateral attorneys joining Dykema will benefit from the experience of Steve Gistenson, Lateral Integration Partner, overseeing a structured integration process proven to lead to success.

In his practice, Kratovil, who is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department, focuses on appellate matters. He represents clients in complex commercial disputes before tribunals ranging from small-town Texas trial courts to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Texas Supreme Court. Kratovil has presented more than 35 appellate oral arguments to all levels of courts in the appellate system. In addition to his extensive appellate work, he regularly handles case dispositive briefing and argument, jury charges, complex motions, research-intensive legal issues, emergency injunctions, and error preservation in the trial courts.

Kratovil earned a J.D., with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law and a B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame. He has been recognized as one of the “Top 100 Lawyers in Texas” as well as one of the “Top 100 Lawyers in Dallas/Fort Worth” each year since 2016 by Texas Super Lawyers. In addition to his new role as National Recruiting Partner, Kratovil will continue to lead Dykema’s Dallas office.

Venable LLP’s Trademark Prosecution and Counseling Group is pleased to announce the launch of the Wellbrand service, an innovative naming solution that leverages Venable’s trademark-law intelligence to accelerate the process of finding effective brand names.

By teaming with our clients in the early stages of name development, Venable can develop already-cleared naming options that help clients “get to yes” faster when selecting names. With team leaders who have worked together for more than 20 years clearing and protecting brands worldwide, Venable attorneys draw on a deep well of experience to develop names that are more likely to avoid refusal by the Trademark Office (USPTO) and challenge by third parties*.

Venable can provide already-cleared naming options at key moments: the moment of brand name creation; when outside-developed names do not clear; and when a naming alternative is needed to resolve a dispute quickly. Currently available only to established clients of Venable’s widely respected Trademark Prosecution and Counseling Group, the Wellbrand service bridges the gap between marketing needs and legal know-how to avoid product launch and dispute-related interruptions.

Andrew D. Price, co-chair of Venable’s Trademark Prosecution and Counseling Group, said, “Choosing the right name not only yields meaningful marketing opportunities, but also the power to mitigate potential legal risks. Over the past two decades, our team has amassed the knowledge and experience clients rely on to establish, protect, and profit from their brands. The Wellbrand service is yet another manifestation of this experience. We are excited to watch as our clients benefit from this proactive, cost-saving, and solution-oriented service.”

This service complements and enables the work of marketing professionals, in-house counsel, and advertising agencies by helping them understand and implement name selection strategies that are more likely to succeed. When marketing departments seek strategic trademarks to fit existing campaigns, the Wellbrand team can also step in and help to position clients against competitive threats.

Rebecca Liebowitz, co-chair of Venable’s Trademark Prosecution and Counseling Group, said, “The Wellbrand service is a natural outgrowth of our group’s commitment to providing comprehensive counsel from product inception onward. Clients who utilize this innovative service will enjoy peace of mind, knowing that their chosen name is not only well suited to the product, but also more likely to withstand the legal challenges that frequently threaten trademarks.”

About Venable’s Trademark Prosecution and Counseling Group
Venable sets the “gold standard” when it comes to serving clients’ trademark and brand-related needs on a global basis throughout the trademark lifecycle, from clearance and filing/prosecution to enforcement, licensing, and beyond. For 10 consecutive years, Venable’s Trademark Prosecution and Counseling Group has been recognized among the elite in the Washington, DC metro area – a central hub in global and national trademark law – by World Trademark Review 1000: The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals. The Group currently ranks in the highest Gold Tier for Prosecution and Strategy, in part for its role as a global thought leader and innovator. For example, Venable was one of the first to develop a now-imitated staffing model that features a number of non-partner-track attorneys with deep trademark experience, allowing us to provide clients with a rare combination of competitive pricing and best-in-class quality. Functioning uniquely like a boutique trademark firm within an Am Law 100 general-practice firm, the firm’s other nationally ranked practices give our trademark attorneys constant exposure to a broad array of complex problems. In this way, clients get the best of both worlds: a thought-leading, innovative approach to trademark practice coupled with big-firm experience and strength.

*Names provided will clear a preliminary U.S. registry search, with no more than low-to-moderate risk of USPTO refusal or third-party challenge. A full search is needed to more fully assess risk. Venable does not warrant that the name is definitively available.

Duane Morris is sad to report that our retired partner, Jim Krieg, passed away last week, at his dream home in Truckee, California. He was surrounded by family including his beloved wife and law partner Mary Reilley, who reports that much rock and roll music was also involved.

Resident in our San Francisco office as a Trial Group partner from 2013 to his retirement in 2017, Jim left an indelible footprint on California law in the trial, professional liability defense, and ethics arenas. He was a true “lawyer’s lawyer.”

With his usual self-deprecation, Jim recently said he had an intellect “a mile wide and an inch deep.” To the contrary, he was eternally intellectually curious and could talk with great intelligence and humor about anything. This is part of what made him such a fantastic professional liability defense lawyer – the issues underlying the cases he handled spanned all areas of the law. Our built-in, in-house experts in so many areas drew Jim to Duane Morris from the eponymous boutique firm he previously formed.

Another draw was his respect for Duane Morris’ management, values, ethics, and people. Jim really understood the importance of all of these, having risen to prominence in California as a founding, managing partner of the Los Angeles office and then managing partner, state wide, at its height, of Bronson, Bronson & McKinnon. Home grown at Bronson, Jim founded the Los Angeles office with four others (including Mary) and grew it to 45 lawyers in just ten years. He then returned to San Francisco, having been elected to the firm-wide managing partner role at Bronson, then an almost 200 lawyer California litigation powerhouse.

Jim earned his J.D. in 1976 magna cum laude from Boston University and his A.B. in 1971 from Princeton University.

Jim was a fantastic lawyer, a fierce and dedicated advocate, a consummate professional and a wise and effective law firm manager. But he will be most remembered for his quick wit, penetrating insights, mentoring skills, love of music and art, and general delight in the world. He was a good and loyal friend, and we will miss him.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that Robert Ford, a partner in the firm’s Houston office, has been selected as a 2021 Fellow of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD). In addition, Alé Dalton , an associate in the firm’s Nashville office, and Kya Henley, an associate in the firm’s Washington office, have been selected as 2021 LCLD Pathfinders.

The LCLD Fellows and Pathfinder programs are among the most comprehensive legal talent development programs in the country. They are designed to increase diversity at the leadership levels of the nation’s law firms and corporate legal departments. With more than 350 members, the LCLD is a national organization made up of general counsel and law firm managing partners who participate in programs designed to attract, inspire, and nurture the talent in society and within the members’ organizations, thereby helping a new and more diverse generation of attorneys ascend to positions of leadership. The LCLD was launched in 2009.

The LCLD Fellows Program was designed to connect high-potential attorneys from distinguished organizations for a year-long professional development series focused on leadership and relationship building. The program offers unique opportunities to network with and learn from the top leaders in the legal field. The program provides Fellows exclusive access to numerous virtual training methods and networking opportunities, including class meetings, leadership lunches, accountability partners, and mentoring and alumni networking.

The LCLD Pathfinder Program is designed for diverse, high-potential, early-career attorneys at LCLD member organizations. The goal of the program is to provide Pathfinders with practical tools for developing and leveraging professional networks through relationship-building skills, foundational leadership skills, and an understanding of career development strategies. The program provides Pathfinders exclusive access to a variety of virtual training methods and networking opportunities, including class meetings, regional meetings, e-Learning modules, compass conversations with LCLD alumni, and program facilitators.

Hinshaw Adds Seasoned Insurance Partner in New Orleans

February 23, 2021 – Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP today announced that Erin Parkinson has joined the firm as a partner in the New Orleans office. Formerly with McGlinchey Stafford, Parkinson, licensed both in Louisiana and Texas, represents companies in state and federal courts in reinsurance and insurance coverage and defense litigation matters in a wide range of areas, including asbestos, environmental law, aviation and product liability issues.

An experienced trial attorney, Parkinson has garnered a reputation for creative solutions in and out of the court room, often resolving matters through arbitration and mediation. She has significant experience in the asbestos industry, handling litigation for energy and chemical companies in that sector. Parkinson also defends insurers against coverage claims related to directors’ and officers’ liability, general liability and standard auto, environmental, pollution and cyber policies.

Parkinson recently retired after 29 years at McGlinchey, where she began as a 1L summer associate. Not ready to leave the practice of law, she decided to join Hinshaw as her “second act.” She joins former McGlinchey colleagues Lauren Campisi, Stephen P. Strohschein, Stewart Spielman, Eric J. Simonson and Heather Alexis LaSalle, who joined the firm in Louisiana last summer, and Kyle Ferachi and Stephanie Laird Tolson, who joined Hinshaw in Texas in January.

In addition, Parkinson said Hinshaw’s focus on advancing diverse attorneys and women is important to her. She was a member of McGlinchey’s diversity committee and head of its Women’s Initiative Network, and plans to be an active participant in Hinshaw’s programs.

Parkinson received her B.A., magna cum laude, in political science from Loyola University New Orleans, and her J.D., magna cum laude, from Loyal University New Orleans College of Law.

Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that Steve B. Park has joined the firm’s Corporate Finance team in the Atlanta office as partner. Park is the third Corporate partner to join the firm in the past year.

Park, who joins from Ballard Spahr, represents financial institutions and multinational companies with an emphasis on financing transactions, corporate governance, public and private offerings of securities, mergers and acquisitions, and compliance with SEC regulations and reporting requirements. He has significant experience in advising both lenders and corporate borrowers in commercial lending transactions, including secured and asset-based lending and syndicated credit facilities.

His clients include multinationals, particularly in the automotive and real estate sectors and with an emphasis on Korean investors and clients who extend credit for Korean and other corporate borrowers in the United States. He has extensive experience in the origination and restructuring of commercial loans and senior mortgage and mezzanine loans.

Additionally, Park has extensive experience in EB-5 financing matters. He has represented a wide range of regional centers, project developers, and other sponsors in EB-5 securities offerings and other aspects of the federal program. EB5 Investors Magazine named him one of the top eight EB-5 corporate and securities attorneys in the United States.

Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, announced the launch of Littler Affirmative Action 360. The solution combines proprietary technology and experienced attorney insights to help employers develop affirmative action plans that ensure regulatory compliance and guide efforts to promote inclusion, equity and diversity (IE&D) in the workplace.

Littler’s new solution provides a comprehensive approach to compliance with Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) affirmative action program requirements, from developing an initial strategy, to collecting and analyzing data, to finalizing a plan that can withstand an OFCCP audit. The solution also helps drive stronger IE&D programs by uncovering actionable insights into the diversity of the organization’s workforce and its recruiting practices.

Here’s how it works:

Consultation: Littler attorneys draw on their extensive experience in employment laws unique to government contractors to determine which of an organization’s entities are subject to OFCCP jurisdiction. A strategy is then developed to help prepare or revamp an affirmative action program to align not only with federal regulations, but also with the specific needs of the organization – all in a privileged context.

Data Collection Review: Through a secure extranet, Littler’s analytics team collects all data relevant to the organization’s affirmative action plan and cross-checks it for gaps or inconsistencies.

Real-Time Analysis: Attorneys analyze the data using Littler’s proprietary tool and showcase the findings in real time through an easy-to-understand visual dashboard, demonstrating the impact of certain adjustments (e.g., to census coding and recruitment practices) on key metrics, including utilization goals, and on the overall affirmative action report.

Finalize the Plan: Having undergone a comprehensive real-time analysis, Littler attorneys finalize the affirmative action plan, ensuring compliance with OFCCP’s regulatory requirements, providing new insights into the diversity of the organization’s workforce, and helping set priorities for the coming year.

Littler Affirmative Action 360 expands the firm’s suite of innovative and practical resources offered to employers. The firm’s Service Solutions – including the Littler Pay Equity Assessment (a technology tool for conducting audits and guiding legal strategy), Littler onDemand (a data-driven solution for employment law advice and counsel), Littler CaseSmart® (the firm’s approach to efficiently managing employment litigation) and the Littler Restructuring Assessment Solution (a resource for employers making workforce restructuring decisions) – are designed to provide clients with efficient legal counsel, help shape legal and compliance strategies, and spot trends that can inform critical business decisions.

Venable LLP is pleased to announce that James D. Reilly has joined the firm as a senior policy advisor in the Legislative and Government Affairs Practice in the Washington, DC office. Reilly is an experienced leader and skilled strategist with a proven ability to achieve his clients’ policy goals at both the national and international levels.

Reilly leverages his relationships with federal lawmakers and regulators, and draws on his experience advocating on behalf of major organizations to manage threats, opportunities, and trends impacting today’s policy landscape. He has a track record of creating practical, bipartisan solutions to climate, infrastructure, energy, and environmental issues.

He has held in high regard for his ability to work with both sides of the aisle to pass key legislation in Congress, a skill he honed as chief of staff for Senator Tom Carper (D-DE). In that capacity, he facilitated bipartisan and other partnerships to achieve the senator’s objectives related to committee assignments on finance, environment and public works, and homeland security and government affairs. As chief of staff, he worked to ensure Delaware’s small federal delegation, including then Senator Biden, worked side by side to deliver results. Reilly co-chaired the weekly Senate chiefs of staff meeting and established bipartisan relationships throughout Washington. A Delaware native, he previously served as a legislative assistant to Senator Carper, responsible for all environmental, energy, agriculture legislation, and related appropriations matters, including climate change, renewable energy, water quality, and air pollution. He also was the staff lead overseeing passage of clean air, PURPA reform, nuclear safety, and Army Corps legislation.

Prior to joining Venable, Jim served as the vice president of a trade association that represents owners, developers, equipment and service providers, financiers, utilities, and customers involved in the wind industry. During his tenure, he maximized a $21 million budget and the influence of 1,000 member companies to convey the wind energy industry’s priorities to U.S. federal and state governments, enabling the industry’s 48% growth over a four-year period.

Reilly received his in M.A. in Environmental Management from Duke University 1998, and his B.S. in Plant Science and Ornamental Horticulture from the University of Delaware in 1989.

Venable LLP is pleased to announce that Allen H. Denson has joined the firm as a partner in the Financial Services Practice in the Washington, DC office. Denson develops and implements strategies for financial institutions navigating regulatory examinations, investigations, enforcement actions, litigation, or inquiries by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), federal banking regulators (OCC, FDIC, and the Federal Reserve Board), state attorneys general, and various state regulatory bodies.

Denson has significant experience representing companies that provide consumer financial services, including lenders, sales finance companies, fintechs, banks, auto dealers, and other financial services companies. He also represents clients nationwide in litigation related to federal and state consumer financial law. He previously served as a senior attorney at the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Enforcement & Compliance Division. There he handled all aspects of agency investigations, litigation, and regulatory inquiries involving both safety and soundness and consumer protection issues, against financial institutions and institution-affiliated parties. He advised bank supervision staff and senior agency officials regarding a wide range of issues arising under federal banking and consumer laws, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. He also assisted examiners in the supervision and resolution of problem banks under OCC examination.

Denson received his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2008, and his B.A. in English from the College of William & Mary in 2004.

Akerman LLP a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, has expanded its Franchise and Licensing Practice with five lawyers in five months, most recently adding Robert Smith in Washington, D.C. He brings decades of experience leading complex financial transactions for U.S. franchisors expanding internationally.

Smith follows the addition of Franchise and Licensing Practice Co-chair Kevin Hein, special counsel Trish MacAskill, and associate Leilani Argersinger in Denver, and litigation partner William Sentell in Houston. Together they bring a deep knowledge in U.S. and international franchise and distribution matters.

Smith focuses his practice on representing U.S. franchisors expanding internationally and serving as franchise counsel in a variety of complex transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, revising and re-branding franchise programs, regulatory Franchise Disclosure Document compliance, workouts, dispute resolution, master franchise and development agent programs and refranchising. He is ranked among the nation’s leading franchise lawyers by Chambers USA, which cites clients who commented that he “has a tremendous amount of experience and has a great business mind. The value he brings to our company is extraordinary.” Clients appreciate that “he makes himself available—it almost feels like he’s our in-house counsel and he’s in the office down the hall.”

Akerman’s Franchise and Licensing Practice assists start-up, regional, national, and international franchisors and licensors, as well as subfranchisors, and other businesses, on a wide range of matters, including structuring, acquiring, and selling franchise and licensing systems, handling state franchise registrations, counseling on state, federal, and international legal compliance matters, and resolving and litigating disputes. Its client roster includes businesses in a wide range of consumer-oriented and business-to-business sectors.

Hawkins Parnell & Young is pleased to announce the addition of litigator Brian Connolly to its St. Louis office.

For over a decade, Connolly has handled litigation on behalf of multinational conglomerates, small businesses, and local property owners across Missouri and Illinois. Connolly has represented a range of clients from the manufacturing, construction, transportation, chemicals, and energy sectors. He has substantial experience defending against lawsuits arising from product liability, toxic exposures, and commercial disputes.

Prior to joining Hawkins Parnell, Connolly was counsel at the law firm Heyl Royster. He served as national coordinating counsel for an international commercial appliance distributor in product liability litigation and handled a number of commercial and residential fire claims.

Connolly is licensed in Illinois and Missouri. He obtained his J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law and his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Dayton.

Enterprises who’ve adopted Slack know the content adds up quickly across channels, direct messages, and group communications. Information governance is critical for mitigating risk. However, making informed decisions about preservation and scoping discovery is also essential for controlling downstream costs while meeting your duty to preserve.

In this session, Brad Harris, Hanzo’s VP of Product, will share insights about how to effectively manage the sheer volume of Slack data for discovery. Additionally, attendees can see a high-level demo of how Hanzo Hold can help streamline Slack data discovery.

Speaker
Brad Harris, VP of Product, Hanzo

Brad Harris is the VP of Product at Hanzo, a pioneer in the contextual capture, and preservation of dynamic web and collaboration content for corporate legal and compliance departments. He leads product vision and innovation for the company. Brad has more than 30 years’ experience in the high technology and enterprise software sectors, including assisting Fortune 1000 companies to enhance their e-discovery preparedness through technology and process improvement. Brad is a frequent author and speaker on data preservation and e-discovery issues and is a member of The Sedona Conference WG1 and WG6.

Register today!

Blank Rome Government Relations LLC (“BRGR”) is pleased to announce that David S. Jansen has joined the firm as a senior advisor in the Washington, D.C., office. Jansen brings nearly 30 years of executive and legislative branch experience in the areas of transportation; national security; and ocean, coastal, and wildlife science, conservation, and management to BRGR, most recently serving as the Democratic staff director for the Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, in the U.S. House of Representatives.

During his tenure at the U.S. House of Representatives, Jansen oversaw all aspects of subcommittee policy and legislative business. He conducted oversight of annual budgets totaling over $13 billion annually for three federal maritime agencies, and advanced authorization of the first recapitalization of the Coast Guard’s polar icebreaker fleet in 40 years. Jansen notably worked across the aisle to raise awareness and increase appropriations for several important maritime programs, including the Maritime Security Program, the Small Shipyard Grant Program, the Port Infrastructure Development Program, and authorization to construct a new fleet of National Security Multi-Mission Training vessels for state maritime academies.

He also successfully built bipartisan support for passage of the first legislation to amend the Shipping Reform Act in 20 years to strengthen the Federal Maritime Commission’s anti-trust enforcement authority to ensure fair shipping practices in the $980 billion international ocean transportation industry. Prior to serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, Jansen was a congressional affairs specialist for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association.

Jansen earned his Master of Marine Affairs degree, with a focus on Ocean and Coastal Policy and Management, from the University of Washington. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree, with a focus on Wetland Science & Wildlife Management, from the University of Rhode Island.

Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that Anthony (“Tony”) R. Callobre has joined the firm as a partner in its Finance, Restructuring, and Bankruptcy practice group and Financial Services industry group in the Los Angeles office. Callobre represents lenders and borrowers in commercial loan transactions, with a particular focus on asset-based lending and fund finance. He joins Blank Rome from Buchalter where he was a shareholder.

Callobre represents commercial banks, commercial finance companies, hedge funds, private equity groups, business development companies, and other investors, lenders, and corporate borrowers in debt financing, commercial lending, and corporate finance matters. His counsel extends across loan types, from single lender to syndicated loans, and multiple structures, from unsecured to secured loans. His national and cross-border practice includes a wide variety of clients across industries, including apparel and textiles, consumer products, engineering, construction and infrastructure, sports and entertainment, retail, technology, and transportation.

Callobre earned his J.D. and LL.M. in Banking Law Studies at Boston University School of Law and his A.B. from Brown University.

WASHINGTON D.C. – Lowenstein Sandler has announced that Michael P. Vito has rejoined the firm as partner in the Trusts & Estates group. He will be based in the firm’s Washington D.C. office.

Vito has wide-ranging experience in tax law and high net worth estate planning, estate and trust administration, and philanthropy spanning more than two decades in multiple jurisdictions. He represents individuals with respect to core estate planning, such as wills, living trusts, durable powers of attorney, and health care directives. Vito also employs more sophisticated techniques, including irrevocable life insurance trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, and spousal lifetime access trusts, with a focus on federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes and fiduciary income tax planning.

In addition, he counsels executors, trustees, and beneficiaries with respect to trust and estate administration. Vito advises fiduciaries on the fulfillment of their duties related to managing an estate or trust, including issues such as estate and inheritance tax returns, fiduciary accountings, concentrated position management, prudent investor act delegation, GST grandfathered trust transactions, fiduciary transitions, decanting, distribution, and wind-up strategies. Leveraging this background, he also represents beneficiaries and other stakeholders to ensure the orderly administration and preservation of their respective interests.

Vito earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Tulane University School of Law and his B.A., cum laude, from Tulane University. He is admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.