Otavio Carneiro has joined Akerman LLP’s Corporate Practice Group as a partner in the Miami office.

Dual-licensed in Brazil and the United States, he joins Akerman from Veirano Advogados in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In a release, the firm said he has experience in the areas of cross-border and domestic transactions, particularly mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and banking and finance in a diverse set of sectors, including oil and gas, infrastructure, insurance, payment processing services, shipping, IT, etc.

The firm said Carneiro has spearheaded a number of significant, high-profile transactions. He played an integral role in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, having represented the United States Olympic Committee in a five-year project leading up to the event. Carneiro served as counsel for many companies that wanted to start operations or acquire businesses in Brazil. He represented a major European airport operator in the privatization process in Brazil. On the transactional front, he served as counsel to many companies that provide services and large equipment to the oil and gas industry in Brazil, having also assisted companies in the acquisition of Oil blocks in the country. On another front, he advised on the financing for the construction of the biggest shipyard in the Southern Hemisphere worth over $1 billion. His work stretches Latin America, having represented U.S. and European companies, as well Asian groups in transactions in Brazil. Carneiro advised a major Japanese corporation in the structuring of a joint venture with a Chinese company for the manufacturing and sale in Brazil of electronic equipment and another major Japanese group in a joint venture with a US conglomerate to build a factory of excavator machines in Sao Paulo.

Carneiro will focus his work on outbound investment in Brazil and Latin America and inbound investment from Brazil into the United States. Carneiro has assisted a number of clients in transactional and regulatory work in a variety of sectors, such as oil and gas, infrastructure, IT, banking, mining, construction, shipping, real estate, and agriculture, among others. He concentrates his practice on cross border and domestic mergers and acquisitions and financing transactions, including joint ventures, divestitures, corporate reorganizations, and loan transactions involving foreign banks and multilateral agencies and Brazilian banks.

Prior to joining Akerman, Carneiro was a partner at Veirano Advogados in Brazil. He is a former member of Veirano’s Management Committee and Board of Directors and he played a pivotal role in the success and expansion of the firm’s Corporate M&A and Infrastructure Practices.

Steptoe & Johnson LLP announced that Eric Solomon, who has more than 40 years of tax experience in private practice and government service, has joined the firm’s Tax Group as a partner in the Washington office. He joins the firm from Ernst & Young LLP, where he was co-director of the national tax department.

Solomon served as assistant secretary for tax policy at the US Treasury Department from 2006–2009. In this role, he headed the Office of Tax Policy, which serves as the primary advisor to the Treasury secretary on legal and economic matters relating to domestic and international taxation.

Solomon joined the Treasury Department in 1999 and served in both the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. He was senior advisor for policy, deputy assistant secretary (tax policy) and deputy assistant secretary (regulatory affairs) before his 2006 confirmation as assistant secretary.

Prior to his service with the Treasury Department, Solomon was a principal in Ernst & Young’s national tax mergers and acquisitions group. Previously, he was assistant chief counsel (corporate) at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), heading the IRS legal division responsible for all corporate tax issues. He began his career in private practice with law firms in New York and Philadelphia.

At Steptoe, Solomon will focus his practice on transactional work, including structuring, opinions, and ruling requests. He will also advise clients on tax policy issues, including regulatory issues arising from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as well as on IRS controversy matters.

In a release, the firm said Solomon has garnered numerous awards for his legal achievements and government service. In recognition of his contributions at the Treasury Department, Solomon was presented with the Alexander Hamilton Award, which is the highest award for Treasury service, and the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award. Solomon also received distinguished service awards from the Tax Foundation, Tax Council Policy Institute, Tax Executives Institute, and the taxation sections of the State Bar of California, the State Bar of Texas, and the Federal Bar Association.

This past year Solomon served as chair of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation. He is also a member of the executive committee of the tax section of the New York State Bar Association. In addition, Solomon is co-chair of the Practising Law Institute conference on tax strategies for corporate acquisitions and dispositions.

Solomon is an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches a course in corporate taxation. He received the Charles Fahy Distinguished Adjunct Professor Award for Georgetown University’s graduate law programs.

Solomon received his A.B. from Princeton University, Phi Beta Kappa, and his J.D. from the University of Virginia. He earned his LL.M. in taxation from New York University.

An Above the Law contributor takes a look at a Bureau of Labor Statistics report and finds that the estimated mean annual wage for lawyers is a respectable $144,230.

Jonathan Wolf points out that while $144,000 a year doesn’t even scratch the bottom of the Milbank/Simpson/Cravath scale, it’s still “more than enough to live a comfortable life and have a reasonable shot at paying off your student loan debt.”

He breaks down the numbers by median annual wage (lower than mean annual) and shows the range from the 10th percentile to the 75th percentile.

He also looks at judges’ wages, which tend to be lower than other attorneys’.

Read the Above the Law article.

Kevin T. McLaughlin has been appointed next president and chief executive officer of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C., effective Feb. 1, 2020.

McLaughlin has been appointed to the role following the passing of former Greensfelder chief executive officer Timothy R. Thornton in June 2019. Since then, Greensfelder officer John W. Dillane has served as interim CEO. The firm said McLaughlin will work with Dillane over the next several months to ensure a smooth transition of leadership responsibility.

McLaughlin joined Greensfelder in 2006 and is currently the leader of the Employment & Labor practice group. He also previously served on the firm’s board of directors. His work in employment law and labor law has been recognized with rankings in Chambers USA, Benchmark Litigation and The Best Lawyers in America. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Law and received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Boston College.

Holland & Hart announced that Shaun Kennedy has joined the firm’s Government Contracts practice as of counsel in Denver and Washington, D.C.

Inn a release, the firm said Kennedy has experience in federal and state government contracts matters, guiding clients in general counseling, complex internal investigations, and representation in high-stakes bid protests and claims litigation.

He has experience in private practice and working in-house for aerospace and defense contractors and counsels clients on contract claims and disputes, bid protests, contract formation and administration matters, internal investigations, and government subpoenas.

Prior to joining Holland & Hart, Kennedy practiced nine years as corporate counsel and in private practice. He also served as a law clerk to the Loren A. Smith of the United States Court of Federal Claims.

The firm said Kennedy currently holds a Top Secret security clearance. He received his J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law and earned his B.B.A. from the University of Kentucky. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Colorado.

Michael Best announced that Susan Frohling and Laura Lamansky have joined the firm’s Intellectual Property practice group.

Frohling joins as senior counsel in Chicago and Lamansky as an associate in Milwaukee. Their addition follows on the heels of Scott Diring and Christian (Nick) Schaefer’s move to the Waukesha and Milwaukee offices earlier this summer.

The firm said Frohling counsels clients on trademark and copyright matters, including brand protection strategy, enforcement, licensing, due diligence, prosecution and litigation. She was formerly the chief trademark counsel at Kraft Foods Group, Inc. where she handled global trademark and copyright issues.

Lamansky focuses her practice on intellectual property and entertainment law matters. On the intellectual property side, she assists clients in trademark and copyright prosecution, enforcement and contract negotiations. Her entertainment law practice encompasses union compliance issues, the development and implementation of compliant promotions and contests and the negotiation of distribution rights, talent and publicity agreements.

Frohling earned her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and her B.B.A., with high distinction, from the University of Iowa. She most recently served as counsel at Brinks Gilson & Lione.

Lamansky earned her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin, her M.F.A. from Columbia University and her B.A., magna cum laude and phi beta kappa, from the University of Southern California. She was most recently co-chair of the intellectual property and entertainment practice group at Stafford Rosenbaum, L.L.P. Prior to her legal career, she was an event and media producer and digital strategist for a variety of entertainment companies.

Barnes & Thornburg has added Stanley E. Heyman as a partner in the firm’s Corporate Department in the Los Angeles office. Heyman concentrates his practice in federal, state and local tax planning, estate planning, tax controversy matters, and probate, estate and trust administration.

The firm said Heyman, who is also licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in California, works with business organizations on tax matters from formation through dissolution. He also advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, real estate tax structuring, executive compensation, pension planning, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer planning, and works with high net individuals on wealth preservation matters.

Heyman, who was previously at Jackson Tidus, earned his J.D. from the University of Southern California Law Center. He also earned a Master of Business Taxation degree and B.S. from the University of Southern California.

A chance encounter with lawyer Roy Cohn in the 1970s proved to be fateful for future president Donald Trump, writes James D. Zirin in his new book “Plaintiff in Chief: A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3,500 Lawsuits.”

In an excerpt from the book at Slate, Zirin writes that Trump and his father, Fred, were dealing with clashes with the Open Housing Center, a local fair-housing group that was working with the Justice Department, as well as the New York City Human Rights Commission, which asked the government to investigate racial discrimination in the Trumps’ neighborhood housing. All the lawyers Trump approached advised him to settle.

But when Trump discussed the problem with Cohn, the lawyer told him, “Tell them to go to hell, and fight the thing in court.” Trump had found his lawyer and his approach to defending against all kinds of charges: go on the attack, bashing your enemies.

Read the Slate article.

Texas trial lawyer Dan Cogdell has joined Squire Patton Boggs’ Houston office as partner in its Litigation and Government Investigations & White-Collar practices.

The firm said Cogdell has served as lead counsel in nearly 300 jury trials in more than 16 states. Some of his best-known cases include winning not guilty verdicts in the Enron scandal, the Branch Davidian trial, and in the trial of controversial cancer physician Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski. In 2015, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton hired Cogdell to lead his defense team in fighting a felony indictment. Mr. Cogdell currently represents a broad array of clients in both state and federal court matters throughout Texas and the U.S.

In 2008, the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association named him White-Collar Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Year. In 2011, he became one of the youngest criminal defense lawyers to be admitted as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers legal association. In 2014 he was honored as an Alumni of The Year by his law school alma mater, South Texas College of Law in Houston. In 2016, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Lawyer. Cogdell also has regularly made the lists of peer-review legal guides such as Best Lawyers in America and Texas Super Lawyers for the past 20-plus years, the firm said.

Dykema announced the addition of Thomas T. Moga to its Intellectual Property & IP Litigation Department and Automotive Industry Group as a senior counsel in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office. Moga joins Dykema from the Dearborn, Mich., office of LeClairRyan.

In a release, the firm said Moga has more than 30 years of experience in domestic and international intellectual property portfolio development and enforcement. He has experience as a patent prosecutor in various fields, including the mechanical, chemical, biochemical, and pharmaceutical arts. Moga has also been qualified and testified as an expert witness in patent disputes.

As an IP portfolio developer, Moga’s experience includes the development of domestic and foreign patent portfolios, the acquisition of registrations for trademarks and copyrights, licensing, and policy development. Within the discipline of IP rights enforcement, he manages patent enforcement and anti-counterfeiting actions in Asia, including overseeing initial counterfeit product investigation, selecting and working with local investigators, selecting and working with local counsel, preparing administrative and judicial documents, and participating in raids.

The firm said Moga has represented foreign companies in China since the 1980s. He was a Fulbright Scholar in China, where he taught patent law at Jilin University and acted as a foreign advisor to China’s patent office.

In 2018, Moga was appointed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to serve on the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property Rights (ITAC 13). As the only representative on the committee for the U.S. automotive industry, Moga’s contributions include analyzing national trade positions and providing advice on a broad array of trade issues as they relate to IP for both the White House (by way of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative) and the Department of Commerce in pursuit of trade agreements that benefit U.S. businesses, workers and the economy.

Moga received a J.D. from the St. Louis University School of Law. He also earned an M.A. in English Language & Literature as well as a B.A. in both English Language & Literature and Political Studies (with a China concentration) from the University of Michigan. Moga also received a B.S. in Biochemistry, cum laude, from Madonna University.

Miller & Chevalier Chartered announced that government contracts attorney Alejandro “Alex” Sarria joined the firm as a member in the Government Contracts Counseling and Litigation Practice.

Sarria joined the firm from Covington & Burling LLP and previously spent seven years at multinational law firm McKenna, Long & Aldridge LLP (now part of Dentons).

In a release, the firm said Sarria represents contractors in complex contract disputes with federal and state governments and in mass tort lawsuits arising out of military operations, national security programs, and environmental remediation projects. In his counseling practice, he advises clients on an array of federal procurement issues, including matters involving cost allowability, cost or pricing data requirements, battlefield contracting, subcontract pricing and flowdowns, commercial item contracting, the General Services Administration Schedules program, organizational conflicts of interest, cybersecurity laws and regulations, and business ethics and code of conduct requirements.

One of Sarria’s cases, Secretary of the Army v. Kellogg Brown & Root Services (KBR), was a multi-year collaboration with Miller & Chevalier Government Contracts Practice member Jason Workmaster that resulted in a groundbreaking July 2019 decision. In that case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit put an end to the long-running contract dispute regarding the use of private security contractors by the U.S. Army’s principal logistical support contractor, KBR, and its subcontractors during the height of the Iraq War. In doing so, the Federal Circuit affirmed a 2017 decision finding that KBR was entitled to reimbursement of $44 million, plus interest, in costs the government had initially paid but later recouped under a cost-reimbursement contract. The decision resolved (in KBR’s favor) important questions regarding jurisdiction over affirmative defenses and contractors’ entitlement to interest, which promise to have a long-lasting positive impact for contractors engaged in contract disputes with the federal government.

Sarria serves as a vice chair of both the ABA Section of Public Contract Law, Contract Claims and Disputes Resolution Committee, and the Battlespace and Contingency Procurements Committee. He is a member of the National Defense Industrial Association, Procurement Division & Legal Committee, the Hispanic National Bar Association, and the Cuban American Bar Association.

Sarria earned his J.D. from the George Washington University Law School, where he was the Senior Articles Editor for The Public Contract Law Journal, and his B.S. in Journalism, with high honors, from the University of Florida.

Sarah Piepmeier has joined Perkins Coie’s Intellectual Property Practice as a partner in the San Francisco office. Piepmeier worked as an associate early in her legal career.

In a release, the firm said Piepmeier, as a litigator, has obtained victories for technology clients in U.S. district courts and has trial experience litigating patent and other intellectual property disputes in federal district courts and before the International Trade Commission (ITC). Recently, the Daily Journal recognized Piepmeier and her team in the 2019 CLAY Awards: Intellectual Property for successful representation of one tech titan in its long-running IP battle.

An advocate and supporter of the Bay Area LGBTQ+ community, Piepmeier has a civil rights pro bono practice and was a core member of the trial team for plaintiffs in Perry v. Schwarzenegger. Perry successfully overturned California’s Proposition 8, which had banned same-sex couples from marrying, because it violated the United States Constitution.

Piepmeier rejoins Perkins Coie from Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where she was a partner and leader in the Bay Area IP Litigation Practice. She received her J.D. from the New York University School of Law and her B.A. from Wellesley College.

Louisiana public finance attorney Donald Cunningham Jr. has joined Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton, LLP, as of counsel in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Also, transactions attorney Kara Hargrove joins the Dallas office.

In a release, the firm said the addition of Cunningham in Louisiana represents Shackelford’s second office outside of Texas. The business and entertainment law firm currently has offices in Dallas, Houston, Frisco, Fort Worth, and Austin, Texas, as well as Nashville, Tennessee.

Cunningham represents tax credit developers in the acquisition, construction and renovation of affordable housing projects and assists with bond, construction loan, soft loan and equity documentation. He has experience working with DUS (Delegated Underwriting and Servicing) lenders and syndicators and LIHTC (Low Income Housing Tax Credit) lenders.

He has served as special bond counsel with public authority boards including the Louisiana Housing Corporation, Louisiana Public Service Commission, the Louisiana Community Development Authority, and the Florida School Boards Association.

Cunningham also represents private and public entities in mergers and acquisitions, investigations, and due diligence matters. He joins the firm from Nelson Mullins Broad and Cassell LLP. He previously practiced at Jones Walker LLP.

Hargrove’s transactions practice focuses on the affordable housing tax credit industry, working with developers, non-profits and housing agencies. Her practice includes entity creation, conversion of existing entities, financing and M&A work. She assists clients in debt and equity finance agreements, shareholder agreements, non-compete and non-disclosures and employment agreements. She joins the firm as an associate from Clayton, McKay & Bailey, PC.

Am ugly public fight inside the National Rifle Association has led to an exodus of high-level officials and warring accusations of financial impropriety. At the center of the fray is Brewer, a brash lawyer who has drawn ethics complaints and has a reputation for escalating disputes into pricey legal battles, according to a report in The Washington Post.

William Brewer III emerged as a top counselor to NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre and a victor — for now, at least — in a civil war that he helped set in motion and that is ripping apart the powerful gun lobby, write the Post‘s Carol D. Leonnig and Tom Hamburger.

They explain:

“Several NRA veterans accuse Brewer of instigating an almost Shakespearean feud to protect his bottom line and growing influence. According to internal board correspondence, his small law firm billed $24 million in fees in 13 months — leading top NRA board members to demand early this year that the organization stop paying until they could review the bills.”

Read the Post article.

Neal Gerber Eisenberg founding partner Marshall E. Eisenberg is being honored by American Friends of the Hebrew University (AFHU) with the 2019 Jerold S. Solovy Torch of Learning Award. The Torch of Learning Award is presented to an individual who has influenced the course of higher learning in the United States and Israel.

In a release, the firm said Eisenberg has served as a strategic advisor for clients with business and personal interests worldwide. He counsels companies and individuals on a broad range of complex transactions and strategies, including mergers and acquisitions; estate planning; federal, state and international tax controversies and venture capital transactions. For nearly 30 years, Eisenberg has been named to the Best Lawyers in America list, an annual peer survey of lawyers.

Eisenberg frequently serves as a trustee for families and a director of public and privately owned companies. Currently, as a member of the board of Sally Beauty Holdings (NYSE: SBH); he serves as the chair of the board’s Nominating, Governance and Corporate Responsibility committee.

The Torch of Learning Award is not the first time Eisenberg has been honored nationally. In 2006, Eisenberg received the American Jewish Committee’s Judge Learned Hand Award in recognition of his outstanding leadership in the legal profession and the community.

Eisenberg will be honored at the 2019 Jerold S. Solovy Torch of Learning Gala Dinner on Sunday, September 22, 2019, at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago.

J. Michael Bernard, Detroit-based member in Dykema’s Corporate Finance Practice Group, was elected chairman of the World Services Group (WSG) for 2019 – 2020. Bernard officially took over the chairman position at the WSG 18th Annual Meeting, which took place in Washington, D.C., from September 4-6.

In a release, the firm said WSG is a recognized resource for professionals and their clients to receive legal, investment banking and accounting services, with coverage in more than 130 jurisdictions.

In his law practice, Bernard focuses primarily on business counseling and planning, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions (representing both buyers and sellers); capital raising transactions (including private placement, private equity and seed and venture financings); corporate formation matters (including shareholder control and buy-sell arrangements); corporate governance (for-profit and nonprofit entities); and executive employment agreements and related matters. He has experience in a variety of industries, including automotive, manufacturing, service and technology.

Bernard has held various other leadership positions throughout his career. He is a former member of Dykema’s Executive Board, as well as a former leader of the firm’s Corporate Finance Practice Group. He is also a member of the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Executive Committee and its Board of Directors. Bernard is also a member of the Detroit Athletic Club’s Board of Directors and Chair of its Community Outreach Committee.

S. Starling Marshall is joining Crowell & Moring’s New York office as a partner in the firm’s Tax and Litigation groups, the firm announced in a news release.

Marshall focuses her practice on litigation, complex IRS audits, and administrative appeals. She also advises clients on privilege and protecting proprietary information in a wide array of contexts

Marshall was previously at Covington & Burling. Prior to that, she served as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division, Court of Federal Claims Section. There, she was responsible litigation, from motions to discovery to trial on a variety of issues involving tax shelters, complex refund suits, 1603 grant cases, and TEFRA proceedings. She served on the Tax Division’s employment tax enforcement task force. She tried several cases as lead trial counsel, and litigated matters of first impression, including a case to determine the effect of a TEFRA judgment on penalties against partners, a case regarding the proper treatment of earn-out rights, and a case about the treatment of nuclear decommissioning liabilities.

Marshall is the latest hire for the firm’s New York office. Labor partner Eric Su, cybersecurity and data privacy partner Jarno Vanto, and advertising litigation partner Holly Melton joined the office following the 2018 addition of the New York Health Care practice, which included a nine-lawyer team led by partners Paul Mourning, Stephanie Marcantonio, Kathy Hirata Chin, and Brian McGovern. Other recent laterals include Brian Paul Gearing, Ph.D., partner in the Intellectual Property Group; Paul Freeman, senior counsel in the Environment and Natural Resources and Government Contracts groups; former federal prosecutor and First Assistant Attorney General of New Jersey, Rebecca Ricigliano, partner in the White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement group; and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Enforcement at the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, Juan A. Arteaga, partner in the Antitrust Group.

Marshall earned her law degree from Fordham University School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Emory University. Her pro bono work includes serving as lead counsel with the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project and ACLU-Utah, in a Bivens action against U.S. marshals who raided a family’s home on two successive days.

Robert J. Ernest has joined Arent Fox LLP as a partner  in its Logistics & Transportation group.

Ernest joins the firm’s Boston office after serving as general counsel of Americas at The Panalpina Group (now DSV Panalpina A/S), a provider of international transportation, logistics, and supply chain solutions. He will advise clients on issues relating to their international and domestic supply chains.

Ernest has more than 20 years of experience in the logistics and transportation industry, with a focus in managing a diverse range of corporate and regulatory issues. As an executive team member at Panalpina, Ernest was involved in company strategy and provided legal, business, and risk management advice to C-level decision makers. In addition, Ernest directed all phases of affirmative and defensive litigation matters at Panalpina, including multi-million dollar commercial disputes with customers and actions by individual claimants, the firm said in a release.

Prior to his role at Panalpina, Ernest served as corporate counsel – North America for Kuehne + Nagel Inc. in the international freight forwarding industry, and as an attorney for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Emily K. Strunk has joined Venable LLP as counsel in the Regulatory Practice in Washington, DC.

In a release, the firm said Strunk focuses her practice on regulatory matters and consumer protection issues, primarily as they relate to products regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The firm said Strunk works with clients in the food, dietary supplement, medical device, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries to develop and implement strategies for regulatory approvals and clearances, compliance and enforcement actions, crisis management, rulemaking, and public policy issues. Her experience also encompasses matters before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), National Advertising Division, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Customs and Border Protection, and Environmental Protection Agency.

Strunk received her J.D., cum laude, from American University Washington College of Law in 2008 and her B.A., summa cum laude, in Psychology, Political Science, and French from Arizona State University in 1999.

Giovanni P. Giarratana has joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP’s Tampa office as an associate in the Government Enforcement and Investigations Practice Group.

The firm said Giarratana works with civil and criminal investigations, enforcement actions, and compliance issues across various industries. He also has represented clients in matters involving complex litigation and issues related to securities fraud, shareholder disputes, employment discrimination, and patent infringement.

Prior to joining Bradley, Giarratana was an attorney at Gunster law firm.

Giarratana received his J.D. (summa cum laude) from Stetson University College of Law and his Bachelor of Business Administration (summa cum laude) from Belmont University.