Sidley Austin LLP announced that Mateja Maher has joined the firm as a partner in its Investment Funds practice and is based in Sidley’s London office.

Maher joins from Campbell Lutyens, a private capital adviser focused on fund placement and secondary advisory services, where he has served as general counsel since 2017. Previously, he was a partner in the private funds group at Kirkland & Ellis International LLP.

The firm said Maher has in-house experience in the private funds community, working in the private fundraising and secondary market, including buyout, venture capital, infrastructure, debt and real estate. During his career, he has acted on a number of landmark fundraising and secondary transactions ranging from tens of millions to several billion U.S. dollars in size, the firm said.

Farrell Fritz had a combined total of 29 attorneys selected to the 2019 New York Metro Super Lawyers and New York Metro Rising Stars lists.

The firm listed 21 attorneys for being selected to the 2019 New York Metro Super Lawyers list. The attorneys and the practice areas for which they have been recognized are: Kathryn Carney Cole, Peter A. Mahler, John P. McEntee and James M. Wicks (Business Litigation); Peter L. Curry (Real Estate); Jed C. Albert, Eric M. Kramer and Patricia C. Marcin (Estate & Probate); John (Jack) J. Barnosky, Ilene Sherwyn Cooper, John R. Morken, Eric W. Penzer and Frank T. Santoro (Estate & Trust Litigation); Martin (Marty) G. Bunin and Patrick T. Collins (Bankruptcy: Business); Charlotte A. Biblow (Environmental); Domenique Camacho Moran (Employment & Labor); Jason S. Samuels (Construction Litigation); Louis Vlahos (Tax); and Joel R. Weiss (Criminal Defense: White Collar).

The firm also listed nine attorneys for being selected to the 2019 New York Metro Rising Stars list. The attorneys and the practice areas for which they have been recognized are: Azriel J. Baer (Estate & Probate); Edward D. Baker, Jaclene D’Agostino, Cheryl Erato and Robert M. Harper (Estate & Trust Litigation); Joshua M. Herman (Business Litigation); Hamutal Lieberman (Intellectual Property); Richard Quatrano (Business/Corporate); and Jacklyn A. Zitelli (Real Estate).

Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C.,  announced that Susan Meyer, an attorney in the firm’s Chicago office and leader of the Trademark, Copyright, Media, and Advertising group, has been promoted to officer, effective Sept. 9.

Meyer joined Greensfelder in June 2017 as a member of the Intellectual Property and Franchising & Distribution groups, advising businesses in the areas of intellectual property, franchising, and distribution. She represents companies in the United States and internationally in every stage of development. In addition to her work involving intellectual property prosecutions, licensing, and dispute resolution, Meyer has extensive experience in trademark law, representing clients before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and federal courts. She also works with franchisors on compliance issues and serves as outside general counsel for businesses on general business matters.

In a release, the firm said Meyer frequently advises companies on matters related to commerce between the United States and Scandinavia, including hosting and attending trade missions. She is a past president of the Chicago Chapter of the Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce and is an active member of the Norwegian-American Defense and Homeland Security Industry Council and the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce.

Meyer received her J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from Stony Brook University.

Joanne L. Zimolzak has joined Dykema in its Insurance Industry Group and Business Litigation Practice as a member in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. Zimolzak joins Dykema after practicing at LeClairRyan. Prior to LeClairRyan, she served as the office managing partner of the Dentons LLP Washington, D.C., office.

In a release, the firm said Zimolzak represents liability insurers in coverage disputes, including matters involving bad faith allegations and significant potential exposures. Zimolzak also advises insurers on coverage and risk management issues, emerging liability risks, new product development, and regulatory compliance. She currently serves as chair of the Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice.

Zimolzak’s practice also extends to complex commercial and administrative litigation, with a special focus on regulatory compliance, internal investigations, and fraud reporting. She has handled complex civil litigation matters before state and federal courts throughout the country, both at the trial and appellate levels, the firm said.

Zimolzak has experience handling government contracts-related litigation, including contract claims and disputes and reverse-FOIA matters. She has also handled procurement fraud matters and conducted related internal investigations.

Zimolzak received a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. in English, magna cum laude, from the University of Maryland.

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP announced the expansion of its global environmental practice with the addition of David C. McSweeney as counsel in the firm’s Boston office.

In a release, the firm said McSweeney’s practice focuses on environmental and health and safety legal issues associated with permitting, compliance, transactional due diligence, regulatory development, enforcement defense and related litigation. He brings almost 20 years of experience working with energy companies, including those in the oil and natural gas industries, as well as with manufacturers, financial institutions and other corporations.

Before joining Hunton Andrews Kurth, McSweeney most recently was in-house counsel at a Fortune 500 midstream energy company in the natural gas and natural gas liquids industry, ONEOK, Inc., where he was lead environmental attorney.

Akerman LLP announced that Ruben Castillo, former chief judge for the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, will join the firm’s Chicago office as an equity partner in the Litigation Practice Group upon his retirement from the bench on Sept. 30.

Castillo will chair Akerman Bench, the firm said in a release.

As a first chair litigator, Castillo will focus his practice on corporate investigations, white collar criminal defense, private arbitration and mediation work for litigants. He will lead Akerman Bench, one of the nation’s largest moot court panels of former appellate and trial court judges, seasoned appellate lawyers, and former state and federal law clerks, who provide guidance and feedback for optimal oral argument preparation.

Castillo was nominated to the bench by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1994, becoming the first Latino federal judge in Illinois. He served as vice chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission from 1999 to 2010. In July 2013, Castillo began his service as chief judge, becoming the first Latino to hold this position in the district. In 2008, he was considered a possible candidate by President Barack Obama for the United States Supreme Court.

Prior to serving on the bench, Castillo was regional counsel to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. He also practiced in private law for two law firms in Chicago, including serving as first-chair litigator, and served as Assistant United States Attorney in the Special Criminal Prosecutions Division for the United States Attorney’s Office – Northern District of Illinois.

For more than 20 years, Castillo has taught trial advocacy at Northwestern University School of Law, with law students recognizing him with five teaching awards.

Castillo earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Loyola University Chicago in 1976 and his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 1979.

Leah M. Campbell has joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP’s Charlotte office as a senior attorney in the Banking and Financial Services Practice Group.

In a release, the firm said Campbell has experience representing financial services clients in federal and state courts, as well as before state regulators. Her representative litigations included FDCPA, UDAAP, and anti-money laundering claims.

More recently, Campbell has advised banking clients on regulatory compliance in technology agreements, outsourcings, and cloud services arrangements. She has also advised on cybersecurity regulatory risk and data privacy, as well as intellectual property issues in M&A transactions.

Prior to joining Bradley, Campbell served as senior counsel in the Cyber/Intellectual Property/Information Technology group for Deutsche Bank AG in New York.

Campbell received her J.D. (magna cum laude) from Tulane University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from The Evergreen State College.

Trial attorney Barry Sorrels of Sorrels Hagood again has been recognized among the top white-collar criminal defense attorneys in Texas. He has earned selection to the prestigious Texas Super Lawyers list each year since its creation in 2003.

The firm said Sorrels has represented clients in high-profile criminal matters both at the state and federal levels. His clientele has included elected officials, business executives, professional athletes, doctors and other medical professionals facing investigations and formal charges, including fraud, corruption and other state and federal white-collar criminal offenses. He was recognized by the 2020 Best Lawyers in America, an honor Sorrels has earned since 1999. He also is consistently named to D Magazine’s Best Lawyers in Dallas listing.

He is board certified in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

A former president of the Dallas Bar Association and the Patrick E. Higginbotham Inn of Court, Sorrels also frequently lends his criminal defense expertise to national news outlets, such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, TruTV and Dallas TV news stations.

Ward, Smith & Hill name partners Johnny Ward and Wesley Hill have earned the distinction of being named among the state’s Top 100 attorneys in the 2019 Texas Super Lawyers listing.

Ward and Hill also earned recognition in the Top 100 attorneys in Dallas-Fort Worth for their intellectual property litigation. In addition, name partner Bruce Smith was honored for plaintiff personal injury work, and of counsel and former federal Judge T. John Ward earned selection for intellectual property litigation. He has received that honor every year since retiring in 2011 from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

With no more than 5 percent of Texas lawyers selected each year, the Texas Super Lawyers list recognizes the state’s top attorneys based on peer nominations and extensive editorial research.

The firm said Ward, Smith & Hill has received numerous professional accolades, including a recent spot in the 2020 Best Lawyers in America listing and the 2019 legal guide IAM Patent 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Professionals 2019, which features top global patent firms.

Dallas attorney Meloney Perry of Perry Law P.C. has been selected to the 2019 Texas Super Lawyers listing for her work in insurance coverage.

The Texas Super Lawyers list was compiled following a statewide survey of lawyers, vetting by a blue-ribbon panel of the state’s leading attorneys, and extensive editorial review. Thomson Reuters publishes the list in the October editions of Texas Monthly and Super Lawyers magazines.

Perry is an insurance defense attorney with more than 20 years of experience. She represents insurance companies in coverage disputes, bad faith and class actions. She serves as the primary regional lawyer for a major national insurance carrier and represents companies in insurance and business disputes throughout Texas, New Mexico and Colorado.

In addition to being honored by Super Lawyers, Perry earlier this year was recognized by The Best Lawyers in America. She has served in multiple leadership roles within the State Bar of Texas and is a frequent presenter at legal seminars that focus on insurance coverage, bad faith matters and the law.

Six partners with the boutique family law firm Orsinger, Nelson, Downing & Anderson, LLP, have earned a place among Texas Super Lawyers’ 2019 listing of the Top 100 attorneys in Texas, the most of any law firm in the state.

Selected to that exclusive ranking were partners Richard Orsinger, Keith Nelson, Scott Downing, Jeff Anderson, Brad LaMorgese and Lon Loveless. Messrs. Nelson, Downing, Anderson, LaMorgese and Loveless earned additional recognition among the Top 100 attorneys in Dallas-Fort Worth. San Antonio-based Mr. Orsinger was selected among the Top 50 attorneys in Central/West Texas.

Super Lawyers also named five other attorneys from the firm to its annual list of top attorneys: William Reppeto, Amber Liddell Alwais, Paul Hewett, Chris Oldner, and James Loveless. Earlier this year, Holly Rampy Baird, Porter Corrigan, Ryan Kirkham, and Taylor Mohr were named to the list of 2019 Texas Rising Stars, bringing the firm’s total attorneys recognized this year to 15.

Orsinger, Nelson, Downing and Anderson have been among the state’s top family law attorneys every year since 2003.

Josh Scala has joined Hogan Lovells’ San Francisco office as a corporate partner in the U.S. Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Tax Practice.

Prior to joining the firm, Scala was a principal at Ernst & Young. Before that he worked as a transactional tax attorney at Arnold & Porter in Washington D.C. and San Francisco.

In a release, the firm said Scala’s practice is primarily focused on the ownership, development, and disposition of commercial real estate and related federal income tax issues. He has experience in representing both publicly traded and private REITs with respect to debt and equity capital raising activities, mergers and acquisitions, qualification requirements under the REIT tax law, and structuring transactions with developers, property owners, and institutional investors. He has also advised clients in both the real estate and private equity industries in all aspects of complex real estate development transactions, including negotiating joint venture agreements and property acquisitions, structuring ownership vehicles and transactions in a tax-efficient manner, and securing debt and equity financing.

Earlier in his career, Scala served as managing member of a private real estate development company with a focus on the development of planned communities and mixed-use urban infill projects. He also previously worked for a publicly-traded REIT with an investment focus on retail shopping malls. Scala received his JD, summa cum laude, Order of the Coif, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and graduated from Amherst College.

Barnes & Thornburg has added Richard E. Glaze Jr. as a partner in the firm’s Environmental Law Department in the Atlanta office.

The firm said Glaze represents corporations and municipalities in enforcement and compliance matters. He focuses on the defense of environmental, administrative, civil and criminal proceedings at the federal and state levels, including before the Department of Justice and local environmental, medical and pharmacy boards. Glaze is a former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 criminal investigations division counsel and has deep experience in criminal and civil matters that come before the agency.

Glaze also focuses his practice on environmental permitting, regulatory enforcement issues, and defending fraud claims against medical providers. In addition, he has experience with a number of water and waste matters including stormwater, wastewater, hazardous waste and state Superfund sites.

Glaze is active in the local legal community and serves on the Georgia Association of Water Professionals Industrial Committee, the Atlanta Bar Association CLE Board of Trustees and is Past Chair of the Atlanta Bar Association Environmental and Toxic Tort Section board. He earned his J.D. from the University of North Carolina Law School and his B.S. from Davidson College.

Commercial litigator and intellectual property litigator and counselor Anthony Magee has launched the new firm of Magee Legal PLLC.

In a release, the firm said Magee is an Oxford-educated former English barrister, who has practiced law in Dallas since 1993. His practice encompasses complex disputes, particularly proceedings in federal courts and before the Patent Trial & Appeal Board, trademark applications in the Trademark Office and petitions at the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board.

“This was the right time for me to gain some well-deserved freedom to guide and counsel with entrepreneurs and established firms in North Texas, as well as support the legal teams at other firms in niche areas of patents, trademarks, copyrights and complex technologies,” he says.

Magee’s experience includes representing both plaintiffs and defendants in commercial litigation and patent and trademark infringement litigation in businesses and services, including telecommunications, media publishing, technology education, aviation, business management software and technologies, medical devices, tissue engineering, semiconductors and health care management systems.

The firm said he has worked in complex litigation and arbitrations relating to large-scale information technology outsourcing contracts and many other types of business disputes, including professional partnership disputes, contractual and trade secrecy disputes relating to professional sports teams, and litigation relating to real estate, commercial mortgage-backed securities, and auction rate securities.

Magee has been recognized in the prestigious legal publication The Best Lawyers in America for the past nine years. He has been named to the list of Texas Super Lawyers annually since 2013 for intellectual property litigation, has been listed among America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators in Northern Texas since 2018, and has been awarded Martindale’s Preeminent AV rating annually for the past 20 years. He is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Dallas Bar Foundation. He is a Past President of the William “Mac” Taylor American Inn of Court.

He was formerly a partner with the Ross IP Group, and led the intellectual property section of Gruber Hurst Johansen Hail LLP for almost a decade. Previously, he practiced for 15 years at the trial boutique of McKool Smith, PC.

Kimberly Brunelle Willis has joined Holland & Hart’s Commercial Litigation practice as of counsel in Denver.

In a release, the firm said Brunelle Willis represents clients facing high-stakes complex civil litigation in federal and state trial and appellate courts; enforcement proceedings, including with the DOJ, SEC, CFTC and state agencies; and inquiries by self-regulatory agencies, including FINRA and the NFA.

Prior to joining Holland & Hart, Brunelle Willis practiced for six years as a litigation and enforcement attorney at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in New York. She also served as a law clerk to the Honorable William G. Young of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Brunelle Willis received her J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University and earned her B.A. from Boston College. She is admitted to practice in New York and her practice in Colorado is temporarily authorized pending admission under C.R.C.P. 205.6. She is also admitted to the bars of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Bloomberg Law reports that a North Dakota lawyer can’t pursue his First Amendment claims against the state bar association over compulsory membership and annual dues.

Bloomberg’s Jennifer Bennett explains: “Arnold Fleck sued after learning the State Bar Association of North Dakota was using some of his dues to oppose a state ballot measure he supported. He accused the state bar of violating his right to affirmatively consent before it spent his dues on non-germane political or ideological activities. Fleck also argued that requiring attorneys to belong to SBAND in order to practice law infringes on his ‘right to freedom of association and to avoid subsidizing speech with which he disagrees,’ Judge James B. Loken’s opinion said.”

The case was back in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit after the U.S. Supreme Court granted Fleck’s petition, summarily vacated the Eight Circuit’s decision, and remanded the suit for reconsideration.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

Sullivan & Worcester announced that Angela Gomes has joined the Boston office as a partner in the Corporate practice. Gomes, who moves to Sullivan from Skadden, focuses her practice on securities regulation and corporate finance, as well as mergers and acquisitions and general corporate matters.

Gomes was among Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly “Top Women of Law” in 2017 and was honored by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce in 2015 as one of “Ten Outstanding Young Leaders.” She is a past president of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association and has served as director of several nonprofits, including The Boston Dance Alliance, The Midas Collaborative, Greater Boston Legal Services and Lawyers for Civil Rights. She was also recently selected as a Minority Corporate Counsel Association Rising Star for 2019.

Gomes earned her undergraduate degree from Boston University (2001) and received her juris doctor from Boston University School of Law (2005). During law school, she served as both vice president and then president of the Black Law Students Association. She also was articles editor of the Journal of Science and Technology Law. Acknowledging her service, in 2010 Boston University School of Law Black Law Students Association awarded Gomes its “Young Alumni Award,” and in 2018 they awarded her with the “Trailblazer” award. In 2014, Boston University School of Law presented her with its “Alumni Pro Bono Award.” Angela was also a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow.

Grace H. Lee has rejoined Venable LLP’s Independent School Practice as a partner in the Washington, D.C., office. Lee is the former vice president of legal affairs at the National Business Officers Association (NBOA), where she oversaw the legal affairs and human resources programming for independent school business officers and served as a resource for member schools on current and evolving legal challenges affecting the independent school community.

In a release, the firm said Lee will continue to work with business officers, board members, human resources professionals, and heads of school to advance the mission priorities and culture of institutions while meeting their business needs and mitigating potential liability. Prior to her role at NBOA, Lee was an attorney at Venable from 2007 to 2012, where she provided guidance and legal counsel to the firm’s independent school clients on a broad range of issues including employee policies, contracts, worker classification issues, difficult employee situations, student and family issues, governance, legal claims, and regulatory compliance. She is a frequent presenter at national and local independent school association conferences, has written extensively on school legal issues, and provides a substantial amount of training to faculty and staff around the country.

Lee received her J.D. from George Washington University School of Law in 2001 and her B.A. from Northwestern University in 1998.

Trial attorney Majed Nachawati, co-founding partner of Dallas-based Fears Nachawati Law Firm, has earned recognition on the 2019 Texas Super Lawyers list.

Nachawati’s selection to the annual peer-review listing was based on his class action and mass torts litigation work. He has successfully represented individuals harmed by prescription drugs, medical devices and defective products.

Nachawati is a member of the State Bar of Texas Professionalism Committee, Dallas Bar Association’s Legal Ethics Committee, the Public Justice Board of Directors, the Texas Trial Lawyers Association Board of Directors and is a Leader’s Forum member of the American Association for Justice. Nachawati also recently earned a spot in the 2020 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

Researchers for Thomson Reuters-owned Super Lawyers compile the annual list of honorees based on nominations from more than 70,000 practicing lawyers in Texas. A blue-ribbon panel of attorneys assists with final selections. Less than 5 percent of all Texas lawyers earn the honor each year.

The Super Lawyers list is published in the October issues of Texas Monthly and the Texas edition of Super Lawyers magazines. The full list is available online at http://www.superlawyers.com.

For the fifth time since 2012, Dallas attorney and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Deborah Hankinson has earned recognition by Texas Super Lawyers as one of the Top Three attorneys in the state.

In addition to practice-specific recognition, Super Lawyers annually awards supplemental honors to the state’s top attorneys regardless of practice focus based on peer feedback. Hankinson, whose practice focuses on alternative dispute resolution and related services, was the second-highest rated attorney in the 2019 listing.

Hankinson also was selected among the Top 50 Women and Top 100 Dallas-Fort Worth attorneys in the recently released publication. She has been recognized on the Texas Super Lawyers list every year since its inaugural 2003 publication.

Texas Super Lawyers selections are based on peer nominations and evaluations, as well as independent editorial research. No more than 5 percent of eligible Texas attorneys are chosen each year for practice-specific recognition. The full 2019 listing will appear in Texas Monthly and in the Texas edition of Super Lawyers magazine.

Since re-entering private practice in 2002 following her tenure on the Supreme Court, she has garnered wide-ranging professional recognition for her ADR work from legal guides and business publications, including Chambers USA, Benchmark Appellate, The National Law Journal, Texas Lawyer, Dallas Business Journal, D Magazine, the Dallas Bar Association and Lawdragon. She also recently was recognized for a 13th time in The Best Lawyers in America guide.