Jones Day, November, 2010
Washington, DC -- The global law firm Jones Day has announced that three more partners and three registered patent agents have joined the Firm in Southern California, providing additional strength to the Firm's Securities Litigation and Intellectual Property practices in the California region.
Roman E. Darmer, a partner in the Orange County office of Howrey LLP, will be joining Jones Day as a partner in Irvine as a member of the Securities Litigation & SEC Enforcement Practice.
In San Diego, Astrid R. Spain and David A. Gay, Ph.D. will be joining as partners, and Deborah L. Cadena, Victor Behar, and Micheal L. Hebert (all Ph.D.s) will be joining as patent agents. All five of these arrivals come from the San Diego office of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and join Jones Day as members of the Intellectual Property Practice. Dr. Gay, Ms. Spain, and Dr. Cadena have been representing life sciences companies in San Diego for more than ten years.
The arrival of three additional lateral partners at Jones Day in California continues the Firm's steady growth in 2010. So far this year, the Firm has added 15 partners in its five California offices: one in San Francisco, four in Silicon Valley, one in Los Angeles, three in Irvine, and six in San Diego. Jones Day now has more than 300 lawyers in California.
"The addition of these talented lawyers provides us with even greater depth of experience on the West Coast in the securities litigation, biotech, and pharmaceutical space," said Joe Sims, the Jones Day partner responsible for coordinating the Firm's activities in California. "The fact that we continue to attract some very accomplished lawyers in California is making it possible to broaden and deepen the services we offer -- in California and around the world -- and to open opportunities for improved client service to our existing clients and for the creation of potential new relationships."
Mr. Darmer has represented a range of clients in civil and criminal investigations, and has supervised numerous internal investigations on behalf of corporations and board committees. He has extensive experience handling SEC enforcement actions and white collar criminal matters, and also handles a wide range of complex civil litigation. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Darmer served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 1995 to 1999, where he handled grand jury investigations, prosecutions, and appeals. He also served as a law clerk to the Hon. William C. Canby, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1987 to 1988. Mr. Darmer regularly serves as pro bono counsel to a range of indigent clients and is a member of the Criminal Justice Act Panel of the Central District of California's Southern Division. He earned his law degree from Yale University Law School and his undergraduate degree from Yale University.
Ms. Spain's practice spans patent counseling, prosecution, and litigation in the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries. Her clients represent many sectors of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Ms. Spain frequently assists clients with the development and implementation of streamlined and business oriented intellectual property strategies. She focuses on the shaping of patent portfolios that achieve offensive and defensive goals in view of competitive technologies and life-cycle management, and has significant experience in the preparation and prosecution of U.S. patent applications, as well as the management of corresponding foreign proceedings. Ms. Spain has been recognized for her experience in both patent prosecution and litigation in the Legal 500 United States, and she is a frequent presenter at industry conferences on topics related to life sciences, pharmaceuticals, and portfolio management. Ms. Spain earned a graduate degree in the Department of Cellular, Molecular and Developmental Biology at UCLA, received her law degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, and earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Riverside.
Dr. Gay focuses his practice on pharmaceutical and biotechnology intellectual property law. He advises pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies on the strategic design, acquisition, and management of intellectual property portfolios, with particular attention to the integration of business objectives and competitive technologies. Dr. Gay's experience includes evaluating patent portfolios and conducting due diligence for venture capital, private and public financing, as well as for mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology areas. He has been named among the San Diego County Top Attorneys by The Daily Transcript, co-chaired the Special Committee on Biosciences and Chemical Practice for the ABA Section on Intellectual Property Law for the past two years, and served as the co- chair for the Licensing Committee and as the chair of the Patent Licensing Subcommittee for the same ABA Section. Dr. Gay received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, earned his law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law, and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland.
Among the patent agents, Dr. Cadena focuses her practice on all aspects of life sciences and biotechnology and has 13 years of experience prosecuting patents. She was awarded her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California, Davis. Dr. Behar focuses his practice on patent prosecution in the chemical arts including in the fields of small molecule and biological pharmaceuticals, applied chemical nanotechnology and material science, and diagnostic tools. He earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Columbia University. Dr. Hebert focuses his practice on drafting U.S. and international patent applications in the areas of personalized medicine, stem cells, pharmaceuticals, antibodies, and molecular biology. He earned his Ph.D. in human and molecular genetics from the University of Texas at Houston. Jones Day's San Diego Office now counts 13 of its lawyer and patent professionals with Ph.D. degrees, and has 23 professionals dedicated to Intellectual Property in San Diego.
Jones Day is a global law firm with more than 2,500 lawyers, including over 400 in Europe and 200 in Asia, located in 32 centers of business and finance throughout the world. Ranked among the world's best and most integrated law firms, and perennially ranked among the best in client service, Jones Day acts as principal outside counsel to, or provides significant legal representation for, more than half of the Fortune Global 500 companies. In California, Jones Day has more than 300 lawyers in five offices (San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Irvine, and San Diego).
Petra Pasternak, The Recorder, November 4, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO — Greenberg Traurig has beefed up its real estate practice in Southern California with the addition of five lawyers from Morgan Lewis.
Partners L. Bruce Fischer and Scott Morehouse joined the Irvine office Friday as partners, bringing with them three associates: Howard Chu, Irene Kim and Tatyana Litovsky.
Their group focuses on real estate funds, REITs and pension funds and their advisers in financings, acquisitions and dispositions, among other matters.
Fischer, who had been at Morgan Lewis for six years and will now head Greenberg's real estate group in Orange County, says he wasn't looking to make a change. Greenberg was compelling, though, because it has more real estate lawyers -- and supports practices such as finance, bankruptcy, tax and litigation -- in the markets where Fischer and Morehouse have been handling deals in the past three to five years, Fischer said. These markets include New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
"Morgan Lewis is a great firm," Fischer said, "but Greenberg provides a very, very fertile national and international platform with offices in all the strategic areas [important to our practice]." He said clients have included KBS Captial Advisors and Stoneridge Capital.
Morehouse said Greenberg's commitment to real estate and real estate finance and fund work clinched the deal for the group. "They have a historical focus on that and are looking to grow in California," he said.
The deal was brokered by Southern California legal recruiter Carole Yamin of Network Legal Recruiting.
Petra Pasternak, The Recorder, October 28, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO — Jones Day is picking up two life sciences partners in Southern California from McDermott, Will & Emery.
David Gay, a pharmaceutical and biotech IP attorney, and Astrid Spain, who specializes in patent counseling, prosecution and litigation, are slated to join the San Diego office as partners in coming weeks, Jones Day partner Joe Sims confirmed today.
McDermott's John Hankins, who heads the San Diego office, said the two rainmakers were leaving sometime in November. He declined to comment about what their departure meant for the small office. After Gay and Spain leave, the office, which focuses on IP matters in high-tech areas such as telecommunications and medical devices, and corporate work for emerging companies, will have eight lawyers and four patent agents. "We'll need to evaluate things," Hankins said. "They're valued members of our firm and we wish them well."
San Francisco legal recruiter Gary Davis, who was not involved in the deal but has worked with Jones Day in the past, said Gay and Spain's move was not surprising given the energy in Jones Day's San Diego office. Jones Day opened the office in 2004 with Anthony Insogna, "a very charismatic partner" formerly with the Pennie & Edmonds firm, Davis noted. With the latest laterals, Jones Day will have 34 lawyers in San Diego serving clients such as Amgen Inc., AstraZeneca and BioSphere Medical. "I can't think of any other firm in San Diego that's gone from zero to 34 in that same time frame."
Gay and Spain had been at McDermott since the firm opened in San Diego in 2003. They did not immediately return calls for comment.
JDJOURNAL.com, July 12, 2010
Seyfarth Shaw LLP has added patent attorney Alan M. Lenkin from Fulbright & Jaworski. Lenkin focuses his practice on IP matters for both emerging companies and more established high-technology companies…
Civil litigation firm Murchison & Cumming, LLP announced that Carlos E. Needham and Steven C. Spronz have become Of Counsel to the firm and that Molly E. Healy has joined the firm as an associate. Needham was formerly a partner at Manatt, Phelps, & Phillips, LLP. His practice focuses his practice on insurance coverage/bad faith and complex civil litigation matters involving product liability, science-related issues, mass tort claims, consumer class actions and environmental matters. Spronz is a business and real estate transactions attorney who has represented a broad spectrum of domestic and foreign business entities, including public and private equity funds, in a variety of transactions including mergers and acquisitions; partnership, joint venture, financing and corporate business matters; and the acquisition, disposition, financing, development and leasing of real estate…
Robert L. Echols, former Chief Judge of the United States District Court of the Middle District of Tennessee, is joining the Nashville office of Bass, Berry & Sims PLC as a Member following his retirement from the bench on July 22. His first day at the firm will be August 2. Echols brings 45 years of legal experience, including 18 years of experience on the federal bench…
Robert McLaughlin has joined Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson's New York office as a partner in its asset management and financial services practice. McLaughlin was previously co-chairman of the Katten Muchin Rosenman's structured products practice.
Petra Pasternak, Daily Business Review, May 24, 2010
When Greenberg Traurig opened its San Francisco office in February, the firm pledged to have 12 to 15 lawyers within two weeks of the launch.
It may have taken a bit longer than planned, but Greenberg Traurig has brought its total attorney count in the city to 15 with the addition of three lawyers in March and April.
Scott Lawson joined from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, where he was a partner; Evan Nadel came aboard from Squire Sanders & Dempsey, where he was of counsel; and Marc Baluda joined from Morgan Lewis & Bockius, where he also was of counsel.
All three joined Greenberg Traurig as partners.
They found their way to the 1,770-lawyer firm along different routes.
Office co-founding partner Samuel Shepherd and Lawson are former Quinn Emanuel colleagues.
"Lawson is my best friend for 10 years at Quinn," Shepherd said. "I called him five thousand times" to persuade him to make the jump to Greenberg Traurig. Both focus on complex commercial litigation and employment law, among other things.
Nadel came through recruiter Carole Yamin, Shepherd said. He said Baluda, who represents clients in financings, called him upon a recommendation from a friend of Shepherd's.
Shepherd is still looking - for patent litigators, a "young gun" or an established group. He described the ideal candidates as "people who are extremely passionate about their practice, whatever that may be."
Lawson, who said Shepherd hired him at Quinn in 1998, said their long-standing relationship played a role. So did the opportunity to build an office for a full-service international firm.
"Greenberg has more offices in this country than any other firm," he said. "The internal cross-marketing possibilities are very good."
Nadel, who has family and strong business connections in Florida, said Greenberg's seven offices in the Sunshine State were appealing.
"I've done tech-related litigation and class action litigation in Florida," said Nadel, who joined after four years at Squire Sanders. And he no longer has to worry about referring work to other firms, which he said he did on occasion from Squire Sanders.
Petra Pasternak reports for the Recorder in San Francisco, an ALM affiliate of the Daily Business Review.
Greenberg Traurig, May 17, 2010
People: Marc R. Baluda | Scott G. Lawson | Evan Nadel
Experience: Corporate & Securities | Intellectual Property & Technology | Litigation
Related Offices: San FranciscoSAN FRANCISCO (May 17, 2010) — The international law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP has expanded its San Francisco corporate, litigation and intellectual property teams with the addition of shareholders Marc Baluda, Scott Lawson and Evan Nadel. Greenberg Traurig opened the San Francisco office, its fifth in California, on February 1 of this year.
Baluda previously was in the San Francisco office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP. He focuses his practice on the representation of middle-market and emerging growth companies seeking financing. He is nationally recognized in the area of employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) transactions. Baluda typically continues to advise clients post-transaction regarding their operations. He received his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings and his B.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Lawson was in the San Francisco office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP. Lawson practices in the areas of business litigation, trade-secret and other employee-movement litigation, unfair competition and employment litigation. He has also represented companies and their officers and directors in securities litigation and related investigations. He received his J.D. from the University of Utah College of Law and a B.A. and M.A. from the University of California at Berkeley.
Nadel was in the San Francisco office of Squire Sanders & Dempsey, LLP. Nadel's practice centers on technology-related litigation and class-action defense. He has extensive experience in intellectual property and commercial contract disputes, as well as in trade-secret, unfair competition, consumer products, false advertising and securities litigation. He received his J.D. from the New York University School of Law and B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer Feld LLP, April 13, 2009
(Los Angeles, California) – Richard K. Welsh has joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in Los Angeles as a partner in the litigation practice, the firm announced today.
Mr. Welsh is a trial lawyer who represents companies in diverse industry sectors including energy, telecommunications, entertainment, video-gaming, finance, satellite, real estate and retail in matters ranging from high-stakes class actions and novel insurance coverage disputes to commercial contract and tort disputes involving billions of dollars of potential liability. He is currently lead counsel in the Northern District of California for one of the largest energy companies in the world in a dispute involving property damage claims allegedly resulting from global warming and related insurance coverage litigation in Virginia arising from that suit.
Rex Heinke, leader of Akin Gump's appellate practice, said, "Richard is an experienced and successful trial lawyer. His demonstrated skills and victories will substantially enhance our ability to deliver first-rate service to our clients. We are very pleased to welcome him to the firm."
Mr. Welsh added, "Akin Gump has a nationally recognized practice in complex general litigation and appellate work, with industry sector specialties that really complement my practice."
Mr. Welsh received his B.A. summa cum laude in 1997 from the University of California at Los Angeles and his J.D. in 2000 from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), where he received the Award for Excellence in Legal Writing. He joins the firm from Greenberg Traurig, where he was a litigation shareholder.
Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, a leading international law firm, numbers more than 800 lawyers in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.