Welcome back to another edition of the National Law Review’s law firm news roundup. We hope you are staying safe and healthy – please read more below for the latest updates in law firm hiring and expansion, legal industry awards and recognition, and diversity and inclusion initiatives!
Law Firm Hiring and Expansion
Beveridge & Diamond has added two new environmental litigators and regulatory advisors, Jackson Garrity and Tim Nevins.
Mr. Garrity handles natural resource management and litigation at the firm’s D.C. office, with a special focus on state and federal compliance under the Clean Air Act, Administrative Procedure Act, CERCLA, National Environmental Policy Act, and Federal Land Policy and Management Act. He advises clients on matters such as compliance, litigation, administrative enforcement actions, and more. Mr. Nevins, who works out of the firm’s New York office, practices environmental litigation and provides regulatory guidance to his clients. He has a background in toxic torts, groundwater, administrative rulemaking, and site remediation.
“We are thrilled to have Jackson and Tim as part of the B&D team,” says Paula Schauwecker, Beveridge & Diamond’s Chief Talent Officer. “Their past experiences have enabled them to hit the ground running at B&D. We are excited to see how they will continue to help our clients and contribute to B&D’s long success of being a leading environmental law firm.”
National law firm Dykema has selected Commercial Litigation Practice Group member Isaac Villarreal as Managing Member of the newly established Houston office. Mr. Villarreal is a 13-year complex commercial litigator who frequently works as outside general counsel for midmarket businesses. A highly successful trial attorney, Mr. Villarreal has won a majority of the over 50 cases he has served as first-chair counsel for. He is well-known in the Houston legal community for his work with groups such as the State Bar of Texas Litigation section and Houston Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution section. He has been recognized in publications such as Houstonia Magazine, H-Texas Magazine, and Texas Super Lawyers.
“It’s been an absolute thrill to be a member of the group establishing Dykema’s Houston office,” Mr. Villarreal says. “The firm’s culture, strong national presence, bench strength of top-notch attorneys, and its pragmatic approach to building upon that foundation in a market where I have practiced extensively throughout my career have helped make the launch of the Houston office an early success.”
Michael Kornak has joined the Partner Recruiting Practice Group as a Managing Director at Major, Lindsey & Africa, in order to assist with the international firm’s legal search and lateral recruitment efforts. Mr. Kornak joins the Chicago office after more than two decades of experience as a litigation and hiring partner, managing professional reviews, work allocation, and various business law practices.
Expressing excitement for Kornak’s arrival, Partner Practice Group Executive Director David Maurer said, “We are thrilled Mike decided to join the Chicago Partner Practice Group. He has extensive firsthand knowledge of all aspects of partner recruiting, including compensation and conflicts analysis, and can adeptly identify opportunities as well as potential issues for both partners and firms.”
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips has added two tax incentive financing experts to the firm’s Impact Investing and Community Development practice. D.C.-based Corenia Riley Burlingame and John Dalton each have over a decade of experience managing tax credit construction and preservation projects for stakeholders interested in benefiting communities through low-income housing, historic preservation, and energy-efficiency investments. Ms. Burlingame assists clients with issues related to resyndication, scattered-site portfolios, and year 15 properties, while Mr. Dalton assists with energy and New Markets tax credits, Opportunity Zone investing, and post-closing asset management concerns.
“As developers, lenders and investors place greater emphasis on social impact investment opportunities, Corenia’s and John’s deep understanding of the nuances within each respective transaction, and their impressive backgrounds guiding clients through these sophisticated matters, further solidifies Manatt’s position as a leader in these types of tax credit deals,” said Neil Faden, leader of Manatt’s Impact Investing and Community Development Practice.
Industry Awards and Recognition
Frank E. Schall of Moore & Van Allen PLLC has been recognized as a leading litigator by Benchmark Litigation. Mr. Schall, who focuses his practice on white-collar, internal investigations, and regulatory defense work, is listed in Benchmark Litigation’s 40 & Under guide to the nation’s most notable up and coming litigation attorneys. He has significant experience in a wide range of matters, including healthcare litigation, commercial litigation, and financial services.
“We congratulate Frank on being recognized by Benchmark Litigation as one of the top young litigators in the country,” said John A. Fagg, Jr., Co-head of Litigation and White Collar Defense & Investigations practice. “We are very proud of Frank’s successes and achievements for our clients.”
ArentFox Schiff LLP was awarded the Chapter 11 Reorganization of the Year by The M&A Advisor at their 16th Annual Turnaround Awards. Of more than 250 participating companies, The Turnaround Award nominees were judged by an independent panel of industry experts. ArentFox Schiff LLP was selected for their work as counsel to CoverFX, a high performance, vegan, and cruelty-free cosmetics company. Partners George Angelich and Justin Kesselman, and Associate Patrick Feeney served as counsel.
Roger Aguinaldo of The M&A Advisor said, “The award winners represent the best of the distressed investing and restructuring industry in 2021 and earned these honors by standing out in a group of very impressive candidates.”
Los Angeles Business Journal has recognized Partners Roland Juarez and Anne Marie Mortimer of Hunton Andrews Kurth in the 2022 Leaders of Influence: Top Litigators & Trial Lawyers list. The list recognizes 76 litigators chosen by the LABJ as “lawyers who go to the proverbial mat to fight for their clients before judges and jury [and] have their own unique set of skills.”
Notably, Mr. Juarez was recognized as a top litigator, handling high-stakes labor and employment cases for California’s largest and most high-profile employers. He has served as Chief Counsel of the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for nearly a decade. At Hunton Andrews Kurth, he developed two mentorship programs for minority lawyers.
Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Field
In conjunction with CT Consultants, Shumaker Advisors has awarded $10,000 worth of scholarships to three minority college students for the Fall 2022 semester. Since 2008, Shumaker and CT Consultants have offered more than $100,000 to minority engineering students attending accredited Ohio universities; this year, the organizations were able to offer the $5,000 Edwin B. Hogan Memorial Scholarship, as well as two $2,500 Ohio Minority Engineering Student Scholarships.
“We are extremely proud of this year’s awardees,” said Ami Williams, Shumaker Advisors Director of Client Relations and Administrator of the CT Scholarships Program. “The field was highly competitive and we look forward to supporting these well-deserving students as they continue their education.”
Foley & Lardner LLP has been awarded with the 2022 Gold Standard Certification for promoting gender diversity in the legal industry. The Women in Law Empowerment Forum, which issued the award, grants Gold Standard recognition to major firms that meet specific objective criteria regarding the number of women among equity partners, in firm leadership positions, and in the ranks of their most highly compensated partners.
Foley has now been recognized with this honor for three years in a row. In order to meet 2022’s certification metrics, firms had to satisfy two mandatory criteria: 25% of equity partners or, alternatively, 40% of the attorneys becoming equity partners during the past 12 months are women, and 10% of women equity partners are women of color or 4% of women equity partners are LGBT. Firms additionally had to meet two of the following for criteria:
- 20% of the firm and U.S. branch office heads are women.
- 25% of the firm’s primary governance committee are women.
- 25% of the firm’s compensation committee or its equivalent are women.
- 20% of the top half of the firm’s equity partners in terms of compensation are women.
Yvette Loizon, a partner at Clifford Law Offices, has been recognized by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company as one of the Top Women in Law in 2022. On July 20th, the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and Chicago Lawyer Magazine recognized Clifford’s Ms. Loizon at the 2022 Salute! Top Women in Law Awards Celebration.
The honorees were chosen by the Law Bulletin Media selection committee for their noteworthy efforts in the legal field, more specifically their “work to mentor and promote other women in the profession, their success in the legal community, and being a shining example of leadership.”
Article By Crissonna Tennison, Chandler Ford, and Shelby Garrett of The National Law Review / The National Law Forum LLC
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