Venable LLP notably strengthens its patent prosecution and litigation practices with the arrival of three new partners – Michele Van Patten Frank, Toni-Junell Herbert, and Mark Shanks; Of Counsel Therese Finan; and Associate Fabian M. Koenigbauer to the firm’s Washington, DC, office.

Baker Hostetler announced today that Leah J. Domitrovic has joined the firm’s Litigation Group in its Chicago office. She comes to Baker Hostetler from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where she served as Associate Chief Legal Officer.

Ballard Spahr has significantly expanded its litigation, real estate, and public finance capability in the Southeast with the addition of five well-respected Atlanta attorneys, including the first Korean American elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, firm Chair Mark Stewart announced today.

Clifford Chance has advised the eleven funding banks (acting in various bank, bond and hedging capacities) in connection with the establishment of a new debt issuance platform by the UK’s largest ports group, Associated British Ports (“ABP”), which has raised £2.36 billion of senior bank and bond debt, to refinance the previous bank debt facilities put in place at the time of the group’s acquisition in 2006. The platform includes the establishment of a Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) programme, from which it issued a debut £500m 6.25% bond due 2026.