Baker & McKenzie has recruited three lawyers for its San Francisco/Palo Alto office. Victor A. Flores joins as Of Counsel in the Global Equity Services group in San Francisco. He was formerly with Latham & Watkins. Jenny C. Yeh also joins as Of Counsel from Wilson Sonsini. She will work in Palo Alto in the Corporate group. Lastly, Sharlyn Drefus joins the San Fran office as an associate in the Litigation group.
Source: www.lawfuel.com
Mike Delaney has joined Kilpatrick Stockton as a partner in the Atlanta office. Delaney joins the Corporate Department from Powell Goldstein. He has significant experience in mergers & acquisitions and corporate finance, including structuring and financing acquisitions and divestitures for public and privately-owned companies. Kilpatrick Stockton has over 500 attorneys in seven domestic and two foreign offices.
Source: www.lawfuel.com
Vinson & Elkins raised Texas first-year associates’ salaries to $160,000, becoming the first Texas-based firm to match the New York market rate. V&E also raised pay for its Washington, D.C. associates. Salaries for first through eighth year associates were raised, but starting in the third year, associates must work 2,000 credit hours in order to be eligible for the complete raise. With this system, associates earn salaries comparable to those in NY, but if they are not able to make the 2,000 hours their pay is reduced only slightly, and only for that year.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Foley Hoag welcomed Jayne Bultena to its Washington, DC office today. She joins the firm from Hogan & Hartson as a partner in the Government Strategies Practice. Bultena will work with life sciences companies on FDA matters. Her practice focuses on products in the biotech, pharmaceutical and consumer health care sectors. She also has done work creating marketing plans addressing policy and regulatory concerns, preparing clients for advisory committee presentations, and conducting internal compliance audits and training. Foley Hoag’s Government Strategies Practice attorneys counsel clients in regulated industries to reach mutually beneficial solutions to public policy issues.
Source: www.home.businesswire.com
The Indian market is second only to China in its economic growth rate, and law firms are beginning to take notice. However, because foreign firms cannot practice or set up offices in India, many conduct their business from Singapore, London, or elsewhere. The booming economy is generating tons of work for U.S. firms, ranging from international public offerings to overseas acquisitions. New York firms such as Davis Polk & Wardwell; Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; and Shearman & Sterling dominate the market in high end securities work. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; Fenwick & West; and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman are particularly strong in tech work. One issue for U.S. firms is that Indian clients often try to cap costs, pushing down normal firm billing rates.
Source: www.law.com
King & Spalding has opened an office in Charlotte, NC. Launching the new office are four partners and one associate from the Charlotte office of 200-lawyer Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman. Opening in Charlotte was a wise move considering the city’s position as the second largest financial center in the country, and among the top five cities for Fortune 500 corporate headquarters. Jefferson Brown will serve as managing partner of the new office, and the other partners are George C. Covington, Cory Hohnbaum and Mark V. Thigpen. William O. L. Hutchinson joins as counsel. Their practice areas include land use, zoning, real estate, financial institutions and services, securities, and litigation.
Source: www.law.com
New York partners are making lateral moves to new firms. Bankruptcy partner Richard Miller left Greenberg Traurig for Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis. Eric Piasta joined Reed Smith’s private equity practice from Schulte Roth & Zabel. Warren McRae and Stephen Cohen have joined Loeb & Loeb as partners; McRae was with Bryan Cave and Cohen was previously of counsel at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. Richard Liskov has rejoined the insurance practice at Chadbourne & Parke as special counsel. He was of counsel to the New York office of White & Case.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Atlanta firm, Gambrell & Stolz, has combined with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, and Gambrell & Stolz’s 36 attorneys will join Baker Donelson’s Atlanta office. Linda Klein, the managing partner of Gambrell & Stolz, will become the co-managing shareholder of her new firm’s Atlanta office. Baker Donelson opened its Atlanta office in 2001; the acquisition of Gambrell & Stolz will build its base there for clients from Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi who are doing business in Georgia. For Klein, the deal was a way to better meet the needs of the firm’s clients; the Gambrell & Stolz lawyers also already were familiar with some Baker & Donelson attorneys.
Source: www.law.com
International firm Reed Smith is in merger talks with Richards Butler’s Hong Kong partners. The Hong Kong practice was not a part of the merger between the two firms last year; it was treated as financially separate from the London and European partnership of Richards Butler. Partners from both firms are favorable towards a merger, and an agreement is expected to be reached by the end of the summer.
Source: www.legalweek.com
Cooley Godward Kronish has opened an office in Boston, launched by ten Boston-based partners from national firms. Considering that Boston is one of the leading technology and life sciences centers in the world and Cooley’s strength in these areas, expansion to the new market was natural. The new office will boast market-leading expertise in emerging and public companies, life sciences, venture and private equity fund representation, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property and commercial litigation. The firm expects associates to join the partners in Boston in the next few weeks. The opening in Boston continues Cooley’s expansion on the East Coast, as last fall the firm merged with New York firm Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman.
Source: www.marketwire.com
