Akerman LLP a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, has expanded its Franchise and Licensing Practice with five lawyers in five months, most recently adding Robert Smith in Washington, D.C. He brings decades of experience leading complex financial transactions for U.S. franchisors expanding internationally. Smith comes to the firm from Quarles & Brady LLP.
NEW YORK – Sullivan & Cromwell LLP announced today that Jay Clayton, Chairman of the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from May 2017 through December 2020, will be
returning to the Firm, resident in the Firm’s New York office, as Senior Policy Advisor and of
counsel. Mr. Clayton will also return to his role as an Adjunct Professor at the University of
Pennsylvania Carey Law School and has been appointed as Lead Independent Director of
Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO).
“Over our 142-year history, Sullivan & Cromwell has been deeply involved in the development,
analysis and implementation of financial policy and regulation,” said Joseph C. Shenker, Chair
of Sullivan & Cromwell. “We are delighted to welcome Jay back to the Firm as we continue to
focus on continued growth of our global capital markets.”
Mr. Clayton, who spent his entire private sector career at the Firm before joining the SEC,
added that “Economic policy, and in particular the structure, function and regulation of our
domestic and international capital markets, has been an academic and professional passion of
mine for over three decades. I look forward to returning to Sullivan & Cromwell and participating
in the Firm’s continuing contributions to our ever-changing capital markets.”
Mr. Shenker also announced that Jeff Wall, former acting Solicitor General of the United States,
will rejoin the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office, where he had been a partner and co-head of its
Appellate Practice prior to rejoining the Solicitor General’s Office in March 2017. Before first
joining Sullivan & Cromwell in 2013, Mr. Wall served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General in
the U.S. Department of Justice for five years from 2008 to 2013. Mr. Wall has argued 30 cases
before the Supreme Court as well as numerous appeals before federal and state appellate
courts.
“Jeff is widely recognized as one of the country’s leading Supreme Court and appellate
advocates,” said Mr. Shenker. “His appellate experience will be invaluable to our clients, and will
complement our litigation, regulatory and criminal defense practices. We are delighted to
welcome him home.”
“I am very happy to be rejoining my Sullivan & Cromwell colleagues,” said Mr. Wall. “The firm
pairs a world-class litigation practice with a collaborative culture. I can’t imagine a better place to
help clients solve difficult problems and navigate regulatory issues.”
Mr. Clayton is a graduate of University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law, University of
Cambridge (Economics) and University of Pennsylvania (B.S. Engineering). During his tenure at
the SEC, Mr. Clayton was a member of the Financial Stability Board, the International
Organization of Securities Commissions, the Financial Stability Oversight Council and the
President’s Working Group on Financial Markets. An overview of the work of the SEC during Mr.
Clayton’s tenure can be found here: https://www.sec.gov/selected-sec-accomplishments-may-
2017-2020.
Mr. Wall is a graduate of University of Chicago School of Law and Georgetown University (B.A.
Philosophy) and was a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the
United States and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth
Circuit.
About Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is a global law firm that advises on significant litigation, corporate
investigations and complex regulatory matters, major domestic and cross-border M&A, finance,
corporate and restructuring transactions, and tax and estate planning matters. Founded in 1879,
Sullivan & Cromwell has approximately 900 lawyers located in offices in New York, Washington,
Los Angeles, Palo Alto, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Brussels, Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo,
Melbourne and Sydney.
Akin Gump is pleased to announce that executive compensation and employee benefits attorney Rebecca S. Coccaro has joined the firm as a partner in its Washington, D.C. office. Ms. Coccaro comes to Akin Gump from Sullivan & Cromwell.
Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that Jennifer Short has joined the firm’s Washington, D.C., office as a partner in the White Collar Defense & Investigations group. Jennifer represents government contractors, healthcare providers, and others in highly regulated industries that are susceptible to government investigations and enforcement actions. Jennifer joins Blank Rome from the litigation boutique KaiserDillon PLLC. Prior to that role, Jennifer was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia where she spent eight years on the Affirmative Civil Enforcement team, prosecuting civil False Claims Act cases.
Tags: Blank Rome LLP | Washington
Global law firm Hogan Lovells is pleased to announce that health lawyer and lobbyist Cybil Roehrenbeck has joined its Government Relations and Public Affairs practice in Washington D.C. as a partner. Roehrenbeck has led numerous advocacy campaigns and was Polsinelli’s Telehealth practice leader prior to joining Hogan Lovells.
Tags: Hogan Lovells | Washington
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce that David Fotouhi has returned as a partner to the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. After serving for the past three and a half years in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), most recently as Acting General Counsel, Fotouhi has returned to Gibson Dunn and will practice in the areas of environmental litigation and enforcement.
Tags: Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP | Washington
Michael Podberesky, a former federal prosecutor with extensive experience in healthcare and government procurement fraud matters, has joined McGuireWoods’ nationally recognized Government Investigations & White Collar Litigation Department as a partner in Washington, D.C. Podberesky served as a prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Fraud Section from 2015 to 2021. There he led teams investigating and litigating False Claims Act cases in the healthcare and federal procurement sectors.
Winston & Strawn LLP is pleased to announce the addition of Andrew Tauber as a partner in its Washington, D.C. office and as a member of its firmwide Appellate & Critical Motions practice. Tauber comes to the firm from Mayer Brown LLP.
Bolstering its Labor & Employment Department in the Northeast region, Fox Rothschild LLP is pleased to welcome Lori Armstrong Halber and Kirsten B. White as partners to the firm. Armstrong Halber and White were previously partners at Reed Smith LLP and Schwartz Hannum PC, respectively.
Baker Botts L.L.P., a leading international energy, technology and life sciences law firm, announced today that Alexandra (Alex) Dapolito Dunn, the former Assistant Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, has joined the firm’s Environmental, Safety & Incident Response (ESIR) Section of the Litigation Department in the Washington, D.C. office.
