Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Schnader Attorney At Law

Dolin to Serve Federal Judicial Clerkship
Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP is pleased to announce that Tracey L. Dolin, an associate in the firm's Litigation Services Department, has accepted an invitation to serve as the judicial clerk for the Honorable Noel L. Hillman. Judge Hillman was confirmed to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on June 8, 2006; he has previously served as the chief prosecutor for the Jack Abramoff investigation, and was chief of the Justice Department's Office of Public Integrity.

Ms. Dolin was a summer associate at Schnader in the summer of 2000 and started at the Firm in October 2001; her practice has focused primarily in the areas of commercial litigation, products liability, aviation law and employment law. Before joining Schnader, Ms. Dolin worked as a law clerk for the Office of University Counsel at Temple University. Ms. Dolin graduated, cum laude, with a J.D. from Temple University School of Law in 2001; she also holds a M.A. from Temple University, and her B.A. from Pennsylvania State University.

07-26-2006

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Snell & Wilmer, L.L.P.

LEAD CONSTRUCTION LITIGATOR JOINS SNELL & WILMER
Snell & Wilmer announces Leon F. Mead II has joined its Las Vegas office as a partner, where he will continue his well-established construction litigation practice. Mead, a practicing attorney for 16 years, co-founded his own firm several years ago, and was involved in many high-profile projects on the Las Vegas Strip. Mead’s move to Snell & Wilmer allows him the full resources of a comprehensive firm, including staff and attorneys, to better serve his clients.

“We are very excited that a lawyer of Leon’s talent will be joining our firm. He brings experience and contacts in the construction industry and will help make our construction law group one of the best in Nevada,” said Patrick Byrne, administrative partner, Las Vegas office.

Mead serves as an arbitrator on the Nevada Mandatory Judicial Arbitration Panel in Clark County. In 2005, Mead was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Associated General Contractors for Southern Nevada (AGCSN) and lectures regularly on topics relating to property management and construction industry groups under both California and Nevada law, including construction claims, construction defect law, construction management issues, CPM scheduling, homeowner association law, public works contracting, design-build and competitive bidding, project delivery methods, design professional liability, mechanic’s lien and related remedies, business torts and collection issues.

Mead is a member on the Board of Directors of the AGCSN and has served on the Construction Defect Legislation Committee for the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association and was actively involved in the drafting of SB241, legislation sponsored by the Coalition for Fairness in Construction for revision of construction defect laws, as well as SB206, legislation sponsored by the AGC of Southern Nevada for reform of Nevada’s Mechanics Lien laws. Both passed the 73rd legislature and were signed into law in 2003. In 2005, Mead participated in the drafting and revisions of Nevada’s Prompt Payment Act, as well as additional revisions to the Nevada Mechanics Lien Law passed by the 73rd Nevada Legislative Session and signed into law by Governor Kenny Guinn.

In 1990, Mead received his juris doctor from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles. Mead is also a graduate of Azusa Pacific University where he received his Bachelor of Arts in psychology.

07-26-2006

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Jaeckle, Fleischmann & Mugel, LLP

Heath J. Szymczak Elected Vice President Of The Board Of Directors For The Buffalo Alliance For Edu
Jaeckle Fleischmann & Mugel, LLP, a law firm with offices in Buffalo, Amherst and Rochester, New York and Phoenix, Arizona, announces that partner Heath J. Szymczak has been elected Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Buffalo Alliance for Education. In addition to his role on the Board, Mr. Szymczak also heads the team of attorneys who serve as mentors Bennett High School Law Mr. Szymczak is also a past recipient of a Business First Pathfinders award, was named an ""Up and Coming Attorney"" by the Daily Record and received New York State Bar Association's ""Distinguished Service Award"" for his commitment to education.

Mr. Szymczak is a partner in the Firm's Litigation practice group and concentrates his practice in business-related and commercial litigation. He has been involved in a variety of cases, including complex commercial breach of contract and business-related torts, personal injury defense, product liability defense and other civil litigation. Mr. Szymczak practices from the Firm's Buffalo office.

Jaeckle Fleischmann & Mugel, LLP is a full-service business law firm with more than 80 legal professionals practicing from offices in Buffalo, Rochester and Amherst, New York and Phoenix, Arizona. The Firm's clients include Fortune 500 companies, publicly and privately held businesses, financial institutions, governmental entities, universities, traditional and high tech start-ups, as well as individual business owners. For more information, visit our website at www.jaeckle.com.

07-26-2006

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Venable Baetjer & Howard

Venable Opens California Office with Lawyers from Two Los Angeles Firms
Taking another significant step in its national expansion, law firm Venable LLP has entered the California market by having the lawyers from two Los Angeles-area firms with strengths in litigation, media and advertisement, entertainment, real estate and corporate matters join with Venable to establish a California office.

Washington-based Venable announced that the lawyers from the firms of Gorry Meyer & Rudd L.L.P. (""GM&R"") of Century City and Whitwell Jacoby Emhoff LLP (""WJE"") of Beverly Hills have agreed to join Venable. The two Los Angeles firms bring 20 additional attorneys – including their six name partners – to Venable, which will now have nearly 500 lawyers in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, New York City and Los Angeles. The 105-year-old firm entered the New York market last year with the integration of New York litigation boutique Heard & O’Toole.

Venable’s new office will be located in the space currently occupied by GM&R at 2049 Century Park East, and will open on August 1.

Both GM&R and WJE are 10-attorney firms whose name partners all maintain active practices; a number of lawyers at both firms are alumni of large national firms. Both firms handle substantial commercial litigation matters and have solid core practice areas and national clients. By coincidence, attorneys of both firms have known each other for more than 15 years, though had only come to consider joining forces when Venable chairman James Shea proposed the concept.

Led by Tim Gorry, David Meyer and Chris Rudd, GM&R handles litigation and business transactions in a number of areas including entertainment and sports, false advertising, class-action defense, employment, health care, banking and finance, intellectual property, technology and real estate matters. Mr. Gorry and Mr. Meyer established the firm in 1993.

WJE was established in 2000. Name partners Doug Emhoff, Aaron Jacoby and Ben Whitwell concentrate their practice on complex litigation and general business matters, much like GM&R. The firm represents many leading firms in major Southern California industries, including the film industry’s leading commercial production and post-production companies, advertising and media firms, hedge funds and investment partnerships and real estate developers. Mr. Jacoby has developed a dominant automotive practice group, providing business and litigation counsel to many of the largest automotive dealer groups regionally and nationally. Mr. Jacoby’s practice will fit in well with Venable’s strength in representing numerous business trade associations.

With a growing number of clients and matters in California, Venable has actively sought to establish a West Coast base in the past year. The firm’s real estate, advertising/marketing, intellectual property, technology and especially its state and federal regulatory and legislative practices have long drawn on relationships throughout California, creating a perfect union among the three firms. Venable has also counted several prominent Californians among its partners, including a former California Attorney General and several federally elected officials.

“Although we have capably handled West Coast matters for clients with our existing structure, our increasing size and national practice made this a logical time to establish a permanent California address – our lawyers have long worked in the state; now they’ll have the support of a full-service office in this important market,” said Mr. Shea, who became Venable’s firm-wide chairman this past May after an 11-year run as managing partner.

As was the case a year ago when Venable expanded into New York, Mr. Shea noted that the firm sought to enter California by combining with a successful entrepreneurial firm interested in providing greater resources and depth to its clients and in gaining a larger national practice base for further growth. As it happened, two candidates presented themselves with very similar profiles.

“Two of our longstanding clients separately identified both firms as having talented lawyers who understand the importance of delivering exceptional client service. We listened to our clients and after meeting the lawyers of both firms, we were impressed with their talents, the successes that they had achieved for their clients and their range of expertise,"" explained Venable’s managing partner Karl Racine, who along with Mr. Shea and partner Jeffrey Knowles, a prominent lawyer in the media and advertising industries, helped direct the search effort.

Although neither GM&R nor WJE was actively pursuing a merger strategy – indeed, both have historically been cool to overtures from other firms over the years – “it became evident from our conversations that there was considerable chemistry with both firms, in terms of culture, working styles and our respective clients and practices,” Mr. Shea said. “As discussions advanced, we focused our energies on establishing a Los Angeles office with the lawyers from both firms. We’re extremely pleased to be raising our flag in California with the benefit of attorneys from both of these fine firms.”

Mr. Gorry acknowledged that he and his partners had consistently resisted earlier invitations to join other national firms seeking to crack the LA market. “All of us had come from large firms, so sheer size and horizontal practices weren’t necessarily an attraction,” he said, noting that Venable had great appeal for other reasons.

“Venable is exceptionally strong in litigation, media and advertising, real estate and other areas, but we were especially struck by the firm’s eminence in regulatory work and government affairs, which presents numerous opportunities for our existing and future clients,” Mr. Gorry said. “Venable also has a sound financial and governance structure, and as we learned, a solid client base and a long, established history in California. Just as important, Venable has an energized management team and an entrepreneurial perspective – a mindset that embraces change. All of these made for a very different equation than any other merger scenario we had looked at.”

Mr. Emhoff, who had his own initial concerns about what a combination might do to his firm’s sense of autonomy and selectivity, said that his partners’ view of joining Venable brightened upon learning more about Venable’s work in California and in nationally recognized practice areas. The prospect of establishing Venable’s Los Angeles office with GM&R lawyers also intrigued Mr. Emhoff and his partners.

“It was almost like looking at a mirror image of ourselves,” he said, noting that besides sharing equal size and similar histories and practice focus, “I felt our two firms also shared similar ambitions of wanting to maintain top-tier work and independence, even as we both sought a larger platform for our respective practices. Tim and I go back a long way and several attorneys at both firms have overlapping social and professional networks, which clearly makes integrating our California offices much easier. It was comforting to see that in looking for a California presence, Venable chose a firm so much like our own – it confirmed to us that there was a high likelihood of compatibility all around.”

The name partners joining Venable include, from Gorry Meyer & Rudd: Tim Gorry, David Meyer and Chris Rudd; and from Whitwell Jacoby Emhoff: Doug Emhoff, Aaron Jacoby and Ben Whitwell. Let us know if you would like background on any of the lawyers individually.

07-26-2006

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Jenner & Block LLP

Partners Promote Call to Action, Leadership at Women’s Forum Program
Developments in the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) Alliance for Women’s Call to Action program and the career benefits of leadership roles for women attorneys were the main topics of discussion at a Jenner & Block Women’s Forum program held recently in Chicago. The program featured a discussion by Partners E. Lynn Grayson, Catherine L. Steege and Terri L. Mascherin, who are all leaders in the local Bar and in the Firm.

According to Ms. Grayson, Co-Chair of the Firm’s Women’s Forum and Immediate Past Co-Chair of the CBA Alliance for Women, the Call to Action seeks to promote women’s leadership and advancement in the Chicago-area legal profession. The five goals for each Call to Action law firm signatory include increasing the number of women partners by 2007, establishing women representation on every firm committee in proportion to women partners, increasing the number of women practice group leaders, reviewing the firm’s flexible hours policy, and materially improving any disparity in the rates of retention, promotion and lateral recruitment of men and women in the firm.

At the program’s inception, Ms. Grayson added, Jenner & Block’s eagerness to participate in the project was key to the Call to Action’s success. Being the first signatory on the project, the Firm gave other large law firms incentive to sign on to the program and created a “domino effect,” she said. She reported that since the creation of the Call to Action in 2005, the 25 largest law firms in Chicago have signed on. And, Ms. Grayson said, the Firm has already reached its goal of increasing the number of women partners.

Addressing the importance of women in firm management, Ms. Steege, who serves on the Jenner & Block Management Committee and is Chair of the Finance Committee, emphasized that serving on such committees is integral to having the concerns of women partners, associates and employees met and is an additional way for a woman attorney to “interface” with other partners.

She stressed that women lawyers should always develop their career in a place where they can be “actively involved in the decision making process.” Almost half of the members of the Firm’s management committees are women, she noted.

In addition, Ms. Mascherin encouraged the audience to take positions of leadership with organizations outside of the Firm, such as Bar Associations. She explained that leadership positions can provide valuable work experience and contacts for one’s further career development. Ms. Mascherin has held leadership positions in organizations such as the Chicago Bar Association, where she currently serves as Treasurer, the Northwestern Law School Board and the Steering Committee of the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Representation Project. Ms. Mascherin also is a member of the Firm’s Management Committee.

Patricia A. Bronte and Associate Elizabeth L. Fine served as Co-Chairs of this Women’s Forum discussion.

Pictured, from left to right: Ms. Mascherin, Ms. Steege, Ms. Fine, Ms. Grayson, Jill Sugar Factor, Co-Chair of the Jenner & Block Women’s Forum, and Ms. Bronte.

07-26-2006

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Cozen O' Connor

Cozen O’Connor Attorney Roxanne E. Jayne Authors CERCLA AAI Rule Article for NJSBA Newsletter
Roxanne E. Jayne recently authored “EPA’s All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI) Rule” in the June 2006 New Jersey State Bar Association Environmental Law Section Newsletter. The article was a summary and comparison to N.J.’s due diligence requirements for innocent purchaser protection under the Spill Act.

Jayne is a member in Cozen O'Connor’s Cherry Hill office practicing with the energy, environmental and public utility practice group within the business law department. Jayne has more than 25 years experience as an environmental attorney. She has served as outside and in-house counsel representing a broad range of clients in redevelopment, purchase/sale transactions, environmental litigation and regulatory matters and has handled all phases of CERCLA/Spill Act cost recovery/contribution actions in many high profile matters, including handling discovery, depositions, motions, negotiation of consent decrees and other settlement agreements. In the realm of regulatory work, Jayne has handled ISRA/Spill Act site remediation and permitting, enforcement and compliance with environmental programs, such as CAFRA, wetlands, Clean Water and Clean Air Acts, EPCRA, UST and RCRA.

Jayne is a member of the Best Brownfield Advisory Board to the City of Trenton, the technical committee of the NJ chapter of the National Brownfield Association, the American Bar Association, the environmental law section of the New Jersey State Bar Association, the Philadelphia and New Jersey chapters of the Society of Women Environmental Professionals, and the environmental quality committee of the NJ Business and Industry Association. She is a frequent speaker and a published author.

A resident of Trenton, Jayne is admitted to practice in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, (B.A., with distinction, 1973) and her law degree from Emory University School of Law (J.D., 1976).

07-26-2006

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Carlton Fields

Carlton Fields Attorneys, Michael A. Shafir and Sorraya M. Solages, Appointed to the Editorial Board of The Florida Bar Journal and The Florida Bar News
Carlton Fields Tampa Shareholder, Kathleen S. McLeroy, has been reappointed by President Elect Henry Coxe to serve a three year term on The Florida Bar's Standing Committee on Professionalism.

The scope and function of the Standing Committee on Professionalism is to assist the Commission and Center in implementing programs, events, and activities to promote professionalism throughout the state.

McLeroy practices in the Firm's Real Property Litigation Practice Group and serves as the Chair of the Firm's Pro Bono Committee. She has extensive experience representing mortgage holders, property owners, title insurers and real estate developers in real property disputes and mortgage foreclosures. McLeroy graduated, magna cum laude, from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance in 1982. In 1986, she graduated summa cum laude with an M.B.A. degree from Louisiana State.

07-26-2006

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