Personnel changes are everywhere today — and not just on Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon. Some notable moves within the legal profession:
Lateral Moves:
* Private equity and M&A lawyer Dennis Barsky, to Jones Day, from Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
* Corporate lawyer Jonathan Stapleton and investment-funds lawyer Margaret Paradis, to Baker & McKenzie (NY), from Arnold & Porter and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, respectively.
* Insurance and financial services lawyer Chiu-Ti Jansen, to Sidley Austin, from LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae.
Government to Private Sector:
* Marc Agnifilo, former head of the violent and organized crime unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey, is joining Brafman and Associates. Yes, that Brafman — renowned criminal defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman, Diddy-defending attorney to the stars.
(Disclosure: Marc Agnifilo is a former colleague of ours, as well as a tremendously experienced and exceptionally talented lawyer. He has a fantastic sense of humor. And he’s the nephew of celebrated writer Don DeLillo.)
Firm Adds Two NY Corporate Partners [NYLawyer.com]
NY Private Equity Partner Switches Firms [NYLawyer.com]
NY Lawyers On the Move [NYLawyer.com]
Baker & McKenzie LLP Announces Ambitious New Strategy and Leadership Team in New York [Baker & McKenzie]
U.S. Attorneys Offices
- Arnold & Porter, Baker & McKenzie, Benjamin Brafman, Biglaw, Jones Day, LeBoeuf Lamb, Musical Chairs, New Jersey, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Sean Combs, Sidley Austin, U.S. Attorneys Offices, Weil Gotshal
Musical Chairs: 11.08.06
By David Lat- Allen & Overy, Biglaw, Clifford Chance, Holland & Knight, Latham & Watkins, Magic Circle, Milbank Tweed, Musical Chairs, O'Melveny & Myers, S.D.N.Y., Skadden Arps, U.S. Attorneys Offices, Willkie Farr
Musical Chairs: 10.31.06
By David LatTons of moves to report today — and these are just the highlights:
New Partners:
* Latham & Watkins — which, as discussed yesterday, is very popular with Supreme Court clerks — has elected 26 new partners, in offices around the country. That’s enough lawyers to start a whole new law firm.
You can check out their names here. If you graduated from law school around 1998, you probably know some of them.
“Magic Circle” Hiring Spree:
The top British law firms — aka the “Magic Circle” firms — continue to cast spells over U.S. practitioners, who have been flocking to their American offices in droves.
* Louis Kimmelman, former co-chair of O’Melveny & Myers’s international arbitration practice, is heading to Allen & Overy’s rapidly growing New York office. Kimmelman regularly appears before the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, the American Arbitration Association, and other tribunals.
* Finance lawyers Zarrar Sehgal and Anthony Lopez III, to Clifford Chance (NY), from Milbank Tweed and Cahill Gordon, respectively.
Lateral Moves:
* Corporate and securities lawyer Michael Student, to Brown Rudnick, from Holland & Knight.
* Tax lawyer James Tander, corporate lawyer Patrick de Carbuccia, and real estate lawyer Michael Pollack, to Reed Smith (NY). They come from, respectively, Skadden Arps, Willkie Farr, and Withers Bergman of (New Haven, CT).
Government to Private Sector:
* Sharon McCarthy, a former deputy chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District, to litigation and tax boutique Kostelanetz & Fink, as a partner.
Internal Promotions:
* Paul Tvetenstrand, a partner in the structured finance practice group, has been elected chairman and managing partner of Thacher Proffitt & Wood.
Latham & Watkins Elects 26 New Partners [Latham & Watkins]
NY Partners Switching Firms, NY Lawyers On the Move [NYLawyer.com]
More NY Partners Switching Firms [NYLawyer.com]
Firm Promotes 26 to Partnership [NYLawyer.com]
NY Practice Leader Switches Firms [NYLawyer.com]
Well, we’re not sure about that part — nor can we confirm or deny whether the justice was sighted in a “banana hammock.”
But we can report that Justice Alito was recently in MIami, where he swore in Alex Acosta (at right), one of his former clerks, as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. From the Miami Herald:
Samuel A. Alito, the U.S. Supreme Court’s newest justice, praised one of his protégés, R. Alexander Acosta, on Wednesday as he swore him in as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
But Alito said that for all his formidable legal talent, Acosta betrayed one ”weakness” when he served as a law clerk in 1994 for the then-federal appellate judge.
”Alex’s knowledge of sports was a little bit lacking,” Alito deadpanned before a standing-room-only gathering of judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers in the historic central courtroom of the Miami federal courthouse.
Alito, a self-professed baseball fan, joked that Acosta probably didn’t know the difference between the Florida Marlins and the Miami Dolphins.
Even if his sports knowledge may be deficient, Acosta is a young superstar of conservative legal circles (as well as “pretty cute,” too). At the tender age of 37, he was nominated by President Bush as Miami’s U.S. Attorney — a position he was already occupying in an acting capacity.
Prior to returning to Miami, where he has deep roots in the city’s Cuban-American community, the brilliant Acosta served as head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. His roughly two-year tenure as Assistant Attorney General was rumored to be somewhat rocky. Acosta’s fairly conservative civil rights agenda apparently did not sit well with some of the more liberal lawyers in the division, who had a different vision of what they’d be doing when they signed up for civil rights work at the Justice Department.
(If you can enlighten us further on these matters, please drop us a line.)
Alito protégé sworn in as U.S. attorney in Miami [Miami Herald via How Appealing]
- Biglaw, Bingham McCutchen, Jenner & Block, King & Spalding, Magic Circle, Money, Musical Chairs, Partner Profits, S.D.N.Y., Sullivan & Cromwell, U.S. Attorneys Offices
Musical Chairs: 10.26.06
By David LatNew Partners:
* Sullivan & Cromwell: Jeffrey Chapman, Michael Escue, Hydee Feldstein, Stacey Friedman, Brian Hamilton, Julia Jordan, Eric Kadel, Jr. and Juan Rodriguez.
The partnership promotions will be effective January 1, 2007. Congratulations, kids!
Like many other top New York firms, Sullivan still has a single-tier partnership structure. All partners are equity partners.
And all S&C partners are doing very well for themselves. In 2005, the firm enjoyed average profits-per-partner of $2.4 million. See here (subscription required).
Lateral Moves:
* Private equity lawyer Stephen Culhane, to Linklaters (10 points — Magic Circle!!!), from King & Spalding.
Government to Private Sector:
* Harry Sandick, to Jenner & Block, from the venerable S.D.N.Y. U.S. Attorney’s Office (where he served as deputy chief appellate attorney and, before that, as acting chief of the violent crimes unit).
* Hawyood Haywood Gilliam, to Bingham McCutchen, from the well-regarded San Francisco U.S. Attorney’s Office (N.D. Cal.).
[Ed. note: See this comment, and this juicy article. It appears that the office has slipped in the past few years.]
Haywood Gilliam headed the securities fraud section of the U.S.A.O. and worked on various stock options backdating cases. His move to private practice is timely, given the explosion of backdating scandals in Silicon Valley. But Gilliam will presumably be conflicted out of a bunch of cases that he worked on while at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
UK Firm Adds Another NY Partner [NYLawyer.com]
Former Federal Prosecutor Joins Firm in NY [NYLawyer.com]
In Timely Hire, Firm Grabs Backdating Prosecutor [NYLawyer.com]
The third time, and the third hung jury, proves to be a charm for former Gambino family crime boss John Gotti (aka “Junior Gotti”). From the New York Times:
[F]ederal prosecutors announced today that they would not seek to retry Mr. Gotti for a fourth time. The decision enshrines the mob dauphin as a defendant even trickier to convict than his father, the Gambino family don, John J. Gotti, who beat the rap three times himself before being found guilty in 1992 and dying in a federal prison hospital 10 years later.
So what now? Is Mr. Gotti going to Disneyworld? Uh, maybe:
Mr. Gotti, who has acknowledged through his lawyers that he ran the Gambino family during stretches of the 1990’s, to return to a life as normal as his name will allow. At the end of his third trial in September, he told reporters he wanted to “move on” and expressed a desire to work with children.
His lawyer, Charles F. Carnesi, said today that Mr. Gotti may turn to academe. “He’s interested in pursuing a degree,” he said. “In social work or counseling or maybe something with the schools.”
Our suggestion: elementary school music teacher. If Junior Gotti can lead a packed courtroom in a birthday serenade of a federal judge, he should have no problem getting grade schoolers to sing their little hearts out.
No Fourth Trial for Gotti, Prosecutors Say [New York Times]
Earlier: Happy Birthday, Judge Scheindlin
Related: TV, Movies, and the Mob: Some Quality Time with Gerald Shargel
- Biglaw, Debra Wong Yang, Department of Justice, Dewey Ballantine, Gibson Dunn, Greenberg Traurig, Hughes Hubbard & Reed, Jonathan Cohn, King & Spalding, Musical Chairs, Options Backdating, Rachel Brand, Sonnenschein, Ted Olson, U.S. Attorneys Offices
Musical Chairs: 10.17.06
By David LatA number of big-ticket moves to report today. The most notable involve government lawyers:
Government to Private Sector:
* Debra Wong Yang, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California (Los Angeles), has resigned from the USAO. She’s headed to Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, as a partner (duh). Ka-ching!
Yang will work out of the firm’s L.A. office. She will co-chair its Crisis-Management Group, along with former Solictor General Theodore Olson and another former federal prosecutor, Randy Mastro.
At Main Justice:
* Jonathan Cohn (OT 2000/Thomas) is now the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Appellate. He was previously the DAAG overseeing the Office of Immigration Litigation (and will continue to discharge that duty until a successor is found).
At right: Jonathan Cohn and his wife, Rachel Brand (OT 2002/Kennedy), the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy. Although his portfolio has changed (and we’d say for the better), he doesn’t have to get new business cards, since he’s still a DAAG.
Out the Door:
* Casualties of the stock options backdating scandal: Stuart Nichols, former general counsel of KLA-Tencor, and David Lubben, former general counsel of UnitedHealth.
Lateral Moves:
* Corporate lawyer Arthur Hull Hayes III, to Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, from Dewey Ballantine.
* Technology, media, and telecom lawyer Carole Aciman, to Greenberg Traurig, from Hughes Hubbard & Reed.
* King & Spalding: The intellectual property practice acquires five new lawyers: Kenneth Sonnenfeld (NY) and John Harbin, Tony Askew, Steve Schaetzel, and Jim Johnson (in Atlanta). They came from Morgan & Finnegan (Sonnenfeld), Powell Goldstein (Harbin), and Kilpatrick Stockton (Askew, Schaetzel and Johnson).
And Another One Gone, And Another One Gone… [WSJ Law Blog]
L.A. U.S. Attorney Debra Yang Resigns; Will Join Gibson Dunn [WSJ Law Blog]
NY Partners Switching Firms [NYLawyer.com]
More NY Partners Switching Firms [NYLawyer.com]
- Baker Botts, Biglaw, Cadwalader, Davis Polk, Dorsey & Whitney, Federal Government, HP, Irell & Manella, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, Milberg Weiss, Money, Musical Chairs, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Pillsbury Winthrop, S.D.N.Y., Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Attorneys Offices, White-Collar Crime
Musical Chairs: 10.05.06
By David LatOodles of juicy moves today, especially out of and into the federal government. As the leaves change, so do the lawyers.
Government to Private Sector:
* Federal prosecutor John Hueston, a leader of the team that prosecuted Enron execs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, is heading for the greener pastures of Irell & Manella.
All around the country, AUSAs with white-collar criminal experience are leaving U.S. Attorney’s Offices — including our former workplace — for the more lucrative precincts of private practice. The trend is especially pronounced in the legendary Southern District of New York, as noted by Anna Schneider-Mayerson.
Private Sector to Government:
* Corporate and securities lawyer Michael Halloran, a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop, has been appointed to serve as deputy chief of staff and counselor to Christopher Cox, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Lateral Moves:
* Broker-dealer compliance specialist Steven Lofchie, to Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, from Davis Polk & Wardwell. (In this day and age, compliance is a hot area. We’re guessing Lofchie got offered a nice deal.)
* Tax lawyer John Narducci, to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, from White & Case.
* IP lawyer Robert Wasnofski Jr., to Dorsey & Whitney, from Baker Botts.
* M&A lawyer Sandy Feldman, to Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham, from Torys.
Retirements:
* Plaintiffs’ lawyer Alan Schulman, of Bernstein, Litowitz — and formerly of the indicted Milberg Weiss — is retiring at the end of the year.
Not Going Anywhere — Yet:
* Apple CEO Steve Jobs and HP CEO Mark Hurd are sticking around — despite the problems that their companies face.
NY Practice Leader Leaves One Elite NY Firm for Another [NYLawyer.com]
More NY Partners Switching Firms [NYLawyer.com]
Milberg Weiss: Merger Talks Break Down; An Alum Retires [WSJ Law Blog]
Enron Prosecutor John Hueston to Join Irell & Manella [WSJ Law Blog]
The Gang That Shot Straight Is Disbanding, For a Profit [New York Observer]
- Alex Kozinski, Anthony Kennedy, Brett Gerry, Department of Justice, Hotties, John Demers, Ken Wainstein, National Security Division, Sidley Austin, Supreme Court Clerks, U.S. Attorneys Offices
Musical Chairs: The Women of NSD
By David LatLast week we wrote about the A-team of legal talent that Assistant Attorney General Kenneth L. Wainstein is assembling over at the Justice Department’s new National Security Division. Wainstein’s top hires include several members of the Elect, including high-flying legal eagles Brett Gerry (Silberman/Kennedy) and John Demers (O’Scannlain/Scalia).
A press release issued this morning announces Kenneth Wainstein’s other front office hires. And they include two brilliant and beautiful women (whom we have had the pleasure of meeting): Kathryn Haun (left), counsel to the AAG, and Jessie Liu (right), deputy chief of staff.
Those who followed UTR’s Superhotties of the Federal Judiciary contest — which, by the way, we will be reinstituting here at ATL — may recall Haun. She’s the blonde hottie who was photographed wrapping her arms around her former boss, Ninth Circuit judge Alex Kozinski (click here, scroll down). Back then we compared Haun to Naomi Watts; but upon further reflection, we’re thinking Cybill Shepherd.
Don’t let Haun’s dazzling beauty — a beauty that has ensnared multiple male members of the Elect — distract you from her accomplishments. Haun is one of the Elect herself, having clerked for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. She was also an associate at Sidley & Austin, and most recently was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia (a post she is being detailed from to come to the NSD).
Liu, who will be Ken Wainstein’s deputy chief of staff, is similarly high-powered. Her gleaming resume includes Harvard College, Yale Law School, a clerkship with Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King (5th Cir.), and a stint at Jenner & Block. Most recently, Liu was an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia, where she acquired a wealth of trial experience.
The luminous Liu and her disturbingly brilliant husband, law professor Michael Abramowicz — see NYT wedding announcement here — have two children. Great job, great husband, great kids. Who says you can’t have it all?*
Congratulations to Katie Haun, Jessie Liu, and Ken Wainstein’s entire team at the NSD!
* But please don’t hate Liu for her charmed life; she’s also one of the nicest and most wonderful human beings you’ll ever meet.
Kenneth L. Wainstein Sworn in As First Assistant Attorney General for National Security Division [DOJ press release]
Earlier: Congratulations to Ken Wainstein!
Not a heck of a lot going on today. A few announcements, but this was the only one that was even mildly interesting:
* Monty Wilkinson to Troutman Sanders (of counsel), from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. He was executive assistant U.S. attorney for management since 2001.
It’s the Friday afternoon before Labor Day weekend. What the heck are you still doing here?
[Legal Times (subscription)]
- Admin, Diarmuid O'Scannlain, Harvard, Media and Journalism, U.S. Attorneys Offices, Wachtell Lipton, Yale Law School
David Lat Biography
By Above the LawDavid Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law. He also founded Underneath Their Robes, a blog about federal judges, and served as editor of the politics blog Wonkette. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New York Observer, Washingtonian magazine, and New York magazine, among other publications. David has received several awards for his work on Above the Law, including recognition as an ABA Journal Legal Rebel, a group of innovators within the legal profession, and inclusion as a member of the Fastcase 50, “the fifty most interesting, provocative, and courageous leaders in the world of law, scholarship, and legal technology.”
Prior to his entry into the media world, David worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, in New York; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
David graduated from Regis High School, Harvard College, and Yale Law School, where he served as book reviews editor of the Yale Law Journal. You can find David on Facebook and on Twitter, and you can reach him by email at dlat@abovethelaw.com.
How Gossip Transformed the Legal Industry [Details]
SCOTUS Watch [New Yorker]
He Fought the Law. They Both Won. [New York Times]
David Lat Takes on the Legal World One Post at a Time [Legal Times (sub. req.)]
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