(December 18, 2008) -- Reed Smith LLP, one of the 15 largest law firms in the world, has announced the promotion of 22 of its counsel and associates in offices worldwide to partnership, effective January 1. Fifteen of its new partners are in the firm’s U.S. offices, four are in the UK, two are in Hong Kong, and one is in Paris.
“We are pleased to announce the results of our annual promotion cycle,” said Eugene Tillman, Reed Smith’s Global Director of Legal Personnel. “These individuals have earned advancement as a result of their hard work, outstanding legal skills, strong client relationships and many varied and significant contributions to the success of our business. We congratulate each of them and wish them continued success at Reed Smith.”
Among the new partners is Ziad A. Hammodi in New York City, whose expertise extends to all aspects of real estate law, including representing permanent and construction lenders in loan transactions; both local and national developers in office and hotel developments; and a major financial institution in managing its own national and international real estate needs, including the sale, acquisition and leasing of various commercial properties.
New partners in Chicago are Christopher A. McVety, whose practice includes general company representation, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, venture capital, and emerging growth transactions; and Bradley J. Bolerjack, who focuses his practice on international and domestic white collar criminal defense, including grand jury, internal corporate, and government agency investigations.
New partners in San Francisco include William R. Overend, whose practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, including patent, trademark and copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition matters, and licensing disputes; Jesse L. Miller, whose practice focuses on complex commercial litigation and tax litigation, as well as in trade secret and non-compete litigation and defense of unfair competition claims; and Thao H. Ngo, whose practice incorporates corporate, securities, and investment management matters. Thao has extensive experience counseling clients with the formation and day-to-day operations of private investment funds, both domestic and offshore, as well as other alternative investment products.
Other promotions in California include Oakland’s William H. Higgins, a business litigator whose practice in recent years has focused on the defense of class actions, primarily cases involving life insurance or annuities requiring application of accounting, actuarial, and economic analysis; Los Angeles’ Amir Shlesinger, an experienced litigator with Reed Smith’s Commercial Litigation Group whose practice includes complex commercial litigation and class actions in the healthcare and financial services sectors; and, Century City’s Stephane D. Nguyen, a business transactional lawyer, whose efforts focus on real estate and corporate law in the energy, real estate development & investment and financial industries.
Lawyers advancing in the firm’s two Pennsylvania offices include Pittsburgh-based Joshua S. Bish and Courtney C. T. Horrigan, as well as Philadelphia-based Scott M. Esterbrook and Carole B. Sheffield. Mr. Bish’s work focuses on litigation related to patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret law at the district court and appellate levels; Ms. Horrigan is a member of Reed Smith's Insurance Recovery Group, where she advises and represents corporate and individual policyholders in insurance coverage policy placements, mediation and litigation. Ms. Horrigan also maintains a commercial litigation practice, and has been active in developing course programs for Reed Smith's internal school of law, Reed Smith University; Mr. Esterbrook concentrates his practice on commercial finance, restructuring and bankruptcy law, with an emphasis representing commercial finance companies and other institutional lenders; and Ms. Sheffield concentrates her practice on planning, litigation, administration and taxation of trusts and estates.
Other new Reed Smith partners include Betty S. Graumlich in Richmond, who routinely advises management on labor relations matters and represents management in labor arbitrations, counsels management on employment issues and handles a wide range of employment-related litigation matters from representing management in employment discrimination cases to prosecuting and defending restrictive covenants and employment tort cases and, Steven B. Roosa in Princeton, a health industry lawyer whose practice includes large, multi-party litigation, Medicare reimbursement cases that are national in scope, and hospital licensure disputes.
Those promoted in the firm’s London office include Patrick Beale, who specialises in commercial dispute resolution, principally in the areas of banking, investment funds and professional indemnity; Charles Bezzant, who practices in the area of real estate finance, particularly lender side senior investment and development finance; Charlotte Møller, whose practice includes restructuring and insolvency work together with new lend financing; and Gregor Pryor, who advises clients in the media sector on the acquisition, production, licensing and distribution of content on digital platforms.
In the EU, Paris based Jean-Nicolas Soret, whose corporate practice includes M&A, corporate restructuring, private equity and joint venture transactions, and other corporate law and securities law matters, was advanced to partner.
In Asia, new Hong Kong partners include Patrick Wong whose practice focuses on corporate finance matters including initial public offerings, debt and equity type fund raising exercises, corporate restructurings, takeovers, mergers and acquisitions and general commercial matters; and, Nathan Dentice whose practice focuses on general commercial and public law litigation, with a particular emphasis on financial services issues and complex commercial disputes. In addition to acting for private parties, Nathan currently advises a number of major regulators on their statutory and public law duties.
About Reed Smith
Reed Smith is a global relationship law firm with more than 1,700 lawyers in 24 offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Founded in 1877, the firm represents leading international businesses from Fortune 100 corporations to mid-market and emerging enterprises. Its attorneys provide litigation services in multi-jurisdictional matters and other high stake disputes, deliver regulatory counsel, and execute the full range of strategic domestic and cross-border transactions. Reed Smith is a preeminent advisor to industries including financial services, life sciences, health care, advertising and media, shipping, international trade and commodities, real estate, manufacturing, and education. For more information, visit reedsmith.com
U.S.: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Princeton, Northern Virginia, Wilmington, Silicon Valley, Century City, Richmond
Europe: London, Paris, Munich, Birmingham, Greece
Middle East: Abu Dhabi, Dubai
Asia: Hong Kong, Beijing