Debevoise & Plimpton Hires Former Head of SEC’s FCPA Unit

by | May 22, 2017

Debevoise & Plimpton continues to welcome former high-level officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Its most recent hire is Kara Novaco Brockmeyer, former chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Foreign Corrupt Practices unit.

Brockmeyer has joined the firm’s Washington, DC, office as a partner and member of the white collar and regulatory defense, and strategic crisis response and solutions groups.

Mary Jo White, who previously chaired the US Securities and Exchange Commission, also reecently rejoined Debevoise as senior chair of the firm. Prior to joining the SEC she chaired the firm’s litigation department.

Separately, Wendy J. Miles also recently joined the firm as a partner in its London office. She is a member of the firm’s international dispute resolution group.

Other recent moves include:

Barbara Lawrence has joined Herrick, Feinstein, New York, from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Lawrence is a partner and also chairs the firm’s trusts and estates department.

Justice Leah Sears has joined Smith Gambrell & Russell, Atlanta, as a partner in the firm’s business litigation and appellate practices. Since retiring as the chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court in 2009, Sears was a partner at Schiff Hardin, where she served as a leader of the appellate practice group.

Wenchi Hu has joined Latham & Watkins in New York as a partner in the corporate department and financial institutions group. Her practice focuses on financial regulation, risk management, and market infrastructure. Hu joins Latham from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, where she most recently served as head of the Office of Clearance and Settlement Supervision. In this role, Hu oversaw clearing agencies registered with the SEC and was responsible for their risk supervision under the regime established by the Securities Exchange Act and the Dodd-Frank Act.

Covington & Burling has added Beth Brinkmann and Louise Freeman as partners, Jacqueline C. Charlesworth as of counsel and Mónica Ramírez Almadani as special counsel. Brinkmann, who is resident in the Washington, DC, office, joins the appellate and Supreme Court practice. Previously she was deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Division of the US Department of Justice. Freeman joins the European dispute resolution practice, resident in London. Charlesworth has joined the intellectual property rights, and communications and media practices in the New York office. She most recently served as general counsel and associate register of copyrights of the US Copyright Office. Almadani joins the firm’s litigation, and white collar defense and investigations practices, resident in Los Angeles. Previously she was special assistant attorney general in the California Department of Justice.

Hilary Tompkins, former Solicitor for the US Department of Interior, has joined Hogan Lovells’ environmental practice group as a partner in the Washington, DC, office. As the top legal officer at the DOI, a cabinet-level agency responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land, natural and cultural resource programs, and the trustee for the nation’s Native American population, Tompkins was in charge of all legal matters involving the programs, operations, and activities within the department, with a focus on public lands, water infrastructure, energy development, minerals management, general administration, and Indian law.

Janice Schneider, who was previously the US Department of the Interior’s assistant secretary for land and minerals management, has rejoin Latham & Watkins as a partner in the environment, land and resources department, resident in the firm’s Washington, DC, office. In addition, Nicole Buffa, who was previously deputy chief of staff at the Interior Department, has rejoined as counsel in the environment, land and resources practice.

Veteran tax lawyer Diana Erbsen has returned to the firm as a partner with the tax practice in New York after serving as deputy assistant attorney general for appellate and review for the Tax Division of the US Department of Justice. Erbsen was appointed to the DOJ’s Tax Division by President Obama in 2014 and served in that capacity until the end of the administration on January 20, 2017. Prior to that she was a partner at DLA Piper.

Anita L. Boomstein joined Manatt’s New York office as partner and chair of the global payments practice. At the forefront of financial innovation, Anita’s practice focuses on payment systems, credit cards and consumer financial services.

Bilzin Sumberg has recruited Jennifer Wioncek to join the firm as a partner. Resident in the Miami office, Wioncek is part of the tax and estate planning group. She previously worked at Baker & McKenzie.

Lea Ann Fowler has joined Hogan Lovells’ real estate practice as a partner in the Denver office. Fowler represents a range of commercial lending institutions, developers, operators, and investors in real estate acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures, development projects, asset-based lending involving loan origination, restructurings, loan participations, note purchases, and commercial mortgage-backed securitizations.

Laura Sorscher has joined Cozen O Connor, Philadelphia, as a member. Previously at Baer Crossey McDemus, she is a member of the real estate group.

Eckert Seamans has hired Christina Frangiosa as a member in its Philadelphia office. Previously at Semanoff Ormsby Greenberg & Torchia, Frangiosa is a member of the intellectual property practice.

Ellia Thompson has joined Ervin, Cohen & Jessup, Los Angeles, to head its land use group. Thompson was previously at Sklar Kirsch.

FordHarrison has recruited Kimberly Ross to join its Chicago office as a partner. Previously at Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig, she is a member of the employment practice.

Suzanne Arpin has joined Friend Hudak & Harris, Atlanta, as a partner in the corporate law practice. Most recently, she was at Thompson Hine.

Mass tort lawyer Karen Barth Menzies has joined Girard Gibbs, Oakland. She was previously at Robinson Calcagnie & Robinson.

Avanti Bakane has joined Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani as a partner from Hinshaw & Culbertson. Bakane, who is resident in the Chicago office, is a member of the commercial litigation practice.

KP Law, Boston, has recruited Amy Kwesell as a member. Previously at Rubin and Rudman, Kwesell practices land use, regulatory, energy and environmental law.

Lauren DeMasi has joined Lane Powell, Portland, as a shareholder. She joins from Schulte Roth & Zabel. DeMasi is a member of the firm’s business group.

Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, Sacramento, has hired Angela Trueblood as a partner in the workers’ compensation practice. Previously she was at Laughlin Falbo Levy & Moresi.

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP is pleased to announce that Elizabeth A. Shuster has joined the firm’s Indianapolis office as partner in the Intellectual Property group. Shuster is the former chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the Indiana State Bar Association. She is also the co-founder of the Indy Attorneys Network Section of the Indianapolis Bar Association, which promotes collegiality between attorneys.

Laura Duncan has joined Marten Law, San Francisco, as a partner. Previously she was at Beveridge & Diamond, where she led the firm’s global products stewardship and chemicals practice group.

Proskauer Rose, New York, has recruited Monica Arora to join the firm as a partner in the private investment funds group and a member of the corporate department. Arora was previously global head of White & Case’s investment funds group.

Joan Berg has joined Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg, Chicago, as a partner from Harrison & Held. Her practice focuses on commercial real estate, lending, banking and corporate matters.

Wicker Smith has recruited Alyssa Reiter as a partner in its Fort Lauderdale office. Previously at Williams Montgomery & John, Reiter handles appeals, litigation support, and insurance coverage matters.

Daniele Cervino has joined Beattie Padovano, Montvale, NJ, as a member in the land use and environmental law practice. Previously she was at Golub Isabel & Cervino.

Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton in Raleigh has hired Anna McLamb as an attorney in its commercial real estate practice. McLamb was previously a partner at Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard in Raleigh.

Jesse Halpern has joined Thompson Coburn, Washington, DC, as a partner in its utilities practice. Nicole Allen has also joined the group as counsel. Both join the firm from Schiff Hardin.

Baker McKenzie has recruited Margarita Oliva Sainz de Aja as a partner in its North America banking, finance and major projects practice in New York. She joins from Chadbourne & Park, where she was a partner. Alevtina Kamelkova has joined the Moscow office as counsel in the IT/communications practice group. She was previously head of legal affairs for Eastern Europe at Nokia.The firm has also appointed Anna Brown as its North America director of diversity and inclusion, based in the New York office. She joins the firm from Shearman & Sterling, where she served as global director of diversity and inclusion/special attorney.

Ellen Bronchetti has joined DLA Piper as a partner in the firm’s employment. Resident in the San Francisco office, Bronchetti joins from Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton’s San Francisco office. Mary Dollarhide has joined DLA Piper’s employment practice as a partner in the San Diego office. Dollarhide has represented large and well-known companies with a focus on wage and hour class actions and other employment matters for nearly 30 years. Prior to joining DLA Piper, Dollaride spent her career at Paul Hastings, most recently leading the employment practice in San Diego. Caryn Smith has joined DLA Piper’s tax practice as a partner in the Austin office. Prior to joining DLA Piper, Smith was a tax partner at Baker McKenzie in Houston.

Morgan Lewis has added June Chan, Connie Cheung and Louise Liu as partners in Hong Kong, as well as Michelle Pector as a litigation partner in the Houston office and Rosina Barker as a partner in the Washington, DC, office.

Jennifer Brennan and Yen Sum have joined Sidley Austin as partners in its corporate restructuring and bankruptcy practice. Both women, who are resident in the London office, were previously with Linklaters.

Hogan Lovells has hired Stacey Rosenberg as a partner in its finance practice, resident in the Los Angeles office. Previously she was a finance partner in the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins.

Christiana M. Lazo has joined Ropes & Gray’s private client group as counsel, resident in the firm’s New York office. She was previously at McDermott Will & Emery, New York, where she was a partner in the private client and wealth management group.

White & Case has hired Carrie LeRoy as a partner in its global intellectual property practice, resident in the firm’s Silicon Valley office. LeRoy previously worked at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in its Palo Alto office. Anita Varma will join White & Case’s global intellectual property practice as a partner in its Boston office. Formerly the co-head of Ropes & Gray’s IP rights management practice group, Varma regularly conducts strategic reviews of her clients’ patent portfolios to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and how her clients can minimize threats and maximize revenue.

Emily B. Reynolds joins K&L Gates as a partner in the real estate investment, development, and finance practice, resident in the Charlotte office. She joins the firm from Moore & Van Allen.

Reed Smith has recruited a number of partners to join the firm’s European offices from King & Wood Mallesons. The new partners include financial regulatory partner Tamasin Little, corporate partner Delphine Currie and private equity partner Laura Brunnen in London, and competition/antitrust partner Natasha Tardif, tax partners Sylvie Vansteenkiste and Fanny Combourieu in Paris.

Jennifer Daly and Anne Voigts have joined King & Spalding as partners. Daly is resident in the New York office, where she is part of the finance practice. She was previously chief operating officer and chief compliance officer of Hunter Peak Investments. Voigts joined the Silicon Valley office as a partner in the appellate, constitutional and administrative law practice. She was previously assistant US attorney in the criminal appeals division of the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.

Greenberg Traurig has hired Rebecca L. Caldwell-Harrigal, the first female director of the office of tax exempt bonds at the Internal Revenue Service as a shareholder in the law firm’s Northern Virginia office. Danielle Martin also joins the firm as a shareholder in the London office. Previously at Reed Smith, she handles real estate transactions.

Cynthia Guerin, Jennifer Kafcas and Alexandra Villarreal O’Rourke have joined McGuireWoods as partners. Guerin, who was previously associate general counsel at Bank of America, has joined the financial services litigation practice, resident in the firm’s Dallas office. Kafcas joins the London office in the banking and finance practice. Previously she was at O’Melveny & Myers. O’Rourke, who was formerly senior counsel at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, joins the financial services litigation practice, resident in the Charlotte office.

Orrick has recruited Glynna Christian to join the firm’s technology companies group as a partner in the Silicon Valley office. Previously at Kaye Scholer, where she headed the technology and digital transactions practice, Christian will co-head Orrick’s global technology transactions practice.

Emily S. Huggins Jones has joined Squire Patton Boggs as partner in its environmental, safety and health practice, based in Cleveland, and Dr. Sabine Pittrof has joined as a partner in the global corporate practice group in Frankfurt. Dr. Pittrof was previously with Deloitte Legal in Frankfurt.

Life sciences lawyer Manya Deehr has joined Cooley as a partner. Deehr joins from Life Sciences Law Group, where she was a founder and principal. The firm has also recruited international arbitration lawyer Rachel Thorn as a partner. Previously she was at Chadbourne & Parke. Both Deehr and Christian are resident in the firm’s New York office.

Goodwin has hired Marie-Laure Bruneel and Laura Charkin as partners. Bruneel joins the Paris office from De Pardieu Brocas Maffei and is part of the tax practice. Charkin joins the London office from King & Wood Mallesons and is part of the tax practice and private investment funds group.

Anne MacGregor has joined Dechert as a national partner based in Brussels. She counsels clients on European antitrust, and regulatory and trade matters.

Nancy Yamaguchi, a mergers and acquisitions veteran who also handles technology transactions, has joined Morgan Lewis as a partner in its corporate and business transactions practice. She will be resident in the firm’s San Francisco office.

McDermott Will & Emery has hired Mary Strimel as a partner in the antitrust practice Group. She joins the firm from the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice where she served as chief of one of two Antitrust Criminal Enforcement sections in Washington, DC. Nicole M. Jantzi has joined as a partner in the intellectual property practice. Both women are resident in the firm’s Washington, DC, office.

Robin Feiner has joined Winston & Strawn as a partner in the corporate department of the New York office. Previously she was a partner at Proskauer Rose.

Foley & Lardner has recruited Allison Charney as a partner in the firm’s securities enforcement and litigation practice, resident in the New York office. Previously she was a partner McGuireWoods.

Katherine H. Ku has joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati’s corporate and securities practice as a partner in the Los Angeles office. Previously she was a corporate partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher has recruited Athena Yvonne Eastwood and Nathalie Duguay as partners. Eastwood, who is resident in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, was previously at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. Duguay is a member of the asset management group, resident in the firm’s Paris office. She was previously co-head of the fund formation department of King & Wood Mallesons.

Jamaica P. Szeliga has joined Seyfarth Shaw’s litigation department, and life sciences and chemical patent team as a partner in Washington, DC, office. Szeliga was previously a member at Leydig, Voit & Mayer.

Bryan Cave has added Dr. Kirsten Girnth as a partner. She joins from the firm DLA Piper, where she was former managing partner of the Frankfurt office and joint co-location head of the German corporate practice group. Girnth is resident in the Frankfurt office.

Constance (Connie) Weber has joined Littler as a shareholder in the firm’s Charleston, West Virginia, office. She joins the firm from Kay Casto & Chaney.

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman has recruited from Jennifer Altman and Shani Rivaux from Boies, Schiller & Flexner. Both women are partners in the litigation group, resident in the Miami office. In addition, Altman has been named the office’s managing partner.