Fish & Richardson has announced that Kia Scipio has joined the firm as diversity and inclusion manager in its Washington, DC, office.
The firm said that Scipio, who will report to Fish & Richardson’s chief development officer, will “focus on continuing to embed diversity, inclusion, and cultural competency into the firm’s day-to-day operations.”
Before joining Fish & Richardson, Scipio oversaw diversity and inclusion initiatives at Georgetown University Law Center, where she counseled law students and developed employer partnerships.
“Kia has stellar academic credentials and deep professional experience, and we are thrilled she is joining us. Kia will be invaluable in helping to advance our mission of promoting a creative, respectful, and inclusive culture that values the diversity of all people, and harnesses their experiences, perspectives, talents, and capabilities,” said Peter Devlin, president of Fish & Richardson, in a statement.
“As a firm that serves the world’s greatest visionaries, we know that creativity and innovation almost inevitably are the result of seeing the world from multiple different perspectives. We believe in the power of diversity to spark innovation.”
Scipio is the latest hire Fish & Richardson has made to bolster its talent and diversity. Last year, Fish & Richardson hired Kristin McKinney for the newly-created role of chief professional development officer, with “responsibilities for leading and managing the firm’s professional development activities” and well as “providing support and leadership for its Diversity Initiative, EMPOWER Women’s Initiative, and pro bono programs.”
Appointments
Kathleen Ruhland has been named managing partner of the DLA Piper’s Minneapolis office. Ruhland also serves as co-chair of the firm’s food and beverage sector. DLA Piper has announced that partner Gina Durham has been named chair of the firm’s Trademark, Copyright & Media practice in California. Durham, an experienced litigator who has successfully led teams in high-profile trademark, copyright and right of publicity lawsuits, is also a founding member of the firm’s Social Media practice.
Baker McKenzie has selected Montserrat Llopart to serve as managing partner of its Barcelona office. She also heads the office’s pharmaceutical and healthcare law department and serves on the firm’s pharmaceutical and healthcare steering committee in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Danielle N. Garno has been appointed to the Children’s Home Society of Florida’s statewide board of directors while shareholder Danielle Gonzalez has been appointed to the American Cancer Society’s Volunteer Leadership Board of Miami.
McDermott Will & Emery partner Dr. Sabine Konrad has been appointed as an arbitrator to the panel of arbitrators of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre.
Perkins Coie has named Katie O’Sullivan to chair of the firm’s national commercial litigation practice; Karen McGaffey to chair its national environment, energy and resources practice; and Cori Gordon Moore to lead the firm’s commercial litigation practice in Seattle.
Belinda May, Dentons’ consumer products, regulatory and litigation and dispute resolution partner, has been named president elect and chair of the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization’s (ICPHSO) 2018 Annual Symposium. She will become president of the organization in 2018.
Julissa Rodriguez, a shareholder and chair of international law firm Greenberg Traurig’s Miami appellate practice group, has been elected to the board of directors of the Miami-Dade County Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers (FAWL). FAWL is a voluntary bar association formed in 1951 that promotes women’s rights and the common interests of women lawyers. It strives to propel women lawyers into economic, social and leadership spheres of power.
Susan Kidwell, partner in Locke Lord’s Austin office, has been elected president of the Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas for the 2017 year.
Seyfarth Shaw partner Cynthia Mitchell has been elected president of the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law’s New York Chapter.
Patricia J. Martin has been named office managing shareholder of Littler’s St. Louis office.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman has named Kimberly Buffington managing partner of its Los Angeles office, Debra Erni managing partner of the London office and Roxane Polidora managing partner of the San Francisco office.
Holly M. Bauer, Anne W. Robinson and Maj Vaseghi of Latham & Watkins have been promoted from counsel to partnership.
Sidley Austin announced that Yvette Ostolaza has been elected to serve on its firmwide management committee, the governing body responsible for administering the operating affairs of the firm. Ostolaza will retain her current leadership positions within the firm, including serving on Sidley’s executive committee, as managing partner of its Dallas office, and as co-leader of the securities and shareholder litigation practice.
Sandra D. Gonzalez, recently elevated shareholder with international law firm Greenberg Traurig, has been elected to membership in the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation.
Awards and Recognitions
Locke Lord partner Harriet Miers has been named a Texas Legal Legend by the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas. Previously Miers was counsel to the president of the United States. Locke Lord partner and the immediate past president of the American Bar Association Paulette Brown has been selected by the Boston Bar Association to receive the Beacon Award for Diversity and Inclusion for her efforts to increase diversity in the legal profession.
Melissa Colón-Bosolet, a senior litigation associate in the New York office of Sidley, was selected to receive the Hispanic National Bar Association’s 2017 “Top Lawyers Under 40” Award. The award, which received a record number of nominations this year, honors young Latino and Latina lawyers who have distinguished themselves from among their peers in the legal profession through their outstanding professional accomplishments, strong leadership abilities and commitment to the Hispanic community.
The Daily Transcript has profiled Latham & Watkins partners Nadia Sager and Stephanie Kuhlen in the publication’s inaugural “Influential Women” report highlighting “the most influential women in San Diego County, and the impact they’re making across the region.”
Denver Business Journal has named Gibson Dunn partner Robyn Zolman to its annual Top Women in Energy list, recognizing the top influencers in Denver’s energy sector. Zolman was featured for her extensive experience representing energy clients in a variety of transactions including public and private offerings, restructurings, securities regulation and corporate governance matters.
Los Angeles Business Journal named Gibson Dunn partners Amy Forbes, Perlette Jura, and Debra Wong Yang to its list of Most Influential Women Lawyers in Los Angeles, featuring 50 of the most accomplished female attorneys working in the region.
The Daily Journal named Gibson Dunn Los Angeles partner Perlette Jura to its 2017 Top 40 Under 40 list, which highlights leading California-based attorneys under the age of 40.
Gibson Dunn partners were recognized in the 2017 Guide to World-Class Employment Lawyers by Human Resource Executive (HRE) magazine and Lawdragon, an online legal directory. Los Angeles partner Catherine Conway was named among the 100 Most Powerful Employment Lawyers in the nation. Orange County partner Michele Maryott was named among the 40 Up and Comers in Employment Law.
Variety named Gibson Dunn Century City partner Ruth Fisher to its 2017 Legal Impact Report, an annual list of the leading attorneys in the entertainment industry.
Karen Silverman, managing partner of Latham & Watkins’ San Francisco office and a partner in its global antitrust and competition practice, has been named to DirectWomen’s Board Institute Class of 2017. Founded in 2007, DirectWomen trains and promotes women lawyers for service on the boards of public companies. The institute runs a rigorous selection process, takes just 20 participants each year and invites executives, CEOs and directors of major public companies to serve as faculty.
The following were among 30 Atlanta lawyers named to the annual “On the Rise” list by Daily Report, the leading legal trade publication in Georgia: Petrina McDaniel and Crissy Wolfe of Dentons, Anisa Abdullahi of Arnall Golden Gregory, Lori Anderson of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Pamela “Ela” Basto of Ela Orenstein Basto Attorney at Law, Laurel Boatright of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, Corrin Drakulich of Fish & Richardson, Atteeyah Hollie of the Southern Center for Human Rights, Alicia Grahn Jones of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, Lindsey Mann of Troutman Sanders, Stacey McGavin Mohr of Eversheds Sutherland, Azadeh Shahshahani of Project South, Sarah Hawkins Warren of the Georgia Department of Law, Angela Ramson and Sara Deskins Tucker of Greenberg Traurig.
Morgan Lewis employee benefits and executive compensation partner Zaitun Poonja has been selected by the Silicon Valley Business Journal as one of its Women of Influence for 2017. This annual report recognizes a select group of women in Silicon Valley who demonstrate leadership in their industries as well as their communities. This is the third consecutive year that lawyers from Morgan Lewis’s Silicon Valley office have been named to this distinguished list.
Concurrences Review recognized Gibson Dunn San Francisco partner Rachel Brass and associate Caeli Higney at its 2017 Antitrust Writing Awards. Their article “Practical Advice for Avoiding Hub-and-Spoke Liability” was selected as the winner in the Business category, Concerted Practices section. The article originally appeared in the October 2016 issue of The Antitrust Source. The award was presented at the 2017 Antitrust Writing Awards & Ranking Gala Dinner on March 28.
DLA Piper (Canada) announced that Karen Fellowes, associate in the Calgary office, has been named a recipient of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation’s 2017 Founders Awards.
Morgan Lewis Stamford lawyers Suet-Fern Lee (banking law, capital markets law; corporate law; mergers and acquisitions) and Wendy Tan (maritime law, trade law) were recognized as Best Lawyers in the ninth edition of The Best Lawyers in Singapore.
Gina Shishima, Norton Rose Fulbright’s US Head of Intellectual Property and a member of the firm’s US management committee, received the Judge David Wellington Chew Award from the Asian Pacific Interest Section (APIS) of the State Bar of Texas at the 22nd Annual APIS Conference awards luncheon on April 7 in Austin. Established in 2002, the award honors “individuals whose selfless contributions benefit the Asian-Pacific American legal community of Texas.”
Gibson Dunn attorney Rachel Brass was featured in Who’s Who Legal’s Competition 2017 guide.
Presentations and Speaking Engagements
Gretchen N. Miller, products liability and mass torts shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, is serving as program chair for the Defense Research Institute’s 2017 Products Liability Conference. In addition, corporate and securities shareholder Barbara A. Jones was a panelist at the 2017 PLI Women Lawyers in Leadership Conference, discussing “Women Lawyers Breaking into the Boardroom: It’s Time.” Litigation practice shareholder Danielle N. Garno participated on the panel discussion “Fashion Forward: Wearable Tech, Design Patents, Privacy, and the Latest Fashion Law Cases” for the Beverly Hills Bar Association and she was a guest speaker at the 15th Annual Judges & Lawyers Event presented by The Jewish Museum of Florida – Florida International University, where she discussed fashion law and addressed the Federal Trade Commission regulations as they apply to advertising disclosures in social media.
Simpson Thacher partner Caroline Gottschalk was a panelist at the 44th annual Securities Regulation Institute, where she spoke on “Hot Topics in Mergers & Acquisitions.”
WilmerHale special counsel Maxi Scherer gave the keynote address at the International Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce’s centennial symposium.
Global leader of Morgan Lewis’s labor and employment practice Grace Speights delivered the keynote address at the George Washington University Law School’s Diploma Ceremony on May 21.
King & Spalding healthcare partner Sara Kay Wheeler spoke at Dignity Health’s 2017 Compliance Summit, the Health Care Compliance Association’s Complimentary 2017 Compliance Institute Preview, and the Health Care Compliance Association’s Atlanta Regional Conference. Also, partner Jacqueline Glassman spoke at the Washington Auto Show’s MobilityTalks International Conference, where she discussed the car of the future. Litigation partner Wendy Waszmer presented at the New York State Bar Association’s Antitrust Section Annual Meeting; she also spoke at the Center for American and International Law’s 68th Annual Oil and Gas Law Conference. In addition, business litigation partner Meghan Magruder was a featured speaker at the American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel Law School Symposium. Intellectual property partner Kathleen McCarthy spoke at a Practising Law Institute webinar discussing intellectual property rights enforcement.
