Chicago Locke Lord Partner Kirk Dillard was recently named to 2022 Who’s Who in Chicago by Crain’s Chicago Business. The list recognizes Chicago movers and shakers, from Fortune 500 CEOs to civic leaders and philanthropists. Dillard, a former Illinois State Senator, is one of more than 300 names compiled to the authoritative list.

Dillard concentrates his practice in business and governmental relations, and in the representation of manufacturers in product liability prevention and litigation. He is currently the Chairman of the Regional Transit Authority in metropolitan Chicago — the nation’s second largest mass transit system with assets of nearly $150 billion and over two million daily riders. He also serves as the Independent Chair of the privately owned Chicago Skyway Toll Road. Dillard was also recently reappointed to the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission, which was created to assist and advise the Illinois Supreme Court in acquiring, collecting, preserving and cataloging documents, artifacts and information relating to the Illinois judiciary. The Commission seeks to accomplish much of its work in partnership with historical and cultural institutions; bar associations; universities; law schools; and federal, state and local agencies. Dillard has served as a Commissioner since 2012.

Dillard served in the Illinois Senate, representing Chicagoland’s western suburbs. He held a number of key leadership positions while in the General Assembly — including Chairman of the Judiciary Committee before stepping down in 2014 to assume the RTA chairmanship. Prior to his election to the Senate, Dillard served with distinction as former Governor Edgar’s Chief of Staff and Legislative Director to the late Governor James R. Thompson. Sen. Dillard also served as a Judge on the Illinois Court of Claims.

Read the full Who’s Who in Chicago Business list here (subscription may be required).

Locke Lord has been listed in the Global Restructuring Review’s 2022 edition of the GRR 100, the publication’s guide to the world’s leading law firms for cross-border restructuring and insolvency matters. This is Locke Lord’s fourth consecutive year on the list, which is compiled based on the results of an annual survey and includes the top firms capable of handling insolvencies and restructurings as well as related matters such as banking and sovereign debt crises.

Locke Lord lawyers specifically mentioned for their achievements include:

Marc Abrahams, Partner in the Firm’s London office, focuses on contentious and non-contentious insolvency law, including U.K. and cross-border corporate restructuring and personal insolvency matters. He also has extensive experience acting in commercial disputes and international arbitration under the LCIA and ICC Rules.

Phil Eisenberg, Partner in the Firm’s Houston office and a fixture in the Houston bankruptcy courts, has represented major clients for over 35 years focused on high-profile bankruptcy, restructuring and insolvency, including insurance, offshore and onshore oil and gas and energy-related matters both domestically and internationally involving commercial dealings and regulatory agency work. Eisenberg’s work includes both debtor and creditor work in such jurisdictions as Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Canada, Europe and Asia.

David Grant, member of Locke Lord’s Executive Committee and Managing Partner of the Firm’s London office, has a globally regarded international insolvency and restructuring practice with an emphasis on cross-border corporate insolvency and recovery actions. Grant has 30+ years’ experience of fraud and forensic investigations by regulators and enforcement agencies.

Rick Kuebel, New Orleans Partner and Co-Chair of Locke Lord’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group, has extensive experience in oil and gas and energy-related bankruptcies as well as corporate restructuring solutions. Kuebel has also represented numerous energy companies in business litigation, arbitration matters and regulatory disputes involving oil and gas exploration, development, transportation, refining and marketing.

Adrienne Walker, Boston Partner and member of the Firm’s Board of Directors, focuses her practice on out of court restructuring, complex Chapter 11 bankruptcies and state court insolvency proceedings, often advancing the interests of secured debt holders, investors and significant trade creditors in maximizing value through negotiated solutions, and where warranted in litigation.

Stephanie Wickouski, Partner in the Firm’s New York office, has a national reputation as a strategic adviser and innovator, with a proven track record for her clients. Stephanie’s extraordinarily active and diverse practice includes representing clients in both the litigation and transactional aspects of bankruptcy, restructuring and insolvency matters, with measured experience in indentured trusts.

Jonathan Young, Washington, D.C., Partner and Co-Chair of Locke Lord’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group, regularly advises investors, lenders, directors, equity sponsors and portfolio companies in connection with their rights and obligations relative to financial distress, insolvency and bankruptcy situations. He also advises trustees, receivers and other fiduciaries charged with reorganizing, restructuring or liquidating financially distressed entities.

Read the full article in Global Restructuring Review here (subscription may be required).

Chicago Partners Molly McGinnis Stine, Michael Renetzky and Steve Whitmer have been selected by Crain’s Chicago Business as 2022 Notable Gen X Leaders in Law honorees, recognizing the most distinguished attorneys who have reshaped the legal landscape and are leading the next generation in the legal profession.

Stine is a Partner and Co-Chair of Locke Lord’s Privacy & Cybersecurity Practice Group, Head of Locke Lord’s Cyber Insurance team and a member of the Firm’s insurance industry practice groups. Committed to risk management for the global insurance industry and the fast-moving areas of privacy and cybersecurity, her representative experience includes evaluating insurance policy wordings and considerable claims work, particularly under cyber, technology, media, data security, professional liability, directors and officers, and financial liability policies. She also supports insurers and reinsurers with wordings and litigated and non-litigated claims analysis for various other types of policies and losses. In addition, Stine represents insurance and non-insurance clients in assessing and addressing their privacy and cybersecurity preparedness and compliance.

Renetzky is Managing Partner of Locke Lord’s Chicago office and Co-Leader of the Firm’s Investment Adviser and Alternative Funds Practice. He is also Chair of the Firm’s Finance Committee and a member of the Firm’s UK Executive Committee. Renetzky previously served as a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors. He focuses his practice on investment management, securities and corporate law. He has considerable experience counseling clients on governance matters, securities law compliance, debt and equity financing matters, investment advisers, investment companies and broker-dealer regulation. Additionally, he devotes a substantial portion of his time to representing buyers and sellers in mergers and acquisitions transactions. Renetzky frequently counsels boards of directors and assists clients with governance matters.

Whitmer serves on Locke Lord’s Executive Committee and is a former member of the Firm’s Board of Directors. His practice is focused on complex commercial litigation and arbitration matters involving all types of commercial disputes, including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, false advertising, fraud and unfair business practices. He has represented clients at all levels of federal and state courts throughout the country, arbitrations, mediations and regulatory proceedings. Whitmer regularly represents insurers, reinsurers and state insurance guaranty funds. He has been lead hearing counsel for national corporations in state insurance department approval proceedings. He has also argued insurance disputes before the Illinois Supreme Court and state and federal appellate courts throughout the country.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts won The Bond Buyer’s 2022 ESG/Green Financing Deal of the Year Award for its nearly $2.7 billion Social Bond issue that replenished the Commonwealth’s unemployment insurance fund. The honor was announced at the December 6 ceremony for The Bond Buyer’s Deal of the Year Awards, which recognize excellence and innovation in municipal finance and spotlight transactions that exemplify creativity and resourcefulness in projects advancing the infrastructure and quality of life in U.S. municipalities.

Locke Lord represented the syndicate of underwriters for the bond issue. Boston attorneys Walter St. Onge and Natalie Jersak led the Locke Lord team. The underwriters were led by Jefferies LLC and BofA Securities, Inc. The taxable bond issue is the largest Social Bond issue to date. The bond proceeds were used by the Commonwealth to repay federal loans for its unemployment insurance program incurred at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and to fund additional deposits into the Commonwealth’s unemployment insurance fund.

The Bond Buyer’s ESG/Green Financing Deal of the Year is among the latest recognitions for Locke Lord’s Public Finance Practice Group, after ranking No. 1 in The Bond Buyer’s Q1-Q3 2022 Top Bond Counsel for Competitive Sales and No. 8 Top Underwriter’s Counsel. The bond issue also recently earned the Deal of the Year Award at Smith’s Municipal All-Star Awards, recognizing the achievements and fine work of municipal professionals.

Boston Partner Allison O’Neil, Co-Chair of Locke Lord’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice Group and a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee, has been selected as one of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s 2022 Go To Business Litigation Lawyers, which honors 22 leaders in the Massachusetts legal community.

O’Neil’s practice includes white collar investigations, internal investigations, employment matters and complex business litigation. She has experience representing independent schools seeking to address allegations of wrongdoing. Her clients are companies and individuals facing False Claims Act investigations, FCPA investigations and internal investigations related to employment matters and compliance.

O’Neil also serves as Co-Chair of Locke Lord’s Women’s Initiative and on the American Repertory Theater’s Board of Advisors. She is actively involved with fundraising for the Museum School at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Read the full article on Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly here.

November 3, 2022 – Locke Lord obtained a National Tier 1 distinction for 14 practice areas in the 2023 Best Law Firms survey by U.S. News – Best Lawyers®. In addition, 13 of the Firm’s domestic offices earned Metropolitan Tier 1 status.

Locke Lord’s recognized practice areas include:

National Tier 1

• Appellate Practice
• Banking and Finance Law
• Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
• Commercial Litigation
• Corporate Law
• Employment Law – Management
• Energy Law
• Insurance Law
• Litigation – Intellectual Property
• Litigation – Labor & Employment
• Oil & Gas Law
• Public Finance Law
• Real Estate Law
• Tax Law

Metropolitan Tier 1

ATLANTA

• Mergers & Acquisitions Law

AUSTIN

• Commercial Litigation
• Real Estate Law

BOSTON

• Banking and Finance Law
• Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
• Corporate Law
• Education Law
• Employment Law – Management
• Litigation – Labor & Employment
• Public Finance Law
• Tax Law

CHICAGO

• Commercial Litigation
• Insurance Law
• Litigation – Intellectual Property

CINCINNATI

• Public Finance Law

DALLAS

• Antitrust Law
• Appellate Practice
• Bet-the-Company Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Corporate Law
• Criminal Defense: White-Collar
• Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
• Employment Law – Management
• Energy Law
• Environmental Law
• Government Relations Practice
• Litigation – Banking & Finance
• Litigation – ERISA
• Litigation – Intellectual Property
• Litigation – Labor & Employment
• Litigation – Securities
• Litigation – Trusts & Estates
• Mergers & Acquisitions Law
• Real Estate Law
• Tax Law

HOUSTON

• Appellate Practice
• Arbitration
• Banking and Finance Law
• Commercial Litigation
• Corporate Law
• Derivatives and Futures Law
• Employment Law – Management
• Energy Law
• Environmental Law
• Litigation – Labor & Employment
• Oil & Gas Law
• Real Estate Law
• Trusts & Estates Law

LOS ANGELES

• Insurance Law
• Real Estate Law

NEW ORLEANS

• Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
• Real Estate Law

NEW YORK

• Insurance Law

RHODE ISLAND

• Banking and Finance Law
• Commercial Litigation
• Corporate Law
• Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law
• Mergers & Acquisitions Law
• Public Finance Law

WASHINGTON, D.C.

• Energy Law

WEST PALM BEACH

• Corporate Law

U.S. News – Best Lawyers® is an annual review of the country’s legal industry. The analysis by U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers is based on evaluations from clients and peer review. Firms are required to have at least one listed lawyer in a Best Lawyers practice area designation to be eligible for inclusion in the Best Law Firms report. Locke Lord has 152 lawyers listed in The Best Lawyers in America® 2023, with 38 lawyers recognized as Ones to Watch and six Lawyer of the Year recipients located in the Austin, Dallas, Houston and Providence offices.

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About Locke Lord LLP
Locke Lord is a full-service law firm with global reach and 20 offices designed to meet clients’ needs in the United States and around the world. The Firm has a history that spans more than 130 years and is a leader in the middle market arena. Locke Lord focuses on providing the highest levels of commitment, quality and service to clients across its five Key Sectors: Energy and Infrastructure; Finance and Financial Services; Insurance and Reinsurance; Pharmaceutical; and Private Equity. In addition, the Firm advises clients across a broad spectrum of other industries, including fund formation, venture capital, health care, public finance, real estate, technology, cybersecurity and white collar, while providing a wealth of experience through its complex litigation, intellectual property, tax, regulatory and transactional teams.

Locke Lord’s premier, nationally recognized Public Finance Practice Group was ranked No. 1 on The Bond Buyer’s list of top bond counsel in the nation for competitive sales during the first nine months of 2022, with 131 issues totaling $3.5 billion, the highest number of issues of any firm in the top 10. The team also ranked eighth in the nation on the Top Underwriter’s Counsel list, with 42 issues totaling $6.1 billion, including the representation of underwriters’ counsel to the syndicate of underwriters in the largest ESG bond pricing to date for the August 2022 issuance by ‎The Commonwealth of Massachusetts of its $2.7 billion Special Obligation Revenue Bonds 2022, ‎Series A and 2022 Series B social bonds.

Just a few of Locke Lord’s many recent notable bond counsel matters include:

• Representing the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority in its ‎issuance of $33 million bond anticipation notes
• Representing the Town of Nantucket in its issuance of $6.16 million General Obligation ‎Municipal Purpose Loan of 2022 Bonds
• Representing the Town of Tisbury in its issuance of $59.25 million General Obligation ‎Municipal Purpose Loan of 2022 Bonds

In addition to the competitive deals noted above, Locke Lord also recently served as bond counsel on the following notable negotiated deals:

• Representing the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency Revenue Bonds in its issuance of $375.5 million Northeastern University Issue, Series 2022
• Representing the New Hampshire Municipal Bond Bank in its issuance of $125.1 million Series C Bonds
• Representing the University of Maine System in its issuance of $120.33 million Revenue Bonds, Series 2022

Locke Lord’s Public Finance Practice Group has one of the largest bond counsel practices in the country. For more than 130 years, the Firm has been involved in the law of public borrowing and the federal tax and securities aspects of public debt obligations. The Firm’s public finance lawyers have extensive experience nationwide serving as bond counsel, disclosure counsel, underwriters’ counsel, issuer’s counsel, borrower’s counsel, bank counsel, special tax counsel and trustee’s counsel for governmental and quasi-governmental issuers, special purpose entities, tax-exempt organizations and other entities and financial institutions.

Dallas Office Managing Partner Elizabeth Mack, Chair of the Firm-wide Environmental Section – Real Estate and Corporate, has been named to D CEO’s 2023 Dallas 500 for the second consecutive year, recognizing the most influential leaders in North Texas. Award recipients were celebrated at an awards dinner on Nov. 16.

The Dallas 500 list, featuring the top North Texas business leaders and executives, is the culmination of months of research, interviews and conversations with extensive, high-level contacts in the regional business communities by D CEO editors.

Dallas Partner Harriet Miers, former Managing Partner of a Locke Lord predecessor firm and former Counsel to the President of the United States, has been chosen as the recipient of The American Lawyer’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Presented to no more than seven individuals annually, this distinguished recognition honors those who have left an indelible mark on the legal profession through their substantive area of work as well as a strong public service component, such as government work, diversity and inclusion efforts or some other form of public service. Miers was honored by The American Lawyer at its Industry Awards ceremony in New York on November 10.

Miers has been widely recognized for her efforts to create a more diverse, fair and equitable legal profession. Among her many civic and professional accomplishments, she currently serves as Chair of the Texas Access to Justice Commission, charged with developing and implementing initiatives designed to expand access to, and enhance the quality of, justice in civil legal matters for low-income Texans. In addition, Miers was the first woman to lead both the Dallas Bar Association and the State Bar of Texas as President. She also served as an At-Large Member of the Dallas City Council (elected citywide) and as the appointed Chairwoman of the Texas Lottery Commission. Miers has held several American Bar Association leadership roles, including Chair of the Board of Editors of the American Bar Journal and the Texas State Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates. She is also Immediate Past Chair of the Center for American and International Law Board of Trustees and an Executive Board Member of the SMU Dedman School of Law. A dedicated servant of the broader community, Miers is a past Chair and current member of the Board of Directors of the Dallas Breakfast Group, an organization focused on improving the quality of local governmental institutions, and sits on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star.

Miers was the first woman hired at the Dallas firm of Locke Purnell Boren Laney & Neely in 1972 and became the first woman to lead the Firm, then known as Locke Purnell Rain Harrell, in 1996. In 1999, when Locke Purnell merged with Houston-based Liddell Sapp Zivley Hill & LaBoon, Miers was integral to the merger and became Co-Managing Partner of the combined firm. She held that position until she left to serve in the administration of President George W. Bush from 2001-2007 as Staff Secretary, Deputy Chief of Staff and Counsel to the President. After her service in the White House, she returned to Locke Lord as a Partner in 2007. She is a member of the Firm’s Litigation Department and Public Law and Policy Practice Group.

Among Miers’ many accolades, she was honored with the Texas Bar Foundation’s Outstanding 50 Year Lawyer Award. She was also selected for induction into the Texas Legal Legends, the highest award bestowed by the State Bar of Texas, for her lasting impact and extraordinary contributions to the legal profession. She was named by The Texas Lawbook as one of 50 Lions of the Texas Bar and received the Sandra Day O’Connor Award from the Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism. Miers received the Texas Appleseed Good Apple Award, Legal Services of North Texas’ Merrill Hartman Award, Anti-Defamation League’s Jurisprudence Award and American Jewish Committee’s Human Relations Award. She has been honored with Distinguished Alumni Awards from both SMU and the SMU Dedman School of Law, which also presented her with the Robert G. Storey Award for Distinguished Achievement. She holds an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Pepperdine University.

For her work as Counsel to the President, Miers received the Department of Justice Edmund J. Randolph Award for her “dedicated service to justice, the President, and the United States of America.” She also received the Agency Seal Medal from the Central Intelligence Agency, an award given to people outside of the Agency who have made significant contributions to its work.

Read Harriet’s profile in The American Lawyer here (subscription may be required).

Boston Magazine has named Partners Richard Glovsky and Adrienne Walker to its Top Lawyers list, which showcases the region’s finest legal minds.

Glovsky, a member of the Firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group, advises clients on the full range of employment law issues and handles employment-related litigation, including class actions, wage and hour issues, and discrimination and retaliation claims. He also serves as a trusted adviser and general counsel to companies and their senior executives.

Walker, a member of the Firm’s Board of Directors and Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group, focuses her practice on out of court restructuring, complex Chapter 11 bankruptcies and state court insolvency proceedings, often advancing the interests of secured debt holders, investors and significant trade creditors in maximizing value through negotiated solutions, and where warranted in litigation.

To compile the list, Boston Magazine invited lawyers to nominate up to three of their peers. The top vote-getters in each category were then reviewed by an advisory board of select lawyers, chosen for their credentials and the high number of votes they received.