Adrienne Walker, Jonathan Aberman and Mark Silverman, Partners in Locke Lord’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group, have been recognized as standout lawyers in the 2023 Lawdragon 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers list. Lawyers recognized by Lawdragon range from transactional lawyers, whose ways with finance can transform a distressed company, to financial litigators, both of the traditional bankruptcy court variety and, increasingly, those who challenge and defend financial restructuring moves that have become inherent to distressed deals.
Locke Lord’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Insolvency Practice Group has broad experience in complex bankruptcy cases, out-of-court restructurings, cross-border proceedings and other distressed situations. The Firm’s lawyers regularly advise premier financial institutions, institutional investors, bondholders and bond trustees, distressed businesses, CMBS special servicers, asset purchasers, debt investors, finance companies, insurers and sureties to enforce creditors’ rights and to achieve strategic goals in the context of bankruptcy, loan workouts, receiverships, structured transactions, commercial litigation and debt restructurings.
Lindsey Kress, based in Locke Lord’s San Francisco office, has been named to the Super Lawyers® 2023 Northern California Rising Stars list.
The Northern California Rising Stars list recognizes the area’s top attorneys age 40 and younger or who are in the first 10 years of practice. Northern California Rising Stars are selected through process of nomination, independent research and peer evaluation. Only 2.5 percent of eligible lawyers in Northern California are selected to the list each year.
Kress concentrates her practice on defending clients in class action and financial services litigation as well as advising on privacy and cybersecurity issues. She regularly represents clients in complex matters in state and federal courts across the country. Kress has second-chair trial experience and has argued cases at both the trial and appellate level. She is also a member of the Firm’s Privacy and Cyber Litigation and Enforcement Team, where she advises on emerging privacy and cybersecurity litigation and compliance issues related to the collection, use, sharing and protection of data.
June 1, 2023 – Legal directory Chambers USA has recognized 64 Locke Lord lawyers and 27 of the Firm’s practice areas for excellence in its 2023 edition. Eight of the Firm’s lawyers have achieved Band 1 rankings in their respective practice areas, and the Firm’s Energy: Oil & Gas (Transactional) practice has earned a nationwide distinction.
Locke Lord lawyers honored on a nationwide level include: Nick J. DiGiovanni (Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Reinsurance), Terry Radney (Energy: Oil & Gas Transactional) and Bill Swanstrom (Energy: Oil & Gas Transactional).
Below is a full list of Locke Lord lawyers ranked in Chambers USA 2023:
Nationwide
Nick J. DiGiovanni – Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Reinsurance
Terry Radney – Energy: Oil & Gas (Transactional)
Bill Swanstrom – Energy: Oil & Gas (Transactional)
Florida (West Palm Beach)
Mark-David Adams – Banking & Finance: Public Finance
Illinois (Chicago)
Jon Biasetti – Insurance: Transactional & Regulatory
Nick J. DiGiovanni – Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Reinsurance (Band 1)
Samuel Stempel – Real Estate
Paige D. Waters – Insurance: Transactional & Regulatory
Louisiana (New Orleans)
Brad C. Knapp – Bankruptcy/Restructuring
Omer F. ”Rick” Kuebel III – Bankruptcy/Restructuring
Massachusetts (Boston)
Christopher M. Flanagan – Tax
Richard D. Glovsky – Labor & Employment
Stanley Keller – Corporate/M&A
Richard A. Manley Jr. – Banking & Finance: Public Finance
Stephanie H. Massey – Banking & Finance: Public Finance
Jennifer Capasso Mendonça – Banking & Finance: Public Finance
Allison M. O’Neil – Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
David L. Ruediger – Banking & Finance
Walter J. St. Onge III – Banking & Finance: Public Finance (Band 1)
Adrienne K. Walker – Bankruptcy/Restructuring
Jonathan W. Young – Bankruptcy/Restructuring
New York
Nicholas R. Williams – Insurance: Transactional & Regulatory
Rhode Island (Providence)
Peter J. Barrett – Corporate/Commercial
Joseph A. Farside Jr. – Corporate/Commercial
Mark W. Freel – Litigation: General Commercial (Band 1)
Christopher D. Graham – Corporate/Commercial (Band 1)
Douglas G. Gray – Corporate/Commercial
Paul M. Mahoney Jr. – Corporate/Commercial
Charles F. Rogers – Real Estate
Texas
Austin
Brad Hawley – Real Estate
Susan A. Kidwell – Litigation: Appellate
Tai C. Tran – Real Estate
Tammy Ward Woffenden – Health Care
Dallas
E. Philip Bush – Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation (Dallas, Fort Worth & Surrounds)
Paul E. Coggins – Antitrust and Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations (Band 1)
Don M. Glendenning – Corporate/M&A
W. Scott Hastings – Litigation: Appellate
Elizabeth E. Mack – Environment
Kip Mendrygal – Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
Michael V. Powell – Litigation: General Commercial (Dallas, Fort Worth & Surrounds)
Susan M. Rainey – Environment
Seth M. Roberts – Litigation: General Commercial (Dallas, Fort Worth & Surrounds)
Cynthia Timms – Litigation: Appellate
Bradley C. Weber – Antitrust
Houston
John K. Arnold – Energy: State Regulatory & Litigation (Oil & Gas) (Band 1)
Charles S. Baker – Intellectual Property
M. Benjamin Cowan – Environment
Chris Dove – Litigation: Appellate
Laura L. Ferguson – Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation (Houston & Surrounds)
Gerald D. (Jerry) Higdon – Environment
Stephen C. Jacobs – Real Estate
Mia Lorick – Litigation: General Commercial (Houston & Surrounds)
Gerald J. Pels – Environment
Joe Perillo – Corporate/M&A
Edward A. Razim III – Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation (Houston & Surrounds) (Band 1)
J. Michael Rose – Labor & Employment
Buddy Sanders – Tax
Bill Swanstrom – Corporate/M&A
Washington, D.C.
Denise Hanna – Health Care
Locke Lord practice areas recognized in Chambers USA 2023 are:
Nationwide
Energy: Oil & Gas (Transactional)
California
Insurance: Insurer
Florida
Banking & Finance
Illinois
Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Reinsurance
Insurance: Transactional & Regulatory
Louisiana
Bankruptcy/Restructuring
Massachusetts
Banking & Finance
Banking & Finance: Public Finance
Bankruptcy/Restructuring
Health Care
Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
Rhode Island
Corporate/Commercial
Litigation: General Commercial
Texas
Antitrust
Corporate/M&A: The Elite
Energy: State Regulatory & Litigation (Electricity)
Environment
Health Care
Insurance
Labor & Employment
Litigation: Appellate
Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
Real Estate
Tax
Dallas
Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
Litigation: General Commercial
Houston
Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
Chambers & Partners has been ranking lawyers across all industries since 1990. Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business surveys and interviews clients and lawyers across the United States to determine which firms and lawyers are considered leaders in their field. Rankings assess key qualities in the legal field, including technical legal ability, professional conduct, client service, commercial awareness/astuteness, diligence and commitment.
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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 135 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.
New York Partners Alan Clement, Chair of Locke Lord’s Intellectual Property Department; Peter Fill, Co-Chair of the Firm’s Patent Strategies Practice Group; and Mark Hannemann; and Steven Trybus; Houston and Austin Partner Charles Baker and Dallas Partner Charles Phipps, Co-Chairs of the Firm’s IP Litigation Practice Group; and Atlanta Partner Tim Xia, Co-Chair of the Firm’s International Transactions Practice Group, have been recognized in the 2023 edition of IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals. They are included among the leading patent services providers in prosecution, litigation and licensing.
In addition, Locke Lord has been recognized among the leading IP litigation firms again in Illinois and in New York.
Published by Intellectual Asset Management, the IAM Patent 1000 identifies top patent professionals in key jurisdictions from around the globe. The guide is compiled following an extensive research process. Over a period of five months, the IAM research team conducted thousands of extensive interviews with in-house counsel and lawyers around the world to identify the leading players in the field.
Six Locke Lord Providence lawyers were selected as 2023 Rhode Island Monthly Professional Excellence in Law honorees. Honorees are nominated and chosen by their peers, exemplifying the leading local lawyers in their areas of practice. They are:
Joseph Farside, Antitrust Law
Douglas Gray, Business Law
Gene McDermott, Securities Law
Charles Rogers, Real Estate
Krystle Tadesse, Antitrust Law
Alexandra Lancey, Rising Star
Read more about the 2023 Rhode Island Monthly Professional Excellence in Law honorees here.
Nina Huerta, a member of Locke Lord’s Executive Committee and Managing Partner of the Firm’s Los Angeles office, was named by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the 2023 Top 100 Lawyers, honoring the accomplishments of the region’s most impactful lawyers who demonstrate exceptional legal skill and achievements across the full spectrum of responsibility, exemplary leadership and contributions to the Los Angeles community at large. In addition, Huerta was also recognized with the Top 100 Lawyers Specialty Award in Champion of Diversity.
Most recently, Huerta led a Locke Lord team that secured a jury verdict in favor of Farmers Insurance Exchange and certain affiliated entities (“Farmers”) in a closely watched trial involving claims of age discrimination brought by California-based former insurance agents under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. Following an eight-week trial and just two days of deliberation, the jury ultimately agreed with Farmers that the former insurance agents were independent contractors and were therefore not subject to the employment laws at issue in the case.
Huerta, who has served as Los Angeles Managing Partner since 2016, is one of the first Latinas to serve in this role for any major law firm. She serves as President of the Mexican American Bar Foundation, the largest scholarship organization of its kind, having funded over $2 million in law school scholarships and bar stipends. Huerta is also a member of the Latina Lawyers Bar Association, the Labor and Employment Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles’ Racial Justice and Equality Advisory Council, the National Employment Law Council and serves on the Los Angeles Summer Legal Institute Steering Committee of Just the Beginning – A Pipeline Organization.
Read more about the Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2023 Top 100 Lawyers and Top 100 Lawyers Specialty Award in Champion of Diversity here (subscription may be required).
Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson, a Partner in Locke Lord’s nationally recognized Public Finance Practice Group, was recently re-elected as Mayor of the City of Dallas with 98.7% of the vote — the highest vote percentage garnered by a mayoral candidate facing opposition of any sort in Dallas history, breaking a 114-year-old record.
“This historic victory is further confirmation of what we already know: our city is more united than it has ever been, and we want Big Dallas Energy to continue,” said Mayor Johnson. “I am beyond grateful to the people of Dallas for their continued trust and confidence in my leadership.”
In June 2019, he became only the second African American to be elected Mayor of Dallas. Mayor Johnson represented the City of Dallas in the Texas House of Representatives from 2010 to 2019, where he served on a remarkable 20 legislative committees, and he was elected by his House colleagues to serve as the Chairman of the Dallas delegation to the Texas Legislature from 2017-2019.
Throughout his legal career, Mayor Johnson has developed extensive experience representing major issuers of municipal securities as well as national and regional investment banking firms that underwrite municipal securities.
Chicago Partner Molly McGinnis Stine, Co-Chair of Locke Lord’s Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice Group, was selected as a member of Law360’s Cybersecurity & Privacy Editorial Advisory Board for 2023. This is Stine’s fourth year to serve on the editorial advisory board. As a member, she will provide feedback and share insight on how best to shape this year’s reporting on these important topics at Law360.
Read the full Law360 article here (subscription may be required).
Locke Lord received the Aspire Diversity Award from Lawyers of Color, highlighting the Firm’s ongoing commitment to building a diverse organization and a more inclusive legal profession. The award was presented at a reception on May 18 in Washington, D.C.
According to Lawyers of Color, the Aspire Diversity Award honors law firms dedicated to equity, diversity and inclusion in their staff, managing partners, executive or management committee and practice group heads, and that employ 4 percent or more Black attorneys. Lawyers of Color is a nonprofit devoted to promoting diversity in the legal profession and advancing democracy and equality in marginalized communities.
Diversity and inclusion is one of the Firm’s five core values and an integral part of the Firm’s strategic plan. Locke Lord understands that fostering an inclusive environment results in better decision-making, better outcomes for clients and a firm where team members can be successful and thrive. Read more about Locke Lord’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Locke Lord is proud to have represented Phoenix Tower International (PTI) in a $2 billion cross-border syndicated loan transaction that was named Deal of the Year by Latin Lawyer in the Banking and Finance category.
Led by Jason Ulezalka (New York), along with Christine McCay, Brandon Curtin and Mason Marek (all of Boston), the transaction involved PTI subsidiaries in 17 countries across North and South America, allowing PTI to consolidate five separate credit facilities into a multi-tranche senior secured term loan.
The proceeds of the loan were used to fund, among other things, PTI’s acquisition of up to 3,800 telecommunications sites in Chile from WOM S.A., making PTI the largest communications tower owner in Chile.
Latin Lawyer announced the winners of its 17th annual Deal of the Year Awards at a charity dinner in São Paulo on May 11, 2023.