Locke Lord Re-Elects Chair, Vice Chairs; New Co-Chair of Board of Directors; Several New Members to Executive Committee and Board

February 9, 2023 – Locke Lord’s Executive Committee has re-elected David Taylor (Houston) as Chair of the Firm and Jennifer Kenedy (Chicago), Bill Swanstrom (Houston) and Thomas Yoxall (Dallas) as Vice Chairs of its Executive Committee. The Executive Committee also has named Rusty Perdew (Chicago) as the new Co-Chair of the Firm’s Board of Directors. Perdew has an active practice litigating consumer class action and commercial cases nationwide, including a focus on representing lenders and loan servicers.

In addition, Locke Lord’s Partners have elected three new members to the Firm’s Executive Committee and six new members to its Board of Directors.

The new members of the Firm’s Executive Committee are Nina Huerta (Los Angeles), Kip Mendrygal (Dallas) and Tai Tran (Austin). Also remaining on Locke Lord’s Executive Committee with Taylor, Kenedy, Swanstrom and Yoxall are David Grant (London); Alan Levin (New York/Hartford); Paul Mahoney (Providence); Richard A. Manley Jr. (Boston); Paul Nason (Dallas); Allison O’Neil (Boston); and Steve Whitmer (Chicago).

Locke Lord’s Board of Directors helps direct the Firm’s vision and strategy and collaborates on other Firm-wide initiatives. The Board reports to Taylor and the Executive Committee. The new members of the Firm’s Board of Directors are John Arnold (Houston); Kyle Davis (Dallas); John Emmanuel (New York); Sean Fifield (Los Angeles); Andrea Kerstein (Chicago); and Jenn Mendonça (Boston). Remaining on the Board of Directors with Perdew are Lauren Fincher (Austin); Bill Foley (New York); Dave Foster (Austin); Doug Gray (Providence); Denise Hanna (Washington, D.C.); Greg Heath (Houston); Ben Henry (London); Andrew Hughes (Providence); Elizabeth Mack (Dallas); Hanna Norvell (Houston); Ben Sykes (Chicago); Adrienne Walker (Boston); and Scott Wofsy (Stamford).

Newly elected members of Locke Lord’s Executive Committee:

• Huerta is Managing Partner of the Firm’s Los Angeles office and a member of the Labor and Employment Practice Group, where she focuses on defending companies in complex and class action litigation, typically involving labor and employment claims. She also assists companies with employment due diligence and proactive risk management in relation to mergers and acquisitions.
• Mendrygal, a member of the Firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice Group, focuses his practice on white collar investigations and defense involving public companies, private entities, financial institutions, corporate executives and high-profile individuals in connection with a variety of confidential and highly sensitive civil, criminal and regulatory investigations.
• Tran, a member of Locke Lord’s Real Estate and Finance Practice Group, focuses his practice on a broad spectrum of commercial real estate and finance transactions on behalf of owners, developers, investors, real estate funds and financial institutions, including real estate acquisitions and sales, development and leasing, construction and permanent financing as well as loan workouts and foreclosures.

Newly elected members of Locke Lord’s Board of Directors:

• Arnold, a member of the Firm’s Energy and Infrastructure Practice Group, represents energy companies in a broad range of regulatory and commercial matters, including regulatory compliance and disputes as well as energy project development and commercial transactions. Well-versed in midstream and electricity issues, he serves clients in matters before the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
• Davis, a member of the Firm’s Real Estate and Finance Practice Group, provides counsel in a variety of commercial real estate and finance transactions. She represents clients in acquisitions, development and dispositions of various types of real property assets and institutional borrowers and lenders in commercial construction and term loans secured by industrial parks, multifamily projects, office buildings, retail shopping centers and condominium projects.
• Emmanuel is a member of the Firm’s Insurance Regulatory and Transactional Practice Group and focuses on insurance regulatory and general corporate law. He represents clients from all sectors of the financial services industry and has represented clients with respect to administrative matters before state insurance departments. Emmanuel is also Co-Editor of the Locke Lord Excess and Surplus Lines Law Manual.
• Fifield’s practice focuses on intellectual property matters involving the protection and licensing of copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and related intellectual property rights. He is Co-Chair of the Firm’s Trademark, Copyright and Advertising Practice Group and advises clients on licensing, general business contracts and financing, and merger and acquisition transactions.
• Kerstein, Chair of the Firm’s Health and Managed Care Litigation Practice Group, has significant experience representing insurers and reinsurers in insurance and health care disputes and arbitrations, primarily in the life insurance and health insurance lines. She also has experience representing both local and international plaintiffs and defendants in other complex commercial litigation and arbitration matters.
• Mendonça, a member of the Firm’s Public Finance Practice Group, focuses her practice exclusively on all aspects of taxable and tax-exempt finance for governmental and 501(c)(3) entities, as bond counsel, borrower’s counsel, underwriter’s counsel, lender’s counsel and disclosure counsel. She has experience with virtually every type of public finance transaction and all aspects of financing transactions.

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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.‎