Troutman Pepper Elects 19 New Partners, Promotes Seven to Counsel
NEW YORK - Troutman Pepper has promoted 19 attorneys to the partnership. The new partners practice in the firm’s Atlanta, Berwyn, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, San Diego, Washington, D.C. and Wilmington offices and span 13 diverse practices.
“This marks the first class of new partners since our legacy firms’ merger to become Troutman Pepper and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to developing and supporting our outstanding legal talent,” said Tom Cole, managing partner at Troutman Pepper. “We congratulate them for reaching this career milestone and look forward to their contributions to the future of Troutman Pepper.”
Partners:
Christopher A. Araujo (San Diego/Finance & Restructuring) devotes his practice to the representation of institutional clients in commercial financing transactions with a broad range of borrowers including public and private corporations, life science and technology companies, real estate investment funds, venture capital funds and other private equity funding entities.
Constance Brewster (Atlanta/Tax & Benefits) works closely with human resource professionals, executive officers and plan fiduciaries of public and private companies on all aspects of employee benefits and executive compensation matters. She regularly advises on the design, implementation and administration of tax qualified retirement plans, nonqualified retirement plans, and welfare benefit plans and routinely works with clients on complex corporate transactions and restructurings to address employee and benefit transition issues. Brewster is dedicated to pro bono work, through which she assists low-income cancer patients, veterans and others with the preparation of wills, financial powers of attorney and nominations of guardians for minor children.
Timothy A. Butler (Atlanta/White Collar Litigation & Investigations) focuses on data privacy and technology matters. As a top-notch trial attorney, Butler leverages his experience working for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and with various state attorneys general to protect his clients and guide their business activities.
Clayton De Arment (Richmond/Capital Projects & Infrastructure) is a corporate and transactional attorney with broad experience across many industries, but with a particular focus on the energy sector and renewable energy projects. De Arment helps guide clients through sophisticated transactions with sound and practical business judgment.
Tracey E. Diamond (Princeton/Labor & Employment) focuses her practice on workplace matters and partners with clients to structure their workforce in the most efficient and effective way possible while maintaining legal compliance. Diamond defends large and small employers across multiple industries against allegations of employment discrimination, harassment and retaliation, and in wage and hour and restrictive covenant matters. As a former in-house counsel and human resources director, employers trust Diamond to advise them on best practices related to employment law.
Molly S. DiRago (Chicago/Business Litigation) litigates complex commercial matters, including partnership and shareholder disputes, corporate data breaches, privacy matters, class actions, consumer fraud, and breach of contract. DiRago is a member of the firm’s burgeoning international arbitration team and its privacy and technology group. She takes a results-oriented approach and finds creative solutions for her clients, whether through litigation or extrajudicially.
Amanda Gilmore Duckworth (Washington, D.C./Multifamily Housing Finance) focuses her practice on real estate transactions and related areas including the leasing, financing, development and disposition of retail and commercial properties. She represents lenders in the origination, sale and servicing of loans under Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac multifamily programs.
Luke Nicholas Eaton (Los Angeles/Construction) focuses on construction, business disputes and commercial collections, representing clients in both litigation and arbitration. He has substantial experience handling and evaluating construction claims, including mechanics lien, stop payment notice and payment bond claims, as well as advising clients on how to pursue and/or avoid such claims.
Stuart Jones (Charlotte/Real Estate) represents real estate owners, developers and investors in a wide range of commercial real estate transactions, including the acquisition, development, financing and disposition of office, retail, single-family residential, self-storage, industrial and mixed-use projects. Jones also has an extensive leasing practice and regularly represents clients in the preparation and negotiation of complex office, industrial and retail leases for space in urban and suburban markets throughout the United States.
Scott Kelly (Richmond/Consumer Financial Services) is an experienced litigator representing clients in national class actions and complex business disputes – most notably in Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, and Securities Exchange Act litigation. Kelly has served as counsel on successful appeals before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Ninth, and D.C. Circuits. He also has represented clients in national class actions filed in federal courts in Virginia, Nevada, California, Ohio, Arizona, New York, Pennsylvania, and Iowa, as well as dozens of state-only class actions.
James H. S. Levine (Wilmington/Business Litigation) concentrates his practice on complex commercial and corporate disputes, including breach of contract, stockholder and partnership litigation, statutory proceedings under the Delaware General Corporation Law, and high stakes intellectual property matters. He also advises clients on transactions involving corporate governance principles and Delaware law issues.
Vaughn Morrison (New York/Capital Projects & Infrastructure) represents financing parties, utility companies, sponsors and corporates in the acquisition, development, construction, financing and operational management of renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure projects. Having guided many projects through their life cycle, Morrison offers clients uncommon foresight and acumen.
Alan Poole (Atlanta/Construction) is an experienced communication and electric infrastructure attorney with a demonstrated history of handling complex matters through management of large legal teams and as main outside counsel. Clients, such as utilities, communications providers, construction companies and REITs, rely on Poole to solve their most challenging problems and execute critical transactions related to complex infrastructure in all parts of the country.
Agustin Rodriguez (Richmond/White Collar Litigation & Investigations) provides cross-functional, multidisciplinary counsel to advertising, marketing and consumer goods and services companies. A seasoned business counselor, Rodriguez leverages his background as in-house counsel to guide clients as they navigate federal, state and local regulation of the marketing, advertising, sale and taxation of products and services, with a special focus on tobacco, cannabis, alcohol and other consumer products and services.
David Shaw (Washington, D.C./Intellectual Property) litigates patent cases and other intellectual property disputes in federal courts and before the U.S. International Trade Commission. Shaw’s representative experience includes a broad range of technologies from the dental and medical, automotive, mobile telephone, personal computing, and semiconductor fields. Shaw combines biotechnology industry and first chair trial experience to counsel clients through every step of technically and legally challenging cases.
Gwendolyn Tawresey (Boston/Intellectual Property) represents clients in intellectual property matters, including patent litigation, contract disputes involving intellectual property, patent licensing, post-grant proceedings before the Patent and Trademark Office, and diligence. Her engineering background and trial experience allow her to guide clients through all aspects of this complex area of the law.
Julia Tomec (Philadelphia/Real Estate) concentrates her practice in commercial real estate matters and other corporate business transactions. Ms. Tomec has experience in a broad range of real estate transactions, including the acquisition, sale, development, leasing and financing of industrial, office and retail properties.
Karlie Clemons Webb (Atlanta/Environmental & Natural Resources) has a national practice, focused on advising clients on environmental components of both asset and stock transactions, including advising on Brownfields and other cleanup programs. Webb also has a national regulatory practice, advising clients on all aspects of environmental compliance, focused in particular on RCRA, CERCLA, and EPCRA compliance, rulemaking, and permitting. Webb also defends federal and state environmental enforcement actions and advises on facility-wide environmental compliance issues.
Erica Stalnecker Wilson (Berwyn/Corporate) focuses her practice on mergers and acquisitions, where she represents public and private companies, and private equity firms and their portfolio companies, in a variety of domestic and cross-border transactions and in a wide range of industries. Wilson has experience in a broad range of transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, carve-outs, venture financings, joint ventures and other direct investments.
In addition, Troutman Pepper promoted seven attorneys to counsel from the firm’s Orange County, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Richmond, and Washington D.C. offices and across 7 practices.
Counsel:
Nicholas “Nick” H. Grainger (Richmond/Real Estate) represents clients in all aspects of real estate acquisition, disposition, development and commercial leasing, with particular experience in acquisition and development of enterprise and multitenant data centers and solar facilities throughout the United States.
James A. Hazlehurst (Orange County/Insurance & Reinsurance) represents clients in insurance coverage disputes and other complex litigation. He handles a wide range of matters, with particular emphasis on general liability insurance and bad faith claims.
Stephanie L. Jonaitis (Princeton/Business Litigation) concentrates her practice in commercial litigation and construction litigation. Clients rely on her experience in resolving complex disputes, including contract claims, construction liens, bid protests, commercial disputes, and other litigation, including restrictive covenant and franchise matters.
Stephen W. Kiefer (Pittsburgh/Construction) has experience representing owners, EPC contractors, equipment manufacturers, general contractors, design professionals, and building product suppliers in disputes arising from a wide array of construction projects. Kiefer concentrates his practice in commercial litigation matters, with an emphasis on construction-related claims.
Sean P. McConnell (Philadelphia/Intellectual Property) assists clients with the development, management, monetization, and protection of intellectual property assets, with a particular focus on trademarks, brand development, brand protection, marketing, and advertising.
Elizabeth (“Betty”) L. Segaar (Richmond/Corporate) represents issuers and underwriters in connection with all aspects of public and private securities offerings, with a significant portion of her work concentrated in regulated industries, including the energy, utility and telecommunications industries.
Andrew Thurmond (Washington D.C./Capital Projects & Infrastructure) represents financial institutions and project developers on major infrastructure projects with a focus on the development, construction, financing, operations and management of energy projects, primarily in the renewable energy field.
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Troutman Pepper is a national law firm known for its higher commitment to client care. With more than 1,200 attorneys in 23 U.S. cities, the firm partners with clients across every industry
sector to help them achieve their business goals. Read more about the firm’s litigation, transactional, and regulatory practices at
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