Wind Power Team joins Chadbourne & Parke in Los Angeles

02/26/07

Wind Power Team joins Chadbourne & Parke in Los Angeles

International law firm Chadbourne & Parke hired Edward Zaelke and Adam Umanoff as partners in its renewable energy practice group in the firm's Los Angeles office. Zaelke and Umanoff join Chadbourne from the Los Angeles office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. At Morgan Lewis, Zaelke led the Renewable Energy Practice Group, focusing on project development and finance. Umanoff worked on the development and financing of energy projects, particularly in the wind sector. The duo will continue their focus on wind power and other alternative energy sources in the new firm too.

Chadbourne hopes to create a dominant wind power law practice with the addition of these two prominent attorneys. Zaelke and Umanoff will join Chadbourne's already strong team comprising two attorneys in Washington, DC - Keith Martin, partner and co-head of the project finance practice, and Adam Wenner, a prominent regulatory lawyer. The team also consists of Paul Weber, Rich Sonkin, and Charlie Hord, all New York office partners.

One of the fastest growing segments of the global energy business, the wind power industry saw an annual 26 percent growth rate over the last five years. The firm's capabilities in the area also fetched it the "Renewables Legal Advisor of the Year" award in 2005 instituted by the Infrastructure Journal. Chadbourne' attorneys offer a full range of legal services to its extensive client base ranging from M&A, securities, and project finance to private funds and government contract matters.

Mintz Levin, Thompson noted for diversity appreciation
Prominent law firms, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C., and Thompson & Knight LLP were selected among the list of Multicultural Law's 2007 Top 100 Law Firms for Diversity. For Mintz Levin, this award is second in a row after the firm was named one of Vault, Inc.'s, Top 20 law firm in diversity, last August.

The survey by Multicultural Law Magazine was conducted among 200 law firms, and compiles an annual diversity list. It identifies law firms that address diversity issues within the firm with respect to power, leadership, and integrity. The publication also "talks about the workplace diversity and the roles that minorities and women play in today's business world".

Individually, the firms are committed to encourage diversity within their firm culture. The full-service 480-lawyer firm Mintz Levin has a 12-member Diversity Committee, composed of partners and non-attorney professionals. The committee reviews existing and new policies which aid in the recruiting, retention, and mentoring of its diverse employees. With more than 420 attorneys across its offices world over, Thompson & Knight has also taken vital steps toward achieving its target of diversity for its "legal, local, national, and global communities," said Pauline E. Higgins, Partner and Chief Diversity Officer.

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Kite dived to make a knot before being grounded
Dave Kite sure knows the risks of leaving things unattended. As soon as a St. Clair County Circuit Judge sentenced him to a five-year jail term for stealing a lawnmower, 23-year-old David Kite decided to tie the knot with his girlfriend Victoria Smith and applied for a furlough. When the furlough was rejected, the lovers took all by surprise by asking the court to get them married then and there. So, the Judge who passed the sentence upon Kite, ended up in helping him to tie the knot. Seems Dave is too smart to leave loose strings around before his temporary retirement from public life.