Five attorneys leave Akerman Senterfitt to join Fisher & Phillips in Orlando
After losing six of its top attorneys to Littler Mendelsohn, a giant labor and employment firm, Fisher & Phillips, LLP, made up for its loss by adding five new lawyers from Akerman Senterfitt to its team on September 1. The team of five of Florida's most respected labor and employment attorneys will be led by Jeffrey Mandel and includes Vasilis Katsafanas, David Kornreich, Benton Wood, and David Young. The firm hopes to leverage on the team's vast experience in their area of practice. Mandel, Kornreich, and Wood will join Fisher & Phillips as partners, while Katsafanas will be of counsel and Young will serve as an associate.
Miami-based law firm Arnstein & Lehr, LLP, has launched a new advisory group to assist banks and mortgage lenders facing demands to repurchase defaulted mortgages. The new practice group will complement the firm's considerable bankruptcy and restructuring expertise, according to Konstantinos Armiros, firm partner and the practice group's chair. Armiros added that the group's expertise will prove to be vital at a time when the "mortgage industry is in crisis." The group will offer clients analysis of regulatory and other statutory obligations of mortgage originators and lenders. The group's lawyers, who have more than three decades of combined experience representing banks and distressed companies, will also assist clients with creative strategies to assess potential exposure. Founded in 1893, Arnstein & Lehr has been assisting both national and international clients with diverse and complex business, litigation, local government, tax and estate planning, and real estate matters.
King & Spalding opens office in Frankfurt
White-collar litigator Richard M. Steingard joins Sheppard Mullin
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP, has appointed white-collar litigator Richard M. Steingard as special counsel to lead the firm's white-collar and civil fraud defense practice in its Los Angeles office. With 25 years of criminal defense experience, Steingard was a solo practitioner in Los Angeles for 17 years prior to joining the firm. He specializes in criminal trial and appellate practice primarily related to the federal courts and pre- and post-indictment representation of individuals and corporations. A graduate of Loyola Law School, Steingard's recent cases have involved RICO matters, mail and wire fraud, political corruption, trade secrets, securities and foreign export violations, tax offenses, and environmental offenses.
Arnall Golden Gregory makes Glenn Hendrix a managing partner
Atlanta-based law firm Arnall Golden Gregory, LLP, has made partner Glenn P. Hendrix a managing partner in the firm's litigation department, effective January 1, 2008. In his new capacity, Hendrix will oversee the firm's business and strategic planning. He will succeed William H. Kitchens, who will continue to practice in the areas of food and drug law, environmental law, and trade association law. Kitchens served as managing partner of the firm for 12 years. Hendrix, who said he feels "both honored and challenged" by his election to the post, stated that he will "continue constructing the best possible platform for serving the interests of clients." Arnall Golden Gregory counsels clients on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets financing, strategic alliances, joint ventures, litigation, and other business-related matters.
