Seyfarth Shaw Names Twenty New Partners to Firm

Chicago, IL (April 2, 2007) - - Seyfarth Shaw LLP, one of America’s leading full service law firms, is pleased to announce that twenty attorneys have been invited to join the partnership effective January 1, 2007.  The new partners are: Charles L. Bachman, Jr., Brett C. Bartlett, Louann Bronstein, Catherine L. Burns, Robert J. Carty, Jr., Louis S. Chronowski, Jr., Michael A. Cox, Steven M. Crainer, Jeffrey D. Cunningham, Anne E. Duprey, Timothy Hix, J. Scott Humphrey, Aaron R. Lubeley, Dean A. Martoccia, Eric R. McDonough, Devjani Mishra, Alfred L. Sanderson, Jr.,  L. Lynnette Sarno, Andrew F. Shure and Scott J. Smith.

"These attorneys embody Seyfarth Shaw’s high standard of client service and professional commitment to the practice of law.  It is with pleasure that we welcome them into the partnership and wish them continued success,” stated J. Stephen Poor, Chair and Managing Partner of Seyfarth Shaw.

Charles L. Bachman, Jr. is a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Department and is based in the Atlanta office.  His practice involves counseling clients regarding employment law issues and defending employers sued in employment related lawsuits brought in federal and state courts throughout the United States. Charles’s employment litigation practice includes cases involving allegations of sex, race, national origin, disability and age discrimination, sexual harassment, reasonable accommodation, breach-of-contract and wrongful discharge. He attended Vanderbilt University (B.S., 1996) and the University of Georgia School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1999).

Brett C. Bartlett is a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Department and the Atlanta Office Leader of the firm’s Wage & Hour Complex Litigation Practice Group.  His practice focuses on the defense of complex federal and state wage and hour litigation.  He also provides preventative counseling and change management assistance to employers wishing to limit their exposure to investigation and litigation under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the state laws that require employers to pay overtime and minimum wages to their employees.  Brett graduated from Oberlin College (B.A., 1994) and Mercer University (J.D., 1999).

Louann Bronstein is in the Business Services Department and is resident in the Atlanta office.  Her transactional practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and on equity and debt financings, including venture capital and mezzanine level financing transactions.  Louann’s broad-based corporate practice covers a diverse array of business and commercial matters, including business formation, business combinations, commercial agreements, consulting and employment agreements and other general corporate matters. Louann also includes intellectual property law as an ancillary component of her practice.  She went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (B.A., 1983) and Georgia State University School of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 1999).

Catherine L. Burns is the Business Services Department in the Boston office. She concentrates her practice in representing businesses, real estate investors, developers, landlords, tenants and individual property owners in all areas of commercial real estate. A substantial portion of her practice is centered on real estate acquisition and development, financing and commercial leasing of all types. Catherine has also assists clients in 1031 exchange transactions, sale-leaseback negotiations, joint ventures and loan defeasance.  She graduated from Boston University (B.S., cum laude, 1994) and received her law degree from Suffolk University (J.D., cum laude, 1997).

Robert J. Carty , Jr. is in the Labor & Employment Department and is resident in the Houston office.  He began his practice in 1994 as a judge advocate in the United States Air Force, where he served as Deputy Staff Judge Advocate at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas.  In addition to handling courts-martial and other military justice matters, Rob handled all of Laughlin AFB's labor & employment issues.  Since that time, Rob has handled a variety of complex litigation matters ranging from multi-plaintiff discrimination and wage-and-hour cases to commercial, product-liability, and environmental matters.  He is a graduate of the University of Texas (J.D., 1991; M.B.A., 1992 and B.B.A., 1987).

Louis S. Chronowski, Jr. is in the Chicago office in the Litigation Department with particular litigation experience regarding franchise/dealer agreements, trade secrets, restrictive covenants, patents and trademarks. Lou has represented financial institutions, sporting goods manufacturers, truck manufacturers and service providers. He went to Purdue University (B.S., with distinction, 1990), DePaul University (M.B.A., with distinction, 1995) and IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law (J.D., high honors, 1999).

Michael Cox, a partner in the Chicago office, is a member of the Labor & Employment Department.  He has significant and successful experience litigating employment discrimination claims, wrongful termination and Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower actions, contract disputes, and various other employment-related claims through trial court and appellate proceedings, administrative hearings, mediation and arbitration.  In addition, Michael has extensive experience providing employment and labor counseling services to both large and small public and private companies and not-for-profit organizations, counseling his clients concerning creation and implementation of human resource policies and procedures; employee recruiting and hiring; performance management and appraisals; corrective actions; and employee terminations and reductions in force.  Michael is also experienced in conducting training for all levels of management, human resource professionals, supervisors, and employees.  Michael graduated from Drake University (B.A.,cum laude, with honors, 1995) and University of Illinois (J.D., cum laude, 1999).

Steven M. Crainer is in the Business Services Department and is resident in the New York office.  He concentrates his practice in tax and corporate law advising corporations, not-for-profit corporations, real estate investment trusts, limited liability companies, and limited partnerships on operational issues and on structuring and documenting acquisitions and joint venture transactions.  Steve is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire (B.A., 1990), Case Western Reserve University School of Law (J.D., 1997) and New York University School of Law (LL.M., 1998).

Jeffrey D. Cunningham is in the Business Services Department in the Atlanta office.  His work is concentrated in the areas of business transactions and advice and business taxation.  He has significant experience representing public, private and nonprofit entities with respect to business and transaction structuring, succession planning and exit strategies, regulatory, securities and taxation compliance, stock and asset based business combinations, capital investment and financing, and commercial arrangements.  Jeff routinely advises clients with respect to the federal, state and local corporate and partnership tax impact of proposed transactions and designs ownership and investment structures to maximize both tax efficiency and liability limitation consistent with operational objectives.  He has degrees from Vanderbilt University (B.S., 1992) and Georgia State University (M.B.A., 1996; J.D., 1999).

Anne E. Duprey, based in the Chicago office, is in the Labor & Employment Department.  She represents management in the area of employment law and has experience litigating employment matters under various federal and state statutes, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983.  Anne’s practice has a particular emphasis on class actions and trial work.  She currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University School of Law, where she teaches Introduction to Trial Advocacy.  She went to Kenyon College (B.A., cum laude, 1994) and Washington and Lee University School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1999).

Timothy Hix is in the Labor & Employment Department. He is based in the Los Angeles office where he represents management in all aspects of labor and employment law. Timothy’s practice focuses on litigating wrongful termination, employment discrimination, sexual and racial harassment, employee discipline and discharge, and trade secrets cases.  He is a graduate of Pepperdine University (B.A., 1990; J.D., cum laude 1996).

J. Scott Humphrey is in the Litigation Department in Chicago. He has litigation, arbitration and counseling experience involving a wide range of complex commercial contract disputes and business torts, including matters arising from breach of contract disputes, manufacturing and distribution issues, trade secret appropriation, fraud, insurance disputes, and various Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) issues.  He is a member of the Trade Secrets Group and currently serves on the group’s National Steering Committee.  In addition to his trade secrets work, Scott’s practice is also focused on commercial and business related litigation involving complex commercial contract disputes and other business torts.  He went to Wittenberg University (B.A., Order of Omega Honorary, 1993),  John Marshall Law School (J.D., 1997) and Northwestern University, Kellogg Graduate School of Management (M.B.A., 2002).

Aaron R. Lubeley is in the Labor & Employment Department and is based in Los Angeles. Aaron's practice focuses on representing employers in all aspects of labor and employment litigation, including claims of age, race, gender, national origin, sex, sexual orientation and disability discrimination and harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, wrongful termination, privacy right violations, and various wage and hour violations. He also has significant experience in defending employers in class action litigation having defended large, complex class actions for alleged wage and hour violations, age discrimination, and disability discrimination under both state and federal law for a wide variety of clients, including companies in the retail, hospitality, restaurant, oil and gas and telecommunications industries. Aaron graduated from California State University, Los Angeles (B.A., 1994) and Loyola Law School (J.D.,1998).

Dean A. Martoccia is based in Los Angeles in the Litigation Department.  His practice focuses on the representation of corporate clients in a broad range of commercial and business litigation matters, including complex commercial contract disputes.  He also has extensive experience representing corporate clients in products liability and tort litigation, intellectual property litigation, trade secrets litigation, unfair competition disputes, and environmental disputes.  Dean is experienced in all phases of civil litigation, including pre-trial, trial and appellate matters.  He has degrees from the University of South Florida (B.S., 1993) and Southwestern University School of Law (J.D., Law Review, 1997). 

Eric R. McDonough is based in Los Angeles in the Litigation Practice Group. His work focuses on general business and commercial litigation, with extensive experience in trade secrets litigation, technology disputes, unfair competition disputes, antitrust actions, securities and financial litigation, products liability and tort litigation, insurance bad faith, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) litigation and environmental disputes.  Eric has also defended employers in a variety of wrongful termination actions, including discrimination, constructive termination, and whistleblower claims. He has experience in all phases of civil discovery, deposition, pre-trial, trial and post-trial litigation, as well as significant mediation experience.  Eric graduated from The University of California-Berkeley (B.A., 1992) and Santa Clara University (J.D., Law Review, 1997).

Devjani Mishra is in the Labor & Employment Department in the New York office. She has substantial experience in all aspects of employment litigation - including workplace discrimination and harassment actions, wage and hour claims and compensation disputes - and has tried cases in numerous federal and state courts and agencies.  In addition to her litigation practice, she also regularly conducts trainings and counsels management on a wide range of topics, including discrimination avoidance, employee leave requests, reductions in force, and Web 2.0 and the workplace.  Devjani graduated from Yale University (B.A., Distinction in the Major, 1994) and Columbia University School of Law (J.D., Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, 1997).

Alfred L. Sanderson, Jr., based in Sacramento, is in the Labor and Employment Department.  Fred specializes in complex wage and hour law, including class action litigation. He also has significant experience in the areas of wrongful termination, sexual harassment and employment discrimination litigation in federal and state courts. In addition to his litigation practice, Fred provides day-to-day advice and counseling to clients on various employment law issues.   He has degrees from University of the Pacific (B.S., 1982 and J.D., McGeorge School of Law, with distinction, 1996).

L. Lynnette Sarno is in the Labor & Employment Department in the New York office.  She has extensive experience in representing private employers and municipalities in actions arising under federal, state and local employment laws, as well as contractual or compensation disputes. Lynnette has considerable trial experience before various courts, administrative tribunals and arbitration panels.  She also counsels human resources representatives and management on workplace issues, and is frequently asked to provide employment law training for various companies.  Lynnette graduated from the University of California, Irvine (B.S., B.A., 1992) and Hofstra University, School of Law (J.D., 1995).

Andrew F. Shure is in the Boston office in the Real Estate Practice Group of the Business Services Department. His practice focuses on all aspects of commercial real estate law, including acquisitions, sales, development, financing with an emphasis on leasing.  Andrew has experience representing owners and developers on a wide range of projects including downtown office towers, suburban office parks, residential condominiums, residential apartment buildings, golf courses and an electric power plant. He has significant leasing experience representing commercial and retail landlords and tenants throughout the country.  Andrew has degrees from Brandeis University (B.A., 1992) and Boston University School of Law (J.D., 1995).

Scott J. Smith is in the Litigation Department and is resident in Chicago.  He concentrates his practice in construction law and commercial litigation. Scott, formerly a practicing engineer, has represented individuals and public and private companies in a broad range of construction claims involving multi-party disputes; condominium disputes; lien and foreclosure proceedings; actions for specific performance; breaches of contract; breach of fiduciary duty; fraud; and consumer and deceptive practices.  His experience includes disputes involving design and construction errors, breaches of contract, delay claims, public and private mechanic liens, and surety performance issues.  He has also represented clients in cases involving issues relating to construction accidents, commercial liability, premises liability, products liability, and wrongful death.  In addition to state and federal court practice, his experience encompasses complex mediation and arbitration proceedings.   He went to University of Michigan (B.S., 1990) and IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law (J.D.,1996).

Seyfarth Shaw has over 700 attorneys located in nine offices throughout the United States including Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento as well as Brussels, Belgium.  Seyfarth Shaw provides a broad range of legal services in the areas of  business transactions, labor and employment, employee benefits and litigation.  The firm’s practice reflects virtually every industry and segment of the country’s business community. Clients include over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, newspapers and other media, hotels, health care organizations, airlines and railroads. The firm also represents a number of federal, state, and local governmental and educational entities.  For more information, please visit http://www.seyfarth.com.

 # # #