A stalled health care plan, the loss of the Democrats’ supermajority, and the president’s State of the Union speech set the nation’s capital abuzz in January. Many firms, wanting a piece of the action, strengthened their Washington, D.C., offices with lateral hires. Corporate, litigation, and intellectual property partners were also in high demand.
Gregory Craig
Partner, global policy and litigation strategy
SKADDEN, ARPS, SLATE, MEAGHER & FLOM, WASHINGTON, D.C.
The veteran Beltway adviser resigned from his White House counsel post in November after being criticized for his handling of the Obama administration’s Guantánamo Bay policy. Craig spent 37 years at Williams & Connolly except for breaks for government stints. But he said he chose Skadden because of its “scope.” Craig will chair the firm’s new global policy and litigation strategy practice group.
Fredric Firestone
Partner, SEC defense
MCDERMOTT WILL & EMERY, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Before landing at McDermott, Firestone spent 12 years at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement division, most recently as an associate director. During his tenure, Firestone led investigations related to the collapse of the auction-rate securities market. Michael Ungar, the division’s former D.C. branch chief, will make the move with Firestone. The pair will join the firm’s SEC defense practice, which Firestone will lead.
Christopher Kandel
Partner, finance
LATHAM & WATKINS, LONDON
Four banking and capital markets partners from White & Case’s London office defected to Latham. Kandel, the former cohead of the firm’s London finance group, is bringing Sam Hamilton, Brian Conway, and Jayanthi Sadanandan with him. A total of nine other White & Case partners have also left the firm to join Latham offices in Abu Dhabi, London, New York, Doha, and Riyadh.
Robert Langer
Partner, corporate
K&L GATES, MOSCOW AND NEW YORK
Langer and William Reichert, former Haynes and Boone partners, were recruited to launch K&L Gates’s Moscow office. They are bringing one counsel and three associates from their old firm. The Moscow office opened at the same time as K&L Gates’s new Tokyo branch. Three former Latham & Watkins lawyers, J. Ryan Dwyer III, Takahiro Kawaguchi, and Robert Melson, Jr., are leading that office. In 2009 K&L Gates opened offices in Dubai, Frankfurt, and Singapore.
David Leichtman
Partner, intellectual property
ROBINS, KAPLAN, MILLER & CIRESI, NEW YORK
Leichtman is making the jump to Robins, Kaplan with colleagues Hillel Parness and Bryan Vogel. The three previously worked in the New York office of Lovells, which will merge with Hogan & Hartson in May. Robins, Kaplan, a Minneapolis-based firm, hired the trio to launch its New York office. Parness and Vogel—who was of counsel at Lovells—will join the firm as partners.
Melissa Maxman
Partner, antitrust and trade regulation
COZEN O’CONNOR, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Maxman is the former leader of Baker & Hostetler’s antitrust and trade regulation group, and will cochair the antitrust litigation group at Cozen. Two Baker partners accompanied her: Ronald Wick will practice in the antitrust and trade regulation group with Maxman, and Marcela Stras will head Cozen’s international trade and business immigration practices.
David Savner
Partner, corporate
JENNER & BLOCK, CHICAGO
After spending 12 years as senior vice president and general counsel of defense contractor General Dynamics Corporation, Savner is heading to Jenner & Block. This is his second go-round with the Chicago-based firm. Before his in-house gig, Savner was chair of Jenner’s corporate practice. His replacement at General Dynamics is Gregory Gallopoulos, also a former Jenner partner.
M. Patricia Thayer
Partner, IP litigation
SIDLEY AUSTIN, SAN FRANCISCO
Thayer, who focuses on complex patent litigation and IP counseling for life sciences companies, joined Sidley from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. She arrived at Orrick in 2008 with a group of IP lawyers from Heller Ehrman, where she cochaired the firm’s IP litigation practice until its collapse. Thayer was one of about 30 Heller partners to land at Orrick.
