The Churn: Lateral Moves in The Am Law 200

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart has poached TODD NIERMAN, a founding shareholder and a former head of Littler Mendelson's Indianapolis office, to be a shareholder at the firm. A veteran labor and employment lawyer, Nierman represents employers in the defense of Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions and employment lawsuits, and counsels clients on union avoidance, collective bargaining, and labor arbitrations.

Nierman's hiring comes on the heels of two groups of lawyers lateraling in the opposite direction between the two labor and employment firms. In April, a seven-lawyer team led by Don Prophete, formerly a vice-chairman and shareholder in Ogletree's Kansas City, Missouri, office, left to practice at Littler.

A month later, Ogletree shareholder Tamika Nordstrom departed the firm's Atlanta office with a team of five associates, citing Prophete's move as a factor in her decision to switch firms.

Littler had no comment on Nierman's move, and Nierman could not be reached for comment Friday.

In other Churn news . . .

Arent Fox has added a three-person complex litigation group consisting of new partners HOWARD GRAFF and NIKOL THOMPSON and an associate to its New York office. All moved over from Dickstein Shapiro. The firm also hired for its real estate practice in Washington, D.C., DAVID MARTIN as a partner and PATRICK NICKLER as of counsel, both from Patton Boggs.

Two Dykema Gossett partners and one associate have exited the firm for BuckleySandler. New partners RICHARD GOTTLIEB, a class action defense litigator, and FREDRICK LEVIN, a class action and securities lawyer, will be based in Los Angeles as well as Buckley's soon-to-be-opened Chicago office.

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has added STEVEN ECKHAUS as a partner in New York, where he will head a new executive compensation and benefits practice for the firm. As noted in sibling publication New York Law Journal, Eckhaus moved over from Katten Muchin Rosenman.

In Atlanta, Carlton Fields has hired DAVE FORESTNER from McGuireWoods. The business litigator joins the firm as a partner.

ERIK CHALUT has left Loeb & Loeb to be a partner in the Chicago office of Dentons. His corporate practice includes representing companies in cross-border transactions and in corporate deals involving distress.

JENNY WHEATER has joined Duane Morris from Proskauer Rose. She will be based in the firm's London office as a partner in the corporate tax practice.

Foley & Lardner has expanded with the addition of two new partners, STUART FROSS in Boston and SHAO-YING MAUTNER in Shanghai. Fross, previously at K&L Gates, joins the firm’s private equity and venture capital practice. Mautner, who specializes in mergers and acquisitions and China-related disputes, will be Foley's chief representative for the Shanghai office. Before coming to Foley, Mautner founded and ran a legal consulting firm in Hong Kong called GC.GC., sibling publication Asian Lawyer reports.