Intellectual property firm Meunier Carlin & Curfman has added Jay Cline from Eversheds Sutherland and Michael Tieff from Detroit-based IP boutique Darrow Mustafa, both as of counsel. Eric Andreansky, who has a doctorate in organic chemistry from Emory University, joined as a patent agent from Knowles Intellectual Property Strategies.

Building on hires in March of two associates and a scientific adviser, the additions give Meunier Carlin 39 lawyers and patent agents.

Cline's patent prosecution and portfolio management practice focuses on mechanical, electro-mechanical and medical device technologies. He is a former patent examiner for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and worked as a product development engineer for Medtronic.

Tieff's patent prosecution practice focuses on software, circuits, telecom and business methods. He's drafted patents for such technologies as augmented reality, cloud computing, cryptography, facial recognition, and femtocells.


National labor and employment firm Littler has added William Vail as special counsel to its health care practice from Kindred Healthcare and Kindred at Home. Most recently, he was deputy chief litigation officer for Kindred at Home, a national home health and hospice provider.


Gregory, Doyle, Calhoun & Rogers in Marietta has hired David Younker as of counsel from Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell and Debra Blair as an associate from the Cobb County Attorney's Office, where she was a staff attorney.


Marple Rubin Family Law has hired Sana Rupani from the Georgia Family Law Project and moved into a new office in the Galleria 400 building, right by the I-285 and I-75 interchange in Cobb County. The firm formed last year when David Marple, who'd left Davis Matthews & Quigly to start the Marple Law Firm in 2017, joined forces with another family lawyer, Kevin Rubin, who'd been a partner at Boyd, Collar, Nolen, Tuggle & Roddenbery.


Hawkins Parnell & Young has added two associates. Jodene Edwards joined from Waldon Adelman Castilla Hiestand & Prout after earning her law degree in 2014 from Georgia State University College of Law. Stephen Rothring joined from The Conner Law Group in Savannah after earning his law degree in 2017 from the University of Georgia School of Law.


Trusts and estates practitioner Alan Brown has joined Savannah's HunterMaclean as a partner from Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg in Chicago. Brown advises high net-worth individuals and family-owned companies in estate planning and business strategies, which includes structuring the ownership and financing of life insurance policies by individuals, businesses and multigeneration trusts.


S. Elizabeth Hall has joined James-Bates-Brannan-Groover as counsel in its Macon office from CarMax Auto Finance, where she was senior corporate counsel. Hall handles commercial litigation and regulatory issues with a focus on representing financial institutions.


Joseph Anderson III is among the nine lawyers elected to partner at Philadelphia-based Ballard Spahr. Anderson, an IP lawyer in the firm's Atlanta office, advises on patent filings, infringement risks and design changes ahead of large-scale product launches in the industrial, consumer and medical device sectors.


Hall Benefits Law has promoted Deborah Andrews to managing attorney. In her new role Andrews is responsible for the day-to-day supervision of the legal team at the ERISA and employee benefits boutique.


Two Atlanta attorneys and one from Savannah are among the new fellows elected to the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers' 2019 class. Tracey Barbaree of Moeller Barbaree and Mark Keenan of Barnes & Thornburg are the Atlanta attorneys. In Savannah, Wade Herring, a longtime partner at HunterMaclean was elected a fellow. The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers will hold its induction dinner on Nov. 9 in New Orleans.


Linda Klein has been appointed to the Carter Center's Board of Councilors, which promotes the nonprofit's mission of advancing peace and health worldwide. Klein is senior managing shareholder at Baker, DonelsonBearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz and past president of the American Bar Association.


Catherine Morgen, a partner at Morris Manning & Martin, has joined the board of the Castell Project, a nonprofit founded to advance the careers of women professionals at hospitality companies. “Like most women, I have seen and experienced many of the barriers women face when climbing the corporate ladder in hospitality and law,” said Morgen, who represents hotel developers, owners and managers, in a statement. “There are few organizations quite like Castell Project that actively encourage and develop leadership for women in hospitality at the executive level.”