Intellectual property boutique Johnson, Marcou & Isaacs has promoted F. Brent Nix to equity partner and is adding him to the firm's masthead. As of Jan. 1 the firm will be known as Johnson, Marcou, Isaacs & Nix.

Nix joined the boutique as a patent agent when it formed in March 2010, and he went on to earn a law degree in 2014 from Georgia State University College of Law. He has played a key role in developing its biotech practice, according to an announcement from the 12-lawyer boutique, which operates as a virtual firm.

Johnson Marcou's founder, Jim Johnson, said in a statement that Nix "has a keen eye and great scientific mind that makes him well-suited for this area of law. In the last two years alone, the biotech practice has grown exponentially thanks to Brent's efforts."

Nix heads the firm's biotech practice, which includes prosecuting biotech, chemistry and medical device patents and negotiating IP license agreements. He also handles IP due diligence for mergers, acquisitions and IPOs, patentability studies and competitive landscape analysis.

Nix holds a B.S. in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.S. in bioinformatics from Georgia Tech. 

BRIEFLY 

Bodker, Ramsey, Andrews, Winograd & Wildstein has added the father-and-son lawyer team of Ira and Benjamin Rachelson from their own firm, Rachelson & White. Ira Rachelson joined Bodker Ramsey as senior counsel while his son joined as a principal, giving the business law and litigation boutique 16 lawyers. Benjamin Rachelson has practiced with his father since earning a J.D. from GSU Law in 2007. The Rachelsons focus on construction and real estate matters, according to an announcement from the firm, and add practice capabilities for Bodker Ramsey in representing creditors in bankruptcy, replevin and foreclosure, and credit management law.

Mike Rosenthal has joined Taylor English Duma as a partner from Fox Rothschild. Rosenthal has a business law practice advising franchise clients, including litigation if necessary. He also handles matters pertaining to business succession planning, emerging companies and venture capital. Before joined Fox Rothschild in 2018, Rosenthal spent 21 years at Wagner, Johnston & Rosenthal.

Family law firm Boyd Collar Nolen Tuggle & Roddenbery has added two associates, Shaun Bussert and Margaret Simpson. Bussert previously ran his own family law firm, Bussert Law Firm, in Decatur. He earned a J.D. from the University of Tennessee in 2015. Simpson joined Boyd Collar from another Atlanta family law firm, Meriwether & Tharp, and earned a J.D. from the University of Alabama in 2008.

Decatur firm Williams Teusink has hired two real estate and business litigation associates: Gala Villahoz and Caela Abrams. Villahoz joined from The McDeer Firm, where she acted as in-house counsel for a national residential and commercial real estate company, after earning a J.D. from Mercer University in 2016. Abrams is a 2019 graduate of GSU Law.

Chamberlain Hrdlicka has hired Farid Khosravi as a senior associate for its tax controversy and litigation practice and Haley Graber as a litigation associate. Khosravi was previously an international tax manager for accounting firm Grant Thornton in Washington, D.C., and has 12 years of experience advising on international tax managers. Graber is a 2019 graduate of Emory University School of Law.

Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers has hired three litigation associates: Lisa Churvis, Stacy Drackwicz and Robert Wheeler. Churvis joined from Waldon Adelman Castilla Hiestand & Prout and previously worked as a staff attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, after graduating from GSU Law in 2016. Drackwicz joined from Dunn & Dunn in Boston and is a 2012 graduate of the New England School of Law. Wheeler previously worked at Bovis, Kyle, Burch & Medlin after graduating from Florida State University College of Law in 2017.

Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker has hired Devin Arnold as a litigation associate. Arnold previously worked for Mozley, Finlayson & Loggins, and he is a 2014 graduate of the University of Georgia Law School.

John Koenig, the Atlanta managing partner for Barnes & Thornburg, has been elected to the firm's management committee for 2020. Koenig, who has a labor and employment practice, was elected managing partner for the firm's Atlanta office last year. 

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz has appointed shareholder Kevin Stine as its pro bono committee office chair for Atlanta. Stine is a fellow of the Atlanta Bar Foundation.

John UyHam of The Coca-Cola Co. has joined the Georgia Center for Nonprofits' board of directors. UyHam chairs the legal division diversity committee at The Coca-Cola Co., where he is senior managing counsel for M&A and finance.