Douglas Boggs Douglas Boggs (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

Washington Wrap is a weekly look at industry news and Big Law moves shaping the legal business in Washington, D.C. Send news tips and lateral moves to Ryan Lovelace at [email protected].

Douglas Boggs has a new law firm, taking him another step removed from the one that still bears his family name.

Boggs joined DLA Piper's corporate practice as a partner this week from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, less than six months after his brother, California-based T. Hale Boggs, left Manatt for O'Melveny & Myers.

Their father, the legendary lobbyist Thomas “Tommy” Hale Boggs Jr., died in 2014, shortly before his namesake firm, Patton Boggs, merged with Squire Sanders. Less than a year after the merger, Douglas left Squire Patton Boggs to join his brother at Manatt, where Hale was a partner in Los Angeles.

Douglas Boggs, who became Manatt's D.C. managing partner in 2016, said Friday that he had joined the firm because of his brother, and his brother's exit in November was a factor in his decision to leave.

“While Manatt is a great firm, it didn't have the platform and size my clients were demanding, especially on the international side,” Boggs said. “DLA had everything my clients were clamoring for.”

Boggs' transactional background includes extensive international experience, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. His practice involves advising corporations, private equity and venture capital funds on a range of matters, and he said his clients include the government of Mauritania in compliance matters, the government of Cameroon on an iron ore and infrastructure project and the African Development Bank.

He said he worked with the African Development Bank to help form the infrastructure investment fund Africa50, and DLA being already ensconced in Africa was particularly attractive to him.

Boggs said he had not considered rejoining Squire Patton Boggs, as it “isn't really the same firm” since the merger. DLA Piper, he said, had “more resources and capabilities than any other firm I looked at.”

Manatt, which happens to be embroiled in litigation over another recently departed partner in Washington, offered kind words for Boggs while touting the partner who replaced him as managing partner in the capital.

“We wish Doug well and are excited about the direction of our Washington, D.C., office under former White House Counsel Jack Quinn,” said Donna Wilson, Manatt CEO and managing partner-elect, in a statement. “He is leading the expansion of our considerable investigations and compliance capabilities, which have been bolstered by the arrival of Suzanne Rich Folsom.”

Law Firm Moves, News, and Notes

Speaking of Suzanne Rich Folsom, she joined Manatt just last week as a partner in the firm's investigations and compliance practice in Washington, D.C.

Folsom was previously general counsel, chief compliance officer, and senior vice president of government affairs at U.S. Steel Corp. from 2014 through 2017. Duane Holloway took her position at U.S. Steel in 2018.

Venable said this week it promoted 19 attorneys across nine practice groups effective April 1, including five partners in Washington, D.C., and two in Northern Virginia. Venable also promoted 34 associates to counsel, including six in D.C. and one in its Tysons, Virginia, office.

The five Washington partners are Meredith Boylan, Jonathan Falkler, Stephen Freeland, Anthony Pagano and Janice Ryan. The two newest partners in Tyson, Virginia, are Jennifer Prozinski and Maggie Selwood.

Sony Pictures hired Cameron Normand as its head of federal affairs and is reportedly planting a new flag via a Washington, D.C., office. Normand was previously vice president of public policy for Time Warner.

The news comes as word leaked this week that the Justice Department told the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that rule changes limiting restricting streaming services such as Netflix from the Oscars could violate competition law.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner Stephen Payne was named dean of Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C., effective July 1.

For now, Payne is chair of Gibson Dunn's Food and Drug Administration and health care practice group.

Tram Nguyen joined Mayer Brown as a partner in the firm's corporate & securities practice, and the firm said she will divide her time between Washington, D.C., and New York.

She was formerly a partner at Paul Hastings.

Dickinson Wright added Donald McPhail as a member in its Washington, D.C. office.

McPhail joined Dickinson Wright's intellectual property litigation practice from Taft Stettinius & Hollister, where he was senior counsel. He was previously a shareholder at Cozen O'Connor in D.C. for five years and a partner at Duane Morris for six years.

DLA Piper promoted Dawn Stern to partner in Washington, D.C., effective April 1. Stern is a member of the firm's international trade, regulatory and government affairs practice.