The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

K&L Gates Adds Partner to Its D.C. Investment Management Practice

Updated 4:01 p.m.

K&L Gates has added a partner to its investment management practice in Washington, the firm announced earlier this week.

K. Susan Grafton, formerly of counsel at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, focuses her K&L Gates practice on advising broker-dealers and investment advisers on business, regulatory and compliance issues.

Grafton is a former vice president and associate general counsel for Goldman, Sachs & Co. She is also a former staff member at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets.

“I viewed K&L Gates as having a great platform for me to further build my practice,” Grafton said in an interview. She added that her time spent with the government and in the private sector gave her an understanding of the real-world challenges facing clients and regulators.

“I think that starting my career at the SEC was a wonderful opportunity,” Grafton said. “Having worked on rulemaking, you understand the challenges the staff faces.”

Miller & Chevalier Adds Three Attorneys to D.C. Office

Miller & Chevalier has added three attorneys to its Washington office, the firm announced this week.

Kevin Downing, formerly with the Department of Justice’s Tax Division, and Barbara Linney, formerly a partner at Blank Rome, join the firm as members. Kuang Chiang, formerly a licensing examining officer at the Office of Foreign Assets Control, joins as an associate.

Downing, who starts with the firm’s criminal tax practice June 11, spent 15 years as a federal prosecutor and eight of those as senior litigation counsel. He led the investigations and prosecutions into the UBS offshore banking and KPMG tax shelter cases.

Former AstraZeneca Lobbyist Joins Hogan Lovells in D.C.

Hogan Lovells has added a partner to its health practice in Washington, the firm announced earlier this week.

Christine Bloomquist, formerly senior director of federal government affairs with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, was the chief healthcare lobbyist for the company. She advised the company both before and after the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

Bloomquist will focus her practice on advising pharmaceutical and medical device companies on fraud and abuse compliance; pricing; and regulatory and policy matters.

“I come to Hogan with a much deeper understanding of how the business side works and I saw that first hand,” Bloomquist said in an interview. “I think I bring to the table a combination of regulatory and legislative experience.”

Kilpatrick Townsend Elects D.C.-based Partner as Firm Chair

Updated 11:35 a.m.

A Washington-based partner at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton has been elected firm chair, the firm announced Wednesday.

Paul Aguggia has been elected to succeed Atlanta-based Bill Dorris. As part of the leadership change, Henry Walker will serve as firm managing partner alongside current managing partner Maureen Sheehy.

“Our overriding goal and plan is to continue the momentum for the firm that we have created over the past year to year and a half,” Aguggia said in an interview. “We are incredibly fortunate to have an incredible client base that will continue to be well served by where we are and how we practice law.”

Debevoise & Plimpton's Cunard Talks About 30 Years in Washington

On Monday, The National Law Journal spoke with Jeffrey Cunard, managing partner of Debevoise & Plimpton’s Washington office, about the office’s 30th anniversary. Cunard also heads the firm’s corporate intellectual property and information technology practices.

When the office first opened, what was the goal?

The focus was to extend the footprint of our presence, which was principally in New York at the time, and to provide broader representation and a Washington context for our clients. The practices that we started with principally were in the area of securities enforcement and counseling. I joined with a partner very shortly after the office opened and we brought communications and intellectual property expertise to the office. In the first half of the 1980s, those were our practice areas.

What’s keeping Debevoise's D.C. attorneys busy these days?

We have lawyers who work on a wide range of securities enforcement and litigation matters. That has been a core practice since the founding of the office. Over the years, we have been involved in some large matters, including the firm's representation of Siemens, SEC and civil litigation arising out of the bankruptcy of Global Crossing. We have a group of people who are actively involved in advising on Dodd-Frank regulatory issues. We represent a number of key players including banks and financial industry groups. It’s a very broad and diverse practice. We also have lawyers, such as myself, who work in intellectual property and technology areas. I also was the principal lawyer for the publishers in settling the Google books litigation.

Former SEC Official Joins Reed Smith in D.C.

A former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission official has joined Reed Smith’s Washington office, the firm announced Monday.

Terence Healy, former senior assistant chief litigation counsel at the SEC, joins as a partner in the firm’s global regulatory enforcement group.

Healy spent four years with the SEC and nine years before that with the Department of Justice. At the SEC, Healy prosecuted matters including Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, insider trading, revenue recognition, accounting fraud, options backdating and structured-products cases.

Andrea Ferster Elected President-elect of D.C. Bar

Updated 4:02 p.m.

Washington solo practitioner Andrea Ferster was elected president-elect of the D.C. Bar for the 2012-13 term.

Ferster will take over from Covington & Burling partner Thomas Williamson Jr., who in turn will replace current D.C. Bar president Darrell Mottley, a principal shareholder at Banner & Witcoff.

Ferster, of the Law Offices of Andrea C. Ferster, defeated Department of Justice attorney Bridget Bailey Lipscomb by more than 1,300 votes. Ferster currently serves on the D.C. Bar Board of Governors and is a former treasurer. She focuses her practice on land use, historic preservation, transportation policy and tax-exempt organizations.

Constantine Cannon Launches Whistleblower Practice in D.C.

Boutique firm Constantine Cannon announced this week the launching of its whistleblower practice with partners in Washington and New York.

In an interview, Gordon Schnell, one of the four partners in the practice, said that the firm took on a whistleblower case a few years ago and realized the untapped potential.

“In doing this work, I saw that this was a natural extension of my antitrust practice,” Schnell said. “It’s to take on these industries or large companies that are screwing with the market by not playing by the rules.”

Veteran D.C. Criminal Defense Attorney Receives Informal Admonition

Brian McDaniel, a long-time criminal defense attorney in Washington, was recently hit with a public disciplinary notice from the Office of Bar Counsel for failing to communicate with a client.

McDaniel, according to an informal admonition issued May 14, failed to alert a client in a civil case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina about how his case was proceeding and when it was ultimately dismissed. Bar Counsel Wallace Shipp Jr. wrote that while McDaniel's actions warranted the public notice, the office would not press charges.

Shipp's office also issued an informal admonition to one of McDaniel's co-counsel in the case, Craig Ricard, a local solo practitioner who used to be with McDaniel's firm. This marked the first time either attorney was the subject of a public disciplinary action. Reached by phone late Thursday, McDaniel declined to comment. Ricard, who joined the D.C. Bar in 2009, could not be reached.

SEC Official Moves to BuckleySandler in June

Updated 6:14 p.m.

The chief of the Office of Market Intelligence for the Securities and Exchange Commission will join BuckleySandler in the Washington office, the firm announced Thursday.

Thomas Sporkin will join the firm as a partner, effective June 18, as a member of the firm’s criminal and civil enforcement defense practice.

For the past two and a half years, Sporkin has overseen a 50-person unit created following the Barnard Madoff Ponzi scheme. He has a 20-year history with the Division of Enforcement. As chief, Sporkin’s office Office of Market Intelligence worked closely with the Dodd-Frank whistleblower office and was responsible for more than half of all SEC investigations. The office investigated improper Foreign Corrupt Practices Act payments, financial fraud, market manipulations and insider trading.