Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has added a telecom industry veteran to the Washington office. Douglas Brandon, former general counsel at TerreStar Networks, has joined the firm as partner in its communications and information technology practice. He oversaw all of the company’s legal matters, including its bankruptcy process, which led to the sale of substantially all of TerreStar’s assets to DISH Network.
During his nearly 25 years of experience in the wireless telecommunications industry, he has worked with terrestrial providers and satellite carriers on a range of regulatory and policy matters before the departments of Commerce and Justice, the FCC as well as with Congress.
Venable has added a former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement attorney to the Washington office. Allyson Baker has joined the firm as partner in the litigation practice and focuses on commercial litigation, consumer finance and tax controversy. Formerly, she was among the initial team of enforcement attorneys at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who helped formulate agency policies regarding investigations and litigation in the aftermath of the financial crisis. She helped formulate policies on litigation, investigations, and Dodd-Frank Act jurisdiction issues.
Prior to joining the CFPB in 2011, she served as a trial attorney in the Department of Justice’s Civil Tax Division and handled all motion practice and aspects of discovery in numerous cases, with a particular focus on e-discovery and expert discovery.
Jean Paul Lavalleye has moved from Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt to Dickstein Shapiro’s Washington office. He has joined the firm as partner in the intellectual property practice. He focuses his practice on patent counseling, disputes, litigation and litigation avoidance and resolution.
During his more than 30-year career, Lavalleye has represented many multinational clients in various industries. He recently defended French steelmakers Sollac and Ugine against accusation that they infringed six patents. He also helps foreign companies navigate the U.S. intellectual property system.
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough has added a government relations professional to the Washington D.C. office. Christopher Spear has joined as senior policy advisor in the firm’s federal strategies team and will be working closely with Ambassador David Wilkins on the Canadian file and international affairs.
Previously, he was vice president of emerging markets for Honeywell Process Solutions in Bracknell, U.K., and of government relations in Washington and Brussels. He spent the last two decades leading legislative, regulatory, and project initiatives in the U.S., Europe, Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and Latin America. He also has experience managing a compliant profit and loss business in emerging markets and establishing local capacity and operational capability in the oil and gas sector.
Comments