December 2012
By Thai Phi Le

Honors and Appointments
John G. Calender, a member of the board of directors at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC and chair of the firm’s corporate compliance, ethics, and crisis management industry service team, has been named the firm’s Washington, D.C., Pro Bono Attorney of the Year… Catherine M. Reese, family law attorney and owner of Reese Law Office, has been named a 2012 Influential Women of Virginia by Virginia Lawyers Weekly for her notable contributions to the legal field… Chinh Le, legal director at the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, and Gregory Lipper, senior litigation counsel at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, have been named to the board of directors for the Washington Council of Lawyers for a one–year term… Mark Roth, a Tully Rinckey PLLC senior counsel and union development specialist, has been named to the Technical Advisory Committee of the Partnership for Public Service to help engineer a blueprint for public service reform… Andrew F. Palmieri, a partner in the project and resource development and real estate practices at Saul Ewing LLP, has been elected vice chair of the Board of Trustees for The American University of Rome… George F. Indest III, president and managing partner of The Health Law Firm, has been nominated for the Florida Bar’s Excellence in the Promotion of Board Certification Award… Entertainment lawyer Ivan J. Parron, founder and principal of Parron Law in Miami Beach, Florida, has been elected chair of the Florida Bar’s Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section. Parron will assume the title chair–elect until he takes office in May… Martin Perlberger of Perlberger Law Offices has been duly admitted to The Order of Distinguished Attorneys by the Beverly Hills Bar Association… Press, Potter & Dozier, LLC attorney A. Ari Ghosal has been appointed to the board of the Asian–Pacific American Bar Association–Maryland (APABA–MD) and will serve as the group’s cochair of its Judicial Selections Committee to the Maryland State Bar–Court of Appeals… The following Paley Rothman attorneys have had notable accomplishments: Deborah A. Cohn was named chair of the Maryland State Bar Association’s Estate & Trust Section Council. James R. Hammerschmidt has been voted treasurer–elect of the Bar Association of Montgomery County, Maryland. Patricia M. Weaver has been selected one of “Maryland’s Top 100 Women 2012” by The Daily Record… Mary A. Lopatto, a member at Cozen O’Connor, has been elected vice chair of The Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School’s Board of Trustees in Kingston, Pennsylvania… Laura H. Phillips, chair of and partner in Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP’s government and regulatory affairs practice group, has assumed the presidency of the Federal Communications Bar Association… Steven M. Schneebaum, a partner at Fox Rothschild LLP, has been appointed chair of the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Representation Project for the 2012–2013 term… Nkechi Taifa, senior policy analyst at the Open Society Foundations, has been appointed by Mayor Vincent C. Gray as chair of the District of Columbia Commission on Human Rights… Georgetown University Law Center Dean William M. Treanor has been named a “Champion” in The National Law Journal’s “Legal Times Awards: Champions & Visionaries” for his work in upholding the legal industry’s professional mission of public duty. Graeme W. Bush, managing partner of Zuckerman Spaeder LLP and firm chair, was named one of the award’s “Visionaries” for his success in not only shepherding the firm through the recent economic downturn, but also spearheading the firm’s strategic expansion… The Obama Campaign and the Democratic National Committee have selected Keith Harper, a partner at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, to serve on the 2012 Democratic National Convention Platform Committee… Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP was named a 2012 recipient of the American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Publico Award for the firm’s work toward enhancing the human dignity of others by improving or delivering volunteer legal services to the underprivileged and disadvantaged… Paul G. Marcotte Jr. was named chair–elect of the Maryland State Bar Association’s Taxation Section.

On the Move
David D. Oxenford has joined Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP as partner, representing broadcast and digital media companies in connection with regulatory, transactional, and intellectual property issues… MJ Moltenbrey has joined Paul Hastings LLP as partner in the firm’s antitrust and competition practice… Georgetown University Law Center Professor Howard Shelanski has been named director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics… Nitin Sathe has been named counsel at Vinson & Elkins LLP… David C. Main has joined the national healthcare practice at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP… Laura Lee Prather has joined Haynes and Boone, LLP as partner in the firm’s media law group… Broker–dealer lawyer K. Susan Grafton has joined K&L Gates LLP as partner in the firm’s investment management practice… Barbara D. Linney has joined Miller & Chevalier Chartered as member in the firm’s export controls and economic sanctions practice. Kuang H. Chiang has joined the firm as associate… Trial attorney Mark A. Barondess has joined Kalbian Hagerty LLP as partner in the firm’s litigation group… Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission official Matthew B. Comstock has joined Murphy & McGonigle as partner… Margaret Ryznar has joined the faculty of Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law as associate professor… Intellectual property attorneys DeAnna D. Allen and Joseph M. Drayton have joined Cooley LLP as partner. Drayton will work out of the firm’s New York office… Dawn Stern (née Goodman) has joined DLA Piper LLP as associate in the firm’s government contracts practice... Wayne J. D’Angelo has joined Kelley Drye & Warren LLP as special counsel in the firm’s environmental and energy law group… David A. Colson and Brian J. Vohrer have joined Patton Boggs LLP as counsel. Stefan L. Guttensohn joins the firm as associate and will work out of its office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia… Lawrence M. Prosen has joined Thompson Hines LLP as partner in the firm’s construction practice group… Roger A. Fairfax Jr. has been promoted to full professor of law at The George Washington University Law School, where he focuses his research and teaching on criminal procedure, grand juries, white collar investigations, and criminal justice policy… Joseph J. Patry has joined Blank Rome LLP as associate in the firm’s consumer finance litigation group and as member of its consumer financial services industry team… Anne M. Sterba has joined Fish & Richardson P.C. as of counsel in the firm’s trademark and copyright group... Paul Aguggia has been elected chair of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP. Wade Kirshy has joined as associate on the firm’s electronics and software team, which is part of the firm’s intellectual property department. Ben Snowden has joined as associate, working in the firm’s litigation department as a member of the environmental team… Timothy B. Hyland has joined Ifrah Law PLLC as member and will serve as cochair of the firm’s e–commerce group… Donald W. Hawthorne has joined Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP as partner in the firm’s litigation and regulatory group and will chair the firm’s practice in the areas of structured finance, derivatives, and mortgage crisis litigation. He will work out of the firm’s New York office… Sunil Mansukhani, a former deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, has joined The Raben Group as a principal… Denise Mayfield has joined Thompson Coburn LLP as partner in the firm’s intellectual property group… Commercial litigation attorney George R. Calhoun V has joined Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP as special counsel… Serena D. Moe has joined Wiley Rein LLP as of counsel in the firm’s international trade practice… Gal N. Kaufman has joined Offit Kurman as principal in the firm’s estates and trusts practice group. Mandy M. Wolfe has joined as associate in the firm’s landlord representation practice group… Sharis A. Pozen, former acting assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, has joined Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP as partner in the firm’s antitrust and competition practice… Litigator Linda M. Jackson has joined Littler Mendelson, P.C. as shareholder, focusing her practice on Sarbanes–Oxley Act whistleblower investigations, noncompetition agreements and litigation, trade secret disputes, and related business competition issues… Susan B. Cassidy and Steven A. Shaw have joined Covington & Burling LLP as partner and senior of counsel, respectively, in the firm’s government contracts practice… Christopher G. Cwalina and Steven B. Roosa have joined the public policy and regulation practice group at Holland & Knight LLP both as partner and cochair of the firm’s data privacy and security team… Former IBM chief privacy officer Harriet Pearson has joined Hogan Lovells as partner in the firm’s privacy and information management practice… Veteran white collar defense litigator Jonathan N. Rosen has joined Polsinelli Shughart as shareholder.

Company Changes
Mark Bieter and Eric J. Hougen have formed HougenBieter LLP, a boutique law firm specializing in regulatory and internal investigations, as well as complex commercial litigation. The office is located at 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, suite 300. The firm also has a West Coast office located at 624 Broadway, suite 303, in San Diego… Seyfarth Shaw LLP has launched a fraud and abuse, false claims, and internal investigations team, which provides counsel in investigations and litigation involving federal and state fraud and abuse, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the False Claims Act.

Author! Author!
Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP attorneys Mark Chopko and Marissa Parker have cowritten the article, “Still a Threshold Question: Refining the Ministerial Exception Post–Hosanna–Tabor,” which was published by the University of North Carolina Law School’s First Amendment Law Review… Melissa A. Kucinski, a lawyer and mediator at Bulman, Dunie, Burke & Feld, Chtd., has published the article, “Creating a Successful Structure to Mediate International Parental Child Abduction Cases,” which appeared in the American Journal of Family Law… Barbara Berschler, a member of Press, Potter & Dozier, LLC, has written the article, “Following the Law: Texting, Tweeting or Posting on Facebook?” which appeared in 270inc Business Magazine… Martin B. Gold, senior counsel at Covington & Burling LLP, has written Forbidden Citizens: Chinese Exclusion and the U.S. Congress: A Legislative History, which was published by TheCapitol.Net… Jeannine R. Reardon has written the legal thriller Advice and Consent, which was published by Outskirts Press… James F. Perna, a principal with the Law Offices of James F. Perma, and Kenneth A. Lazarus, an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center and a principal with Lazarus and Associates, have written Off–Shore Captive Insurance Companies for Small and Medium Size U.S. Businesses, which was published by the International Law Institute… Howard A. Kwon, vice president and general counsel of OpenPeak Inc., has written the novel, Provenance, which was published by Telemachus Press.

D.C. Bar members in good standing are welcome to submit announcements for this column. When making a submission, please include name, position, organization, and address. Please e–mail submissions to D.C. Bar staff writer Thai Phi Le at tle@dcbar.org.