Mayer Brown promotes 27 to partner worldwide

Mayer Brown has announced the promotion of 27 lawyers worldwide to partner. The appointments are effective January 1, 2020.

“It is my privilege to announce the promotion of an extremely talented group of lawyers to our partnership,” said Chairman Paul Theiss. “Our new partners have been widely recognized for their exceptional client service, collegiality and legal skills. They have also demonstrated the ability to excel in a highly competitive, demanding legal market, which attests to the trust placed in them by our clients. I know they will make a significant contribution to our continued success and am pleased to welcome them to the Mayer Brown partnership.”

The new partners are:

Michelle J. Annunziata, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, New York
Michelle Annunziata is a Litigation & Dispute Resolution partner in New York whose practice focuses on complex commercial and financial services litigation. Her experience includes cross-border internal and government investigations, including DOJ, CFTC, SEC and IRS investigations. Her experience also includes numerous contract disputes, lender liability matters, federal securities litigation and international arbitration. Ms. Annunziata has represented numerous national and multinational corporations in federal and state courts.

Jonathan S. Baker, Real Estate, Chicago
A Real Estate partner in Chicago, Jonathan Baker represents US and foreign private equity funds, real estate investment trusts, insurance companies, opportunity funds, developers and other institutional investors in all types of equity and debt real estate transactions, including joint ventures, acquisitions, dispositions, financings and developments. Mr. Baker also represents equity investors in the creation of joint ventures for the purpose of acquiring, developing and operating all classes of real estate assets.

William J. Barrow, Intellectual Property, Washington DC
An Intellectual Property partner in Washington DC, Bill Barrow protects and defends clients’ IP rights in district courts throughout the country and before the US International Trade Commission and US Patent and Trademark Office. Mr. Barrow’s litigation experience spans several industries, with a particular emphasis on consumer electronics, telecommunications, software and automobiles. He has also litigated cases from inception through trial for plaintiffs and defendants, and he has counseled numerous foreign companies on navigating the US market.

Miriam Bruce, Employment & Benefits, London
Miriam Bruce, an Employment & Benefits partner in London, deals with a wide range of contentious and non-contentious employment law matters and acts for clients across a variety of sectors, including insurance, financial services, retail and manufacturing. She advises clients on TUPE, dismissals and settlement agreements, redundancy programs, employee handbooks and policy reviews, disciplinary and grievance issues and drafting employment and consultancy agreements. Ms. Bruce is also experienced in managing global employment law projects across a number of jurisdictions.

José Caicedo, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Paris
José Caicedo, a Litigation & Dispute Resolution partner in Paris and member of the International Arbitration practice, is admitted to the bar in Paris and in the Republic of Colombia. Mr. Caicedo focuses on public international law. He has regularly represented states, state entities, international organizations, foreign investors and companies in international arbitrations (ICC, ICSID, LMAA, UNCITRAL) involving a vast range of industries and sectors, including oil and gas, mining, press distribution, telecommunications, arms procurements, banking, food and transportation.

Joseph M. Callaghan, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Chicago
A Litigation & Dispute Resolution partner in Chicago, Joe Callaghan is also a member of the firm’s practice. He focuses on products liability, including mass torts, class actions and complex commercial litigation, in state and federal courts and alternative dispute resolution proceedings. Mr. Callaghan has significant experience in all phases of litigation, from pre-suit investigations and negotiations through trial and appeal. His clients include Fortune 100 multinational conglomerates and chemical and automotive product manufacturers, among many others.

Raymond N.H. Chan, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Hong Kong
Raymond Chan, a Litigation & Dispute Resolution partner in Hong Kong, has extensive experience in handling criminal and regulatory matters. He is also experienced in commercial, civil and other dispute resolution matters. He advises private and corporate clients on various criminal and regulatory investigations before the police, the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Securities and Futures Commission, among other regulatory authorities. Mr. Chan also handles regulatory-related civil litigation cases, including, in particular, representation of victims of major fraud incidents.

Jasmine Y.K. Chiu, Real Estate, Hong Kong
Jasmine Chiu, a Real Estate partner in Hong Kong, advises investment banks and commercial banks, as well as sponsors and borrowers, on debt financings, including secured or unsecured syndicated loans and mezzanine loans. Ms. Chiu also handles complex real estate financings relating to Hong Kong and cross-border property transactions. These transactions often involve property M&A deals by way of the sale and purchase of shares in property holding companies, acquisition of new land and project development (including MTR land development), general conveyancing or corporate restructuring.

Marcelo Frazão, Corporate & Securities, Rio de Janeiro
Marcelo Frazão is a Corporate & Securities partner in Rio de Janeiro. Advising companies in the shipping and offshore sectors, Mr. Frazão has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, finance, oil and gas and energy projects involving ships and offshore installations, including projects with FSRU, FPSO, drilling units, support vessels and subsea construction. He also counsels on international financing for the offshore sector and domestic transactions with the Merchant Marine Fund.

Lucas Giardelli, Tax Transactions & Consulting, New York
A Tax Transactions & Consulting partner in New York, Lucas Giardelli concentrates on international tax planning for US and non-US multinational companies (including cross-border restructurings and financings, IP planning, and post-acquisition integration) and corporate tax matters, advising clients on the tax aspects of acquisitions, divestitures, financing arrangements and other transactions. Mr. Giardelli also has experience advising high-net worth individuals on international tax matters.

Vilmar Gonçalves, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Rio de Janeiro
Vilmar Gonçalves is a Litigation & Dispute Resolution partner in Rio de Janeiro, serving also as a member of the firm’s Environmental and International Arbitration practices. Mr. Gonçalves focuses his practice on environmental law, particularly on legal and administrative proceedings involving solid waste and shipping companies. He has experience in legal proceedings concerning individual or collective disputes, representing, in particular, energy and telecom companies. Previously, Mr. Gonçalves served as the general counsel of the American Chamber of Commerce of Rio de Janeiro.

Amita Kaur Haylock, Intellectual Property, Hong Kong
Amita Haylock is an Intellectual Property partner in Hong Kong. She focuses on intellectual property, competition and commercial litigation across a broad range of industries, and she also advises on telecommunications, broadcasting and information technology matters. Ms. Haylock has experience in advising both plaintiffs and defendants in relation to a broad range of commercial and intellectual property disputes, including the breach of a variety of commercial contracts and licensing agreements, infringement of intellectual property rights and for breach of confidence.

Nick Kouvaritakis, Banking & Finance, Singapore
Nick Kouvaritakis is a Banking & Finance partner in Singapore and a member of the firm’s Oil & Gas and Infrastructure Investment groups. He has significant experience advising on oil and gas transactions, including upstream development and all aspects of the LNG value chain, and on LNG-to-power projects. Mr. Kouvaritakis has been particularly active advising on floating and land-based LNG regasification projects, with involvement in more than 30 FSRU/LNG import projects to date across Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. He also serves as the firm’s LNG practice leader in Asia.

Cliff A. Maier, Intellectual Property, Northern California
An Intellectual Property partner in Northern California, Cliff Maier focuses his practice primarily on complex patent litigation. He also prosecutes patent applications in the US Patent and Trademark Office. Mr. Maier has worked on patent litigations involving cryptography, biometrics, semiconductors, mobile communications, consumer electronics, human-machine interaction, and networking, as well as business method patents involving financial institutions and banking.

B. Clayton McCraw, Intellectual Property, New York
An Intellectual Property partner in New York, Clayton McCraw is a registered patent attorney with experience in district court patent litigation, Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings, and International Trade Commission proceedings. Mr. McCraw has experience in all phases of patent litigation, from pre-filing investigations through trial. This experience spans a wide array of technologies, including electrical and computer arts, semiconductors, database management systems, SIM cards, wireless electric meters, and business method patents, among others.

Eric Mitzenmacher, Financial Services Regulatory & Enforcement, Washington DC
A Financial Services Regulatory & Enforcement partner in Washington DC, Eric Mitzenmacher advises companies that offer various consumer and small business financial products and services. He also conducts regulatory due diligence reviews on behalf of investors in, and financing sources for, such companies. Mr. Mitzenmacher’s experience spans the lifecycle of a typical financial services company, including initial program development, day-to-day compliance, due diligence in connection with various transactions, and government examinations.

Juan Pablo Moreno, Banking & Finance, Chicago
Juan Moreno is a Chicago-based partner in Mayer Brown’s Banking & Finance practice who focuses on structured finance, corporate finance and capital markets cross-border transactions, with a particular focus in Latin America. In that capacity, he advises financial institutions and other investors, as well as sponsors and borrowers, in syndicated, club and bilateral credit facilities, as well as debt and equity capital markets transactions under Rule 144A/Regulation S. Mr. Moreno has practiced in France, Colombia and the US in a variety of financial and capital markets matters.

Daniel D. Queen, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Los Angeles
A Litigation & Dispute Resolution partner in Los Angeles, Dan Queen has extensive experience litigating cases in federal and state courts at the trial and appellate levels, as well as conducting internal investigations and defending regulatory inquiries. His civil litigation practice concentrates on class action defense, including class action suits alleging improper business practices, false and misleading advertising, violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and federal securities laws and wage and hour violations. Mr. Queen also focuses on the banking, finance and real estate industries.

Hadrien Schlumberger, Corporate & Securities, Paris
A Corporate & Securities partner in Paris, Hadrien Schlumberger advises clients on a wide range of domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisition transactions involving both private and public companies. He regularly advises international firms and private equity funds on their acquisitions, joint ventures and governance issues, as well as restructuring matters. In addition to his native French, Mr. Schlumberger is fluent in English.

Tim Shepherd, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, London
Tim Shepherd, a Litigation & Dispute Resolution partner in London, has extensive experience in defending high-value and high-profile claims, often arising from a complex transactional, trusts, pensions or tax-related background, brought against a wide range of professionals. These claims are often brought against solicitors, trustees, accountants, insolvency practitioners, actuaries and surveyors. Mr. Shepherd handles litigation in various courts from early stages through to trial, and he also helps resolve disputes by way of mediation and arbitration.

Jason E. Sito, Real Estate, Charlotte
Jason Sito is a Real Estate partner in Charlotte. He represents institutional lenders and borrowers in a variety of secured and unsecured debt financing transactions and various institutional clients in leases, acquisitions and dispositions of commercial real estate. Mr. Sito also represents institutional lenders and special servicers in loan workouts and restructurings, foreclosures and short sales of various real estate assets. His representation has involved a broad range of loan transactions.

Jennifer C.W. Tam, Employment & Benefits, Hong Kong
Jennifer Tam, an Employment & Benefits partner in Hong Kong, advises on all areas of employment law, with an emphasis on contentious employment, discrimination, harassment and data privacy disputes. Ms. Tam has taken on high-profile and complex employment litigation at various court levels from the Labour Tribunal to the Court of Final Appeal, handling investigations by and complaints to the Labour Department, Equal Opportunities Commission and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data of Hong Kong. Ms. Tam is trilingual; she speaks English, Cantonese and Mandarin.

Charles Thain, Banking & Finance, London
Charles Thain is a partner in the Banking & Finance practice in London. His work is particularly focused on asset-based lending, receivables/payables finance (both purchase and borrowing base), trade finance and distribution arrangements. Mr. Thain represents a range of financial institutions, alternative finance providers, corporates and fintechs in both domestic and cross-border transactions.

Guilherme Tranquillini, Corporate & Securities, São Paulo
Guilherme Tranquillini, a Corporate & Securities partner in São Paulo, focuses his practice on mergers & acquisitions, private equity and corporate reorganizations, domestic and cross-border, particularly those related to listed companies, franchising, education, technology, advertisement, retail and infrastructure. He also assist clients on their acquisition finance deals based on capital markets or banking products and on high-level and complex Brazilian corporate legal matters.

Brantley Webb, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Washington DC
Brantley Webb is a Litigation & Dispute Resolution partner in Washington DC and a member of the firm’s Supreme Court & Appellate practice. Her practice focuses on complex litigation, government enforcement and other regulatory matters. Ms. Webb has experience representing financial institutions and other national and multinational corporations at all stages of civil litigation. In her appellate practice, she regularly represents clients and briefs cases in the federal courts of appeals and the US Supreme Court. She has argued appeals in the Fourth, Seventh, and DC Circuits.

Kristine M. Young, Intellectual Property, Chicago
Kristine Young is an Intellectual Property partner in Chicago. She has a broad range of experience encompassing litigation in federal and state court, transactional work and matters before the US Patent and Trademark Office, US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. Ms. Young’s practice encompasses several types of litigation, as well as trademark prosecution, enforcement and counseling, copyright counseling, and domain name enforcement and Uniform Dispute Resolution proceedings, among many others.

Jing Zhang, Government & Global Trade, Washington DC and Beijing
Jing Zhang is a partner in the firm’s Government & Global Trade practice in Washington DC and Beijing. She advises clients on a wide range of international trade matters, with a particular focus on antidumping, anti-subsidy and customs matters, as well as Sec. 337 IP actions before the US ITC. Ms. Zhang assists major US and foreign corporations in focused assessments (customs audits), compliance surveys or reviews and other proceedings before US Customs & Border Protection. In addition, she has worked with clients, especially in mainland China, to develop strategies to deal with potential import violations and to strengthen internal control on customs compliance.