Energy and Natural Resources Attorney Ben L. Pfefferle III Joins McDonald Hopkins

Friday, January 23, 2015

Ben Pfefferle III, a prominent attorney who has been at the forefront of the natural resources, environmental, and energy sectors throughout his career, has joined the Columbus office of McDonald Hopkins in the firm’s Business Department as Co-Chair of the Natural Resources Practice Group.

A former partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP, Pfefferle was the national chair of the firm’s environmental and energy team. His experience includes: energy extraction, refining and production, environmental compliance, hazardous and toxic waste issues, Superfund litigation and private cost recovery, environmental permitting, and redevelopment, acquisition and divestiture of environmentally impaired commercial and industrial property. More >>

Tags:  McDonald Hopkins | Columbus

Rite Aid’s $3.7 Billion Credit Facility

Friday, January 23, 2015

Cravath represented the joint lead arranger and the joint bookrunning manager, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and the agent, Citicorp North America, Inc., in connection with the arrangement of a $3.7 billion asset‑based revolving credit facility made available to Rite Aid Corporation to refinance existing indebtedness and for general corporate purposes. Rite Aid is one of the nation’s leading drugstore chains and is the largest drugstore chain on the East Coast. The transaction closed on January 13, 2015. More >>

Tags:  Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

Baker Donelson Adds Seven Attorneys to New Orleans Office

Friday, January 23, 2015

Baker Donelson announces the addition of seven attorneys to the Firm’s New Orleans office.

“We are pleased to welcome this outstanding group of practitioners to our New Orleans office,” said Roy C. Cheatwood, managing shareholder of Baker Donelson’s Louisiana offices. “The addition of these highly qualified attorneys is a tremendous asset to our clients with business interests located in Louisiana, across the Gulf Coast and throughout the Southeast.” More >>

Tags:  Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC | New Orleans

K&L Gates Continues Growth of Labor and Employment Practice with Portland Partner Addition

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Global law firm K&L Gates LLP continues to expand its Labor, Employment and Workplace Safety practice area with the arrival of Portland partner Román D. Hernández. Hernández joins K&L Gates from Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt.

With a focus on employment law, labor law, and business litigation, Hernández represents employers in the defense of such areas as discrimination, unfair labor practices, harassment, and wage abuse allegations, and on international matters involving multinational contracts. He also acts as lead counsel in class action disputes at the state and federal level, in addition to arguing before the National Labor Relations Board. More >>

Tags:  K&L Gates LLP | Portland

Manatt Adds Former FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Of Staff In Washington, D.C.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, announced that Katherine Winfree has joined the Washington, D.C. office as a partner in the State Attorneys General practice group. Winfree previously served as chief of staff for the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau.

With more than 30 years of government experience, Winfree has served in multiple high-level roles in state and federal government. As chief of staff in the Enforcement Bureau of the FCC, she was a key policy advisor to the bureau chief and provided oversight and guidance on a broad array of projects relating to communications and technology law and regulation. She previously served as the chief deputy attorney general for the state of Maryland, the second-highest law enforcement officer in the state, where she was responsible for the supervision of 32 divisions, including antitrust, consumer protection, criminal, environment, public safety and transportation. Winfree also served as a federal and state prosecutor, including 19 years as an assistant United States attorney in the District of Columbia, where she tried several high-profile cases. More >>

Tags:  Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP | Washington

Seven Attorneys Join Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in Seattle and Anchorage, Enhancing the Firm’s Government Contracting, Litigation, and Construction Practices

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Seven attorneys joined Davis Wright Tremaine LLP (DWT) today as members of the firm’s government contracting, litigation and construction practices. Six of these attorneys came from the Seattle office of Dorsey & Whitney and they are: partners Lisa Marchese, Traeger Machetanz, James E. Howard, and Jonathan A. DeMella, and associates Nathan Rouse, and Kate Kennedy. Christine V. Williams, who most recently served as vice president and general counsel of the Bering Straits Native Corporation, has also joined DWT as a partner. Each of the partners will spend a significant amount of time working out of DWT’s Seattle and Anchorage offices, with Williams officially based in Anchorage and all the others in Seattle. More >>

Tags:  Davis Wright Tremaine LLP | Seattle

Pablo L. Petrozzi Joins Taft in Chicago

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP is pleased to announce that Pablo L. Petrozzi has joined the firm’s Chicago office as a partner in the Real Estate group. Practicing law for 15 years, Petrozzi focuses his practice on commercial real estate transactions including acquisitions and dispositions, financings and joint ventures. More >>

Tags:  Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP | Chicago