Scheidemantle Law Group’s attorneys have joined Lathrop Gage LLP, the two firms announced today. The combination continues the expansion of Lathrop Gage’s Insurance Recovery and Product Liability practices, and marks another significant addition to its Los Angeles office, continuing the firm’s strategic growth in a key market.
Four attorneys join Lathrop Gage from Scheidemantle Law Group: Partner David R. Scheidemantle, Of Counsel Joshua J. Pollack and Caroline A. H. Sayers, and Associate Karine Akopchikyan.
“David Scheidemantle and his team are exceptional attorneys who serve an impressive roster of clients; we are excited to welcome them to our L.A. office,” said Cameron Garrison, Managing Partner of Lathrop Gage. “These additions further establish our insurance recovery practice as one of the preeminent policyholder practices in the country, while also strengthening the national footprint of our product liability practice. The combination also reflects Lathrop Gage’s commitment to continuing to build on our recent exciting success in the Los Angeles market.”
Lathrop Gage added Nancy Sher Cohen, Lathrop Gage’s Partner in Charge of the Los Angeles office and Insurance Recovery and Counseling Practice team leader, and Partner Ron Valenzuela to the firm’s Los Angeles office in October 2017. Scheidemantle cites a strong connection among Cohen, Valenzuela, himself, and Joshua Pollack, all four of whom previously practiced at Proskauer Rose in Los Angeles. In March 2018, Lathrop Gage also added Partner Alexandra Roje from Latham Watkins to its Los Angeles office and Insurance Recovery and Counseling team.
“I was drawn to Lathrop Gage by the firm’s high emphasis on providing value to clients and focus on law as a profession, where clients come first. These are the key differentiators that led me to a boutique practice 12 years ago, and I am beyond thrilled to find them at Lathrop Gage,” Scheidemantle said. “Lathrop’s values are reflective of our own core principles, and our overlapping practice areas, particularly insurance recovery and product liability, are highly aligned. Lathrop Gage is known nationwide for its depth in both areas of practice, and our client base will benefit from the combination of our two firms.”
“David and his team add breadth to an already-strong insurance recovery group and Los Angeles office,” said Cohen. “His reputation precedes him, and I’m delighted to welcome David as a partner at Lathrop Gage and his group of outstanding lawyers and staff.”
Scheidemantle focuses his practice on insurance recovery and product liability litigation and counseling. He also practices extensively in the areas of construction law, toxic tort, class action defense, complex business litigation and arbitration, as well as general counseling for both companies and individuals.
He was recognized with a Corporate LiveWire Global Award for Insurance and Reinsurance in 2016 and has been a Litigation Counsel of America Fellow since 2008, receiving that organization’s Peter Perlman Service Award in 2016. Active in the Los Angeles community, he chairs the Advisory Council of American Contemporary Ballet and is on the Board of Directors of Los Angeles Master Chorale, where he chairs the Nominating and Governance Committee. Formerly he sat on the Board of Trustees of Scripps College and the Boards of Directors of Los Angeles Children’s Chorus and Friends of the Levitt Pavilion, both of which he chaired.
Before forming his boutique firm in 2006, Scheidemantle was an equity partner at Proskauer Rose for 10 years. He received his juris doctor from Fordham University School of Law, cum laude, in 1985 and a Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School in 1982, where he was concertmaster of the Juilliard Symphony. While a lawyer, Scheidemantle has continued to perform classical violin with various groups and in salon chamber performances.
Pollack focuses his practice on insurance recovery and counseling on behalf of policyholders and general, complex business litigation. He has extensive experience litigating in federal and state courts across the country and represents policyholders seeking coverage under a wide variety of policy types, including directors and officers, errors and omissions, employment practices, property, environmental, life, business interruption, product recall, builder’s risk, musical instrument, and commercial general liability. Pollack counsels clients with regard to designing pre-litigation insurance coverage strategies and conducts policy reviews. He represents clients in a broad range of industries, including financial institutions, hedge funds, manufacturing, real estate, entertainment, retail, banking, and hospitality.
Pollack received his juris doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, cum laude, in 1995, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yeshiva University, summa cum laude, in 1992.
Sayers focuses her practice on complex business litigation, general counseling, and corporate and real estate transactions. Before joining Scheidemantle, she spent eight years at the global law firm White & Case LLP, handling complex matters on behalf of Fortune 500 companies. She has been lead trial counsel in numerous matters and has litigated a wide range of national and international matters involving commercial contract disputes, unfair competition, commercial fraud, trademark, auditor liability, application of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, and issues under the Hague Conventions for service of process and discovery abroad. As a transactional lawyer, her practice includes counseling clients in a wide variety of corporate and real estate transactions.
She is a Trustee of Marymount California University, where she is a member of the Executive Committee, serves on the Audit Committee, and chairs the Student Development Committee. She has taught Business Law at California State University Northridge, including International Business Law and Commercial Transactions.
Sayers received her juris doctor at Loyola Law School, cum laude, in 2000, and a Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy, with a minor in Mathematics, from Georgetown University in 1995.
Akopchikyan represents clients in complex commercial litigation, insurance coverage, and the defense of product liability, construction, and toxic tort class action matters. Akopchikyan earned her juris doctor from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law in 2015. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from California State University, Northridge, in 2011. While in law school, Akopchikyan served as Senior Executive Editor of the USC Business Law Advisor, which published practitioner-focused articles on the intersection of business and law.
Source: www.lathropgage.com
