Cooley LLP announced today that C. Thomas Hopkins and Ian Smith have joined the firm’s Business department as partners in its Los Angeles office. Both Hopkins and Smith join Cooley from Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP. Hopkins joined Sheppard as a partner in 2001, and co-chaired the firm’s global corporate practice group. Smith also joined Sheppard in 2001 and became a partner in 2008.

More >>

Kirkland & Ellis LLP announced today that the Firm has expanded its West Coast corporate practice with the hiring of leading attorneys Michael S. Ringler and Rick C. Madden. Mr. Ringler will join the Firm as a partner in the San Francisco office and was previously a mergers and acquisitions partner in the San Francisco office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Mr. Madden will join as a partner in the Firm’s Los Angeles office and was previously a corporate partner in the Los Angeles office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

More >>

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy represented HS1, Ltd. – a consortium of Borealis Infrastructure and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and owners of the High Speed 1 (“HS1”) railway in the UK – in a $915 million private placement issuance. The proceeds will go towards refinancing the $2.1 billion project costs incurred by HS1, Ltd. in 2010 when it won a 30-year concession to own and operate the railway from the UK government’s London & Continental Railways.

More >>

Venable LLP announced today that William J. Briggs, II has joined the Los Angeles office as partner in the Commercial Litigation Group. Briggs is an entertainment industry veteran representing well-known talent in film, television and music as well as production and music publishing companies. Previously, Briggs was a partner at Lavely & Singer in Los Angeles.

More >>

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP advised Marlin Equity Partners (“Marlin”)in connection with its investment in Neff, Inc. (“Neff”), a leading accessories and apparel company focused on the action sports youth lifestyle market based in Camarillo, CA.

More >>

Alston & Bird LLP announced today that Charles W. Cox has joined its litigation team as a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Mr. Cox focuses on representing clients in complex commercial litigation, including stockholder litigation, class actions, derivative suits and matters related to mergers and acquisitions.

More >>

Jackson Lewis LLP, one of the country’s largest and fastest-growing workplace law firms, is pleased to announce Leila Nourani has joined the firm’s Los Angeles office as Partner. Ms. Nourani joins Jackson Lewis from Foley & Lardner LLP, where she served as Chair of the Los Angeles office’s Litigation Department from 2008 to 2011.

More >>

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton today announced the opening of a Los Angeles office to be led by preeminent California intellectual property attorneys Larry McFarland, Dennis Wilson and other attorneys formerly with the highly-regarded firm Keats McFarland & Wilson (KMW). Kilpatrick Townsend was formed over two years ago by the combination of Kilpatrick Stockton and Townsend and Townsend and Crew.

More >>

Paul Hastings, a leading global law firm, announced today that the firm, recently helped Korean Air Lines reach important milestones for its Wilshire Grand redevelopment project in downtown Los Angeles. Korean Air Lines has now begun work on its approximately $950 million mixed use project, located at one of the prime locations in the financial district. Korean Air Lines recently began demolishing the existing obsolete hotel and will start vertical construction later this year. The project, which is currently the largest private construction project in Los Angeles, will consist of a 900 room four plus star hotel with ballrooms and convention facilities, approximately 380,000 square feet of office space and 200,000 square feet of restaurants, retail and other amenities in a single 72 story tower with attached podium building. Construction of the project will continue through 2016 and the project opening is scheduled for January 2017.

More >>

McGuireWoods LLP today announced that Neil Rust has joined the firm’s banking and finance group in Los Angeles as a partner. He brings to the firm a broad transactional practice that includes representing domestic and international clients in connection with middle market, investment grade and leveraged finance, mergers and acquisitions, and other corporate work.

More >>