Nixon Peabody Elects 13 Attorneys to Partnership; Female Partners Make Up More than 60% of the 2013 Clas
Boston, MA – January 15, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — Nixon Peabody LLP will promote 13 attorneys, including eight female lawyers, to its partnership effective February 1, 2013.
“Our new partner class mirrors our broad geographic reach and depth of experience in a variety of key industries for our clients,” said Andrew I. Glincher, CEO and managing partner of Nixon Peabody LLP. “These attorneys are dedicated to extraordinary client service and they have proven themselves as strong leaders in our firm and in the communities where we work and live. They will be a terrific addition to our partnership.”
The new partners, listed by department, include:
Business & Finance Department
Kelly Babson, Public Company Transactions, Boston. Ms. Babson has a comprehensive knowledge of securities laws that she has developed over a 25-year period, including her industry experience prior to joining Nixon Peabody. Ms. Babson’s securities practice includes representing issuers in connection with public and private offerings of debt and equity securities, advising clients regarding disclosure requirements under federal and state securities laws, and assisting investment advisory clients on a variety of regulatory matters. Ms. Babson graduated from Boston College Law School. She earned her M.B.A. from New York University Stern School of Business and her B.A. from Georgetown University.
Jim Montes, Public Finance, New York City/Long Island. Mr. Montes concentrates his practice on the financing of general infrastructure, electric utilities, and water utilities. He has been involved in public offerings, Rule 144A offerings, and private placements. Mr. Montes has served as bond counsel and underwriter’s counsel in connection with tax-exempt and taxable bond financings, including representing various local municipalities throughout the state of New York and various public authorities in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Prior to his law career, Mr. Montes spent 20 years in the banking industry. He is a graduate of Fordham University School of Law and earned his bachelor’s degree from New York University.
Amy (Pugliano) O’Keefe, Global Business & Transactions, Boston. Ms. O’Keefe focuses her practice on the representation of public and private strategic buyers as well as financial buyers and sellers of privately held businesses in the M&A space. She has counseled a wide range of clients from small, family-owned and operated ventures to acquirers and targets of businesses valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. Additionally, Ms. O’Keefe represents clients in the private equity and venture capital space, advising investors in connection with portfolio investments, portfolio companies completing exit transactions, and emerging companies receiving investment funds from funds and angel investors. Ms. O’Keefe also acts as outside general counsel to a variety of software, high-tech, life sciences, retail, and manufacturing companies. Ms. O’Keefe earned her J.D. degree, cum laude, from American University’s Washington College of Law and received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Villanova University.
Rudy Salo, Public Finance, Los Angeles. Mr. Salo has extensive experience serving various roles on a broad range of financings involving transportation systems, cultural institutions, scholastic institutions, sports teams, and the federal government, in California and throughout the United States. Rudy’s practice also includes representing commercial banks in providing credit and liquidity facilities in support of tax-exempt and taxable municipal securities as well as representing those banks in the direct purchase of privately placed bonds and notes. Mr. Salo is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Michael Schnipper, Global Business/Health Services, Long Island. Mr. Schnipper focuses his practice on the representation of both public and private companies in business law and transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity financings. Mr. Schnipper has developed extensive experience in health care transactional matters and he regularly advises health care clients on a broad spectrum of issues such as emerging developments in private equity investments in health care companies, mergers and acquisitions of physician practices and health care providers, and joint ventures with business corporations, as well as issues associated with tax-exempt hospitals. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Hofstra University and received his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from the University at Albany.
Litigation Department
Sarah Andre, Commercial Litigation, Los Angeles. Ms. Andre represents private, public, and foreign sovereign clients in federal court litigation matters involving intellectual property, sovereign immunity, contracts, labor disputes, civil rights, and international property claims. She has authored numerous briefs and motions filed in federal courts (including the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Ninth, and DC circuits). In 2011, Ms. Andre was selected by the judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to serve a three-year term as an appellate lawyer representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. Ms. Andre clerked for the Hon. Harry Pregerson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the Hon. Gary A. Feess of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Ms. Andre graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law. She earned her B.A., cum laude, from North Park College.
Jeffrey Gilbreth, Labor & Employment, Boston. Mr. Gilbreth counsels clients on a variety of employment law matters, including discrimination, sexual harassment, employee corrective action, discipline and discharge, wage-hour compliance, drafting and negotiating executive employment agreements, managing leaves of absence, reductions in force, workplace privacy, and applicant/employee drug testing. He is particularly experienced with OWBPA and WARN compliance. He has defended multimillion-dollar FLSA class actions, wage act violations, violations of restrictive covenants, and discrimination complaints. Mr. Gilbreth graduated from Boston College Law School, magna cum laude, and earned his B.A. from Trinity College.
Kristen Mollnow Walsh, Brands & Creations, Rochester. Ms. Walsh focuses her practice in the area of intellectual property. She counsels clients on creating, protecting, managing, and enforcing their brands, and on a variety of other trademark and copyright law matters. She has extensive experience in domestic and foreign trademark clearance and prosecution, brand protection strategies, enforcement actions, and domain name disputes. Ms. Walsh graduated summa cum laude from Albany Law School of Union University, and earned her bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Vanderbilt University.
Danielle Pelot, Government Investigations & White Collar Defense, Boston. Ms. Pelot represents individuals and corporations in matters involving federal and state government investigative authorities. Her experience includes high-profile government investigations in a range of industries from construction to health care and financial services. Ms. Pelot has particular background counseling pharmaceutical and medical device companies and their employees through allegations of criminal and civil fraud, false claims, and kickbacks, assisting clients with respect to grand jury subpoenas, internal corporate investigations, corporate integrity agreements, deferred prosecution agreements, and compliance programs. She graduated from Boston College Law School and earned her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.
Vincent Polsinelli, Labor & Employment, Albany. Mr. Polsinelli provides employers of all sizes with preventive counseling and coaching on a full range of complex human resources issues, including workplace policies, procedures, and investigations. He also represents employers in all aspects of employment-related litigation, including both single-plaintiff and class action lawsuits under a wide array of state and federal employment laws, as well as in arbitrations and administrative proceedings before various governmental agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the New York State Division of Human Rights, the National Labor Relations Board, and the U.S. and New York State departments of labor. Mr. Polsinelli earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and received his B.A. from Amherst College.
Real Estate, Energy, & Community Development
Colette A. Dafoe, Real Estate, Washington, DC. Ms. Dafoe’s practice focuses on commercial real estate transactions. She counsels owners, investors, and developers in acquisitions, sales, leasing, financing, and development of commercial real estate, as well as institutional lenders in financing, loan recovery, and restructuring . Additionally, she works on multifamily housing matters, particularly with respect to the senior housing and care industry . Ms. Dafoe represents clients in transactions ranging from single property matters to several of the most notable transactions in the industry involving publicly traded and privately held clients. Ms. Dafoe graduated from Northeastern University School of Law and earned her bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from St. Lawrence University.
Tatiana Gutierrez Abendschein, Affordable Housing, Washington, DC. Ms. Gutierrez Abendschein’s practice focuses on affordable housing law. She represents developers, owners, managers, syndicators, investors, lenders, and public housing agencies on regulatory issues before the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and in transactions for the new construction and preservation of affordable housing, with a focus on projects financed through the low-income housing tax credit. Ms. Gutierrez Abendschein commenced her career in affordable housing at the Harrison Institute for Public Law. She graduated from Georgetown University Law Center and received her bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Georgetown University.
Irene Kuei, Affordable Housing, San Francisco. Ms. Kuei counsels developers on the acquisition and disposition, financing, and development of affordable housing developments. She is experienced in real est ate transactions involving joint venture, public-private partnerships, acquisition and disposition, financing, and construction of mixed-use and multifamily residential rental projects funded by tax exempt private activity bonds, low-income housing tax credits, and various other types of public financing. She graduated from Boston University School of Law. She received her L.L.M. in taxation from the University of San Diego, and her B.A. from New York University.
Contact:
Allison McClain
617-345-1128
