August 1, 2008 5:21 PM

THE CHURN: Lateral Moves and Promotions in The Am Law 200

Posted by Kirstin Maguire

Alston & Bird welcomed two new additions to its intellectual property litigation group, with Michael Newton joining as head of the Dallas IP litigation practice, and Jason Cook joining as a partner in the group. At Alston & Bird, Newton, a senior patent/IP litigator, will focus on patent litigation and client counseling in technologies and industries. Cook's emphasis is on patent litigation and enforcement.

Arnold & Porter announced that health care lawyers Jeffrey Ruggiero and Andrew Bogen have joined the firm's New York office. Ruggiero joins as partner, Bogen as counsel. Their practices focus on regulatory and compliance matters, commercial litigation, fraud and abuse matters, and corporate transactions relating to health care service providers and hospitals. Both attorneys come to Arnold & Porter from Arent Fox's New York office.

Michelle Novick has joined Arnstein & Lehr as a partner in the bankruptcy, creditors' rights, and restructuring practice group in the Chicago office. She comes to the firm from Thomson Coburn in Chicago. 

DLA Piper has established an association with Saudi Arabian lawyer Abdulaziz Al-Bosaily in an effort to develop its presence in the region. DLA Piper was formerly affiliated with a local lawyer in the region. Al-Bosaily worked in Saudi Arabia for several years before joining DLA Piper's finance and projects practice in Dubai in March 2007 from Clifford Chance's Saudi affiliate. The Riyadh-based Abdulaziz Al-Bosaily Law Office in Association with DLA Piper will be jointly managed by Al-Bosaily and Oliver Agha, DLA Piper's global head of Islamic finance and head of the Saudi Arabia practice. Al-Bosaily and Oliver worked closely together when Oliver led the projects team at the Clifford Chance affiliate in Riyadh.  Oliver and a team of Islamic finance lawyers from DLA Piper's Dubai office will relocate to Riyadh by September.

Foley Hoag added Mélida Hodgson as counsel to the firm's international arbitration and alternative dispute resolution practice in the Washington, D.C., office. She was previously counsel in the D.C. office of Miller & Chevalier. Hodgson's practice involves international investment arbitration and trade policy disputes. A former associate general counsel in the office of the U.S. trade representative, Hodgson also advises clients on M&A, national security review, and government procurement policy issues, as well as representing companies before world arbitration bodies such as ICSID and WTO.

Debbi Johnstone has joined Fulbright & Jaworski as a partner in the firm's national health law practice.  Johnstone, who was previously a partner in Vinson & Elkins' health section, is based in Houston. She provides advice on hospital-physician joint ventures, hospital-physician contracting, hospital acquisitions, and more.

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo announced that it has formed a consumer product safety commission practice group in response to a new bill in Congress. The group, headed by product safety legal expert Chuck Samuels, comprises nearly a dozen practitioners across the firm's Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, and California offices. The group includes experts in product liability litigation, insurance litigation, and federal regulatory issues. 

Patton Boggs expanded its presence in the Middle East by opening an office in Abu Dhabi. The firm also has lawyers in Dubai and Doha, Qatar, who provide representation in the practice areas of private capital and investment funds, banking and financial institutions, international business transactions, construction, and more.

Pepper Hamilton welcomed Stanley Soya as a partner in its government contracts and white-collar and corporate investigations practices in Washington, D.C. He has experience representing contractors in bid protests, claims and disputes litigation, suspension and debarment proceedings, and investigations. Soya joined Pepper Hamilton from Jackson Kelly, where he had been a partner since 2005.

Reed Smith brought in Rich Scudellari to anchor the corporate practice in the firm's planned Silicon Valley office, scheduled to open in early fall. Scudellari was formerly a partner in the Palo Alto office of Morrison & Foerster. He will be a partner in the firmwide corporate and securities group. His practice emphasizes strategic counseling and negotiations, with a focus on representing companies, venture capitalists, and other private equity investors.

Weston, Benshoof, Rochefort, Rubalcava and MacCuish partner Lisa Gilford was appointed president-elect of the National Association of Women Lawyers. Gilford currently serves on the executive board and was previously NAWL's treasurer-elect. At Weston Benshoof, Gilford's practice focuses on toxic torts, business torts, consumer class actions, and product law.

Litigation attorney Charles James, Jr., has joined Williams Mullen as a partner in the Richmond office. James focuses his practice on complex civil litigation, white-collar criminal defense, government investigations, corporate compliance, and internal investigations. Prior to joining Williams Mullen, James was a federal prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia's Richmond and Alexandria divisions, and the Department of Justice's criminal division in Washington, D.C.

The churn is constant. Our reports are twice weekly. Send your news to amlawdaily@alm.com.

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