Boston, MA – April 9, 2013, McCarter & English, LLP is pleased to announce that Super Lawyers has recognized nine Boston attorneys for a high degree of peer recognition in Massachusetts. The lawyers selected for this honor received the highest point totals in the Massachusetts selection process.
The following three partners were recognized as Top Women Massachusetts Super Lawyers for 2012:
Leigh A. Gilligan: Boston, MA – Top Women Massachusetts Super Lawyers 2012
Ms. Gilligan is a partner in the firm’s Environment & Energy Practice Group. She has extensive experience in many aspects of environmental and land use law including licensing and permitting, compliance counseling, and representation in connection with business and lending transactions, as well as real estate development. Ms. Gilligan represents parties involved in federal and state hazardous waste sites including legal proceedings, private cost recovery actions and dealings with governmental agencies. She regularly represents lenders in the evaluation, management and resolution of environmental issues. She also has extensive experience in environmental issues involved in transactions for the purchase and sale of land and businesses, including confirming and securing liability protections and economic incentives in connection with Brownfields redevelopment. Ms. Gilligan is a frequent author and lecturer on environmentally related topics. She has been a past Instructor/Guest Lecturer at MIT’s Center for Real Estate.
Elizabeth A. Hanley: Boston, MA – Top Women Massachusetts Super Lawyers 2012
Ms. Hanley is practice group leader of the firm’s Intellectual Property/Information Technology Group and has over twenty-five years of experience as a patent professional. She began her career as an Examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the fields of biotechnology and chemistry, where she received specialized biotechnology training at the National Institutes of Health. Ms. Hanley practices in all areas of chemistry and biotechnology patent law, including patent prosecution, patentability, freedom to operate and validity opinions, licensing, and due diligence evaluations. Her specialties include small molecule and organic chemistry, drug delivery, and pharmaceutical development. She has extensive experience in representing early stage companies and working with them interactively to strategically build their patent portfolios. She also represents many of the leading pharmaceutical companies building and managing complex patent portfolios, protecting blockbuster biotech and small molecule drugs, and developing global strategic plans.
Cynthia B. Keliher: Boston, MA – Top Women Massachusetts Super Lawyers 2012
Ms. Keliher is a partner in the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group. Her practice involves all aspects of real estate law including leasing, financing, zoning, development, permitting, tax abatement, foreclosures and loan workouts and commercial and residential condominiums. Ms. Keliher focuses a great deal of her practice on leasing, representing landlords and tenants in complex ground, retail, office and data center leases. Significant representations include representation of public authority in connection with five ground leases for a mixed use development including a proposed marina, shipyard and residential apartments and condominiums; representation of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in disposition of three former state hospitals including rezoning, permitting and subdivision approvals; and representation of a university in connection with a ground lease, permitting and construction of a state of the art boathouse. Ms. Keliher is very active in the community. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the following organizations: New England Chapter of CoreNet Global, Boston Industrial Development Finance Agency, Sophia Snow House, and past president of New England Women in Real Estate (NEWIRE).
The following six attorneys were recognized as Top Women Massachusetts Rising Stars 2012:
Cristin Howley Cowles, Ph.D.: Boston, MA – Top Women Massachusetts Rising Stars 2012
Dr. Cowles is a partner in the Intellectual Property/Information Technology Group. She practices in all areas of biotechnology patent law, including patent prosecution, due diligence evaluations, patentability, freedom-to-operate, and validity opinions. Dr. Cowles’ experience includes representation of leading pharmaceutical companies, prestigious academic institutions and early stage companies. She manages complex patent portfolios protecting blockbuster biotech drugs. Dr. Cowles received her Ph.D. from Princeton University. In Dr. Cowles’ doctoral thesis she examined the influence of localized maternal mRNAs and proteins on axis specification within the zebrafish embryo, and investigated the role of a novel maternally expressed T-box gene, eomesodermin. Her work has been presented at several scientific meetings, and has been published in leading journals in the field of developmental biology.
Kara A. Lynch: Boston, MA – Top Women Massachusetts Rising Stars 2012
Ms. Lynch is a member of the Business & Financial Services Group where she concentrates on large-scale commercial and financial litigation on behalf of banks, brokerage firms, software development companies, utility and energy companies, public authorities, governmental agencies, international corporations and individuals. She handles disputes in the areas of commercial transactions, environmental enforcement, trade secrets, patent infringement, copyright law and products liability. In addition, she has advised and represented publicly traded companies in matters concerning renewable energy and land use law.
Jill A. Mello: Boston, MA – Top Women Massachusetts Rising Stars 2012
Dr. Mello is a partner in the Intellectual Property/Information Technology Group. She practices in all areas of biotechnology patent law, including U.S. and foreign patent prosecution, patent validity opinions, freedom-to-operate opinions and due diligence evaluations. Dr. Mello received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Mello’s’ doctoral thesis focused on elucidating the therapeutic mechanisms of the anticancer drug cisplatin. Dr. Mello conducted postdoctoral research on chromatin dynamics at the Curie Institute in Paris, France, for which she was the recipient of a Chateaubriand fellowship and grant awarded by Aventis. Her work has been presented at international scientific meetings, and has been published in leading peer reviewed journals.
Lee M. Peterson: Boston, MA – Top Women Massachusetts Rising Stars 2012
Ms. Peterson is a member of the Private Clients Group. She focuses her practice on domestic relations, trusts and estate work, including child custody, visitation, support and division of marital property. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Peterson served as an Assistant Register and Family Service Officer for the Norfolk Probate and Family Court. She was nominated with the other assistant registers of Norfolk County for the Trial Court Employee of the Year Award in 2003. Ms. Peterson is a member of the steering committee of the Family Law Section of the Boston Bar Association and a member of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Inn of Court.
Deborah M. Vernon: Boston, MA – Top Women Massachusetts Rising Stars 2012
Ms. Vernon is a partner in the Intellectual Property/Information Technology Group. She assists clients in obtaining and enforcing intellectual property rights in both the U.S. and abroad. Her practice is focused on chemical and mechanical arts. She has particular experience with drafting, prosecuting and maintaining patents in the technology fields of metallurgy, superconductors, semiconductors, photovoltatics, plasma science, ceramics, thin film technology, nanophase materials, composite materials, spectroscopy, analytical chemistry, medical devices and instrumentation, and mechanical engineering. Ms. Vernon has successfully represented clients in patent appeals, patent reissues and re-examination proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. She also has experience with defending and challenging patents in opposition proceedings in Europe.
Maria Laccotripe Zacharakis, Ph.D.: Boston, MA – Top Women Massachusetts Rising Stars 2012
Dr. Laccotripe Zacharakis is a partner in the Intellectual Property/Information Technology Group and has more than 16 years of experience in intellectual property matters. Dr. Laccotripe Zacharakis specializes in the area of life sciences, especially in the fields of biotechnology, molecular biology, immunology, biochemistry, interfering RNA, tissue engineering, molecular diagnostics, protein therapeutics and bio-energy. Dr. Laccotripe Zacharakis assists clients in developing and implementing effective IP strategies and building strong patent portfolios that protect and facilitate commercialization of biological and pharmaceutical products, as well as platform technologies. Dr. Laccotripe Zacharakis also assists clients, such as companies and investors, with evaluating intellectual property assets in connection with acquisitions, licensing, collaborations and financing. Dr. Laccotripe Zacharakis represents a broad range of clients, including start-up biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, established biopharmaceutical corporations and academic institutions.