Six of the Firm’s Offices, Six Practice Groups Represented
NEWARK (April 24, 2014) — McCarter & English has named twelve new partners. All twelve, who represent six of the firm’s eight offices and six of its practice groups, had been associates at the firm.
Six intellectual property/information technology attorneys from five offices, including one who straddles business/financial litigation, were named, as were two from product liability and one each from business/financial litigation, tax/employee benefits/private clients, real estate and insurance coverage.
“To survive and thrive for 170 years, as our firm has done, one needs to identify and promote talent,” said Michael P. Kelly, chairman of the firm. “I am quite pleased that we continue to grow our partnership. Our newest partners are all A-plus lawyers who are A-plus people. All possess the skill and commitment to our clients that will ensure the continued success of the common enterprise we have built.”
The newly promoted partners and their practice groups and resident offices are:
Kevin A. Brown, Tax/Employee Benefits/Private Clients, Newark. Kevin advises clients, including for-profit companies and tax-exempt organizations, on employee benefit and executive compensation matters, including the design, drafting and administration of profit-sharing, pension, and welfare plans and executive compensation arrangements. He also advises clients on the treatment of those plans and arrangements in corporate transactions and bankruptcies. He graduated from Emory University School of Law and received an LL.M. in taxation from New York University.
Kia L. Freeman, Intellectual Property/Information Technology, Boston. The majority of Kia’s practice is challenging or defending patents in adversarial proceedings. She has significant experience in litigation-related, post-issue patent matters, including inter partes review and covered business method patent reviews. She litigates both to defend clients in patent infringement actions and to enforce patent rights. She has appeared before federal district courts and the International Trade Commission. Kia also guides clients in developing and managing their intellectual property portfolios and has drafted or supervised the drafting of more than 150 patent applications. She advises on deals related to intellectual property and provides opinions on infringement and validity of patents. She graduated cum laude from Loyola Law School.
Renée A. Gallagher, Product Liability, New York. Renée handles complex litigation in a variety of areas, including consumer and industrial products, premises liability, wrongful death, mass tort, commercial disputes, insurance defense, and class action, and industry sectors including pharmaceutical, medical products, construction and finance. She defends national and international corporations sued in New York’s state and federal courts. She graduated magna cum laude from Suffolk University Law School.
Steven E. Halpern, Intellectual Property/Information Technology, Newark. Steven’s focus includes post-grant patent proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and patent counsel, including freedom-to-operate, invalidity, and infringement evaluations. His practice further includes an additional emphasis on the acquisition, management, and enforcement of domestic and international intellectual property rights. He has substantial experience in computer and data communications, power electronics, software, food processing equipment, medical devices, automation and controls, radar systems, heating, and electromechanics, among other technologies. He graduated cum laude from Seton Hall University School of Law.
Walter B. Howell III, Real Estate, Boston. Walter’s national practice emphasizes commercial leasing, acquisition and disposition of property and secured lending. He negotiates and prepares leases for office, industrial and retail properties on behalf of both landlords and tenants. He represents private developers, institutional owners and state agencies in development and disposition. He also advises on zoning, land use and permitting matters, and represents institutional lenders in negotiating and documenting commercial real estate and asset-based loans as well as debt reorganization, forbearance agreements and foreclosures. He graduated from Northeastern University School of Law.
Kevin L. Reiner, Intellectual Property/Information Technology, Hartford. Kevin represents companies and individuals in patent prosecution and procurement, licensing, counseling, and litigation matters. Their technology sectors include mechanical and medical devices; tools and tool systems; drug containers and delivery systems; metal alloys and composite materials; pharmaceutical technologies; laser cutting, drilling and engraving; radiological protection systems; biochemical sensors; herbicidal compositions; dental surgery and implant technologies; consumer hygiene goods; business methods; Internet billing and payment systems; and automotive engines, transmissions and components. He graduated cum laude from Boston College Law School.
Lori J. Shyavitz, Intellectual Property/Information Technology, Boston. Lori helps domestic and international clients with trademark and trade dress selection and clearance issues, advertising and promotion law, licensing, and usage and protection of their intellectual property portfolios, including trademarks, copyrights and trade dress. She litigates disputes involving trademarks, copyrights, false advertising, unfair competition, and patents and also represents clients in proceedings before the Patent and Trademark Office. She counsels them on unfair competition issues, cyber-squatting and domain name disputes as well as the IP layer of transactions. She advises on entertainment law issues, drafting music and entertainment agreements, and copyright protection for music and other creative works. She graduated from Fordham University School of Law.
Daniel M. Silver, Intellectual Property/Information Technology and Business & Financial Litigation Services, Wilmington. With a foot in two groups at McCarter, Daniel has carved out a practice as a problem solver. He focuses on patent litigation, representing plaintiffs in Hatch-Waxman patent infringement cases and plaintiffs and defendants in traditional patent infringement matters. He has taken the lead on several bench trials, serves as local counsel in state and federal matters in Delaware, and was part of the team that obtained a judgment for the plaintiffs following an eight-day pharmaceuticals trial. He is a director of Delaware Volunteer Legal Services and, since 2009, has handled or overseen nearly twenty pro bono cases, most of which involved custody disputes arising from cases of domestic violence. He graduated magna cum laude from Villanova University School of Law.
Mark D. Villanueva, Insurance Coverage, Philadelphia. Mark mediates, arbitrates, sues and defends on behalf of clients in commercial disputes. A regular in state and federal courts, at trials and on appeals, he represents policyholders seeking insurance coverage for claims, including in the areas of directors’ and officers’ liability, professional liability, employment practices liability and asbestos-related bodily injury. Beyond commercial litigation, he defends clients against personal injury claims, including in product defect and medical malpractice cases. Before joining McCarter, he served as a federal judicial clerk to the Hon. Paul S. Diamond in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He graduated magna cum laude from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University.
Margarita Wallach, Intellectual Property/Information Technology, New York. An experienced litigator, Margarita helps clients create and develop intellectual property portfolios and protect them and their value by litigating trademark, trade dress, unfair competition, anticounterfeiting, and copyright infringement cases in the federal courts. Her trademark infringement and unfair competition cases have involved food products, fine jewelry, designer apparel and perfume, including the successful litigation of an anticounterfeiting case against a ring of counterfeiters of fine jewelry – a case in which she obtained judgments of more than $30 million for the manufacturer. She also worked on the successful appeal of a trademark case involving a color trademark in the apparel industry. She has a track record of representing small to midsize consumer product companies that have grown to become among the largest and most successful in the world. She graduated from Cornell University Law School.
Natalie S. Watson, Product Liability, Newark. Natalie is an experienced trial attorney whose primary focus is commercial and intellectual property litigation. She defends corporations, individuals and public entities in state and federal courts nationwide. She has litigated matters ranging from two-party disputes to complex class actions to multiparty, multidistrict cases and has successfully tried a number of cases to verdict. She represents Fortune 500 companies in contract disputes, sexual harassment, personal injury, wrongful death and insurance matters. Her IP practice includes defending electronics companies in licensing and contracting disputes and the prosecution of complex antitrust matters on behalf of flash memory technology aggregators. She graduated magna cum laude from Rutgers University School of Law–Newark.