14 February 2005 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Morrison & Foerster has announced that 22 lawyers were elected to the partnership, effective January 1, 2005. The new partners represent 11 of the firm’s 19 offices and the following practice areas: corporate; litigation; patent; technology transactions; financial transactions; real estate; and tax.
Keith C. Wetmore, Chair of Morrison & Foerster, said: “We are delighted to welcome these outstanding lawyers to the partnership. As a group, they represent growth in strategic practice areas in key markets around the world; as individuals, they reflect the commitment to delivering success to our clients that is the hallmark of this firm.”
The new partners are:
2005 Partnership Class
Brooks M. Beard
Mr. Beard is a member of the Litigation Department and resident in the firm’s San Francisco office. His practice is focused on environmental and intellectual property matters, as well as matters involving federal preemption of state laws. He received his J.D., cum laude, from Vermont Law School in 1995, and his LL.M., with distinction, from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1996. He joined Morrison & Foerster in 1997. (Associate)
Stuart S. Beraha
Mr. Beraha is a member of the Technology Transactions Group and resident in the firm’s Tokyo office. He has broad experience in technology, content, branding and other intellectual property development, licensing and partnering transactions. Mr. Beraha received his J.D. degree from New York University in 1993. From 1993 to 1995, Mr. Beraha served as a law clerk to the Honorable Avern Cohn, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan. He joined Morrison & Foerster in 2000. (Of Counsel)
Paul W. Boltz, Jr.
Mr. Boltz is a member of the Corporate Group and resident in the firm’s Hong Kong office. He has practiced corporate and international securities law in the U.S., Hong Kong, and China, with a particular focus on representing companies and investment banks in Asia for public, private, and Regulation S/144A securities offerings and compliance with ongoing corporate governance and listing requirements. Mr. Boltz also has extensive experience with venture capital transactions and private equity fund formation and investments, including advising clients on forming onshore private equity funds in China. He received his J.D. from Villanova University School of Law in 1996. Mr. Boltz joined Morrison & Foerster in 2000. (Associate)
Kenneth W. Brakebill
Mr. Brakebill is a member of the Litigation Department and resident in the firm’s San Francisco office. He is engaged in a general commercial litigation practice and has significant trial experience in federal and state court. Mr. Brakebill has been involved in a broad array of complex litigation matters, predominantly intellectual property disputes, and also a range of other matters including securities, construction, insurance coverage and consumer class actions. He received his J.D. degree from the University of California, Hastings, in 1997, after completing his third year of law school at Harvard Law School. Mr. Brakebill joined Morrison & Foerster in 1998 after serving for one year as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert G. Flanders, Jr., of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. (Associate)
Gregory B. Caligari
Mr. Caligari is a member of the Real Estate Group and resident in the firm’s Walnut Creek office. He practices in the area of real estate transactions, including all aspects of commercial and development-related sales, leasing, financing and construction. Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, Mr. Caligari was Senior Counsel at wireless telecommunications company Vodafone-AirTouch. He received his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings School of Law, cum laude, in 1993 (Order of the Coif, Thurston Society, Hastings Law Journal). Mr. Caligari joined Morrison & Foerster in 2002. (Of Counsel)
Peng Chen
Dr. Chen is a member of the Patent Group and resident in the firm’s San Diego office. His practice focuses on patent prosecution, client counseling, opinion and litigation and encompasses all fields of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Dr. Chen has a significant amount of experience in preparing and prosecuting biotechnology and pharmaceutical patents, and litigating biotechnology patents. He received his J.D. in 1997 from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Chen joined Morrison & Foerster in 2000. (Of Counsel)
Walter I. Conroy
Mr. Conroy is a member of the Corporate Group and resident in the firm’s San Francisco office. His practice includes a broad range of corporate and securities transactions, focusing on U.S. and international mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances, and public and private securities offerings. His experience includes transactions in a variety of industries, including the Internet; software; print, film and digital media; investment banking; telecommunications; electronics; consumer products; foodstuffs; wineries; and well as many others. Mr. Conroy received his J.D. in 1996 from Fordham Law School, where he was an associate editor of the Fordham Law Review. He joined Morrison & Foerster in 1999. (Associate)
Raj S. Davé
Dr. Davé is a member of the Patent Group and resident in the firm’s Northern Virginia office. He is active in counseling, patent prosecution, patent opinion, interferences, and patent litigation. Dr. Davé represents U.S. and foreign clients in biotechnology, business method, chemistry, composite and polymer materials, electronics and semiconductors, fuel cell technology, Internet and software, lasers, medical devices, nanotechnology, optics, pharmaceuticals, and telecommunications, among many others. He received his J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law, his L.L.M. in Intellectual Property/Patent Law from The George Washington University Law School, and his D.Sc. from Washington University School of Engineering. Dr. Davé joined Morrison & Foerster in 1997. (Of Counsel)
Joel C. Haims
Mr. Haims is a member of the Litigation Department and resident in the firm’s New York office. His practice focuses on complex commercial and securities litigation and alternative dispute resolution. Mr. Haims also has experience with securities regulatory proceedings, internal investigations and corporate and securities transactions, including public offerings and private placements of equity securities. He received his J.D. degree in 1993 from the Cornell Law School. Mr. Haims joined Morrison & Foerster in 1998. (Of Counsel)
Vivian L. Hanson
Ms. Hanson is a member of the Technology Transactions Group and resident in the firm’s New York office. Her practice is focused primarily on complex, large-scale outsourcing transactions, as well as domestic and cross-border transactions involving the transfer of intellectual property rights in a variety of industries, including information services, information technologies, financial services, entertainment, and pharmaceuticals. She also has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances, as well as biotech licensing transactions. Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, Ms. Hanson was Senior Counsel at Home Box Office, a Time Warner company. She received her J.D. in 1986 from Columbia University School of Law. She is fluent in Japanese. Ms. Hanson joined Morrison & Foerster in 2000. (Of Counsel)
Timothy J. Harris
Mr. Harris is a member of the Corporate Group and resident in the firm’s Palo Alto office. His practice focuses on representing start-up and emerging growth technology enterprises. Mr. Harris’ representation extends from pre-inception planning through acquisition or initial public offering, directly advising entrepreneurs, executive management, and Boards of Directors. He also represents public companies in their acquisition and venture capital investment activities. Mr. Harris received his J.D. degree, cum laude, in 1997 from Northwestern University, where he was an Associate Editor of the Northwestern University Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He joined Morrison & Foerster in 1997. (Associate)
Sunil R. Kulkarni
Mr. Kulkarni is a member of the Litigation Department and resident in the firm’s Palo Alto office. He has a complex civil litigation practice, with particular expertise in securities, intellectual property, and voting rights litigation. Mr. Kulkarni has represented clients in federal, California, and Delaware trial and appellate courts. He received his J.D. degree in 1996, magna cum laude, from the University of California, Hastings College of Law, where he was Managing Editor of the Hastings Law Journal and was elected to the Order of the Coif and the Thurston Honor Society. From 1996-97, Mr. Kulkarni served as a law clerk to United States District Judge Oliver W. Wanger in the Eastern District of California. He joined Morrison & Foerster in 1997. (Associate)
J. Alexander Lawrence
Mr. Lawrence is a member of the Litigation Department and resident in the firm’s New York office. His litigation practice focuses on intellectual property, corporate governance, and complex commercial litigation. Mr. Lawrence has represented U.S. and international clients in actions involving infringement of intellectual property rights, trade secret misappropriation, federal securities laws, false claims act, and various commercial disputes. He received his J.D., Order of the Coif, from Vanderbilt University in 1996. Mr. Lawrence joined Morrison & Foerster in 2000. (Associate)
Joy S. MacIntyre
Ms. MacIntyre is a member of the Tax Group and resident in the firm’s San Francisco office. She has a general federal tax practice with an emphasis on transactional work, including domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, and restructurings. Her experience includes work with real estate investment trusts, partnerships involving real estate, private equity funds, and financial products. Ms. MacIntyre received her J.D. in 1996, magna cum laude, from New York University School of Law, where she was a member of the Moot Court Board and an editor of the Tax Law Review, and was elected to the Order of the Coif. She joined Morrison & Foerster in 1998. (Associate)
Mia Mazza
Ms. Mazza is a member of the Litigation Department and resident in the firm’s San Francisco office. Her practice focuses primarily on representing issuers and related parties in federal and state securities litigation, including shareholder class actions, derivative actions, and other matters involving director and officer liability. She received her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law in 1996. Ms. Mazza joined Morrison & Foerster in 2000. (Associate)
Jennifer J. Mink
Ms. Mink is a member of the Financial Transactions Group and resident in the firm’s New York office. She represents commercial banks, investment banks, broker-dealers, hedge funds, and other entities in lending, loan trading, CDO transactions, workouts and other matters. She has extensive experience in trading and review and analysis of credit documentation relating to many types of debt facilities, including financing facilities for aircraft, project finance, oil and gas, and real estate. Ms. Mink received her J.D. from the University of Virginia in 1996. She joined Morrison & Foerster in 2003. (Of Counsel)
Sandra Lee Montgomery
Ms. Montgomery is a member of the Financial Transactions Group and resident in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Her practice is focused on asset-based lending and related workout transactions, with the additional experience in commercial bank lending transactions. Ms. Montgomery received her J.D. and LL.M. from the University of Washington School of Law in 1997. She is fluent in Portuguese and Korean and also speaks French and Spanish. Ms. Montgomery joined Morrison & Foerster in 2004. (Of Counsel)
Craig S. Mordock
Mr. Mordock is a member of the Corporate Group and resident in the firm’s Orange County office. He maintains a general corporate and securities practice, with special emphasis on securities offerings, corporate governance and mergers and acquisitions. His securities experience includes representations of issuers and underwriters in public offerings, as well as start-up companies and venture capitalists in early-stage financings. Mr. Mordock received his J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University in 1995, where he served as Managing Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review. He joined Morrison & Foerster in 1998. (Associate)
Jose L. Patiño
Mr. Patiño is a member of the Litigation Department and resident in the firm’s San Diego office. His practice concentrates on representing companies in commercial and intellectual property disputes. He has extensive experience before trial and appellate courts throughout the country, having argued motions or appeals in 20 different states. Mr. Patiño received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1990, where he was the Articles Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights – Civil Liberties Law Review. He is fluent in Spanish. Mr. Patiño joined Morrison & Foerster in 2001. (Of Counsel)
Louise C. Stoupe
Ms. Stoupe is a member of the Litigation Department and resident in the firm’s Tokyo office. Her emphasis is on intellectual property and international dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation. Ms. Stoupe has experience in a wide range of international commercial dispute resolution matters including internal company fraud and quality investigations, licensing disputes, electronic commerce issues, general contract disputes, including transportation and sales contracts, patent disputes, trade secret and unfair competition issues, and general corporate matters. She obtained a Masters of Commercial Law (First Class Honors), graduating at the top of her class. In 1999, she was awarded the Fulbright Buddle Findlay Award to study for a Masters of Law at Duke University. Ms. Stoupe joined Morrison & Foerster in 2000. (Associate)
David Thatcher
Mr. Thatcher is a member of the Corporate Group and resident in the firm’s Denver office. His practice focuses on a broad range of corporate transactions, including public and private mergers and acquisitions, public and private offerings of equity and debt, secured and unsecured bank financings, general corporate representation, technology transactions, and real estate transactions, including real estate financing. Mr. Thatcher received his J.D. degree with honors from The University of Denver College of Law in 1995. He was the Business Editor of the Denver University Law Review and is a member of the Order of St. Ives. Mr. Thatcher also received a M.B.A. in Finance with honors from the University of Denver in 1992. He joined Morrison & Foerster in 1998. (Associate)
Sonia S. Waisman
Ms. Waisman is a member of the Litigation Department and resident in the firm’s Los Angeles office. She is engaged in general business litigation, focusing on complex insurance coverage cases. She has been national environmental coverage counsel for several large insurance companies, and has served as liaison counsel in multi-billion dollar insurance litigation cases. She has handled a wide array of insurance coverage litigation in both state and federal courts throughout the country, at the trial court and appellate levels. She is also active in the development of animal law and is a co-author of the first Animal Law Casebook, now in its second edition, used in more than forty law schools across the country. Ms. Waisman received her J.D., magna cum laude, from California Western School of Law in 1991. She joined Morrison & Foerster in 2000. (Of Counsel)