Eleven Attorneys in Five Different Practice Groups Join Pryor Cashman
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NEW YORK, January 13, 2004 – Pryor Cashman Sherman & Flynn LLP, one of New York’s premier mid-size law firms, starts out the new year with strategic acquisitions, augmenting its labor and employment, employee benefits, white collar defense, and investment funds practices, and establishing crisis management and government relations practices. The firm also opened an Albany office to support the government relations practice group. With the additions, the number of attorneys at Pryor Cashman totals 130.
Firm Gains Leading Legal Practitioners and Government Relations Specialists
The labor and employment practice group adds Vincent F. Pitta and Barry N. Saltzman as partners, Jane Lauer Barker as counsel, and two associates, Joseph Farelli and Joseph Lynett. The employee benefits practice group adds Deborah A. Hulbert as counsel. The labor, employment and benefits practitioners were previously with Herrick, Feinstein LLP.
William J. Cunningham III, former Chief Deputy Nassau County Executive and former managing partner of the Long Island-based law firm Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C., and a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, joins as a partner to augment the firm’s white collar practice and establish the crisis management practice group.
Craig Kinosian, until recently a partner and head of White & Case L.L.P.’s private investment funds group practice area, joins as a partner, enhancing Pryor Cashman’s investment funds practice group.
Bernard J. Ruggieri, Robert J. Bishop and Matthew H. Mataraso also join from Herrick, Feinstein LLP as counsel in the newly established government relations practice group, to be led by Pitta and Cunningham. Also joining the Firm’s government relations group are Jon R. Del Giorno as senior government relations specialist and Theresa Cosgrove as senior legislative relations specialist, both non-lawyers.
Gideon Cashman, chairman of the firm’s executive committee, said: “While the trend has been for other mid-sized law firms to announce they are being absorbed or dissolved, our firm has thrived in our niche as a full service mid-sized firm, representing individual and institutional clients of all sizes, in both the private and public sector, on a variety of matters strategically, creatively and economically. Indeed, the absorption or dissolution of so many mid-size firms has actually enhanced our competitive position and confirmed the wisdom of our strategic vision.” Cashman added that Pryor Cashman is committed to continuing to grow its practice areas in the context of remaining a mid-sized and independent New York – based firm.
Pitta and Team Complement Firm’s Existing Practice Groups and Strengths
Pitta, Saltzman and their group of attorneys expand the firm’s already significant labor and employment and employee benefits practices.
“As a team, we chose Pryor Cashman because the firm is one of a very select few in New York City which represents, as we do, substantial private and public sector labor organizations, employers and joint labor and management administered employee benefit funds,” said Pitta. “Its entrepreneurial culture allows us the opportunity to take our mature practice, marry it with the firm’s equally mature practice, and together bring it to the next level of achievement.”
Pitta joins longtime Pryor Cashman partner Ron Shechtman as the labor and employment group’s senior partners. It also reunites, after a ten year period, Pitta and Christopher J. Sues, the senior employment benefits partner at Pryor Cashman. Pitta and Sues worked together for 14 years at Shea & Gould, where they were the chairs of the labor and employment and employee benefits practice groups, respectively.
Cunningham Chooses New York Law Firm to Expand His Reach
Cunningham, most recently the Chief Deputy Nassau County Executive – the second highest position in county government – joins as a partner in the firm’s white collar practice group and the newly-established government relations and crisis management practice groups. The white collar practice group focuses on fashioning effective compliance programs for Sarbanes-Oxley and other corporate governance regulations, adding to Pryor Cashman’s well-established and high profile practice of defending corporate executives and directors in securities class actions and SEC investigations, as well as providing criminal defense by the firm’s team of former federal and state prosecutors. The new crisis management practice group develops compliance and governance programs that anticipate and resolve potentially damaging situations, and expertly advises clients and manages crises on behalf of clients when reputation, resources, and business are threatened by sudden, unforeseen or potentially catastrophic internal and external events.
Cunningham is a former federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York, where he served as the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division and Chief of the Narcotics Section. Cunningham was also Treasurer of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Senate campaign.
Kinosian Adds to Private Investment Fund Practice
Kinosian brings an established business in fund formation and asset management, including structuring and bringing to market sophisticated private fund complexes, “funds of funds”, and derivative, structured and registered funds investment products. He also represents investors, as well as manages a broad range of financial services – related compliance and regulatory issues.
New Government Relations Practice Group
Pitta and Cunningham will lead the firm’s new government relations practice group. They are joined by new counsel Ruggieri, Bishop and Mataraso, each of whom has extensive career experience in city and/or state government, including high level advisory positions in the New York State legislative and executive branches of Government, and as advisors and special counsels to New York State Governors and New York City Mayors.
The government relations practice group members are expert in the broad spectrum of issues and concerns that clients in government regulated industries deal with on a daily basis. The group represents FORTUNE 100 and numerous other private and public companies, trade and industry associations, healthcare organizations, labor organizations, professional sports teams, and charitable organizations. The group also counsels public officeholders and candidates for elective office on campaign finance law. Joining them is a senior government relations specialist, John R. Del Giorno, based in New York, who served for ten years as the administrative manager of the New York City Board of Elections, and Theresa Cosgrove, a senior legislative specialist, based in Albany with Mataraso.
About Pryor Cashman Sherman & Flynn LLP
Pryor Cashman Sherman & Flynn LLP (www.pryorcashman.com) is a New York-based full service law firm of 130 attorneys that provides a full array of legal services globally through its correspondent-relationships with firms throughout the United States and internationally.
