BALTIMORE November 28, 2005 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Four lateral associates have joined Ober|Kaler in key practice areas. Joining the firm’s Business Group are Meredith J. O’Connor and Jeffrey P. Rogyom. Omar Sawaf joins the firm’s Real Estate Group and Geoffrey K. Calderone, Jr. joins its Trusts & Estates practice. All of the attorneys are resident in the firm’s Baltimore office. Strategically directing growth to its nationally known core practices, twenty-two lawyers have joined Ober|Kaler in 2005. One hundred thirty lawyers now practice at the firm.
Meredith O’Connor joins Ober|Kaler from Legg Mason Wood Walker where she served as a Wealth Advisor specializing in diversification of concentrated stock positions. She served a judicial internship with the Honorable Lynne A. Battaglia of the Court of Appeals of Maryland and the Honorable Louis A. Becker, III of the Howard County District Court.
Before entering law school, Ms. O’Connor was a business consultant forArthur Andersen in Washington, DC.
Ms. O’Connor is an LLM candidate at the University of Baltimore School of Law where she received her JD in 2003. She graduated from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University with a BA in 1999, and attended the University of Copenhagen where she studied European Union and Russian business relations through Denmark’s International Study Program. She is an MBA candidate at Loyola College.
Ms. O’Connor is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association.
Jeffrey P. Rogyom joins Ober|Kaler’s Business & Tax Group from the accounting firm Postlethwaite & Netterville in New Orleans. He will assist clients in transactional and tax matters.
Mr. Rogyom received his LLM in 2002 from Boston University School of Law, his MBA in 2001 from the University of New Orleans, his JD in 2001 from Loyola University School of Law and his BS in 1996 from Louisiana State University.
He is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association and American Bar Association Tax Sections.
Omar Sawaf joins Ober|Kaler’s rapidly expanding Real Estate Group. He represents parties buying, selling, leasing, and developing all types of properties, as well as banks and other financial institutions making loans secured by real estate. Before joining the firm, Mr. Sawaf worked as an associate in Howrey LLP’s Washington, DC office.
Mr. Sawaf earned his JD in 2002 from The George Washington University School of Law and his BA, cum laude, in 1998 from Miami University. While attending law school, Mr. Sawaf served as a clerk to Chief Judge William Zatkoff of the Southeast Michigan Federal Courthouse.
He is a member of the DC Bar Association.
Geoffrey K. Calderone, Jr., an experienced trusts & estates lawyer, represents high net worth individuals in all facets of estate planning and administration. A certified public accountant, he counsels clients on private foundation, partnership and corporate tax issues. He joins Ober|Kaler from the Towson law firm of Friedman & Friedman.
Mr. Calderone earned his BS from Syracuse University in 1989 and his JD, magna cum laude, from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2000.
He is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association.
Six first year associates also join the firm’s Baltimore office: Michael Balducci and Christopher F. Lonegro in Construction, Owen B. Asplundh in Litigation, Joshua J. Freemire in Health Law, Bradley V. Martorana in the firm’s Commercial Finance practice, and Walter Kirkman in Creditors’ Rights.
About Ober|Kaler
Ober|Kaler is a national law firm providing integrated regulatory, transactional, and litigation services to financial, health care, construction, and other business organizations. The firm has 130 attorneys, and offices in Baltimore, Washington, DC and Falls Church.
