Los Angeles, 19 January 2005 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Fourteen attorneys from the Los Angeles offices of DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US have been named Southern California Super Lawyers 2005 by Los Angeles
magazine, the law firm has announced.
The fifteen are Jane Barrett, Linda J. Bozung, Sara L. Chenetz, Fred D. Heather,
Brian C. Lysaght, Jon D. Meer, Richard C. Mendelson, Michael E. Meyer, Jackie Park,
Jeffrey A. Rosenfeld, Edward D. Totino, Perrie M. Weiner, Pamela L. Westhoff, and
John W. Whitaker.
Michael Meyer is also cited on two additional Super Lawyers lists. As he was last
year, he is named among the Top 100 Super Lawyers for Los Angeles County and is on
the short list of the Top 10 Super Lawyers, where he is the only real estate lawyer.
Lee Miller, co-CEO of DLA Piper, said, “It is no surprise to us that these 15
excellent attorneys have been cited by Los Angeles magazine. We are already
enormously proud of them and know they are among California’s best.â€
Mr. Miller continued, “Our firm has grown rapidly in Los Angeles since opening its
doors here in 2002, and all these superb advocates exemplify our spirit of
top-flight client service.â€
Attorneys are named to the annual Super Lawyers list in a process of peer
selection—nominated by 65,000 lawyers surveyed in Los Angeles and Orange counties
or identified in a process of independent research. A panel of attorneys then
reviews the nominees in each practice area. Ultimately, only 5 per cent of Southern
California lawyers receive the distinction.
The Southern California Super Lawyers 2005 listings will appear in the February 2005
issue of Los Angeles.
About Jane H. Barrett
Jane H. Barrett is an experienced litigator in a number of fields, most notably
intellectual property, labor and employment, and general business litigation. She
regularly represents Microsoft Corporation in intellectual property, unfair
competition, and commercial disputes. She has represented Southwest Airlines for
many years in a broad range of intellectual property and labor matters, including a
multimillion dollar contract dispute matter. As a national counsel for a major
client in trademark litigation, Ms. Barrett has been admitted to and argued in
numerous federal district courts throughout the United States.
About Linda J. Bozung
Linda J. Bozung’s practice focuses on land use planning, zoning, and entitlement
acquisition and protection. In her 25 years of practice she has overseen the
preparation and certification of environmental impact reports and all California
Environmental Quality Act documents. She is also experienced in Fifth Amendment
takings law and regularly provides endangered species and wetlands counsel.
Ms. Bozung has been named one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Los Angeles Lawâ€
by the Los Angeles Business Journal, and Southern California Real Estate magazine
has cited her on its 2004 list of Southern California’s Most Influential Women.
She is a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL)
About Sara L. Chenetz
Sara L. Chenetz, a partner in the firm’s Bankruptcy and Business Reorganization
and Litigation practice groups, is involved in bankruptcy and litigation matters
throughout the country. She has represented the full spectrum of parties involved
in bankruptcies, restructurings, and workouts of businesses in a myriad of
industries. Among her past and current clients are debtors, official and unofficial
creditors, bondholders, equity and retiree committees, lenders, investors,
landlords, officers, directors, and shareholders.
Ms. Chenetz represents plaintiffs and defendants in such matters as bankruptcy and
insolvency related litigation, often involving complex fraudulent transfers, breach
of fiduciary duties, equitable subordination, recharacterization of debt as equity,
lender liability, and improper insider transactions claims. She has represented
plaintiffs and defendants in various business and employment disputes. Ms. Chenetz
has been lead or co-counsel in scores of trials, evidentiary hearings, and appeals
in bankruptcy and other courts throughout the United States.
About Fred D. Heather
Fred D. Heather is a partner in the firm’s Litigation practice group. Mr. Heather
has served as chief trial/litigation counsel in a wide variety of complex civil and
white collar criminal cases. His cases have ranged from government contracts and
securities fraud, to environmental regulation, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,
copyright, and antitrust matters, as well as numerous high-stakes corporate business
disputes. While most these cases have been in state and federal courts in Los
Angeles, Mr. Heather has handled complex cases in all other jurisdictions in
California, the southern and eastern districts of New York, and other jurisdictions
around the country.
Mr. Heather is a member, on a pro bono basis, of the Federal Indigent Defense Panel,
which defends felony criminal cases assigned by district court judges. He is rated
AV by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating available.
About Brian C. Lysaght
Brian C. Lysaght is one of the nation’s leading jury trial lawyers in complex
civil and criminal business litigation. He has tried cases on behalf of both
defendants and plaintiffs, involving entertainment, securities, real estate, legal
malpractice, and partnership dissolution disputes, among others.
Over the last decade, Mr. Lysaght has obtained several jury verdicts that ranked
among California’s largest, including a jury verdict of $42.6 million in a
business dispute; a jury verdict of $11.2 million in a real estate dispute involving
a 492-acre tract in Westlake Village; and a $9.86 million jury verdict in a dispute
involving a motion picture.
About Jon D. Meer
Jon D. Meer chairs the Los Angeles section of the firm’s Labor and Employment
practice. He represents employers and management in all aspects of labor and
employment law and has extensive experience in litigation and client counseling in
the areas of wrongful discharge, sexual harassment, employment discrimination, labor
arbitration, employee benefits litigation and employee relations, and protection of
employer trade secrets and non-competition issues.
As a litigator, Mr. Meer has an outstanding record of victories for a large mix of
employers in a variety of industries, including motion picture studios,
entertainment and music companies, automobile manufacturing companies, temporary
staffing and employee leasing organizations, consumer products distributors, banks,
and investment banking and financial services firms. He has been particularly
successful in recovering significant amounts of money on behalf of employers and
companies who have been sued by former employees for wage and hour litigation and
class actions, wrongful termination, and employment discrimination.
About Richard C. Mendelson
Richard C. Mendelson, a partner in the Real Estate practice group, has particular
knowledge in the areas of acquisitions, joint ventures, and financing transactions,
as well as in workouts and restructurings. He has extensive experience in
representing both domestic and international banks and other financial institutions,
insurance companies, pension funds, and major developers in all aspects of
commercial and residential property.
About Michael E. Meyer
Michael E. Meyer has developed a national reputation as one of the preeminent real
estate attorneys in the United States. He regularly represents many leading
financial institutions, accounting firms, and law firms in connection with major
lease transactions throughout the country. He has also represented the governments
of Japan, Australia, Malaysia, and Canada on lease transactions for their respective
consulates.
Mr. Meyer is a member of the board of directors of the Building Owners and Managers
Association in Los Angeles. He has served as judge pro tem in the Los Angeles
municipal courts and now serves as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration
Association. In addition to having been ranked as one of the top 10 Super Lawyers in
Los Angeles, he has recently been ranked second in the state of California among all
real estate lawyers by the legal publisher Chambers, was ranked one of the top 25
most powerful lawyers in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal, and as one
of the 100 most influential lawyers in California by the Los Angeles Daily Journal.
About Jackie Kim Park
Jackie Kim Park, a partner in the Real Estate practice group, focuses her practice
on commercial leasing transactions. Ms. Park has handled extensive leasing
transactions for landlords as well as tenants in office, retail, and industrial
settings. Her representation of landlords include institutional landlords in office
buildings and retail shopping centers, and her representation of tenants include
financial institutions, entertainment companies, and retail entities.
Ms. Park is co-chair of the Landlord/Tenant subsection of the Real Estate section of
the Los Angeles County Bar. She is also active with United Way and City of Hope.
About Jeffrey A. Rosenfeld
Jeffrey A. Rosenfeld is the managing partner of the firm’s Century City office and
a partner in its Litigation practice group. He focuses on complex business
disputes, entertainment, telecommunications and information technology,
environmental/toxic tort, financial services, franchise and distribution, insurance
coverage, labor and employment, product liability, real estate, and intellectual
property, as well as unfair competition and related business torts. Mr. Rosenfeld
has been involved extensively in major multi-party complex litigation.
About Edward Totino
Edward Totino, Of Counsel to the Litigation practice group, represents plaintiffs
and defendants in both federal and state trial and appellate courts in a wide
variety of cases. Mr. Totino’s practice includes securities litigation, commercial
disputes, unfair competition and other business torts. In such litigation, he
represents domestic and international banks, securities broker-dealers, issuers, and
investment funds. During the last few years, while representing plaintiffs, Mr.
Totino has obtained approximately $20 million in judgments and settlements for his
clients. In the same period, while representing defendants in several securities
fraud actions seeking in excess of $400 million in damages, Mr. Totino obtained
dismissals of his clients, by motion or otherwise, without any payments being made
to plaintiffs.
In summer 2004, Mr. Totino was named a California Rising Star for 2004 as a result
of polling among the 2004 Southern California Super Lawyers.
About Perrie M. Weiner
Perrie M. Weiner, a partner and co-chair of the firm’s securities litigation
practice, represents private equity funds including hedge funds, broker-dealers, and
issuers in individual and class action securities fraud and related claims. He has
a national practice, with scores of litigation victories and publications widely
reported in the New York Law Journal, Los Angeles Daily Journal, the Los Angeles
Times, Los Angeles magazine, Money Management Executive magazine, PIPEs Report,
Hedgeworld, and The Economist. Mr. Weiner also represents private and public
companies in a variety of industries, in both national and international business
disputes. In 2004, he was listed by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of
California’s Top Mega-Rainmakers, in the $10-Million Club.
Mr. Weiner also is an author, speaker, and commentator on cutting-edge securities
litigation issues. He was a keynote speaker at the PIPEs conference held in New
York in October 2004.
About Pamela L. Westhoff
Pamela L. Westhoff maintains a broad-based, versatile transactional real estate
practice that emphasizes commercial leasing, acquisitions, dispositions, and
technology issues affecting real estate. She has extensive experience in all types
of real estate lending transactions, including workouts, restructures, and joint
ventures, and has also represented owners and providers in connection with
telecommunication issues affecting commercial and retail properties, as well as
university campuses.
Ms. Westhoff is the 2005 chair of the Building Owners and Managers Association of
Greater Los Angeles (BOMA). She is listed in Best Lawyers in America and has been
selected as one of the Most Influential Women in Commercial Real Estate by Real
Estate Southern California in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Ms. Westhoff is a member of
ACREL.
About John W. Whitaker
John W. Whitaker practices in the areas of sale, acquisition, and development of
real property, including transfers of excess density rights and negotiation of
agreements with redevelopment agencies. He also advises clients on eminent domain
issues affecting their property. His clients include domestic and foreign developers
of major downtown Los Angeles and outlying projects and domestic and foreign
investors in major office buildings, shopping centers, hotels, and residential and
resort properties.
Mr. Whitaker is also known for his civic and charitable work. Among his many
accomplishments, he is a member of the Executive Committee of ULI Los Angeles
District Council and is chair of the ULI Los Angeles Inner City and Urban Policy
Committee. Mr. Whitaker was the 2002 chair of the business advocacy group Central
City Association; president of Los Angeles Headquarters Association; 1990-91 chair
of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Real Property Section and a vice chair and
member of the executive committee of the State Bar Real Property Law Section from
1986-89. Since 1989, he has been included in The Best Lawyers in America for his
real estate practice. Mr. Whitaker was the recipient of the 1993 Humanitarian Award
from the Homeless Outreach Program.
About DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP
DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP is a business law firm of 1,350 lawyers in
offices throughout the U.S., whose core practices are corporate and securities,
litigation, real estate, intellectual property, and government affairs. Worldwide,
DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary has 2,700 lawyers in 49 offices in 18 countries,
including the United Kingdom, mainland Europe, and Asia, offering leading practices
in Commercial; Corporate and Finance; Human Resources; Litigation; Real Estate;
Regulatory and Legislative; and Technology, Media, and Communications.
