Pillsbury Winthrop LLP today announced the promotion of ten attorneys to partnership within the firm effective January 1, 2004.
The new partners and their respective office locations are: Caroline D. Dennison, (Northern Virginia), Wesley C.J. Ehlers, (Sacramento), Bruce J. Graham, (Los Angeles/Century City), Alice K. M. Hayashi, (San Francisco), Kevin T. Kramer, (Northern Virginia), David R. Lagasse, (New York), Thomas Maddi, (New York), Charlotta Otterbeck, (New York), Kenneth N. Russak, (Los Angeles), and Christine Scheuneman, (Orange County).
“Our new partners have continuously exhibited an outstanding performance with a genuine commitment to upholding Pillsbury Winthrop’s culture of excellence,” says Firm Chair Mary Cranston. “We congratulate the 2004 class of partners. This is an excellent group of new partners whose contributions will serve to enhance our firm in many ways,” adds
Executive Vice Chair Dave Snyder.
Caroline D. Dennison focuses on patent prosecution and client counseling in the firm’s Tysons Corner office in McLean, North Virginia. In addition to working in all phases of patent prosecution, she is involved in the strategic management of corporate patent portfolios. Prior to entering private practice, she was an examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from 1984 to 1990. Dennison received her J.D. at The National Law Center, George Washington University, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Union College.
Wesley C.J. Ehlers is a litigation and trial attorney in Pillsbury Winthrop’s Sacramento, California office. His practice focuses on complex business disputes involving antitrust, unfair competition, unfair trade practices, intellectual property disputes, trade secret
litigation, construction litigation and health care litigation. He also handles matters involving securities fraud and other shareholder actions, partnership dissolution actions, real estate litigation as well as government claims and eminent domain/inverse condemnation actions. Ehlers gained his J.D. at Vanderbilt University, and a B.A. from Stanford University.
Bruce J. Graham of the firm’s Century City office deals in the financing of public and private projects. He is involved in all aspects of real estate, project development and construction, and has also represented a wide range of clients in defaulted bond workout programs. Graham was awarded his J.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law, and a B.A. from Claremont McKenna College.
Alice K. M. Hayashi has an employment and labor and litigation practice in Pillsbury Winthrop’s San Francisco office where she represents employers in both federal and state court and in
administrative proceedings. She has also litigated employment matters at the appellate level and defended employers against claims brought under California’s Unfair Competition Law. Hayashi received her J.D. from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California,
Berkeley, and an A.B. from Harvard University.
Kevin T. Kramer focuses his practice in intellectual property litigation in the firm’s Northern Virginia office, where he represents parties at all levels of litigation in various fields of technology, including computer software, pharmaceuticals and the Internet. Kramer is a former Associate Solicitor for the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He received a J.D. from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University, and a B.A. in Economics, Political Science, and American History. from the University of Delaware.
David R. Lagasse works in the labor and employment practice of the firm’s New York office where he provides training and counseling on human resource issues including matters of performance, discipline and employment terminations. He also handles just cause arbitration under collective bargaining agreements and discrimination, harassment and retaliation lawsuits in the courts. Lagasse received a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, and a B.A. from Tufts University.
Thomas Maddi works in Pillsbury Winthrop’s New York office where he is a member of the finance and equipment leasing practice. He represents both lenders and borrowers with asset-backed lending, structured finance, aircraft and other equipment lease financing, export credit agency supported loans, securitizations, commercial paper facilities, leverage leases, general corporate lending and restructurings. Maddi gained his J.D. from Washington and Lee
University School of Law, and an A.B. from Colgate University.
Charlotta Otterbeck works in the firm’s New York finance practice. She represents U.S. and international borrowers, commercial banks and other financial institutions with domestic and cross-border financing transactions such as asset-backed financings, equipment leasing and
aircraft finance transactions, major bank syndications, mortgage warehouse facilities, and debt restructurings. Otterbeck received a J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law, an M.A. in Philosophy from Stanford University, and a B.A. from Stanford University.
Kenneth N. Russak’s Los Angeles-based practice concentrates in the representation of secured and undersecured creditors in problem loan situations. He also provides insolvency planning and advice in transactional matters, problem loans involving real estate,
construction, the entertainment industry, manufacturing companies, the beverage industry and retail insolvencies, as well as in credit enhancement transactions. Russak was awarded a J.D. from the University of Southern California Law Center, and a B.A. from Amherst College.
Christine Scheuneman is a litigaton and trial attorney with the firm’s Orange County office in Costa Mesa, California. Scheuneman has a background in disputes involving real estate matters and finance, lender liability, loan and asset workouts, retail and commercial development, construction, environmental, land use, joint venture and partnership issues. She received her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law and a B.A. from the University of Kansas.
