November 4, 2021 – Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce that the firm has elected 27 new partners, effective January 1, 2022.
“We are delighted to welcome this class to the Gibson Dunn partnership,” said Barbara Becker, Chair and Managing Partner of Gibson Dunn. “Each one of these lawyers excels at the practice of law and embraces the culture of excellence, teamwork and collegiality that distinguishes our firm. They have proven themselves to be trusted advisors in their respective areas, enhancing the collaborative relationships we share with our clients. This dynamic group also represents the deep and diverse bench of talent across our global platform. I am incredibly proud of each of them and look forward to all they will accomplish as our newest partners.”
We are especially proud that this group is our most diverse class ever,” added Becker. “With 12 women and seven minority and LGBTQ+ lawyers, 63 percent of the partners elect are diverse.”
The new partners are:
Amanda M. Aycock (Litigation / New York) – Aycock’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, crisis management, and regulatory and white collar defense and investigations, including substantial experience handling technology, consumer protection, and data privacy matters. In 2010, she obtained her Juris Doctor from University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and a master of law jointly from the Sorbonne and the Institut d’Études Politiques (Sciences Po). She served as law clerk to Judge Katherine Polk Failla in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Aaron K. Briggs (Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance / San Francisco) – Briggs represents public companies and their boards, with a focus in technology and life sciences, on a wide range of corporate governance, SEC compliance, disclosure effectiveness, shareholder activism and ESG matters. He graduated in 2007 from the University of Chicago Law School.
Courtney M. Brown (White Collar Defense and Investigations / Washington, D.C.) – Brown provides compliance counseling and advises corporate clients, senior executives, and boards of directors in connection with internal and government investigations involving a wide range of topics, including anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, sanctions, and securities matters. She graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 2008.
Michael Q. Cannon (Tax / Dallas) – Cannon has a broad transactional tax practice, with particular emphasis on infrastructure and project finance tax, mergers and acquisition tax, and investment funds tax. He graduated from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University in 2012. He served as law clerk for Justice Thomas Rex Lee of the Utah Supreme Court and for Judge Thomas B. Griffith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Megan Cooney (Labor and Employment / Orange County) – Cooney’s practice focuses on employment and class action litigation, including class and representative actions involving wage and hour violations, discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and employment misclassification. She graduated in 2013 from Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law.
Rachel Levick Corley (Environmental Litigation and Mass Tort / Washington, D.C.) – Corley’s practice covers a wide range of federal and state litigation, agency enforcement actions, cost recovery cases, and administrative rulemaking challenges. She graduated in 2013 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She served as law clerk to Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Colin B. Davis (Securities Litigation / Orange County) – Davis’s practice focuses on complex business and commercial litigation, with an emphasis on merger and acquisition and securities litigation. He graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law in 2010. He served as a law clerk to Judge Janis L. Sammartino of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
Quinton C. Farrar (Mergers and Acquisitions / New York) – Farrar advises private equity sponsors and corporate clients on a wide variety of complex corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions, asset sales, leveraged buyouts, carve-outs, joint ventures and minority investments and divestitures. He graduated from Fordham Law School in 2012.
Cassandra L. Gaedt-Sheckter (Privacy, Cybersecurity and Data Innovation / Palo Alto) – Gaedt-Sheckter’s practice focuses on data privacy, cybersecurity and data regulatory litigation, enforcement, transactional, and counseling representations. She graduated from UCLA School of Law in 2011.
Matthew A. Gibbons (Real Estate / New York) – Gibbons focuses on representing major financial institutions, private equity funds and other institutional lenders in connection with complex real estate transactions across all real estate asset classes, including originations of acquisition financings, mortgage financings, mezzanine financings and other subordinate debt, construction financings, refinancings, acquisitions and dispositions of loans and financings of loans. His practice also includes representing institutional investors in connection with acquisitions and dispositions of real estate, joint venture agreements and developments. He graduated from New York University School of Law in 2012.
Jason Zachary Goldstein (Business Restructuring and Reorganization / New York) – Goldstein represents companies, secured lender groups, sponsors, and other parties-in-interest in a wide range of in and out of court restructuring transactions, including in Chapter 11 cases. He graduated in 2012 from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Michelle M. Gourley (Mergers and Acquisitions / Orange County) – Gourley practices general corporate and business law, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions and general corporate counseling. She graduated in 2007 from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University.
Darcy C. Harris (Litigation / New York) – Harris has significant experience representing individuals and companies across a variety of industries in complex commercial litigation, internal and regulatory investigations, securities litigation, and white collar defense. She graduated from the New York University School of Law in 2009.
Claibourne S. Harrison (Mergers and Acquisitions / London) – Harrison’s practice focuses on private equity, real estate private equity and mergers and acquisitions in the UK, throughout Europe and the United States, which includes advising on joint ventures, cross-border transactions, strategic investments across a number of sectors and industries, as well as acquisitions and disposals of corporate real estate and CRE loan portfolios. He graduated from the Duke University School of Law in 2003.
Patrick Hennessy (Mergers and Acquisitions / London) – Hennessy advises clients on a wide range of corporate matters, including complex cross-border mergers and acquisitions, disposals, leveraged buy-outs and joint ventures. He has substantial experience in private equity real estate and corporate real estate transactions. He received his LL.B. from the University of Southampton in 2002.
Roscoe Jones, Jr. (Public Policy / Washington, D.C.) – Jones focuses on promoting and protecting companies’ interests before the U.S. Congress and the Administration, including providing a range of public policy services to clients such as strategic counseling, advocacy, coalition building, political intelligence gathering, substantive policy experience, legislative drafting, and message development. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2003. He clerked for Judge Carl E. Stewart of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
Julia Lapitskaya (Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance / New York) – Lapitskaya advises clients, including public companies and their executives and boards of directors, on a wide range of securities and corporate governance disclosure matters, with a focus on SEC, NYSE/Nasdaq and Securities Exchange Act of 1934 compliance and reporting requirements, corporate governance best practices, annual meeting and proxy matters, shareholder activism matters, board and committee matters, ESG and sustainability disclosures and executive compensation disclosure issues, including as part of initial public offerings and spin-off transactions. She graduated from the New York University School of Law in 2010.
Vera Lukic (Privacy, Cybersecurity and Data Innovation / Paris) – Lukic’s practice covers a broad range of technology related matters, including data privacy compliance and regulatory enforcement, cybersecurity issues, complex technology transactions and disputes, and other digital-related projects, as well as privacy/IT aspects of M&A transactions, for clients across jurisdictions and sectors. She graduated from the Paris-Sud University in 2004.
Amar K. Madhani (Mergers and Acquisitions / London) – Madhani focuses on domestic and international private equity M&A, corporate real estate transactions and investments and private M&A transactions, including cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity and venture capital transactions. He graduated with an LL.B. degree from the University of Nottingham in 2005.
Toren J. Murphy (Projects and Infrastructure / New York) – Murphy’s practice focuses on infrastructure projects, with experience in public-private partnerships, project procurement, construction contracts, project bonds, project finance, TIFIA loan financings and acquisitions of infrastructure assets, as well as various types of debt financing transactions in Latin America. He graduated in 2007 from the Syracuse University College of Law.
Lindsay M. Paulin (Government Contracts / Washington, D.C.) – Paulin’s practice covers a wide range of government contracts issues, including claims preparation and litigation, bid protests, government investigations under the False Claims Act, internal investigations, cost allowability, suspension and debarment proceedings, mergers and acquisitions involving government contracts, and compliance counseling. She graduated in 2012 from The George Washington University Law School.
Tiffany Phan (Labor and Employment / Los Angeles) – Phan advises employers in all aspects of labor and employment law and has significant experience in class action defense and complex employment litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. She graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 2013.
Kristen P. Poole (Mergers and Acquisitions / New York) – Poole represents both public and private companies, as well as financial sponsors, in connection with mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, minority investments, restructurings and other complex corporate transactions. She graduated in 2010 from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Matthew S. Rozen (Appellate and Constitutional Law / Washington, D.C.) – Rozen’s appellate practice includes litigating and enforcing arbitral awards and judgments against foreign states and representing health insurance and energy companies in high-stakes appeals. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 2012. He clerked for Judge Richard A. Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Eric Scarazzo (Capital Markets / New York) – Scarazzo has a broad securities and capital markets practice that includes capital raising transactions, reporting obligations under the Exchange Act, stock exchange compliance, and beneficial ownership reporting matters. He graduated in 2005 from the UCLA School of Law.
Jacob T. Spencer (Appellate and Constitutional Law / Washington, D.C.) – Spencer focuses on high-stakes constitutional, commercial, and regulatory matters in the trial courts and on appeal. In 2012, he graduated from Harvard Law School. He clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas, Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Sean K. Tierney (Real Estate / Los Angeles) – Tierney represents institutional and non-institutional real estate investors, developers, operators, lenders and borrowers in negotiating and structuring real estate joint ventures, acquisitions, sales, developments and financings. He also represents hotel owners and operators in connection with the acquisition, financing, branding, and management of hotels. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 2012.
