WASHINGTON — Jan. 2, 2025 — BakerHostetler is proud to announce that 24 lawyers have been elected to firm partnership, effective Jan. 1. The new class includes representatives from five of the firm’s core practice groups and from 10 offices across the U.S.
“We all look forward to this milestone when we recognize our new partners and celebrate their accomplishments,” said Paul M. Schmidt, chairman of BakerHostetler. “Elevating these talented attorneys represents our commitment to building a team of leaders who approach each new challenge with our clients’ interests in mind, while upholding the qualities that exemplify our values as a firm. I am thrilled to celebrate their election to partnership.”
Elise Elam (Cincinnati) provides strategic guidance to clients through the lifecycle of cybersecurity compliance and incident response. She has led clients through hundreds of security incidents, including network intrusions, ransomware attacks and significant vendor incidents. She advises on implementing security programs to comply with legal and contractual security obligations, as well as incident response preparedness by conducting tabletop exercises. Elam has extensive experience advising insurance companies on issues related to cybersecurity, including incidents and regulatory enforcement actions related to security incidents for some of the largest insurance companies in the country.
William Ezzell (Atlanta) is an experienced litigator specializing in government investigations, internal investigations and complex litigation in the criminal, civil, administrative and regulatory arenas. He represents clients in all phases of litigation and regulatory compliance, including business disputes, breach of contract and securities violations.
Robyn Feldstein (New York) advises organizations on privacy, data protection and risk management issues. She regularly represents clients in privacy-related litigation and assists them with policies and strategies to mitigate risks, while closely monitoring privacy-related legislation to ensure clients can act proactively.
Matthew Gases (New York) counsels a diverse range of clients, including public and private companies, private equity firms and their portfolio companies on a wide array of corporate matters. He offers knowledgeable and practical guidance on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and commercial contracts across a variety of industries. Additionally, Gases advises on securities offerings, debt and equity financing and best practices for general corporate governance and ongoing corporate compliance.
William Geise (Houston) focuses his commercial litigation practice on distribution and franchise matters, representing heavy equipment and automobile manufacturers. He has first and second chair experience, both within the franchise industry and in a variety of general commercial litigation matters. Geise also represents electronic vehicle manufacturers, distributors and dealers in their efforts to establish or expand their operations throughout the United States, including the development of business strategies, complying with licensing requirements and similar regulations, and resolving disputes with state agencies and special interest groups.
Kyle Gregory (Atlanta) advises clients across a variety of sectors on technology and data privacy matters, with a focus on the complex issues which arise at the intersection of healthcare, technology and privacy. A pragmatic professional, Gregory is experienced in helping clients with the acquisition and commercialization of technology while ensuring the privacy and security of their information assets.
Ashley Guffey (Atlanta) is a skilled employment law practitioner, concentrating her practice on executive compensation and restrictive covenants. Her counsel includes representing public and private companies, senior executives and management teams on drafting executive employment and incentive arrangements and separation agreements, as well as litigating disputes involving employment contracts, employment discrimination issues and more.
Eric Gyasi (New York) strategically guides clients to address cybersecurity enterprise risks, proactively implement cybersecurity governance frameworks and comply with complex state, federal and sector-specific cybersecurity regulatory requirements. Gyasi leverages his experience in both crisis communications and digital forensics to lead clients through cybersecurity incidents and advises boards of directors regarding their duty of oversight for cybersecurity governance.
Donald (Skip) Hutchins (Denver) specializes in complex trust and estate planning matters. He regularly assists family offices, closely held business owners, high-net-worth individuals, fiduciaries and beneficiaries of long-term trusts with implementing sophisticated estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax planning transactions and provides counseling on efficiently structuring estate plans to meet long-term objectives. He has extensive experience planning and drafting various irrevocable long-term trust agreements, as well as preparing and reviewing federal estate and gift tax returns.
Rachael Israel (Cleveland) assists individual and corporate clients facing the challenges of criminal investigations and prosecutions, regulatory actions and complex litigation. With an emphasis on commercial, health care and employment litigation, Israel provides comprehensive counseling and litigation services to in-house counsel, business owners and individuals. She also advises on risk avoidance and mitigation in employment and compliance matters.
Jayshree Jewett (Dallas) regularly advises clients on domestic and international transaction negotiation and management, corporate compliance, governance and risk assessment. She draws on her nearly two decades of experience to provide strategic advice on complex corporate and commercial matters to the legal departments and operational teams of public and private equity companies.
Lindy Keown (Orlando) is an experienced commercial litigator who has handled all aspects of the commercial litigation process in state and federal courts around the country. She represents clients in all stages of litigation, from pre-suit negotiations through trial and appeal. Her clients include individuals, small businesses and multinational corporations.
Brandon Marcus (Orlando) concentrates his practice in real estate, focusing on commercial purchase and sales transactions and commercial leasing, land use, development projects, eminent domain and other real estate matters. Employing a stringent attention to detail and a proactive approach, Marcus helps clients navigate the meticulous documentation of various real estate matters.
Nikki Morris (Houston) focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation and appeals in a wide array of industries, including oil and gas, energy, health care and more. She has appeared in both state and federal courts representing clients from the initial complaint through discovery, trial and appeal. Morris also has experience conducting internal investigations and assisting clients in responding to state and federal regulatory inquiries.
Nicholas Mowbray (Washington) advises clients on renewable energy credits and incentives, including advocating before the Treasury Department and the IRS. Mowbray also provides counsel to U.S. and non-U.S. companies on international tax issues such as treaty qualification, transfer pricing, GILTI, BEAT and FDII.
Benjamin Oster (Cleveland) handles mergers and acquisitions for companies of all sizes and in a variety of industries. He has handled the representation of equity and asset sales and acquisitions and also assists with convertible note financings, add-on acquisitions and equity investments and recapitalizations.
Laura Peterson (Denver) focuses her corporate practice on mergers and acquisitions, broad commercial contracting, general corporate governance and compliance matters. Previously, Peterson served as in-house counsel for a small, publicly traded oil and gas company, where she handled general corporate governance, major asset sales and securities filings.
Rahil Rather (Atlanta) has a broad real estate practice focused on commercial development and leasing. He has experience in acquisitions, development, dispositions, complex assemblages and repurposing of commercial projects. Rather regularly advises national homebuilders on all matters related to development of residential subdivisions, health care clients on medical facility transactions and industrial developers on complex assemblages.
Michelle Reese (Cleveland) is a commercial real estate attorney adept at handling sales and acquisitions, real estate financing, real estate leasing, tax credit work and multifamily HUD/LIHTC transactions. Her experience also includes coordinating and managing all due diligence as it relates to real estate transactions, including title review, environmental assessments, surveys and property documents.
Jeffrey Slavin (New York) advises private investment fund sponsors on fund formation, compliance and regulatory matters, supporting hedge, venture capital and private equity funds with their structuring, fundraising and ongoing operational needs. Slavin also advises institutional investors and family offices on fund investments and secondary transactions and counsels search fund investors and their varied investment vehicles.
Erica Svoboda (Atlanta) focuses her transactional practice on counseling public and private companies regarding mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and corporate governance issues. Her experience includes representing buyers and sellers in middle-market stock and asset sales where she leads the process from the initial stages to closing. Svoboda also provides guidance with respect to general corporate matters, including drafting and reviewing commercial contracts and joint venture agreements.
Zachary Taylor (New York) specializes in securities and governance litigation, including securities class actions, shareholder derivative actions and fiduciary duty litigation. He also has extensive experience with Securities and Exchange Commission and internal investigations. Previously, Taylor served as a judicial law clerk to Judge Richard M. Berman of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Carrie Valdez (Cleveland) draws on a background in hospitality to bolster her employment practice, which focuses on class action and wage and hour disputes, defense of clients in discrimination and retaliation cases, internal investigations, Family and Medical Leave Act and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, affirmative action compliance and client counseling.
Kevin Zimmerman (Columbus) focuses on complex commercial and class action litigation, with a particular specialization in insurance class actions. He has represented insurers and other companies in class actions in state and federal courts across the country, including on appeal at the merits and Rule 23(f) stages. Zimmerman utilizes his deep experience in the class action space to develop strategies at all stages of the case, with an eye toward both the merits and defeating class certification.
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BakerHostetler helps clients around the world address their most complex and critical business and regulatory issues. Our highly ranked attorneys deliver sophisticated counsel and outstanding client service. We have six core practice groups — Business, Digital Assets and Data Management, Intellectual Property, Labor and Employment, Litigation, and Tax — and more than 1,000 lawyers coast to coast. For more information, visit bakerlaw.com.