Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Page 11
WHO’S DOING WHAT
Akin Gump Brings Aboard Former SEC Trial Counsel
Litigation attorney Thomas A. Zaccaro has joined international law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld as a partner in its securities litigation practice group in Los Angeles, the firm announced last week.
“I’m very happy to have it,” Zaccaro said of his new position.
Zaccaro, a 1984 graduate of Boston College Law School, recently completed a three-plus-year stint as regional trial counsel in the Pacific Regional Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He was responsible for management and supervision of all enforcement litigation and administrative proceedings conducted within the region.
Zaccaro worked during what he called a “busy time” for the SEC. The best known case the office undertook during his tenure was suing two Pasadena-based Gemstar-TV Guide International executives for overstating earnings and misleading investors.
The SEC succeeded in having $37 million in company assets frozen.
The Gemstar case is still unfolding; the SEC sued three more company executives for fraud earlier this month.
“But the most satisfying case I worked on,” Zaccaro explained, “was the PinnFund.” In the PinnFund scandal, real estate investors were defrauded of more than $300 million in a Ponzi scheme; the money was used, the SEC contended, to fund the PinnFund founder’s lavish lifestyle and to cover losses.
The SEC was eventually able to recover between $75 and $100 million, Zaccaro said. “It was very, very satisfying to return that money to the investors,” he added.
Zaccaro’s public service career began in New York, where he served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1988-1994. He later served the U.S. Department of Justice as a trial attorney, arguing organized crime and racketeering cases in 1994 and 1995.
Between working for the Justice Department and the SEC, Zaccaro was a partner at Manatt Phelps & Phillips, working on securities litigation, class actions, SEC and criminal investigations. He is a member of the California, Connecticut and District of Columbia Bars.
Zaccaro now finds himself in a professional role-reversal: Instead of representing the SEC, he represents clients being investigated by the SEC. “There are a lot of challenges in both,” he explained, “but there’s a similar satisfaction in being able to help people.”
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Litigation attorney Lisa Maki, who previously led her own independent practice, recently joined the Huron Law Group as a lead partner, focusing on the firm’s employment litigation practice group. The Los Angeles firm is now known as Huron Maki & Johnson.
Maki’s previous work focused on cases involving employment, personal injury, business and contract litigation.
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Greenberg Traurig has two new partners in its Los Angeles, the firm has announced.
Terence J. Clark, an intellectual property attorney, is best known for his work representing various celebrities and sports figures, such as Geraldo Rivera, Dorothy Hamill and Tiger Woods, in libel, privacy and publicity cases. A graduate of Case Western Reserve Law School, Clark formerly coordinated the firm-wide intellectual property practice for Squire Sanders.
Bankruptcy attorney Paul R. Glassman is a graduate of the Stanford University Law School and holder of an M.A. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He has handled several high-profile bankruptcy cases in recent years, including representation of a committee of cities owed over $1 billion in the Orange County bankruptcy case and a committee of landlords in the Sizzler bankruptcy case, the firm said.
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The New York firm Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner has added two new attorneys to its Los Angeles office: Partner Jeffrey Berkowitz, a specialist in taxation matters, and Howard M. Appel, counsel in the firm’s corporate group. Both come from Berkowitz Black & Zolke, of which Berkowitz was a founding member.
Berkowitz is a 1989 graduate of the Boston University Law School. Appel received his law degree in 1991 from Boalt Hall.
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Pillsbury Winthrop, a multi-area firm with 17 offices worldwide, has added partners at each of its three Los Angeles-area locations.
Bruce J. Graham is involved in real estate, project development and construction financing projects at the firm’s Century City office. He holds a degree from the UCLA School of Law.
Kenneth N. Russak concentrates on problem loan situations and insolvency planning at Pillsbury Winthrop’s Los Angeles office. He is a graduate of the USC Law School.
Christine Scheuneman is a litigation and trial attorney with the firm’s Costa Mesa office, practicing a wide range of real estate and finance matters. She earned her law degree at the DePaul University College of Law.
Appointments, Elections and Elevations
International firm Steptoe & Johnson has elected Jason Levin of counsel in its Los Angeles office.
Levin, a member of Steptoe’s toxic torts practice group, has represented clients in a number of toxic tort litigation, including complex Superfund cost recovery actions. A member of the state bars of California and Washington, Levin received his law degree from the University of San Diego.
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Century City commercial law firm Irell & Manella has elevated three of its litigation associates to partner status.
Benjamin W. Hattenbach, a specialist in high-tech, entertainment and intellectual property matters, received a B.A. in engineering from Harvey Mudd College and is a 1996 graduate of UC Berkeley, where he served as executive editor of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal.
Andrei Iancu holds degrees in aerospace and mechanical engineering from UCLA, where he also earned his law degree. Before attending law school, Iancu worked as an engineer at Hughes Aircraft Co., where he received the Malcolm R. Currie Innovation Award, the firm said in a statement.
Business litigation specialist Melissa R. McCormick received her law degree from the UCLA School of Law, where she was editor of the UCLA Law Review. Prior to joining the firm in 1997, she clerked for Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Emilio M. Garza and Judith N. Keep, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
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Jane Peebles, a partner at the Los Angeles firm Freeman Freeman & Smiley, was recently elected to a three-year term on the National Committee of Planned Giving’s Board of Directors. Peebles is a member of Freeman’s firm’s estate planning and administration practice group. She is the author of the 1998 book “The Handbook of International Philanthropy.”
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Houston-based international law firm Fulbright & Jaworski has announced two new partners at its Los Angeles office.
Josh Lichtman, a specialist in complex commercial litigation, is vice-president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association for Business Economics. He is a 1994 graduate of the UCLA School of Law.
Lisalee Wells’ practice focuses on public finance, particularly in education matters. A retired U.S. Naval Reserve Captain, Wells obtained her law degree from Stanford University.
Copyright 2004, Metropolitan News Company