Mayer Brown Partner Moves to Dykema’s Los Angeles Office

Friday, January 16, 2009

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Mayer Brown Partner Moves to Dykema’s Los Angeles Office

By a MetNews Staff Writer

Attorney Fredrick S. Levin has joined the Los Angeles office of Midwest-based Dykema as a member in its Litigation Department, the firm announced yesterday.

A former partner at Mayer Brown LLP, Levin represents local, national and multinational corporations in complex commercial litigation, and defends financial institutions against consumer and securities class action litigation.

Dykema Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rex Schlaybaugh praised Levin’s “impressive track record in high-level, high-stakes litigation,” and said that the Levin’s addition would add “considerable depth” to the firm’s litigation team and underscore the firm’s “commitment to expand our capabilities in this area.”

The firm said Levin has extensive experience defending and prosecuting trademark and copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation claims, and that he has litigated a wide array of other complex commercial disputes involving lender’s liability, creditor’s rights, bankruptcy, corporate governance, real estate, audit malpractice and entertainment law.

Craig Hentschel, managing member of Dykema’s Los Angeles office, added that Levin’s “understanding of issues related to the changing economic environment and broad financial industry knowledge” would be “particularly valuable” given the “increasingly complex issues facing financial institutions” in the current economic climate.

Levin is a Detroit native, and attended Princeton University and the University of Michigan Law School before serving as a law clerk to Senior U.S. District Judge John Feikens of the Eastern District of Michigan. He was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in 1988 and to the State Bar of California in 1997.

A frequent author and lecturer, Levin is President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Jewish Committee and a member of the Executive Committee of the Legal Division of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles.

In other news, recently-renamed Kaufman Dolowich Voluck & Gonzo LLP announced that it opened an office location in Los Angeles on Jan. 5 under the management of litigator Joseph Kouri.

A Bronx, N.Y. native of Puerto Rican descent, Kouri has 25 years of general business litigation experience, with a special emphasis in the areas of employment and trade secret law.

He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1988 after attending the University of Detroit and Cornell Law School, and came to KDVG from Sedgwick Detert, Moran & Arnold LLP, where he was a partner.

Kouri is a member of the Defense Research Institute, the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, the State Bar’s Committee on Labor and Employment Law, and the Labor and Employment Sections of the Santa Clara and Los Angeles County Bar Associations.

He is also involved in establishing a nationwide network of Hispanic attorneys to provide mentoring to students and attorneys.

Firm Managing Partner Michael A. Kaufman called Kouri “a great addition to our team,” and said the timing of the new office “could not have worked out better,” predicting that Kouri would be “integral to the success of Kaufman Dolowich ‘s Los Angeles location and West Coast operations.”

The new office is the fifth for the firm, which changed its name upon the addition of John Gonzo as managing partner of its New Jersey office. The firm also has offices in New York, Pennsylvania and San Francisco.