Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Page 3
Cindi Pusateri to Head New National Law Firm’s Los Angeles Office
Two From Hogan & Harston Join Alston & Bird; Gilchrist & Rutter Elects New Partner
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Meyer White LLP, a 15-member labor, employment and intellectual property law firm, was officially launched yesterday with four offices nationwide, including one in downtown Los Angeles headed by partner Cindi Pusateri.
Pusateri is joined in the office by attorney Hien Nguyen. Both are former associates of Jones Day, and the firm itself was founded by two former Jones Day partners, Houston attorneys Ted Meyer and Ruthie White.
Meyer, who serves as managing partner, said that he and White formed their firm “on the fundamental principle that clients want to buy business solutions and bottom line results, not time.”
According to a release from the firm, Meyer White is implementing a fee arrangement which sets forth budgets at the onset of cases that outline benchmarks which will trigger performance-based bonuses or discounts, depending on the firm’s progress, and will compensate its attorneys based on results and client service, not hours billed.
Pusateri, one of six partners, said she was proud of the firm’s business model, explaining the firm was “not focused on having fancy offices,” and “not nickel and dimeing clients.”
She said that the firm does not charge for computerized research, postage, or making copies or sending faxes, adding, “I think that’s the right thing to do.”
Reducing Overhead
Another important component of the firm’s operations is reducing overhead and “de-emphasizing the traditional office-type structure,” Pusateri continued. Although the firm has offices in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami, Pusateri said the intent is for attorneys to “spend more time with clients at client locations, and not so much time at the office.”
Pusateri also called attention to fact that the firm is majority-owned by women, and that the Los Angeles office, though only comprised of two members, is “100 percent female.” She added that she hoped to increase the office’s size to five members by the end of the year.
The attorney’s practice focuses on representing employers in litigation involving California and federal wage and hour laws, antidiscrimination laws, unfair competition claims, wrongful termination and employment-related tort and contract claims, the firm said.
After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from UC Berkeley in 1996 with a degree in political science, Pusateri worked as a paralegal specialist in the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice. She went on to earn her law degree from New York University in 2001 and was admitted to practice in California that same year.
Other News
In other news, Alston & Bird LLP and Gilchrist & Rutter PC both announced the addition of new partners on Monday.
David H. Ben-Meir and Rachel M. Capoccia, previously partners with Hogan & Hartson LLP, made a move to Alston & Bird’s intellectual property practice group, while Gilchrist & Rutter elevated real estate attorney Henry A. Herrman to partner.
Ben-Meir’s practice focuses on patent claims involving complex technologies, with an emphasis in consumer electronics products such as digital cameras, watches, cellular telephones and display devices on behalf of clients in the United States and Japan, his firm said.
A graduate of Loyola Law School, Ben-Meir attended the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering. He was admitted to practice in 1997.
Capoccia’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation with an emphasis on patent litigation, copyright and trademark litigation.
After attending the Rochester Institute of Technology, Capoccia spent nearly 10 years working as a software engineer for IBM before attending law school at USC, where she graduated first in her class. She was admitted to the State Bar in 1996.
Herrman’s practice focuses on commercial real estate, partnership and business transactions concerning development, construction, financing, leasing, acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures, and management issues, contract negotiation, preparation and analysis.
The attorney also represents clients in landlord-tenant and related real estate contract litigation matters, including unlawful detainer actions, breach of lease actions, and general real estate related disputes.
He graduated cum laude as a Dean’s Merit Scholar from the Southwestern Law School, where he served as Associate Editor of Southwestern University Law Review and President of Southwestern’s Land Use and Real Estate Society, after graduating cum laude from Fort Hays State University in Kansas. Herrman earned his law license in 2001.
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