O’Melveny announced that Shawnna Yashar, a seasoned intellectual property litigator and the former Director of Global IP Litigation and IP Enforcement at Lenovo, has joined the firm’s Washington, DC office as a partner in its Intellectual Property & Technology Practice Group. Her arrival further strengthens O’Melveny’s acclaimed roster of patent litigators and expands the firm’s formidable East Coast capabilities in the intellectual property and technology arena.

Mayer Brown continues to strengthen its Export Controls & Sanctions practice with the addition of Thea Kendler, former Assistant Secretary for Export Administration at the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and Aiysha S. Hussain, who served as her Senior Policy Advisor. Thea, who will co-head Mayer Brown’s Export Controls & Sanctions practice, and Aiysha both join the firm as partners and bring extensive experience in international trade, national security, and white-collar defense.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP announced that Larry Hall and Jon Platt have joined the Firm as partners in the Corporate & Financial Services Department and Private Equity and Energy practice groups. They are based in the Firm’s Dallas office.  

Skadden is pleased to announce Michael P. Reed has joined the firm as a partner in its Financial Institutions Group. Based in New York, Mr. Reed advises financial institutions, financial technology companies, specialty finance companies, mortgage banking companies, financial sponsor investors and asset management firms on a wide range of M&A transactions and capital markets matters. In addition, he counsels clients, including boards of directors, on regulatory, compliance, disclosure and strategic matters.

Steven Green, a Bay Area Corporate lawyer who is deeply embedded in the life sciences, biotechnology and tech-enabled healthcare startup communities, has joined Pillsbury’s Silicon Valley office as partner. The firm brings on Green, previously a partner at Goodwin Procter, after a year in which Stifel reports life sciences venture equity investment surged to more than $50 billion—the sector’s second most active year ever.

Morrison Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce the arrival of Brian P. Sylvester as a partner in the Complex Litigation + Advisement Group, where he will serve as head of food regulatory within the FDA + Healthcare Regulatory and Compliance practice, in the Washington, D.C. office. A Chambers-ranked practitioner, Sylvester brings over a decade of combined government and private sector experience providing strategic U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulatory advice to leading global companies and trade associations.

Expanding its investment management and financial markets capabilities and its roster of former government officials, Morgan Lewis is pleased to welcome Robert A. Schwartz, who has spent more than a decade with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), including as general counsel. Rob joins the firm as a partner in the investment management practice, resident in Washington, DC.

Milbank LLP is pleased to announce that Alex Meirowitz has joined its New York office as a partner in the firm’s Real Estate Group.

“We are thrilled to welcome Alex to the firm,” said Milbank Chairman Scott A. Edelman. “Alex’s extensive experience across debt and equity representations and in virtually all real estate asset classes will further expand our team’s capabilities and versatility, which has long been a cornerstone of our Real Estate Group.”

Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP has expanded its Gaming Practice with the addition of Ali Bartlett and Rajat R. Shah as shareholders. Bartlett will be based in Chicago, arriving from Bose McKinney & Evans LLP.

Shah will be based in the firm's Washington, D.C., office, joining from Harris Beach Murtha Cullina PLLC.

Goodwin announced that Shandy Pinkowski has joined the firm’s Private Investment Funds practice as a partner in the San Francisco office.

We are seeing significant activity in the number of investment funds being created and in fund-related transactions,” said Paul Verbesey, co-chair of Goodwin’s Private Investment Funds practice. “Shandy's range of experience across investment funds, particularly in private equity, will further strengthen our capabilities and global platform. We are excited she’s joining the team and look forward to leveraging her expertise with clients.