James I. Mann

ITG Communications, a national provider of installation, fulfillment, constructio,  and project management services to the cable, telecommunications, and utility industries, has announced that it received an investment from funds managed by the Power Opportunities strategy of Oaktree Capital Management. Oaktree’s investment will help support the continued growth of the company. This transaction closed in December 2021 and terms of the investment were not disclosed. Latham & Watkins LLP represented Oaktree in the transaction with a corporate deal team led by Los Angeles partner Tana Ryan and Bay Area partner Navneeta Rekhi, with Bay Area associate Christopher Cruickshank. Advice was also provided tax matters by Los Angeles partner Pardis Zomorodi, with Century City associate Brian Rogers; on real estate matters by San Diego partner James Mann, with San Diego associate Giannina Marciano; on benefits and compensation matters by New York partner Jennifer Pepin, with New York associate Madeline Hong; on labor matters by Los Angeles partner Joseph Farrell; on intellectual property and data privacy matters by Bay Area partner Anthony Klein and Bay Area counsel Robert Blamires, with Bay Area associates Amy (Dippolito) Tosi, Ryan Sanders, Jennifer Howes and Soo Min Lim; on antitrust matters by Washington, D.C. partner Ian Conner and Washington, D.C. counsel Patrick English; and on environmental matters by Washington, D.C. partner James Barrett, with Washington, D.C. associate Andrew Landolfi.~~

Jan 24

1 min

Michal Netenyah • Clifford Chance has added private equity partner Michal Netanyahu to the firm's global private capital group. She joins from Freshfields. • King & Spalding has brought on Mae Rogers as a partner in its finance and restructuring practice group as a partner. She joins from Mayer Brown, where she was also a partner. • Latham & Watkins has added Matthew Eisler and Russell Hedman as partners in the firm’s M&A and private equity practice, and entertainment, sports & media practice. They both join from Hogan Lovells. • Morrison Cohen has added Joshua Garcia as a partner in the firm’s digital assets practice in New York. He was previously with the boutique firm Ketsal, which he founded. In addition, the firm has promoted Amber Will and Timur Eron to partners. Both previously served as counsel. • Barnes & Thornburg has brought on Neil Begley as partner in the firm’s corporate department. He was formerly with McDermott Will & Schulte. • Sahar Ayinehsazian has joined A.Y. Strauss as a partner in its corporate and cannabis practice groups. • Gregory Kalnitsky has been appointed corporation counsel of the City of Long Beach, NY. He was formerly a partner at Forchelli Deegan Terrana. • Tarter Krinsky & Drogin has added Terence (Terry) K. McLaughlin as a partner in its litigation group. He was formerly a partner at Willkie Farr and Morrison Cohen. • Mark Lebovitch has returned to Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann as special governance counsel to co-head the firm’s department of governance practice. He was formerly a partner with the firm before retiring and becoming an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Steven Lutt • Rosenberg & Estis has added Steven Lutt as a member in the firm’s transactions group and to lead the its hospitality group. He joins from White & Case. • Pryor Cashman has brought on Jason Sloan as a partner in its music, intellectual property, and media + entertainment practices. He previously served as assistant general counsel for the United States Copyright Office. In addition, the firm has promoted Wendy LaManque, Matthew Marcus, Dustin Nofziger, and Eric Wisotsky to partners and Vanessa Avello, Christine Dimitriou, Evan Hey, Arsala Kidwai, Itai Raz, Nicholas Saady, Linda Sabatello, and Aaron Wiltse to counsel. • Blank Rome has appointed Mitch Brand as co-chair of its New York office. He will joins Lois Liberman in leading the office. The firm has also hired David Kaufman as senior counsel. He was formerly with Morrison & Foerster. In addition, James Sanderson has been added as an associate. He was previously with Duane Morris. • Haynes Boone has added partners Jeffrey Moerdler and Stephen Friedberg to the firm’s real estate practice group. They both join from Mintz Levin. Joseph Spina • Cullen and Dykman partner Joseph Spina has been tapped to lead the firm’s newly-formed entrepreneurship through acquisition and SMB transactions practice. • Patrick Lespinasse has joined Cozen O’Connor as principal. Most recently, he was regional head of policy and government affairs for Starbucks Coffee Company. • Shireen Barday, a partner at the boutique firm Pallas Partners, has been appointed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to a seat on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Pallas Partners has also promoted Alessia de Quincey and Anastasia Cembrovska to partners, and Andrew Breland, John McAdams, and Brianna Simopoulos to counsel. • Eversheds Sutherland has hired Rachel Schneidman as counsel in the firm’s real estate practice group. • Harris Beach Murtha has added James Mann as special counsel. • Moses Singer has hired Michael Fruchter as a partner in its corporate trust and loan agency practice. He joins from Holland & Knight, where he served as senior counsel. • McGuireWoods has hired Kayci Hines as counsel to its restructuring & insolvency practice group. She joins after serving as senior bankruptcy counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice. • Sara Margolis has joined Latham as a partner. She was formerly with MoloLamken. • Robinson+Cole has elected Zhuoyao (Joy) Hui, and Austin G. Provost as partners. In addition, Kiernan Ignacio and Judy Lu have been promoted to counsel. • Lewis Kuper has joined Tarter Krinsky & Drogin as chair of its cooperatives & condominiums practice and as a partner in the real estate practice. He joins from Abrams Fensterman. Richard Brown • Anderson Kill has added Richard Brown as a shareholder. He joins from Saxe Doernberger & Vita. The firm has also promoted Grant Brown to shareholder. • Boutique firm Kleinberg Kaplan has promoted Alexander Shiekman to partner. • Moses Singer has promoted Daniel Hoffman and Robert McFarlane to partner. • K&L Gates has elevated Christopher Bozydaj and Jarel Rosser to partners. • Joshua Lewin has been elected partner with Frankfurt Kurnit Klein + Selz. • Wilson Elser has promoted the following attorneys to partners in New York: Christin Brown, Roberto Caruso, Rachel Davis, Joanna DeLauro, Christopher Post, Yana SIegel, Saige Subick, Patricia Wik, Jessica Woodhouse, Siobhainin Funchion, Nicole Holland, William Sciales, and Eliza Schneibel. • Grunfeld Desiderio Lebowitz Silverman and Klestadt (GDLSK) has promoted Kristina Barry to partner. Josh Bauchner • Joshua Bauchner, partner and chair of Mandelbaum Barrett’s cannabis, hemp & psychedelics practice group, has been named chair of the Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, Northeast Region. • Ballard Spahr has elected Lauren Engelmyer, Peter Lam, and Rebecca Leaf to its partnership. • Cassandra Vogel and Jonathan Ohring have been promoted to partners at Yankwitt. • Alston & Bird has elected Gregg Fish, Sharon Steinerman and Lance Taubin to its partnership in New York. • Braverman Greenspun has promoted William Geller and Peter Salzler to partners. • Fried Frank has elevated the following attorneys to partner: Dana Goldstein, Becky Kumar, Andrew Minear, Hannah Reiner, Abraham Rudy and Jonathan Weiss. In addition, the following were elected special counsel: Denis Fatovic, Jackie Ferreira, Corey Fersel, Thomas Gallagher, Othon Flores Juarez, Jason Kantermank, Ellen Lehman, Katie Warren, Jaclyn Waters, Danielle Wheeler, Nick Williams and Josh Xiong. • Holwell Shuster & Goldberg has promoted Jack Millman to partner. Dan Connolly • Bracewell has elected NY-based managing partner Daniel Connolly to serve a three-year term on the firm’s management committee. The firm has also promoted Margaret Beasley and Rebecca Foxwell to partners. • Jones Day has promoted Andrew Butler, Tito Escobar, Julia V.S. Feldman and William Sinchuk to partners. • Norton Rose Fulbright has promoted Ryan Apar, Susana Medeiros, and Gabrielle Jacques to partners. In addition, the firm has hired Bhavna Agnihotri as senior counsel. Most recently, she served as executive deputy superintendent of insurance at the New York State Department of Financial Services. • Brian Haran has been promoted to partner at Cona Elder Law. Derrelle Janey • Olshan Frome Wolosky has added Derrelle Janey as a partner in its litigation and white collar & government investigations practices. Prior to joining, he was the founder and managing partner of the Janey Law Firm. Olshan has also promoted Ian Engoron and Richard Quatrano to counsel. • Venable has elevated the following attorneys to partners: Yeon Jae Ko, Katie Milea, Allison Gotfried and Emily Seiderman West. The following have been promoted to counsel: Nicholas Marcello, Teresa Biviano and Benjamin Paull. • Cole Schotz has promoted Matthew Barish as a member of the firm. • Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has elevated the following attorneys to partners in New York: Gabriela Astolphi, Demetrius Baefsky, Patrick Marc Baron, Nicholas Brown, Kelsey Byeff, Daniela Chediak, Catherine Ciriello, Claire M. DiMario, Moshe Fink, Laura Gallo, Edward Grais, Kirsten Harmon, Jasmine Hay, Nathalie A. Herrand, Chaim (Carter) Kagedan, Kelly Karapetyan, Catherine Kidd, Albi Kocibelli, Malik Ladhani, William LeBas, Jieun Lim, Sonia Lopez, May Mansour, Brian Mendick, Lisa Morales, Amanda Ng, Ignacio Perez, Matthew Petrone, Mia Pisk, Nicole Rubin Sanci, Christopher Scavone, Alysha J. Sekhon, Ryan Stott, Gary Tashjian, Nathan Utterback and Sam Zhu. In addition, the firm has promoted Brandon Adoni and Bettina Elstroth to senior counsel, and Stephanie Chaung, Amy Dawson, Dennis Durkin, Melissa Glazer Ron Havas, Robert Hayes, Elliott Kieffer, Daniel Owsley and Kam Siu to counsel. • Marshall Dennehey has promoted former special counsel Sanford Jacobs to shareholder and former associates Ian Glick and Noriel Sta. Maria to special counsel. • Jenner & Block has elevated Ben Alter, Allison Douglis, and Cayman Mitchell to partners. • Ogletree Deakins has promoted Shirin Aboujawde and Sarah Zucco to partners. • Cahill Gordon & Reindel has promoted Jonathan Galea, Mark Gelman, James Mandolfo, Biagio Marino, and Jordan Wishnew to its partnership. Eric Scher and Lynn Schmidt have been promoted to counsel at the firm. • Asher Belsky has been promoted to partner with Adler & Stachenfeld. • Mintz has promoted Kerime Akoglu, Amanda Asaro, Bridgette Keller, Joshua Rudin and Maarten Tuurenhout to its partnership. • Seward & Kissel has promoted Theodore Kaminski to partner in the firm’s investment management group. The firm has also promoted Catherine LoTempio and Anna Weigand to counsel. • Marni Weiner Arlia, Alessandra Ash, Michael Discenza, and Jeffery Sheng have been elected partners at Harris Beach Murtha. • Herrick has elevated Gita Gandhi, Maxim M.L. Nowak, Elizabeth Plowman and Joshua Stricoff to partners. • Philip Nash, Eric Santos, and Elizabeth Sy have been elected partners at Rivkin Radler. • BakerHostetler has selected Jorian Rose as the managing partner of the New York office, succeeding George Stamboulidis, who was one of the founders of the New York office when it opened in 2001. He will continue to co-lead the firm’s white collar, investigations and securities enforcement and litigation team. The firm has also promoted J’Naia Boyd, Justin Guilfoyle and Kyle Morse to partners. • Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer has elected William Cavanagh, Darina  Delappe, Nicole Fenton, John Lagrou and Megan Wasson to the firm’s partnership in New York. • Goldberg Segalla has elevated the following attorneys to partners: Alexander Blood, Allison Cullens, Andrew Fluger, Mindy Hsu, Morgan Kitton, Charles Lazo, Abraham D. Leybengrub, Ryan Mahoney, Selma Moy, Zachary Oliva, Min Yu and Jeffrey Zech. In addition, the firm has promoted Matthew Feinberg and Kerry Jones as special counsel, and has added Christina O’Dea as an associate. • Preeya Varma has been promoted to partner at MG+M The Law Firm. Price Ciolino • H. Price Ciolino has joined Norris McLaughlin as a litigation associate. • Eversheds Sutherland, has elected Kym Kochis to the firm’s US executive committee. She will step down from her role as US co-head of litigation after serving in that role for five years.

Jan 14

8 min

Chevron U.S.A. Inc., Schlumberger New Energy, Microsoft and Clean Energy Systems have announced plans to develop a ground-breaking bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS) project designed to produce carbon negative power in Mendota, California. Latham & Watkins LLP represents Chevron U.S.A. Inc. in the transaction. A corporate deal team was led by Houston partner Lauren Anderson, with Houston associates Ashley Nguyen, Denny Lee, and Katie Walker and with assistance from New York associate Jiyeon Chun. The infrastructure projects and commercial team was led by Houston partner Jonathan Castelan, with Houston associates Thomas Hillebrand and Sam Bentley. Advice was also provided on tax matters by Houston partner Jim Cole, with Houston associate Emily Fawcett; on environmental matters by Orange County counsel Josh Bledsoe, with Orange County associate Brian McCall and Los Angeles associate Jen Garlock; on real estate matters by San Diego partner James Mann; and on intellectual property matters by Washington, D.C. partner Jeremiah Wolsk.~~

Aug 10

1 min

Portland General Electric Company and Manulife Investment Management have paid $1.9 billion to obtain electrical provider PacifiCorp's Washington state assets in a cash deal guided by Latham & Watkins LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP. According to the announcement, the assets include PacifiCorp's "generation, transmission and electric utility operations." After the related regulatory filings are submitted, the state and federal regulators are supposed to wrap up their acquisition reviews in 12 months, the announcement added. Part of these assets constitutes power lines that stretch for 4,500 miles and utility operations that are located 2,700 square miles across the state, according to the announcement. "We are excited for the opportunity to continue to grow, expanding into Washington and building upon PGE's foundation of operational excellence and customer service," said PGE's president and CEO Maria Pope in a Tuesday statement. "We look forward to our partnership with Manulife Investment Management, who brings a track record of investment success across the utility sector and Pacific Northwest agriculture and timberland industries," Pope added. On Tuesday, Manulife Investment Management's global head of infrastructure Recep Kendircioglu said Manulife's PGE partnership "represents an opportunity that fits well within our infrastructure strategy and leverages our experience in utility investments." The acquisition deal allows PGE to obtain the 94-megawatt Goodnoe Hills wind power facility, the 477-megawatt Chehalis natural gas facility, and the Marengo I and Marengo II facilities, which are wind power facilities that have 234 megawatts of power combined, the announcement said. PGE will use another company to oversee the Washington assets, according to the announcement. Also, Manulife Infrastructure Fund III LP and the fund's affiliates will own 49% of the utility assets, the announcement stated. On Tuesday, PacifiCorp's CEO Darin Carroll said the asset sale "is a targeted step toward ensuring the continued delivery of safe, reliable power to our nearly 2 million customers in the West and Intermountain West." "This will improve the company's financial stability while simplifying our operations to support our long-term commitment to customers in each of our remaining states," Carroll also said. PGE, Manulife and PacifiCorp did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment on Tuesday. PGE is represented by Michael Sullivan, Ryan Maierson, Erik Thompson, Elena Burns, Cameron Koob, Zach Kobayashi, Riann Winget, Brock Meyer, Skyler Ligon, Genie Yae, Caroline Phillips, Sharon Huberfeld, Jeremie Ruiz, Jeffrey Tochner, Sebastian Moss, Pardis Zomorodi, Dominick Constantino, Jason Cruise, Andrew Paik, Natasha Gianvecchio, Jecoliah Williams, Michelle L.C. Carpenter, Peter Dalmasy, Oswald Cousins, Marc Campopiano, Brian McCall, James Mann, David Rao, Daniel Eyal, Chika Onyejiukwa, Harrison White, Robert Brown, Stuart Cobb, Sony Ben-Moshe, Bryan Monson, Jackson Kushner, Steven Levine, Shelby Harrison and Daniel Eyal of Latham & Watkins LLP. Manulife is represented by Brian Chisling, Katy Lukaszewski, Paul Bolaji, Oleg Stratiev, Natasha Kandi, Selim Loetscher, Brian Steinhardt, Brandon Barton, David Kim, Owen Harrison, Jonathan Goldstein, Shareef M. Salfity, Preston Irace, Alysha Sekhon, Margerite Blasé, Tally Smitas, Tristan Brown, Ryan Stott, Skyler Kanfer, Krista McManus, Dennis Loiacono and Steve DeLott of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. PacifiCorp is represented by Andrew Kaplan, Christopher Lang, Nicolette Fata, Aliya Zuberi, Becca Pecora, Patrick Perrier, Eric Sloan, Yara Mansour, Jason Zhang, Dean Masuda, Doug Horowitz, Meghan Hungate, Jocelyn Shih and Michael Collins of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

Feb 17

3 min

Portland General Electric Company and Manulife Investment Management have paid $1.9 billion to obtain electrical provider PacifiCorp's Washington state assets in a cash deal guided by Latham & Watkins LLP, Baker Botts LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP. According to the announcement, the assets include PacifiCorp's "generation, transmission and electric utility operations." After the related regulatory filings are submitted, the state and federal regulators are supposed to wrap up their acquisition reviews in 12 months, the announcement added. Part of these assets constitutes power lines that stretch for 4,500 miles and utility operations that are located 2,700 square miles across the state, according to the announcement. PGE's financial advisers for the deal were J.P. Morgan, Barclays, Citi, and Lazard, the announcement said. Manulife's financial adviser was Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC. "We are excited for the opportunity to continue to grow, expanding into Washington and building upon PGE's foundation of operational excellence and customer service," said PGE's president and CEO Maria Pope in a Tuesday statement. "We look forward to our partnership with Manulife Investment Management, who brings a track record of investment success across the utility sector and Pacific Northwest agriculture and timberland industries," Pope added. On Tuesday, Manulife Investment Management's global head of infrastructure Recep Kendircioglu said Manulife's PGE partnership "represents an opportunity that fits well within our infrastructure strategy and leverages our experience in utility investments." The acquisition deal allows PGE to obtain the 94-megawatt Goodnoe Hills wind power facility, the 477-megawatt Chehalis natural gas facility, and the Marengo I and Marengo II facilities, which are wind power facilities that have 234 megawatts of power combined, the announcement said. PGE will use another company to oversee the Washington assets, according to the announcement. Also, Manulife Infrastructure Fund III LP and the fund's affiliates will own 49% of the utility assets, the announcement stated. On Tuesday, PacifiCorp's CEO Darin Carroll said the asset sale "is a targeted step toward ensuring the continued delivery of safe, reliable power to our nearly 2 million customers in the West and Intermountain West." "This will improve the company's financial stability while simplifying our operations to support our long-term commitment to customers in each of our remaining states," Carroll also said. PGE, Manulife and PacifiCorp did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment on Tuesday. PGE is represented by Michael Sullivan, Ryan Maierson, Erik Thompson, Elena Burns, Cameron Koob, Zach Kobayashi, Riann Winget, Brock Meyer, Skyler Ligon, Genie Yae, Caroline Phillips, Sharon Huberfeld, Jeremie Ruiz, Jeffrey Tochner, Sebastian Moss, Pardis Zomorodi, Dominick Constantino, Jason Cruise, Andrew Paik, Natasha Gianvecchio, Jecoliah Williams, Michelle L.C. Carpenter, Peter Dalmasy, Oswald Cousins, Marc Campopiano, Brian McCall, James Mann, David Rao, Daniel Eyal, Chika Onyejiukwa, Harrison White, Robert Brown, Stuart Cobb, Sony Ben-Moshe, Bryan Monson, Jackson Kushner, Steven Levine, Shelby Harrison and Daniel Eyal of Latham & Watkins LLP. Manulife is represented by Brian Chisling, Katy Lukaszewski, Paul Bolaji, Oleg Stratiev, Natasha Kandi, Selim Loetscher, Brian Steinhardt, Brandon Barton, David Kim, Owen Harrison, Jonathan Goldstein, Shareef M. Salfity, Preston Irace, Alysha Sekhon, Margerite Blasé, Tally Smitas, Tristan Brown, Ryan Stott, Skyler Kanfer, Krista McManus, Dennis Loiacono and Steve DeLott of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. PacifiCorp is represented by Andrew Kaplan, Christopher Lang, Nicolette Fata, Aliya Zuberi, Becca Pecora, Patrick Perrier, Eric Sloan, Yara Mansour, Jason Zhang, Dean Masuda, Doug Horowitz, Meghan Hungate, Jocelyn Shih and Michael Collins of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP. Lazard is represented by Clint Rancher, Josh Davidson and Lakshmi Ramanathan of Baker Botts LLP.

Feb 17

3 min