Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP is pleased to announce that Carley Roberts and Prentiss Willson, nationally recognized for their leadership in California and multistate tax matters, have joined the firm’s State and Local Tax Practice (SALT) in Sacramento. Ms. Roberts (a partner as of February 9) and Mr. Willson (of counsel, effective March 1) are joining Sutherland’s other Sacramento-based lawyers – former CalTax Vice President and General Counsel Michele Pielsticker and leading property tax adviser Doug Mo, both of whom joined Sutherland SALT last year.
“We are thrilled Carley and Prentiss have joined us. They are among the best state tax lawyers in the country and bring a wealth of California experience to Sutherland’s SALT practice,” said Sutherland Managing Partner Mark D. Wasserman. “Our SALT practice has experienced explosive growth over the past seven years, and growing our Sacramento office underscores our commitment to providing the highest quality service to our clients for all of their state tax issues across the U.S.”
Prior to joining Sutherland, Ms. Roberts was a Partner with Morrison & Foerster LLP where she has spent her entire legal career working with the state and local tax group. She is a leading California tax litigator and has developed a significant practice handling cases involving many of California’s most critical SALT issues, including some of the most important corporate income and sales/use tax cases in litigation and on appeal. Ms. Roberts is the immediate past chair of the Taxation Section of the California State Bar and has a prominent role in organizing the premier California state tax meeting – the California Tax Policy Conference. Her practice at Sutherland will continue to focus on controversies and litigation involving multistate income and sales/use taxes.
Mr. Willson has 41 years of experience as a state and local tax lawyer and is widely recognized as the dean of California taxation. Mr. Willson has been involved in approximately a dozen state and local tax cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, and has represented hundreds of taxpayers in disputes around the country and in California. He began his career at Morrison & Foerster LLP, where at various times he was managing partner of the San Francisco office, chair of the firm’s tax department, and chair of the firm’s state and local tax group. In 1998, he moved to Ernst & Young LLP as Partner and National Director of State and Local Tax. Most recently, Mr. Willson has had his own law practice advising clients across the country.
“Carley and Prentiss are nationally recognized for their California tax expertise – a critical jurisdiction for state and local tax. Their knowledge and experience working with California tax authorities will provide our clients with a tremendous resource,” said Jerome B. Libin, chair of Sutherland’s Tax Practice Group. “This addition is a major step in our strategic plan for growth in California.”
Sutherland’s SALT practice is one of the premier state and local tax law practices in the country, with 29 lawyers representing more than 25 of the Fortune 100 and numerous other clients that are recognized leaders in their respective sectors.
DLA Piper has secured a preliminary injunction on behalf of its client, Chip Connect, a leader in the design, manufacturing, assembly and testing of printed circuit boards, against defendants, Coy Christmas, Calibur11 LLC, EinsteinModz LLC and BGRMods LLC (more…)
Nossaman LLP announced today that Kevin Collins has joined the Firm as a partner in the Litigation Department. Mr. Collins, an experienced trial lawyer who focuses on complex litigation in commercial, construction, and public law, will be based in Nossaman’s Sacramento office (more…)
DLA Piper has increased associate pay by 10%, back to the level before the economic recession. Associates in the busiest cities are seeing their salaries back to $160,000. Those in secondary cities, such as Phoenix, Tampa and Sacramento are back to $145,000. Other firms that have increased associate pay recently include: Latham & Watkins, Linklaters and K&L Gates.
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Littler Mendelson has added a new member to its shareholder club. Benjamin Webster has joined the firm as the office managing shareholder of the Sacramento office. Webster spent the last 21 years at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, and the last 8 of those as managing partner of its Sacramento office. In addition to his duties as office manager, Webster also practice law in the area of general commercial litigation, paying particular focus to employment and labor law.
The merger between Locke Liddell & Sapp PLLC and Lord Bissell & Brook LLP becomes official as of today. The new firm will be called Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP and has 700 attorneys in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Sacramento and Washington, D.C..
Several firms in Sacramento, CA have jumped onto the pay raise bandwagon. Seyfarth Shaw increased first-year pay from $121,000 to $135,000, while Weintraub Genshlea Chediak bumped up pay to $100,000 and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP raised starting salaries to $145,000. Morrison & Foerster pays new lawyers $160,000, which is said to be the best pay in town.
Source: www.bizjournals.com
Houston and Dallas-based Locke, Liddell & Sapp, and Chicago-based Lord, Bissell & Brook are finalizing plans to merge and form a 700-lawyer firm named Locke, Lord, Bissell & Liddell. After the merger is approved by partners, the deal is expected to close by August 1. Jerry Clements, the Austin, TX-based managing partner of Locke Liddell will head a nine-member executive committee. Locke Liddell is the larger firm, with 399 lawyers compared to Lord Bissell’s 300. However, Lord Bissell’s location cover more area, with offices in Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Sacramento, CA, and London. The two firms have worked together in the past on banking regulatory matters and as co-counsel or counsel for co-defendants on litigation or arbitration related to reinsurance disputes.
Source: www.law.com
Chicago firm Seyfarth Shaw has raised starting salaries in Sacramento from $121,000 to $135,000, retroactive to April 1. Seyfarth has 18 lawyers in this office. In an attempt to stay competitive in the market, Sacramento firm Weintraub Genshlea Chediak also raised first-year salaries in March from $90,000 to $100,000. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman is paying $145,000, and Morrison & Foerster is at $160,000 in the California city.
Source: www.sacramento.bizjournals.com
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe announced on Thursday, May 3 that it would be increasing its first-year associates’ pay in all California offices except for Sacramento. The pay raise to $160,000 matches the raise that the firm already made in New York and Washington, D.C. During the frenzy of raises earlier this year, most firms only raised CA salaries to $145,000, though some like Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges went up to $160,000. Speculation abounds whether other big name California firms like Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher or Latham & Watkins will also bump up their salaries. On the other hand, for more middle-market firms that matched NY salaries, the chances are less likely that they will all make another raise in California.
Source: www.law.com
Phoenix-based firm Snell & Wilmer has its sights set on the West Coast for further expansion. The plans for growth come with the firm’s significant increases in annual revenues and lateral hires. The firm has been particularly successful with its litigation, especially products liability, consumer class actions and intellectual property; the other focus is transactional work. The firm’s first priority in its California expansion is Los Angeles; after that, there is consideration of opening offices in San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, Seattle, and Portland. However, the firm chairman emphasizes that expansion must first be proceeded by acquiring the right group of lawyers or firms.
Source: www.law.com
