BakerHostetler > Washington DC, United States > Firm Profile

BakerHostetler > The Legal 500 Rankings

Media, technology and telecoms > Advertising and marketing: transactional and regulatory Tier 1

BakerHostetler is at the forefront of tech-driven regulatory issues including behavioral and targeted advertising, evolving privacy laws, and related agreements. The group has particular expertise in the intersection between advertising and data and privacy branches, which continues to secure new clients from various industries. Amy Mudge leads the advertising, marketing, and digital media team from Washington DC and has extensive experience handling a breadth of matters ranging from investigations prompted by regulatory bodies including the FTC and NAD, to ESG and influencer marketing. She is also regarded for her work on the use of AI in advertising, junk fees and pricing, and health claim substantiation. In New York, Linda A. Goldstein is a vital member of the team due to her deep knowledge of complex transactions and the federal and state regulatory environments. She is an eminent figure in the technologies space for her work pertaining to AI, NFTs, the metaverse, and blockchain. Other notable names include Daniel Kaufman and John Ferry, both of whom are based in Washington DC. Kaufman, a former Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, is known for handling regulatory compliance and civil investigative demands.

M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m) Tier 2

Demonstrating vast experience handling transactions in the technology, media, and telecoms sector, the BakerHostetler practice regularly acts for Fortune 500 companies as well as financial institutions on multi-jurisdictional M&A, joint ventures, and de-SPAC deals. Operating out of New York, co-head Steven Goldberg specializes in advising on complex strategic investments and private equity deals, while Los Angeles-based co-head Will Chuchawat is noted for his experience in the healthcare, consumer, and financial services spaces. From Cleveland, John Allotta focuses on cross-border acquisitions and financing transactions, and New York-based Matthew Gases assists with corporate governance matters.

Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection) Tier 2

BakerHostetler‘s digital assets and data management team handles a range of privacy concerns, counselling clients in the healthcare, hospitality and ecommerce sectors in their compliance responsibilities alongside supporting them through ransomware attacks and any class action litigation which follows. Team head Theodore J. Kobus III, based in New York, leverages extensive experience in the practice area to handle regulatory defense for high profile clients with a focus on healthcare clients. Cincinatti-based Craig Hoffman is sought after for his expertise regarding payment card security incidents; in Houston, Lynn Sessions handles both cybersecurity incident response and the regulatory investigations arising from these incidents. Casie Collignon leads the Denver-based team, and is particularly recommended for privacy class action defense; Denver colleague Paul Karlsgodt heads the national privacy and data risk class action and litigation team.  The Los Angeles team is headed by Jennifer Mitchell, whose compliance experience supports clients in highly regulated sectors involving sensitive personal information.

Tax > Not-for-profit (Fortune 1000 private foundations, national trade associations, and charities) Tier 2

BakerHostetler‘s long-established nonprofit team advises prominent clients in the sector on an array of issues, including all aspects of tax compliance as well as corporate governance matters, questions surrounding charitable contributions, and issues relating to government relations. Jeffrey Paravano leads the team from Washington DC. Also in DC is Alexander Reid, who covers tax planning and transactional matters in addition to handling tax controversy issues, including audits and appeals, Matthew Elkin, who advises tax-exempt organizations and high net worth families on their charitable activities, and Edward Beckwith, who chiefly advises high net worth families and individuals on tax planning. This focus is shared by Chad Makuch, who works from Cleveland and is a key contact for multiple ultra-high net worth families.

Dispute resolution > International litigation Tier 3

Energy > Energy litigation: oil and gas Tier 3

Houston-based BakerHostetler is regularly involved in a broad range of litigation in the oil and gas sector, including lease disputes, breach of contract and title disputes over royalties. The firm’s dedicated energy team is jointly led by L. Poe Leggette, a key contact for issues related to carbon offsets and credits, methane emissions regulation, and carbon capture and storage, and W. Ray Whitman, who also chairs the firm’s litigation group. From Denver, Mark Barron is routinely engaged by major oil and gas producers to handle complex litigation, while recently promoted partner Alexander K. Obrecht focuses particularly on regulatory advice and litigation related to hazardous materials transportation and oil and gas royalties.

Intellectual property > Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters) Tier 3

The co-leads of BakerHostetler‘s trade secrets practice who also harness expertise in non-competes are New York’s private business disputes-focused John Siegal and Florida-based Joyce Ackerbaum Cox; the pair are supported by the firm’s national labor and employment group chair Amy Traub, who also works from the New York hub. The team is well-equipped to assist its clients on the range of related work, from bet-the-company contract and tort cases to establishing the origin of alleged misappropriation. It is also experienced advising on the parameters of restrictive covenants and on contentions that arise therein. In Ohio, Cincinatti-based Scott McIntyre who has experience defending the array of related actions, and Columbus’ patent litigation specialist Kevin Kirsch are names to note in the team.

International trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions Tier 3

BakerHostetler’s international trade and national security group is particularly active on behalf of clients in the infrastructure, natural resources, technology, manufacturing, and aerospace and defense sectors. The full-spectrum department houses standalone offerings in both customs law and export controls and sanctions, where it advises on the full chain of regulatory compliance, investigations and enforcement actions. Trade co-head Melissa Mannino is recommended for her broad national security practice that spans export controls, foreign investment and economic sanctions work—she is a former Chief of Enforcement and Litigation at the Office of Chief Counsel for Industry and Security (OCC-IS). Other key contacts for export controls and sanctions include Barbara Linney, who is qualified in the US, Canada and the UK; and Houston-based aerospace and defense specialist Lana Muranovic. On the customs front, trade co-head Michael S. Snarr is a key contact, along with Houston’s Matthew Caligur. Named attorneys are based in Washington DC unless stated otherwise.

Labor and employment > Labor and employment disputes (including collective actions) Tier 3

The BakerHostetler team shows strength representing employers involved in multiparty employment disputes, class actions, and individual private-plaintiff actions across state and federal courts across the country. A recent work highlight saw the group represent Health Care Service Corporation in connection with a putative class and collective action overtime lawsuit in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Amy Traub heads up the national group from New York and routinely represents retail, healthcare, and hospitality clients in litigation. In Los Angeles, Matthew Kane has experience of misappropriation of trade secrets and non-competition agreement claims; Houston-based Mark Temple‘s practice encompasses wage and hour claims and non-compete litigation. Over in Cincinnati, Scott McIntyre frequently represents clients working in the healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing and media segments; Gregory Mersol works from Cleveland and is well-versed in a range of contentious mandates including discrimination claims, benefit plan disputes, and wage and hour litigation.

Labor and employment > Labor-management relations Tier 3

BakerHostetler is adept at defending against union activities, with recent examples of this including assisting a food distribution company with the decertification of a union. Practice heads Amy Traub, Jay P. Krupin, and Patrick M. Muldowney, who are based in New York, Washington, DC, and Orlando respectively, and have years of experience in traditional labor law issues, having negotiated many collective bargaining agreements as well as negotiating labor contracts and private sector election campaigns. Paul Rosenberg is another key name to note due to his ability to advise clients at both state and federal level when it comes to employment matters and often works in the hospitality industry, which is a standout sector for the group.

Labor and employment > Workplace and employment counseling Tier 3

The team at BakerHostetler handles a wide range of employment matters arising from both day-to-day work and from major transactions. The firm has clients in unionized industries as well as heavily regulated industries, such as healthcare and hospitality. In the New York office, Amy Traub leads the practice with her strong expertise in compliance investigations. Meanwhile, at the Orlando office, Caroline Landt is especially well recognized for counseling clients on PTO and sick leave policies; whereas Joyce Cox advises clients on internal investigations with her strong experience in mediation and litigation. For transaction-related employment matters, Atlanta-based Jason D’Cruz is a key point of contact.

Tax > International tax Tier 3

BakerHostetler‘s primarily Washington DC-based team supports clients with a broad range of tax matters including cross-border mergers, spin-offs and redomiciliations, joint-ventures, restructuring, the creation of centralized cash management and global hedging centers, implementing sophisticated multi-party hedging transactions, and structuring inbound and outbound business and real estate investments. The team also has particular strengths devising and implementing specialized planning involving transfer pricing such as supply-chain relocations, nearshoring transactions, and contract or toll manufacturing arrangements as well as representing clients before the US Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy and before the IRS. Practice head Brian Davis concentrates his practice on representing clients seeking to optimize global supply chains or establish efficient nearshoring operations and is extremely knowledgeable in respect matters pertaining to transfer pricing, permanent establishments, tax and investment treaties and global tax operating model strategies. Paul Schmidt advises on technical and policy issues in connection with tax reform, transfer pricing, treaties, permanent establishments, US trade and business, subpart F, foreign tax credits, GILTI, FDII, BEAT, inversions, and global debt and hedging issues. Jeffrey Paravano advises on tax issues and structuring of acquisitions, dispositions, tax planning, and disputes as well as being experienced in handling tax controversies and litigation, M&A work, and tax investigations. Federal tax specialist John R. Lehrer II focuses his practice on one-off business acquisition and disposition transactions. Nicholas Mowbray advises clients active in the private equity, technology, energy, agriculture, blockchain and manufacturing sectors on achieving tax efficiency of their commercial transactions. Peter J. Roskam, who heads the federal policy team, supports the tax team in assisting clients in respect of US tax policy matters and its provision of tax-related legislative and regulatory services. Criminal tax expert Carlos F. Ortiz , who sits in the New York office, supports the international tax team with ongoing DOJ and IRS civil or criminal investigations in respect of cross-border tax matters.

Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense Tier 4

The antitrust and competition team at BakerHostetler handles both plaintiff and defendant-side cases for a broad range of industries, with notable expertise in the agriculture, insurance, automotive, and energy industries. Carl Hittinger heads up the practice and splits his time between the firm’s Pennsylvania and Washington DC offices; Hittinger has particular experience advising companies in major antitrust disputes with competitors.  Also in Philadelphia is Jeffry Duffy, a litigator with a broad practice concentrated on antitrust and unfair competition disputes. Litigated merger challenges are handled by Washington DC’s Marc Schildkraut, while John Fornaciari handles cartel investigations and follow-on litigation, and Danyll W. Foix is a key contact for class action defense. In Los Angeles, Bridget McCabe takes point on class actions and heads up the firm’s California antitrust offering.

Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense

BakerHostetler houses an experienced team that regularly advises on accounting violations, money laundering, insider trading, among other financial fraud crimes. The team is co-led by John Carney and George Stamboulidis who both practice in New York. Carney has a detailed knowledge of securities enforcement matters, while Stamboulidis is an expert at handling corporate criminal cases. Heading the team alongside them, Carole Rendon is based in Cleveland and focuses on internal investigations. Practicing from the San Francisco office, Robb Adkins has an in-depth understanding of financial fraud cases and corporate compliance requirements. Based in Washington DC, Jonathan Barr is another well-regarded lawyer at the firm who handles both domestic and international investigations. Ann O’Brien and associate Lindsey Collins left the firm’s Washington DC office in February 2023.

Dispute resolution > International arbitration Tier 4

BakerHostetler represents corporate and state clients across the full range of commercial and investor-state cases globally. The team’s arbitral experience is underpinned by a robust enforcement capability and it is widely recognized for its expertise in locating assets worldwide. Houston’s Sashe Dimitroff spearheads the practice globally and DC-based Analia Gonzalez heads the Latin America team. Additionally, Kenneth Reisenfeld, based in DC, leads the investor-state arbitration offering. In New York, international litigation head Gonzalo Zeballos also handles a significant volume of international arbitration work. Mark Cymrot has retired.

Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense Tier 4

The securities and governance litigation group at BakerHostetler in New York continues to build on its growing reputation in both regulatory enforcement matters and securities litigation. Lead partner Douglas Greene has led since joining in 2018. Working with Genevieve York-Erwin, based in both Seattle and New York, he successfully defended Eagle Bancorp and former officers in a notable securities class action. Cleveland-based Douglas Shively is a securities class action specialist whose recent work encompasses matters in New York, Delaware, Ohio, Texas, and Nevada. One of his key highlights saw him defend electric vehicle start-up Lordstown Motors Corp. in a SPAC-related case, which resulted in a class action and shareholder derivative matters in Delaware concerning a $1bn drop in the company’s market capitalisation.

Government > Government contracts Tier 4

Aerospace, defense, energy, engineering, healthcare, and life sciences contractors seeking government contracts advice at the federal, state, and local level rely on BakerHostetler for assistance with bid protests, claims, disputes, enforcement actions, and investigations. Leadership of the core team is split between Todd Canni, who joined the Los Angeles team from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in March 2023, and is a heavyweight in crises matters, high-profile bid protests, white collar defenses, and fraud allegations, and Washington DC’s Stephen Ruscus, who covers day-to-day counseling on complex and nuanced trade agreements, the Buy American Act, and healthcare and life sciences compliance. The addition of counsel Kevin Barnett from PilieroMazza LLP in October 2023 to the DC office expands the group’s bid protests, contract terminations, and equitable adjustments capacity.

Intellectual property > Patents: prosecution (including re-examination and post-grant proceedings) Tier 4

BakerHostetler‘s patent prosecution group is noted for its ‘integrated approach of highly skilled professionals in multiple practice areas’. Its workload consists of patent prosecution and portfolio management often for longstanding clients spanning sectors including pharma, higher education, manufacturing and tech. The cases the team handles are frequently cross-jurisdictional in nature. Mark Tidman oversees the group from Washington DC. Names to note include Denver-based Timothy Worrall who is ‘well-versed in strategic patent strategy and patent development’, the ‘wonderful’ Brendan Clark who works from Cleveland, the ‘exceptional’ Mark Krietzman and Mark Itri, both based in Costa Mesa, and Ronald Kern and Felicity Groth who are both based in Philadelphia and well-regarded for their provision of ‘expert legal guidance’.

Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: design Tier 4

The employee benefits and executive compensation group at BakerHostetler is led by Susan Lubow in Columbus and Jennifer Mills and Cleveland. Lubow has great expertise in ERISA and benefit plan structuring matters, while Mills has recently been engaged in providing guidance to various clients concerning how their health plans could be affected by Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Working from Cleveland, Ann Caresani advises clients on a variety of employee retirement, health, and welfare benefits matters. As leader of the Columbus office tax group, Seth Hanft is greatly experienced with benefit-focused initiatives to reduce operating costs. Stacy Wilhite, also based in Columbus, assists clients in plan design and compliance with ERISA, Affordable Care Act, and various other regulations. In the Dallas office, Stefan Smith works on various health and welfare plans, as well as equity-based compensations.

Labor and employment > Immigration Tier 4

Skilled at advising clients on planning temporary employee assignments, BakerHostetler handle temporary work visas and other visa types, such as H-1B and E-3 visas, alongside petitions for green cards. Catering to a diverse client portfolio across a range of industries such as manufacturing, engineering and financial services. David Serwer co-leads the team from Chicago, and brings extensive expertise in employment-based immigration law. He is joined by Amy J. Traub, who co-chairs the team from New York. The two co-leads are aided by Pamela D. Nieto, who operates from Houston and assists small and large companies in their immigration planning whether managing employee transfers abroad or the hiring of foreign nationals. John Foerster specializes in corporate immigration from the Chicago office, meanwhile Michelle Barhorst leverages her in-depth knowledge of the healthcare and insurance industries in Columbus.

Real estate Tier 4

Tax > US taxes: contentious Tier 4

BakerHostetler acts on behalf of businesses and private individuals in a range of high-profile tax disputes, including Moore V. United States, a highly significant test case. Co-leading the team are Jeffrey Paravano, who is based in Washington DC, Michelle Hervey in Cleveland, and Elizabeth Smith in New York. Paravano has more than 30 years’ experience in the practice area and is well-versed in tax litigation and investigation, Hervey specializes in federal tax controversies, including both litigation and administrative procedures, while Smith covers both contentious and non-contentious tax matters and has experience handling audits. Other key names in DC include Paul Schmidt, who acts for both domestic and international clients, and Nicholas Mowbray, whose practice includes tax issues related to digital asset transactions. Columbus-based tax litigator David Ebersole made partner in January 2024.

Healthcare > Service providers Tier 5

BakerHostetler handles a broad range of issues across the healthcare space, including FCA investigations, data breach responses, and M&A. Working out of the Atlanta office, litigator Derek Bauer acts for a varied client base of hospital systems, pharmacies, and physician practices, while Charlene McGinty handles an array of transactional and operational mandates for physicians and physician organizations. Ohio-based Frank Miller is a telemedicine expert who often assists nonprofit managed healthcare providers with transactional issues. In Dallas, Lynn Sessions leads the firm’s healthcare privacy and compliance group, and is noted for her knowledge of website tracking technologies under HIPAA, and Jim Wiehl joined the group in October 2023 from Norton Rose Fulbright, contributing his vast knowledge of Stark Law and Anti-Kickback waivers, and private equity transactions.

Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage) Tier 5

BakerHostetler works with both patent holders and accused infringers in the electrical, mechanical, chemical, biological and pharma sectors and regularly appears before all US patent litigation venues, including in proceedings before the International Trade Commission and the Patent Appeals and Trial Board. The patent litigation team is co-led by Leif R. Sigmond Jr. in Chicago and Daniel Goettle in Philadelphia. T. Cy Walker in Washington DC is a seasoned intellectual property litigator in all US courts and has particular expertise at the ITC, and David A. Mancino in Cincinnati maintains a varied IP practice. The DC group also includes IP specialist William C. Bergmann and patent litigator Jason F. Hoffman. In Atlanta, Christopher M. Arena and Lisa Collins are both highly experienced IP practitioners who advise clients on broad range of contentious matters.

Tax > US taxes: non-contentious Tier 6

BakerHostetler’s non-contentious tax offering, primarily operating from the firm’s Washington DC and Cleveland offices, covers a broad range of transactions, including tax credit financings, with particular strength in the real estate sector. Jeffrey Paravano leads the firmwide tax group in Washington DC. John Lehrer, also in DC, advises public and private companies on tax-free and taxable corporate and partnership transactions, including mergers, spin-offs, joint ventures, and restructurings. Alexander Szilvas in Cleveland has deep experience and specializes in real estate transactions. He co-chairs the firm’s tax credit finance team alongside Nathan Ware, also in Cleveland, who focuses on tax planning as well as structuring tax-advantaged investments in the project finance space. Alexander Reid and Matthew Elkin in Washington DC advise tax-exempt organizations.

Intellectual property > Patents: licensing