K&L Gates Names Nearly 30 Partners, Government Affairs Advisors Across Firm

The partners of global law firm K&L Gates LLP have voted to elect the following individuals from across the firm’s global platform as new partners and government affairs advisors with the firm, effective January 1. The group comprises 26 individuals from all nine of the firm’s practice areas and representing 16 offices, including Beijing, Boston, Charleston, Charlotte, Chicago, Harrisburg, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Newark, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. 

K&L Gates Global Managing Partner Jim Segerdahl stated: “We are thrilled to welcome such an accomplished and high-quality group to their new positions with our firm. We congratulate these outstanding individuals on their election to the firm’s partnership and look forward to the service they will continue to provide to our clients around the globe across their respective practice areas.”  

The lawyers joining the firm’s partnership are: 

Talor Bearman (Nashville) has experience drafting a wide variety of construction agreements and litigating complex commercial disputes with a concentration in construction matters. He represents owners, general contractors, EPC contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and design professionals in nearly all aspects of construction. 

Nora Becerra (Chicago) assists healthcare clients with various fraud and abuse matters, including drafting internal compliance policies, responding to government subpoenas and civil investigative demands, conducting internal investigations, responding to Medicare/Medicaid audits, and defending False Claims Act lawsuits. 

Jenna Bruce (Seattle) focuses her practice on intellectual property litigation across a variety of technologies, including the pharmaceutical and electrical industries. She has extensive experience in patent litigation under the Hatch-Waxman Act and representing brand and generic pharmaceutical companies. 

Joshua Carpenter (Miami) provides multi-faceted service to global and local clients in the marine, transportation, and hospitality sectors, including recreational boat and boat component manufacturers and dealers, trucking and freight companies, and hotel and restaurant chains. 

Simon Casinader (London) works with his clients to prosecute, manage, and enforce international trademark and design portfolios and regularly advises on related clearance issues. His experience includes prosecuting UK, EU, Australian, New Zealand, and international trademark and design applications as well as acting and appearing in contentious trademark and patent opposition proceedings before numerous IP offices. 

Michael Creta (Boston) focuses his practice on complex civil litigation in the areas of commercial disputes, employment, intellectual property, financial services, and insurance coverage. He has litigated a broad range of business-related issues, including claims of trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, securities fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, unfair business practices, and defamation. 

Craig Fraser (London) advises on a broad range of corporate transactions including private and public M&A, restructuring, equity capital markets, and joint ventures. He has worked with clients in sectors including financial services, oil and gas, manufacturing and engineering, renewable energy, technology, pharma, and life sciences. 

Timothy Furdyna (Washington, D.C.) advises clients on a wide range of matters related to the development of energy infrastructure under the Natural Gas Act, Federal Power Act, Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978, and Energy Policy Act of 2005, among other federal statutes. Tim’s clients include developers of liquefied and compressed natural gas export facilities, shippers on interstate, intrastate, Hinshaw, and Section 311 pipelines, and developers of non-federal hydroelectric facilities. 

Ashley Gammell (Seattle) is a member of the firm's Commercial Disputes practice and also maintains an active antitrust practice. She represents corporate and public entities, including tech companies and many Seattle legacy brands. 

Lauren McFadden Garenne (Charleston) focuses on transactional corporate and finance matters across diverse industries. She counsels both publicly and privately held entities, including private equity and venture capital firms, in connection with mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and other negotiated transactions in both domestic and cross-border deals. 

Spencer Green (Nashville) advises on corporate transactions involving healthcare and digital health companies. His clients in the healthcare sector include hospitals, health systems, behavioral health service providers, dental service organizations, physician practices, digital health companies, medical device companies, and health care technology companies. 

Eiko Grieger (Tokyo) has broad experience in complex cross-border finance transactions in Europe and Japan involving aircraft, rail, IT equipment, infrastructure, and leasing assets. He advises banks, financial institutions, investors, closed-end investment funds, borrowers, high-net-worth individuals, and operators, as well as lessors and lessees in the aviation, infrastructure, rail, and public transport industries. 

Erik Halverson (San Francisco), a PTO-registered patent lawyer with a background in engineering physics and materials science, concentrates his practice on patent litigation and post-grant practice at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). He has experience arguing before the PTAB, as well as with jury trials in federal district court. 

Nathan Howe (Newark) represents clients such as renewable energy developers, corporate buyers, utilities, retail energy suppliers, and electric cooperatives in a range of regulatory and transactional matters, with an emphasis on companies in emerging industries such as offshore wind, clean hydrogen, energy storage, and electric vehicle charging. 

Gabriel Huey (Los Angeles) manages a diverse caseload within the Labor, Employment, and Workplace Safety practice area, including class actions, representative Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) actions, and single- and multi-plaintiff cases. He regularly defends employers against discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, minimum wage, overtime, meal and rest break, off-the-clock, misclassification, and wage statement claims. 

Jason Kirk (Seattle) focuses on structuring and organizing United States and offshore investment funds and representing institutional investors in connection with investments in alternative investment structures. He also counsels investment advisers on their structure and organization, operation, merger and acquisition transactions, and ongoing legal and regulatory matters. 

Maureen O’Dea Brill (Harrisburg) concentrates her practice in the areas of energy, environment, and natural resources law. She serves a diverse client base across multiple industry segments and focuses on federal and state legislative and regulatory policy, administrative law, compliance, government enforcement, and litigation involving potential environmental liabilities. 

Hillary Pellerin O’Rourke (Boston) focuses on general corporate and securities law, including securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and regulatory compliance issues. She regularly counsels both public and private companies across diverse industries. 

Devan Patrick (Charlotte) advises clients on a wide range of U.S. tax matters associated with domestic and international business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity offerings, corporate and partnership restructurings, and joint ventures. He works with clients in a variety of industries, including private equity, asset management, distribution, business media and insurance. 

Robert Silverblatt (Washington, D.C.) is a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice. He represents companies and individuals in matters involving a variety of regulatory and enforcement agencies, including the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Brian Smith (Chicago) focuses his practice on complex civil and criminal litigation, government enforcement, and white collar criminal defense, particularly in the areas of antitrust, cartel, and trade regulation. 

Kevin Szu-Tu (Charlotte) focuses his practice on banking and asset finance with an emphasis on commercial lending, corporate finance and mezzanine finance transactions. He regularly represents lenders and borrowers, including private credit institutions, banks, private equity sponsors and corporate borrowers, in connection with cash flow and asset-based credit facilities, including syndicated and bi-lateral, first and second lien secured, unsecured, mezzanine and other junior financings.   

Laura Veith (Pittsburgh) concentrates her practice in the area of commercial litigation, with a particular focus in insurance coverage and complex commercial litigation. She is experienced in many stages of litigation in state and federal courts across the country. 

Jessica White (Pittsburgh) concentrates her practice in the office, retail, and healthcare commercial real estate segments. Her clients include real estate developers, retailers, franchisees, real estate investment trusts, health care providers, financial institutions, and large corporations. 

Edward Yao (Beijing) represents clients in various intellectual property-related matters as well as dispute resolution, litigation, and arbitration in a broad range of industries, including but not limited to, technology, online gaming, financial services, wine, education, clothing and luxury goods, pharmaceutical, hospitality, food, and restaurant services.  

Individuals named government affairs advisors with the firm are: 

Scott Gelbman (Washington, D.C.) provides in-depth government affairs and strategic communications support for public affairs, public policy, and corporate reputation campaigns in the technology, transportation, environmental, and sustainability spaces, including co-leading the Public Policy group’s AI team. He works with members of both the House and Senate caucuses as well as relevant Congressional committees to advance broad caucus-wide legislation in his areas.