Comings and Goings
► Howard & Howard: The firm is expanding its gaming practice with the hiring of attorney Jennifer L. Carleton, who will serve as a partner in Howard & Howard’s Las Vegas office. Carleton was a senior staff attorney for the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin. She worked on corporate and regulatory matters and licensing prior to joining Howard & Howard. “As our first gaming compliance professional, Jennifer will round out the services Howard & Howard has provided for decades to the world’s most prominent public and private gaming companies,” Art Rogers, the managing partner of Howard & Howard’s Las Vegas office, said in a press release. “Jennifer has spent her entire career in gaming, first as in-house counsel for an Indian tribe and now as an adviser to the premier gaming companies around the globe.”
► Reed Smith: Moshe J. Kupietzky has joined the firm in its Century City office, coming from Sidley Austin’s Los Angeles office, where he previously served as managing partner from 2003-2009. Kupietzky’s experience in mergers and acquisitions extends to the entertainment industry, where he has worked with music publishing catalogs and film libraries, among other media. “Because so many of today’s complex transactions involve both M&A and finance, Moshe’s combined acumen will provide an exceptional and much-needed resource for our clients,” Francisca M. Mok, Reed Smith’s managing partner of the Century City office, said in a press release August 13. “His decades of experience in film and entertainment financing and M&A transactions are an especially great fit with our office and our global Entertainment & Media Industry Group.”
Awards and Honors
► Jones, Skelton & Hochuli: Don Myles, an insurance litigator who focuses on catastrophic injury and wrongful death claims, was elected the president of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel for 2018-2019. The FDCC is an exclusive organization of top defense attorneys and industry executives, which promotes “knowledge, fellowship, and professionalism of its members as they pursue the course of a balanced justice system and represent those in need of a defense in civil lawsuits,” according to a press release.
In addition to his latest recognition, Myles is a past president of both the USLAW Network and the Arizona Association of Defense Counsel. He is or has been affiliated with the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Trial Advocates, and the American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel.
In the Headlines
► Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll: $266 million will be paid to a fund for Native American ranchers following a 2010 class action lawsuit which successfully sought compensation for decades of official discrimination, The Washington Post reported August 13. The money will go to the Native American Agriculture Fund, the largest United States philanthropy ever created to service Native farmers and ranchers.
Of the $680 million originally settled in the suit, only $414 million was successfully claimed, leaving the remaining money in limbo until the creation of the fund.
“This is a monumental day for Native American communities nationwide,” Joseph M. Sellers said in a statement quoted by the Post. Sellers was lead counsel on the case when it began 19 years ago. “Today we bring a landmark legal case, and hopefully with it, a regrettable part of our nation’s history to a close.”
