HOUSTON (Jan. 8, 2007) – Effective Jan. 1, 2007, Vinson & Elkins LLP has elected 12 attorneys to the partnership in the United States and two new partners in its Dubai office. V&E; is pleased to announce new partners Jennifer B. Poppe in Austin; Robert B. Little, David S. Peck and Christopher R. Rowley in Dallas; Ayman Khaleq and Rindala Beydoun in Dubai; Brett E. Braden, Jeffrey S. Johnston, Keith W. Lapeze, Jeffery K. Malonson, Jason M. Powers and Paris A. Theofanidis in Houston; Aaron J. Tehan in New York; and Craig D. Margolis in Washington D.C.
“We are extremely proud to recognize the accomplishments of these outstanding lawyers,” said Joe Dilg, Managing Partner of Vinson & Elkins. “These new partners have demonstrated their ability to strengthen a number of our key practice areas and they will continue our firm’s commitment to professional excellence and client service.”
Austin
Jennifer B. Poppe is a member of the firm’s litigation section. Ms. Poppe’s principal area of practice is complex business litigation with particular emphasis in state and federal securities litigation, corporate governance and class actions. Ms. Poppe, named by Texas Monthly as a “Texas Rising Star” in business litigation, has handled many high-profile class-action law suits. One of her most recent cases involved representing a national video provider in several consumer class-actions across the country and successfully removing many of these actions to the federal court under the recent Class Action Fairness Act of 2005. Ms. Poppe graduated from The University of Texas at Austin, B.A. in 1995 and obtained her J.D. with honors in 1998 (Order of the Coif) from The University of Texas School of Law.
Dallas
Robert B. Little is a member of the firm’s corporate finance and securities law section. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings and other investment activities. Mr. Little, named a “Texas Rising Star” by Texas Monthly, has represented clients in a variety of industries including energy, retail, real estate, technology, health care, manufacturing and financial services. Recently, he represented a publicly held energy company in its strategic acquisition of another publicly held energy company valued at approximately $2.1 billion. Mr. Little graduated from Baylor University, B.A. summa cum laude in 1995, and The University of Texas School of Law, where he served as Articles Editor for the Texas Law Review and received his J.D. with highest honors in 1998. Following law school, Mr. Little served as a law clerk to The Honorable Patrick Higginbotham of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
David S. Peck is a member of the firm’s tax law section. His practice focuses on the federal income tax aspects of complex domestic and cross-border transactions including mergers, acquisitions and leveraged buyouts, formation of private equity funds, REITs and other investment vehicles, workouts and bankruptcy restructurings, private equity transactions, public offerings and other financings. Recently, Mr. Peck worked as lead tax counsel for Exco Resources Inc. in its $1.2 billion acquisition of Winchester Energy Company, Ltd. from Progress Energy, Inc. Mr. Peck, named by Texas Monthly as a “Texas Rising Star” from 2004-2006, graduated with high honors from The University of Texas, B.B.A in 1995, and with highest honors from The University of Texas Graduate School of Business, M.P.A. in 1995. He received his J.D. with highest honors in 1998 from The University of Texas School of Law.
Christopher R. Rowley is a member of the firm’s corporate finance and securities law section. He counsels clients operating in a variety of industries and private equity funds in complex business transactions involving buying, selling, investing in companies and raising capital, and in related matters involving business entities, corporate governance and securities law compliance. Most recently, Mr. Rowley represented Trammell Crow Company in its acquisition by CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. for approximately $2.2 billion. Mr. Rowley graduated from Vanderbilt University, B.A. in 1992, and received his J.D. cum laude (Order of the Coif) in 1998 from Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law.
Dubai
Ayman H. A. Khaleq is a member of the firm’s business and international law section. Mr. Khaleq’s practice focuses on structured finance (including Islamic finance), private equity and capital markets. His particular expertise is in representing Middle Eastern and international financial institutions on structuring and documenting Shari’ah compliant investment and finance products. During the past two years, Mr. Khaleq has advised on the structuring and documentation of a wide range of ground-breaking Shari’ah-compliant structured finance, private equity and investment funds transactions in the Middle East, Europe and the United States, including the first ever Islamic asset-backed securities backed by energy assets in the United States. In addition, he advised governments and international corporations on privatizations of, and deregulations in, the telecommunication and power sectors. Mr. Khaleq is also an accomplished speaker and author regarding legal developments in the Middle East as well as the structuring, documentation and marketing of Islamic Securities and finance products. He graduated from The George Washington University Law School, LL.M. cum laude in 1994 and the University of Jordan Faculty of Law with highest honors in 1993.
Rindala Beydoun is a member of the firm’s business and international law section. Ms. Beydoun’s practice is focused on international business transactions, mergers, acquisitions and divestures, real estate, oil and gas law, commercial law, business law and corporate law. She has represented clients around the globe on utility, energy and real estate development projects and has advised clients on matters in several different countries. Ms. Beydoun received her B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1991 and graduated from Duke University School of Law, J.D., LL.M. in International Law in 1994.
Houston
Brett E. Braden is a member of the firm’s corporate finance and securities law section. He represents both issuers and underwriters in public and private securities offerings, including offerings of limited partner interests in publicly traded master limited partnerships (MLPs), and also represents both public and private companies in complex mergers and acquisitions, primarily in the oil and gas and oilfield services industries. In addition, he represents private equity firms in fund formation transactions and represents major commercial airlines in leveraged lease and other aircraft financing transactions. Mr. Braden, named as a “Texas Rising Star” in securities and corporate finance by Texas Monthly, graduated from the University of Kansas, B.A. with honors in 1993 and received his J.D. magna cum laude in 1998 from the University of Houston Law Center.
Jeffrey S. Johnston is a member of the firm’s litigation section. Mr. Johnston represents plaintiffs and defendants in a wide range of business disputes. He regularly represents companies, officers, directors, and accounting firms in securities, derivative, antitrust, and malpractice litigation and related government investigations. Mr. Johnston recently helped a Big Four accounting firm obtain a unanimous take-nothing award in a confidential arbitration; he also played key roles in obtaining dismissals of securities fraud claims brought by separate classes of shareholders of public companies against a diverse range of clients, including a Big Four accounting firm, a medical device manufacturer, and the former chairman of the board of a bankrupt software company. Mr. Johnston, named from 2005-2006 as a “Texas Rising Star” by Texas Monthly in business litigation, graduated from Creighton University, B.S.B.A. magna cum laude in 1994, and The University of Texas School of Law, J.D. with honors in 1997, where he served as an Associate Editor of the Texas Law Review.
Keith W. Lapeze is a member of the firm’s environmental law section. His principal areas of practice are environmental law, complex litigation, permitting and counseling. Mr. Lapeze has been recognized as one of the best environmental litigators in Texas and has an active litigation practice in state and federal courts involving toxic torts, cost recovery claims, the Clean Water Act, CERCLA, the Clean Air Act, RCRA, NEPA and state statutory claims. He has been the lead attorney in several cases involving property damage and personal injury claims arising from soil and ground water contamination caused by commercial or industrial activities. Mr. Lapeze, named a “Texas Rising Star” by Texas Monthly in land use and environmental law from 2004-2005 and in environmental litigation in 2006, received his J.D. in 1998 from Louisiana State University Law Center, where he served as Executive Senior Editor of the Louisiana Law Review and was a member of a number of honor societies. Following law school, he clerked for The Honorable James L. Dennis, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Jeffery K. Malonson is a member of the firm’s corporate finance and securities law section. His practice focuses on capital markets and securities offerings, public and private mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, and corporate governance matters. His clients include public and private corporations, MLPs, publicly traded limited liability companies, and investment banking firms. He has represented clients in a broad range of industries including energy, energy services, waste management, software, information technology and financial services. Mr. Malonson, named in 2005 by Texas Monthly as a “Texas Rising Star” in securities and corporate finance law, graduated from Texas Christian University, B.B.A. in 1994 and from Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law, J.D. cum laude in 1998, where he was a member of the SMU Law Review and Order of the Coif. Prior to joining V&E;, Mr. Malonson was a judicial clerk to The Honorable Richard A. Schell, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division, 1998-99.
Jason M. Powers, a member of the firm’s litigation section, represents companies in the litigation and arbitration of complex commercial disputes. Mr. Powers has successfully defended antitrust, securities fraud, and consumer class actions against clients in the retailing, banking, technology, and insurance industries. He has also represented Fortune 500 energy companies in joint venture, buyout/earn out, and executive compensation disputes involving complex accounting and financial control issues. In the health care field, Mr. Powers successfully defended hospitals and device manufacturers in antitrust suits and helped a premier pediatric hospital obtain a favorable result in a suit against a managed care organization for underpayment and other abuses. Mr. Powers, named from 2004-2006 as a “Texas Rising Star” by Texas Monthly in business litigation, graduated from The University of Texas, B.A. and B.B.A., each with highest honors in 1995, and received his J.D. with high honors in 1998 from The University of Texas School of Law, where he was a Chancellor, Townes-Rice Scholar, and Associate Editor of the Texas Law Review.
Paris A. Theofanidis is a member of the firm’s business and international law section. His principal practice areas are finance and derivatives, and he has extensive experience representing corporate borrowers and issuers, institutional investors, insurance companies and private equity funds. Mr. Theofanidis also represents dealers and corporate end-users in an array of over-the-counter derivatives transactions and was named in 2006 by Texas Monthly as a “Texas Rising Star” in banking law. In one notable transaction, he represented the agent bank in connection with several senior revolving and term credit facilities for a major independent refiner and its affiliates; these financings aggregated to more than $6 billion and provided funding in connection with significant mergers and acquisitions as well as an initial public offering. Mr. Theofanidis graduated from the University of Houston, B.B.A in 1991, and the University of Houston Law Center, J.D. summa cum laude in 1998, where he served as the Notes and Comments Editor of the Houston Law Review.
New York
Aaron J. Tehan is a member of the firm’s corporate finance and securities law section. He advises clients in connection with registered and unregistered securities offerings, public and private mergers, stock and asset acquisitions and dispositions, as well as corporate governance and securities law compliance matters. Many of his major representations have been for private equity funds and their portfolio companies in the energy sector. He is currently acting as co-counsel to the acquisition group in connection with the $22 billion leveraged buyout of Kinder Morgan, Inc. Mr. Tehan graduated from Bucknell University, B.A. cum laude in 1995, and Duke University School of Law, J.D. cum laude in 1998, where he served as Executive Editor for the Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum.
Washington D.C.
Craig D. Margolis is a member of the firm’s litigation section. His principal area of practice involves white collar criminal defense as well as internal investigation and compliance matters. He also defends clients in government investigations and prosecutions, congressional investigations and other proceedings. Mr. Margolis joined V&E; in 1996 but left in 1999 to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney in Philadelphia until 2004, when he returned to the firm as counsel. Currently, Mr. Margolis and David Spears of Spears & Imes represent Jeffrey Stein, KPMG’s former deputy chairman. They took a lead role in the recent proceedings before Judge Kaplan resulting in his landmark opinion holding aspects of the Thompson Memo unconstitutional. Mr. Margolis graduated in 1991 from the University of Michigan, A.B. and Yale Law School, J.D., in 1995.
Admission of these partners will be subject to completion of all registration and approval formalities in the relevant jurisdictions. For more information about this release, please contact Ashley Battelle, communications coordinator at Vinson & Elkins, at 713.758.2052 or at abattelle@velaw.com.
Vinson & Elkins was established in 1917 and is one of the world's largest international law firms. The firm has more than 700 lawyers practicing in Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Dubai, Houston, Hong Kong, London, Moscow, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo and Washington D.C. Vinson & Elkins offers a wide range of legal services. Clients include public and private companies, financial institutions, municipalities, governments of sovereign nations, entrepreneurs, families and individuals. V&E; is a primary sponsor of the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Awards, which recognizes and promotes legal journalism.
|
