This document provides a summary of major legal news from Atlanta law firms in 2016 as reported on the atllawblog.com website. It lists personnel changes, new offices, acquisitions, and other significant events for law firms such as King & Spalding, Troutman Sanders, Alston & Bird, Smith Gambrell & Russell, and others on a monthly basis throughout the year. Key events included firm leadership transitions, multi-billion dollar M&A deals that firms advised on, awards and recognitions for attorneys, and the addition of new practice areas or offices.

1. THE BEST
OF THE
ATL LAW BLOG
Wilbert Group
The
Wilbert Group brings you the biggest
news of 2016 from Atlanta’s biggest
law firms, as first reported on
atllawblog.com

2. January

3. Freshly minted partners
from dozens of
ATLANTA LAW FIRMS
assume their new titles.

4. Jonathan Eady succeeds
Glenn Hendrix as managing
partner of Arnall Golden
Gregory. Hendrix becomes the
firm’s new chairman.

5. A Sutherland team led by
Dorothy Black Franzoni represents
Consolidated Edison Development with
its $227 million purchase of Alamo 7.

6. KING & SPALDING
advises TSYS on its acquisition of
TransFirst for $2.35 billion.

7. February

8. Charlotte-based Parker Poe
Adams & Bernstein opens an
Atlanta office by recruiting a
McGuireWoods team.

9. Sutherland partners
THOMAS BUNDY III
and
ALLEGRA
LAWRENCE-HARDY
bolt to start their own litigation
firm, Lawrence & Bundy.

10. OGLETREE, DEAKINS
elects
C. MATTHEW KEEN
as managing shareholder.

11. Leah Ward Sears, the
(then) Schiff Hardin
partner and former
Chief Justice of the
Georgia Supreme
Court, is mentioned as
a possible candidate
for the high court
vacancy following
Justice Antonin Scalia’s
death.

12. Morris, Manning & Martin ranks
as the top Atlanta-based firm –
and sixth in the nation – based
on the percentage of attorneys
honored by Chambers USA.

13. March

14. A trio of firms –
TROUTMAN SANDERS,
JONES DAY
and
GIBSON DUNN & CRUTCHER –
provides counsel to Southern Company
on its planned acquisition of
PowerSecure International.

15. King & Spalding advises
Douglas Emmett on the
acquisition of four office
buildings in West Los Angeles for
approximately $1.34 billion.

16. Lewis Brisbois partner
SCOTT MASTERSON
leads the successful defense
against a man who said his
exposure to asbestos included in
Union Carbide products
caused his mesothelioma.

17. King & Spalding counsels
Carmike Cinemas’ definitive merger
agreement with AMC Entertainment
in a $1.1 billion deal.

18. Long-time Troutman Sanders
partner
CHARLIE HAWKINS
sets up his own law firm,
The Hawkins Firm LLC.

19. Former Sutherland partner
Bennett Kight pleads not guilty
to charges of stealing over
$2 million from elderly clients.

20. April

21. Fisher Phillips opens an office
in Sacramento; hires
STEVE MAURO
as chief operating officer.

22. King & Spalding advises
credit card processor
Total System Services on the
sale of $1.5 billion in senior
notes to underwriters.

23. Troutman Sanders counsels
Snyder’s-Lance in its $1.9 billion
merger with Diamond Foods.

24. ALSTON & BIRD
secures a major win for client
GENUINE PARTS
in the Delaware Supreme Court.

25. May

26. SMITH, GAMBRELL
& RUSSELL
represents SASCO Chemical
Group in its acquisition by
Arsenal Capital Partners.

27. W. HUNTER HOLIDAY,
a longtime corporate and
securities partner at
Alston & Bird, is named
general counsel of
North Highland Co.

28. Holland Knight’s Robert Highsmith
opens Game 3 of the Eastern
Conference NBA semifinals by
singing the national anthem.

29. Bryan Cave’s
C. Scott Greene
becomes a fellow of the
American College of
Trial Lawyers.

30. KUTAK ROCK
announces that
Atlanta public finance partner
DAVID AMSDEN
has been elected as the firm’s
new vice chair.

31. Fisher & Phillips
ditches the ampersand
and rebrands as
Fisher Phillips.

32. ARNALL GOLDEN
GREGORY
joins the ranks of Atlanta-based
Am Law 200 firms for the first time.

33. June

34. Ogletree Deakins is named by
Law360 as the No. 1 firm for
black attorneys.

35. IP firm Finnegan relocates
its Atlanta office to
Atlantic Station in Midtown.

36. DLA Piper’s
Ceasar Mitchell
announces he’s
running for Mayor
of Atlanta.

37. SMITH, GAMBRELL &
RUSSELL
serves as legal counsel to
HERITAGE GROWTH
PARTNERS
in a growth recapitalization of
East West Manufacturing.

38. DLA Piper advises
ClearView Group in its
acquisition of Ebony and Jet
magazines from Johnson
Publishing Company.

39. Associate pay jumps
$20,000 at several of
Atlanta’s largest law firms.

40. July

41. KILPATRICK TOWNSEND
leads Atlanta-based firms in
The American Lawyer’s
annual pro bono ranking of the
200 top-grossing U.S. firms.

42. Dentons recruits
Edward Lindsey,
former majority
whip in the
Georgia House of
Representatives.

43. Fisher Phillips opens
an office in New York City.

44. Greenberg Traurig’s
Joel Katz and Bobby Rosenbloum
are recognized by Billboard
magazine as two of the music
industry’s top lawyers.

45. King & Spalding
beefs up its
national public
affairs capabilities
through a strategic
alliance with former
Washington mayor
Anthony Williams.

46. August

47. Smith, Gambrell & Russell
advises Cherry Street Energy
on the first solar energy
procurement agreement
under HB 57.

48. KING & SPALDING
advises Post Properties on its
$3.88 billion acquisition by
Mid-America Apartments
Communities.

49. Jones Day advises Randstad
on its $429 million acquisition of
Monster Worldwide.

50. FISHERBROYLES
adds a team of five lawyers
from Lewis Brisbois.

51. Baker Donelson
senior managing
shareholder
Linda Klein is
named president
of the American
Bar Association.

52. Robert “Bo” Strauss
and Morris Little of
TAYLOR ENGLISH DUMA
advise a Russian freight airline
consortium on an $8 billion deal.

53. September

54. Sutherland represents
Rockland Capital and affiliate
Redback Power in acquiring the
Victoria Power Station.

55. PAUL HASTINGS
advises Carey Watermark
Investors 2 in its acquisition
of the Renaissance Atlanta
Midtown Hotel.

56. TROUTMAN SANDERS
counsels Canada’s
Cynapsus Therapeutics in its
$624 million sale to
Sunovion Pharmaceuticals.

57. Polsinelli
moves to
larger digs at
One Atlantic
Center.

58. SMITH, GAMBRELL
& RUSSELL
lures Leah Ward Sears,
former chief justice of the
Georgia Supreme Court,
from Schiff Hardin.

59. Dentons
announces
Jeff Haidet
will become
U.S. chair.

60. October

61. Alston & Bird advises
RREEF Management on its
purchase of the
Las Olas City Centre office
property in Fort Lauderdale
for $220 million.

62. KING & SPALDING
represents EndoChoice Holdings
with its acquisition by
Boston Scientific for $210 million.

63. BakerHostetler
recruits Ron Gaither and
his clients, including the
Atlanta Braves, from
Schiff Hardin.

64. DON’T MISS THE REST
OF 2016 ON THE
ATL LAW BLOG
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