O’Melveny to Add Nine New Partners in 2019
December 11, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW YORK—December 11, 2018—Nine outstanding lawyers reflecting O’Melveny’s global reach and broad capabilities have been named to the firm’s 2019 partner class: Alicja Biskupska-Haas (New York), Hannah Chanoine (New York), Mia Gonzalez (New York), Susannah Howard (San Francisco), Dimitri Portnoi (Los Angeles), Daniel Suvor (Los Angeles), Vincent Zhou (Los Angeles), Ke Zhu (Hong Kong), and Joseph Zujkowski (New York).
“Each of our new partners embodies the qualities and values we hold dear, including top-flight legal skill, unflagging dedication to clients, and a commitment to improving our communities,” said Bradley J. Butwin, chair of O’Melveny. “We’re particularly pleased that this year’s class of nine partners again exemplifies O’Melveny’s longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. We know we are stronger for it.”
Nearly 80 percent of O’Melveny’s new partner class is women, people of color, or LGBT. For the fifth straight year, women make up more than 40 percent of the firm’s new partnership class. And 2019 is the fourth consecutive year that over 50 percent of the incoming partnership class is diverse.
Biskupska-Haas advises managers of private equity funds, venture capital funds, and hedge funds on fund formation, operations, regulatory, general corporate, and portfolio company transaction matters. She also represents institutional investors, including major pension funds, in connection with investments in alternative asset classes, both domestically and internationally. In addition, she counsels clients on co-investment transactions and handles issues relating to the acquisition, disposition, and structuring of portfolio investments. Because she has experience representing both sponsors and investors, Biskupska-Haas helps her clients understand investment opportunities from all angles. She also advises clients on regulatory compliance matters arising in each stage of an investment cycle. Biskupska-Haas received her law degree magna cum laude from Benjamin Cardozo School of Law. She joined O’Melveny in 2011.
A tireless advocate for clients facing consumer class actions, Chanoine has a record of successfully defending companies in both trial and appellate courts. A significant portion of her practice involves defending and advising consumer packaged goods and consumer electronics companies in nationwide false advertising cases. She also counsels clients on strategies for mitigating class action litigation risk during product and label development. She began her career clerking for the Hon. Sonia Sotomayor on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and then served as a trial attorney in the US Department of Justice, Civil Division. Chanoine serves as the co-chair of the Federal Bar Council’s Inn of Court mentoring program, and on the board of the Pipeline to Practice Foundation, which is dedicated to enhancing diversity in the legal profession. Chanoine received her law degree from Columbia University School of Law, where she was twice named a James Kent Scholar. She is currently a member of the adjunct faculty at Columbia Law School. Chanoine joined O’Melveny in 2015.
A member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations practice, Gonzalez specializes in representing financial institutions, public companies, boards of directors, audit committees, and individuals in internal investigations and investigations conducted by the Department of Justice, the New York Attorney General, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and various self-regulatory organizations. A well-rounded litigator, Gonzalez has also represented clients in significant securities and antitrust civil litigations. She maintains an active pro bono practice, representing a wide range of clients in both criminal and civil matters, and served as co-leader of the New York office’s Summer Program for several years. Gonzalez earned her master’s degree and law degree from Columbia University. She has been with O’Melveny since graduating from law school in 2008.
A powerhouse in the labor and employment arena, Howard focuses her practice on representing employers in discrimination, harassment, and pay equity matters—issues of increasing concern to employers as the #MeToo era continues to reshape industries and the workplace becomes more fraught and scrutinized than ever. Howard also has extensive experience defending employers in the wage-and-hour space, having resolved such high-profile class actions for a growing roster of prominent clients. Howard attended the University of Toronto for both her undergraduate and law degrees, graduating from the Faculty of Law in 2007. Following law school, Howard clerked for the Hon. Louis LeBel of the Supreme Court of Canada. She joined O’Melveny in 2012.
A seasoned advisor to clients in complex business and appellate litigation, Portnoi has expertise in a range of legal areas including international law, water and natural resources law, copyright and trademark law, securities, products liability and consumer class actions, and First and Fifth Amendment disputes. As a core member of O’Melveny’s Water Industry Group, Portnoi uses his knowledge of water law and regulatory law to counsel clients on both litigation matters and transactions. With his strategic thinking and broad experience in complex trial and appellate matters, Portnoi consistently helps clients prevail in seemingly intractable disputes. Since joining the firm in 2011, Portnoi has maintained an extensive pro bono practice and emerged as a leading advocate for the LGBT community, earning him the firm’s coveted Warren Christopher Values Award. Portnoi clerked for both the Hon. Margaret M. Morrow of the US District Court and the Hon. Judith W. Rogers of the US Court of Appeals after graduating magna cum laude from New York University School of Law in 2008.
Previously Chief of Policy and Senior Counsel to California’s then-Attorney General Kamala Harris, Suvor is a strategic advisor in high-stakes litigation, government investigations, and regulatory matters. He taps his experience supervising some of the most complex and high-profile state Attorneys General matters to counsel clients across a broad range of sectors and areas of law when they confront inquiries or litigation from state Attorneys General. Since joining the firm in 2017, Suvor has continued his longstanding record of civic involvement, including on issues and initiatives related to the Latino community. Suvor received his law degree from George Washington University Law School in 2008.
A former microchip engineer, Zhou is regularly in demand by the biggest names in Silicon Valley for his skill as an intellectual property and technology litigator and his grasp of highly technical subject matters. His practice focuses on patent and trade secret litigation involving computer chips, semiconductor fabrication, telecommunications, and mobile technologies. A fluent Mandarin speaker, Zhou frequently assists on matters involving Asian companies. Zhou received his undergraduate and master’s degrees in engineering from Cornell and Stanford, respectively, and worked as an engineer in Silicon Valley for several years before earning his law degree from UCLA School of Law in 2007. He joined O’Melveny in 2007.
A linchpin of the firm’s booming corporate practice in Asia, Zhu offers clients broad experience spanning IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, privatizations, financing, and private equity and venture capital investments. Through his relationships with leading investment banks, issuers, private equity and venture funds, and other institutional clients, and drawing on his well-honed deal-making skills, he has helped make O’Melveny a premier destination for Hong Kong IPOs, public mergers and acquisitions, and privatizations, particularly in the healthcare, education and technology, media, and telecom sectors. Zhu earned his Master of Law degree from Oxford University in 2007 and his Master of Laws from Columbia University in 2008. He joined O’Melveny in 2015.
A vital member of the Bankruptcy & Restructuring Group, Zujkowski has played a leading role in major restructurings for some of the firm’s biggest clients across a wide range of industries. His experience representing debtors and creditors in high-profile chapter 11 cases, out-of-court restructurings and complex financing transactions makes him a highly versatile advisor. It has also made him a thought leader in his field: he has served as an adjunct professor at Cardozo Law School and authored nearly 20 articles since joining O’Melveny. He is also an engaged member of both the firm and the greater community, devoting considerable time to pro bono work as part of the firm’s relationship with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). Zujkowski received his law degree from Boston University School of Law in 2007 and joined O’Melveny in 2013.
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Contact:
Christopher Rieck
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
+1 212 326 2218
crieck@omm.com