sponsored by bankruptcy james savin - akin gump …...ton office financial restructuring practice,...
TRANSCRIPT
TOP WASHINGTON LAWYERS WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL SEPTEMBER 18-24, 2009 28
Reprinted for web use with permission from the Washington Business Journal. ©2010, all rights reserved. Reprinted by Scoop ReprintSource 1-800-767-3263.
SEPTEMBER 18-24, 2009
TOP WASHINGTON LAWYERS WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL SEPTEMBER 18-24, 2009 28
2009 winnersBankruptcy James Savin Page 28
Corporate Litigation Douglas Lobel 30
Corporate M&A Sarah Kahn 31
Employment Litigation Connie Bertram 32
Environmental Law Les Sotsky 33
General Counsel Brett Coffee 34
Government Contracts E. Sanderson Hoe 35
Intellectual Property G. Brian Busey 36
Lobbying Law Elliott Portnoy 37
Pro Bono Tony Herman 38
Real Estate Transactions Amy Rifkind 39
Tax Clifford E. Muller 40
Technology Transactions Steve Parker 41
Trusts Jim McNair 42
White Collar Crime Scott Bolden 43
Zoning Steven Robins 44
Young Guns 44
Sponsored by
In college, James Savin decided to pursue a career in law even though to that point, his only interaction with law was watching courtroom television shows.
Savin planned on practicing corporate law, but says he quickly learned it could be years until he would feel truly involved in cases.
Now the leader of Akin Gump’s Wash-ington o� ce, Savin says he turned to bank-ruptcy law because he wanted to be an active participant in the legal process.
“I realized that with corporate law, big departments had over 300 people. I wanted
to get involved right away,” he says.Savin says he enjoys the challenge of un-
derstanding a variety of industries and � g-uring out ways to help di� erent companies.
And help them, he has. Savin has represented the o� cial com-
mittees of unsecured creditors and bond-holders including music programming giant Muzak, � ooring manufacturer Con-goleum Corp. and General Growth Proper-ties, which owns properties such as Tysons Galleria, the Shops at Georgetown Park and White Marsh Mall.
Savin, who moved from New York to
Washington in 2006, says he loves working at the country’s epicenter of law and policy.
“In New York, � nance rules everything, in Los Angeles, it’s all about entertainment, but here, law is king,” he says.
Despite his professional successes, Savin says the best thing in his life is his family. With his o� ce right around the corner from his Du-pont Circle home, Savin’s favorite thing to do is spend time with his wife and children.
“I’m not one of those guys that plays golf for hours on the weekends. I love being with my family — that’s what it’s all about,” he says.
Bankruptcy James Savin
Bankruptcy Runners-up
James SavinAkin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Age: 37
Family: Married, two children
Hometown: Doylestown, Pa.
Law school: Emory University School of Law
Memorable case: Repre-senting WorldCom Inc. and helping them restructure with massive oversight by the Federal Communications Commission
Mary Joanne DowdArent Fox LLP
Age: 54
Family: Married, three children
Hometown: Buffalo, N.Y.
Law school: State University of New York at Buffalo Law School
Memorable case: Current case representing a local auto dealer whose franchises have been rejected in the Chrysler bankruptcy, and affected by the GM bankruptcy
Michael BaxterCovington & Burling LLP
Age: 54
Family: Married, two children
Hometown: Kingston, Jamaica
Law school: Harvard Law School
Memorable case: Representing the equity committee in the reorganization of Criimi Mae Inc.
H. Jason GoldWiley Rein LLP
Age: 54
Family: Married, children
Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Law school: Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law
Memorable case: Being a bankruptcy trustee for Dornier Aviation of North America and recovering $15 million from Hainan Airlines
James SavinAkin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Age: 37
Family: Married, two children
Hometown: Doylestown, Pa.
Law school: Emory University School of Law
Memorable case: Representing the WorldCom Inc. creditors’ committee and helping the company restructure with massive oversight by the Federal Communications Commission
In college, James Savin decided to pursue a career in law even though to that point, his only interaction with law was watching courtroom television shows.
Savin planned on practicing corporate law, but says he quickly learned it could be years until he would feel truly involved in cases.
Now the leader of Akin Gump’s Washing-ton office financial restructuring practice, Savin says he turned to bankruptcy law be-cause he wanted to be an active participant in the legal process.
“I realized that with corporate law, big de-partments had over 300 people. I wanted to get involved right away,” he says.
Savin says he enjoys the challenge of un-derstanding a variety of industries and figur-ing out ways to help different companies.
And help them, he has.Savin has represented the official commit-
tees of unsecured creditors and bondholders in numerous restructurings, including those of music programming giant Muzak, flooring manufacturer Congoleum Corp. and Gen-eral Growth Properties, which owns prop-erties such as Tysons Galleria, the Shops at Georgetown Park and White Marsh Mall.
Savin, who moved from New York to Washington in 2006, says he loves working at the country’s epicenter of law and policy.
“In New York, finance rules everything, in Los Angeles, it’s all about entertainment, but here, law is king,” he says.
Despite his professional successes, Savin says the best thing in his life is his family. With his office right around the corner from his Dupont Circle home, Savin’s favorite thing to do is spend time with his wife and children.
“I’m not one of those guys that plays golf for hours on the weekends. I love being with my family — that’s what it’s all about,” he says.
TOP WASHINGTON LAWYERS WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL SEPTEMBER 18-24, 2009 28
2009 winnersBankruptcy James Savin Page 28
Corporate Litigation Douglas Lobel 30
Corporate M&A Sarah Kahn 31
Employment Litigation Connie Bertram 32
Environmental Law Les Sotsky 33
General Counsel Brett Coffee 34
Government Contracts E. Sanderson Hoe 35
Intellectual Property G. Brian Busey 36
Lobbying Law Elliott Portnoy 37
Pro Bono Tony Herman 38
Real Estate Transactions Amy Rifkind 39
Tax Clifford E. Muller 40
Technology Transactions Steve Parker 41
Trusts Jim McNair 42
White Collar Crime Scott Bolden 43
Zoning Steven Robins 44
Young Guns 44
Sponsored by
In college, James Savin decided to pursue a career in law even though to that point, his only interaction with law was watching courtroom television shows.
Savin planned on practicing corporate law, but says he quickly learned it could be years until he would feel truly involved in cases.
Now the leader of Akin Gump’s Wash-ington o� ce, Savin says he turned to bank-ruptcy law because he wanted to be an active participant in the legal process.
“I realized that with corporate law, big departments had over 300 people. I wanted
to get involved right away,” he says.Savin says he enjoys the challenge of un-
derstanding a variety of industries and � g-uring out ways to help di� erent companies.
And help them, he has. Savin has represented the o� cial com-
mittees of unsecured creditors and bond-holders including music programming giant Muzak, � ooring manufacturer Con-goleum Corp. and General Growth Proper-ties, which owns properties such as Tysons Galleria, the Shops at Georgetown Park and White Marsh Mall.
Savin, who moved from New York to
Washington in 2006, says he loves working at the country’s epicenter of law and policy.
“In New York, � nance rules everything, in Los Angeles, it’s all about entertainment, but here, law is king,” he says.
Despite his professional successes, Savin says the best thing in his life is his family. With his o� ce right around the corner from his Du-pont Circle home, Savin’s favorite thing to do is spend time with his wife and children.
“I’m not one of those guys that plays golf for hours on the weekends. I love being with my family — that’s what it’s all about,” he says.
Bankruptcy James Savin
Bankruptcy Runners-up
James SavinAkin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Age: 37
Family: Married, two children
Hometown: Doylestown, Pa.
Law school: Emory University School of Law
Memorable case: Repre-senting WorldCom Inc. and helping them restructure with massive oversight by the Federal Communications Commission
Mary Joanne DowdArent Fox LLP
Age: 54
Family: Married, three children
Hometown: Buffalo, N.Y.
Law school: State University of New York at Buffalo Law School
Memorable case: Current case representing a local auto dealer whose franchises have been rejected in the Chrysler bankruptcy, and affected by the GM bankruptcy
Michael BaxterCovington & Burling LLP
Age: 54
Family: Married, two children
Hometown: Kingston, Jamaica
Law school: Harvard Law School
Memorable case: Representing the equity committee in the reorganization of Criimi Mae Inc.
H. Jason GoldWiley Rein LLP
Age: 54
Family: Married, children
Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Law school: Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law
Memorable case: Being a bankruptcy trustee for Dornier Aviation of North America and recovering $15 million from Hainan Airlines
The judging is complete and now the 2009 Top Washington Lawyers can be revealed. It’s no secret that the nation’s best and the brightest legal minds can be found in Washington. What is surprising is the impact that D.C.’s lawyers have on every facet of business and politics. And even more intriguing are their stories, how they got to the top and what drives them to this day.
Top Washington Lawyers