Faegre Drinker’s 2022 Leadership Transitions

Faegre Drinker’s Executive Leadership Team has appointed new leadership within several of the firm’s practice groups, industry teams, offices and committees, effective on Mar. 1, 2022.

Practice Group Leaders

Finance & Restructuring

New York partner Mike Pompeo succeeds partner Michael Stewart as leader of the firm’s finance and restructuring practice. With more than 20 years of experience in corporate restructuring, Pompeo provides sound practical advice to creditors, debtors, lenders, insurers and trustees on transactions, bankruptcies, out-of-court workouts and related litigation, including complex mass tort liability. He previously served as co-leader of the firm’s corporate restructuring team.

Industry Teams

Consumer Products & Retail

Los Angeles partner Pascal Benyamini joins partner Kathleen Murphy as co-leader of the firm’s consumer products and retail industry team. Benyamini succeeds partner Zoë Wilhelm in the position. As a trusted adviser with more than 20 years of experience, Benyamini teams up with employers to defend them against employment law claims — including wage and hour, discrimination and wrongful termination claims — and to advise them on compliance, claim prevention, investigations and employment best practices. With a diverse skill set, he also represents furniture manufacturing clients in regulatory matters.

Financial Services
Des Moines partner Jesse Linebaugh has been appointed co-leader of the firm’s national financial services industry team. Linebaugh is succeeding partner Jeff Hedlund and will serve as co-leader with partner Heather Abrigo. Linebaugh focuses his practice on defending insurance and annuity companies, banks, and broker-dealers, as well as handling non-compete litigation and internal investigations.

Insurance

Philadelphia partner Nolan Tully will serve as co-leader of the firm’s insurance industry team. Tully is succeeding Jim Jorden and will serve as co-leader with partner Sara Manske. Tully advocates for insurance and financial services clients facing challenges in various aspects of their businesses. He assists life, long-term care and disability insurers as well as annuity issuers with product development, regulatory compliance, and dispute resolution and litigation.

Office Leadership

Chicago

Government and regulatory affairs partner James Sawyer has assumed the role of office leader of the firm’s Chicago office. He previously served as co-leader of the office with partner Patrick Miller. Sawyer counsels clients on critical import compliance issues and duty-savings opportunities, balancing business realities with effective internal control processes to meet importers’ legal obligations. He advises in all areas of U.S. import law and regulation, including tariff classification, valuation, origin determination and marking, free trade agreements and duty preference programs, and enforcement.

On Jan. 25, 2022, Faegre Drinker announced its new office space at 320 S Canal Street, bringing more than 200 talented colleagues representing all firm practice groups into a single location to better serve our clients.

Washington, D.C.

Government and regulatory affairs partner Maureen Donahue Hardwick has been named office leader of the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. She previously served as co-leader of this office alongside Faegre Drinker Consulting Principal Nicholas Manetto. Hardwick provides strategic, legal and business advice to global pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies to advance regulatory, policy, scientific and research objectives. Her work with life science industry consortia facilitates the development of scientific knowledge, data-driven policies and innovation that support research and development of drugs and devices and advance patient health.

On Nov. 15, 2021, Faegre Drinker announced the consolidation of the firm’s Washington, D.C., offices. The move brought together more than 150 attorneys, consultants and professionals from the firm’s government and regulatory affairs, health care, labor and employment, product liability and mass torts, corporate, intellectual property, insurance, business litigation, and benefits and executive compensation practices into a single location to better serve our clients. Faegre Drinker’s Washington, D.C., office is located at 1500 K Street NW.

Committees

National Hiring Committee

Chicago partner Nicolas Guzman has been named co-chair of the firm’s national hiring committee, succeeding partner Justin Kay, who has been appointed deputy practice group leader for the business litigation practice group. Guzman counsels clients in all aspects of international trade laws and regulations and has extensive experience in import, trade compliance and international customs issues, including maquiladora manufacturing operations in Mexico. He assists clients with import tariff classification, valuation, country of origin determination and marking issues, and eligibility determinations under free trade agreements and duty preference programs.

Diversity Collective

Indianapolis partner Pablo Svirsky has succeeded partner Nicolas Guzman as co-chair of the firm’s Diversity Collective, which develops and strengthens connections between Faegre Drinker’s self-identified diverse attorneys and consulting professionals. Svirsky advises and supports companies on everything corporate, from large M&A transactions to simple commercial contracts. He represents clients in acquisitions, divestitures, supply and distribution agreements, service contracts, business formation, and general corporate matters.

Women Forward

Florham Park partner Lynne Anderson and Minneapolis partner Lauren Barta have assumed co-leadership roles of Women Forward, Faegre Drinker’s women’s committee, which supports the recruitment, retention and advancement of the firm’s women professionals by building connections, facilitating business and client development opportunities, benchmarking progress, collaborating on policies, offering training and other programs, and supporting the development of women leaders.

Anderson is an employment attorney with a reputation for understanding client concerns and needs, counseling employers on the ever-expanding maze of labor and employment laws and tenaciously representing their interests during litigation. She is an experienced jury and bench trial attorney with a track record of success in whistleblower/retaliation cases, discrimination claims and restrictive covenant disputes. Anderson is chair of the firm’s pay equity team.

Barta litigates complex business matters nationwide, with a focus on intellectual property litigation. She is the deputy leader of the firm’s patent litigation team and an adjunct professor of patent litigation at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Associates Committee

Minneapolis associate Josh Peterson and Philadelphia associate Antoinette Snodgrass have assumed co-leadership roles of the Associates Committee, succeeding new partners Sara Inman and Brittney Yocum.