Although service to clients will always remain more important than peer reviews, we are proud to announce that partners Walt Moeling, Kathryn Knudson and Jim McAlpin were each selected for inclusion as bank regulatory attorneys in Georgia Super Lawyers 2013.  In addition, partner Rob Klingler was named to the Georgia “Rising Stars” list for 2012.

Super Lawyers lists the top 5 percent of attorneys in a state or region who have attained a high level of recognition and professional achievement. Honorees are identified through peer surveys, independent research and a blue-ribbon panel review.

“Rising Stars” are chosen by their peers as being among the top up-and-coming lawyers (40 years old or younger, or in practice 10 years or less). Only 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state were selected.

In total, 27 Bryan Cave lawyers in the Atlanta office were named Georgia Super Lawyers and an additional seven were named “Rising Stars.”  A complete list of Bryan Cave’s Super Lawyers and Rising Stars is available here.

Bryan Cave LLP has been recognized as having one of the strongest brands in the legal marketplace, according to a recent study by BTI Consulting Group. The study, “The BTI Brand Elite: Client Perceptions of the Best-Branded Law Firms 2012,” ranked Bryan Cave among the top 18 law firms by reputation and brand perception.

BTI’s annual analysis measures top-of-mind recognition of nearly 400 law firms based on unbiased, unprompted, direct feedback from more than 500 individual interviews with in-house counsel at the world’s largest organizations. During the course of one-on-one, in-depth interviews with decision-makers at top-spending companies conducted between June 2010 and March 2012, BTI probed clients as to which law firms they associate with the nine distinct characteristics driving their decision to select, consider and hire a particular law firm.

According to the report, Bryan Cave was among the 18 law firms that enjoy substantially better brand perception among the firms included in the study. The critical aspects included in BTI’s definition of law firm brand are the direct result of more than 3,100 interviews with buyers of legal services during the past 11 years. Click here to view the “2012 BTI Brand Elite 18” list.

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We are pleased to announce that Dan Wheeler has joined the international law firm Bryan Cave LLP as a partner in the firm’s San Francisco offices. He will practice with the firm’s Banking Client Service Group.

“Having Dan join us as another West Coast member of our team complements the breadth of our nationwide banking practice and our ability to serve our clients’ needs,” added Kathryn Knudson, leader of Bryan Cave’s Financial Institutions Industry Practice Team. “Our team represents more than 300 financial institutions and is consistently ranked among the leading deal making banking practices in the U.S., so Dan’s experience and client base will be a welcome expansion of our practice on the West Coast.”

“Dan’s scope of practice will be invaluable in serving and strengthening our relationships with financial institutions throughout the Bay Area and beyond,” said Lee Marshall, managing partner of Bryan Cave’s San Francisco offices. “We are excited to welcome him to our firm and we look forward to adding his perspective and insight to our team.”

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As part of an international law firm, the attorneys practicing in Bryan Cave’s financial institutions practice also have the advantages of an extremely deep bench in completing all types of merger and acquisition transactions.  Bryan Cave is ranked among the top legal advisers for M&A work involving a U.S. target for 2011, according to recently released data by Thomson Reuters.

The firm is ranked sixth based on the number of transactions completed involving a U.S. target, with 101 completed transactions during the year. Additionally, the firm ranks 22nd for completed transactions worldwide with 116 deals closed.

Thomson Reuters, recognized as maintaining the most comprehensive database available on mergers and acquisitions, noted in its full report that while the value of worldwide mergers and acquisitions was up from comparable 2010 levels, the number of deals was down 5.5 percent compared to last year.

“Our transactional practice enjoyed a very impressive year in 2011 by any measure, especially relative to our peers,” said Bill Seabaugh, head of the firm’s Transactions Group. “Globally, 2011 was a down year for M&A activity, but Bryan Cave’s completed deal activity was up more than 20 percent compared to 2010, which was itself a very active year for us. These results confirm that our clients continue to see an exceptional combination of quality, service and value in our global transactional practice.”

Click here to view Bryan Cave’s rankings by Thomson Reuters.

Although service to clients will always remain more important than peer reviews, we are proud to announce that partners Walt Moeling, Kathryn Knudson and Jim McAlpin were each selected for inclusion as bank regulatory attorneys in Georgia Super Lawyers 2012. Walt was further honored as one of the Top 100 attorneys in Georgia, while Kathryn was selected as one of the Top 50 female attorneys in Georgia.  In all, attorneys in Bryan Cave’s financial institutions practice constituted half of the bank regulatory attorneys identified as Super Lawyers in Georgia. In addition, partner Rob Klingler was named to the Georgia “Rising Stars” list for 2012.

Super Lawyers lists the top 5 percent of attorneys in a state or region who have attained a high level of recognition and professional achievement. Honorees are identified through peer surveys, independent research and a blue-ribbon panel review.   “Rising Stars” are chosen by their peers as being among the top up-and-coming lawyers (40 years old or younger, or in practice 10 years or less). Only 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state were selected.

In total, 28 Bryan Cave lawyers in the Atlanta office were named Georgia Super Lawyers and an additional 11 were named “Rising Stars.”  A complete list of Bryan Cave’s Super Lawyers and Rising Stars is available here.

Bryan Cave has advised numerous clients concerning what to do when their data is accessed by an unauthorized party, lost, or accidentally disclosed. In recent years, the need for victims of data breaches to take immediate action has grown as how our clients respond within the first twenty-four hours following a breach has a dramatic effect on our ability to defend them in resulting investigations and litigation.

Because of the need for immediate action, the Bryan Cave’s Data Privacy & Security Team has launched a Data Breach Hotline that leverages our depth of knowledge and geographic platform to provide clients with access to an on-call member of the Team 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  A brief description of the service, which is open to all of our clients, can be found below.

The international law firm Bryan Cave LLP welcomes Partners Chris Kupec, Rick Brown, Mark Vasco and Ben Sidbury to its Charlotte office. Kupec and Brown will practice with the firm’s Banking Group; Vasco will practice with the firm’s Commercial Litigation Group; and Sidbury will practice with the firm’s Intellectual Property Group.

“We are excited to be expanding the Charlotte office’s capability to serve our clients needs in banking, intellectual property and commercial litigation and look forward to working with Chris, Rick, Mark and Ben,” said Keith Dunsmore, Charlotte managing partner.

Kupec focuses his practice on middle market lending transactions involving banks, hedge funds and other financial institutions. Representative transactions include asset-based and leveraged lending transactions. He also has significant experience in second lien and mezzanine financings.

Kupec received his J.D., with high honors, in 1980 from the University of North Carolina and was a member of the Order of the Coif and the North Carolina Law Review. He received his B.A. in 1975 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and was all-ACC football quarterback and academic all-American.

Brown’s practice primarily is focused on syndicated credit facilities, asset-based financing and other secured financing transactions, and also includes equipment finance and leasing, bank treasury services, as well as letter of credit transactions. In addition, he has represented administrative agents and lenders in restructurings and workouts of syndicated credit facilities.

Brown received his J.D., magna cum laude, in 1987 from Quinnipiac University/University of Bridgeport and his B.S. in from the University of Vermont.

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Effective January 1, 2012, Bryan Cave LLP elected 14 new lawyers to partnership in the firm. Bryan Cave’s strength and depth in advising community banks is further enhanced by the election of Rob Klingler and Kim Civins to the partnership.

Rob Klingler is in our Atlanta office and is a partner in our Financial Institutions group. Rob regularly counsels financial institutions, with an emphasis on regulatory compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and securities law issues. Rob has advised community banks, as well as their officers and directors, concerning issues related to the current difficult financial and regulatory environment.  Rob is a frequent public speaker about federal and state banking regulations, the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  Prior to joining the firm, he was an assistant coach of the University of Florida Speech and Debate Team. In addition, Rob is the founder and primary writer for BankBryanCave.com.

Kim Civins is also in our Atlanta office and is a partner in our Private Client service group.  In addition to advising individuals and families in the areas of estate planning and estate administration, Kim regularly advises trust and wealth management departments of banks of all sizes with regard to compliance with federal and state laws. Prior to attending law school, Kim worked for seven years for a national sports marketing company.

The international law firm Bryan Cave LLP and 113-year-old, Denver-based Holme Roberts & Owen LLP (HRO) will combine their practices effective Jan. 1, 2012, following a recent vote by the partners of both firms. Globally, the firm will continue to be known as Bryan Cave LLP. The combination will add exceptional legal capabilities in energy, natural resources and sports law to Bryan Cave’s international resources while expanding the firm’s worldwide presence into the Rocky Mountain region and adding significant new depth and experience in California.

The combined law firm will have more than 1,100 attorneys in over 30 law and professional service offices around the globe. It is expected to rank among the 25 largest in the world.  The combination with HRO will provide additional platforms for the continued expansion of Bryan Cave’s national community banking practice.

“Combining with HRO represents a unique opportunity for both firms to expand the resources we can offer to our clients while reinforcing a shared culture dedicated to superior client service,” said Don G. Lents, chairman of Bryan Cave. “Extending our geographic reach while expanding the range of our services in California are important steps in our firm’s long-term growth. We are very pleased to have as our colleagues lawyers coming from a firm with the stature of HRO, a name that has been synonymous with the highest-quality legal work in its region for more than a century.”

Based in Denver, HRO also serves clients from offices in Boulder, Colorado Springs, San Francisco and Los Angeles. For more than 100 years, the firm has had a tradition of developing lasting relationships with the entrepreneurial businesses which built the Rocky Mountain West, including numerous energy, mining, natural resource and telecommunications and technology clients. In more recent times, the firm has been a leader in providing counsel for complex business and securities transactions, emerging tech and environmental matters. In addition, HRO has developed a nationally recognized litigation group that has handled numerous multimillion dollar cases for some of the best-known companies in the United States. With the combination, the newly formed firm will be the only international firm with full-service capabilities on the ground in Colorado.

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