Keker & Van Nest LLP today announced that it has elected three new partners. Effective January 2005, Rachael Meny, Daniel Purcell, and R. James Slaughter will join the partnership.
Ms. Meny joined Keker & Van Nest in 1999. She had previously worked at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, specializing in securities litigation (including both civil actions and SEC investigations). Her practice includes complex civil and white collar criminal litigation, including SEC related actions. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with honors from Mills College in 1992, where she was student-body President. She received her Juris Doctor degree in 1995 from University of Michigan Law School cum laude, where she was an articles coordinator for the Michigan Journal of Gender & Law and was co-President of the Women Law Students Association. Rachael has co-authored several securities law articles and outlines, including Defending Securities Class Actions (ALI-ABA 1997) and The Securities Litigation Landscape – Three Years Into The Reform Act Era (1999).
Mr. Purcell joined Keker & Van Nest in 1999 and specializes in complex litigation including antitrust and defense of class action, consumer fraud and securities actions. He also maintains an active pro bono practice, ranging from civil-rights litigation to enforcement suits on behalf of environmental watchdog groups. He graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College in 1992 and received his Juris Doctor degree from UC Berkeley School of Law in 1997. While at Berkeley Law, he was an articles editor of the California Law Review and won the James Patterson McBaine Honors Moot Court Competition He served as a law clerk to the Honorable David F. Levi of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.
Mr. Slaughter joined Keker & Van Nest in 2001. His practice ranges broadly over the field of complex civil litigation. He has represented individuals and corporations in cases involving allegations of fraud, unfair business practices, breach of contract, copyright infringement, breach of fiduciary duty, and professional negligence. He also maintains an active pro bono practice, having recently tried a product liability action against a gun company on behalf of parents whose son was accidentally shot and killed by a semiautomatic pistol. Prior to joining the firm, Jamie was a litigation associate at McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen. He served as law clerk to the Honorable Kim McLane Wardlaw of the United States District Court for the Central District of California (now on the Ninth Circuit) and the Honorable Martin J. Jenkins of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Jamie graduated from Yale College in 1991 and received his law degree from Yale Law School in 1997.
“Rachael, Dan and Jamie are outstanding lawyers who are already valuable members of the firm. They continue to bring added depth to our white collar criminal and commercial litigation practice areas. We are excited to have them join the partnership,” said Bob Van Nest.
In addition, the firm has added Asim Bhansali as of counsel (University of Texas School of Law, 1996) and ten new associates in 2004. They are: Benjamin Au (Yale, 2003), Paula Blizzard (UC Berkeley School of Law, 1999), Brook Dooley (Georgetown, 2003), Rachael Farbiarz (Yale, 2003), Matthias Kamber (George Washington University, 2002), Ryan Kent (Yale, 2001), Yasmin Kok (UC Berkeley School of Law, 2000), Steven Ragland (American University’s Washington School of Law, 2002), Khari Tillery (Yale, 2001), Jeffrey Tsai (Georgetown, 2000). Ms. Blizzard is joining the firm after four years in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. Four of the new lawyers are coming to the firm following judicial clerkships for United States District Court or Court of Appeals Judges.
Keker & Van Nest continues to specialize in the representation of corporations and individuals in civil litigation matters and appeals, including securities fraud, patent, copyright and trademark claims, trade secrets and professional malpractice, and in complex criminal cases. Also, the firm was recently named as one of the top four California firms for commercial and intellectual property litigation by Chambers & Partners in Chambers & Partners 2004-2005 Guide to America’s Leading Business Lawyers, which described Keker & Van Nest as “The hottest litigation boutique in the USA” with a “deep bench of high-quality attorneys.”