Knobbe Martens, one of the leading intellectual property law firms in the nation, is pleased to announce the addition of two partners, Veronica Colby Devitt and Marlene J. Williams, to its San Francisco office.

“Knobbe Martens is pleased to welcome lawyers with such outstanding talent and reputation. Their history of success and expertise expands the capabilities of our San Francisco office,” said Steven Nataupsky, Managing Partner of the firm.

Both Devitt and Williams join Knobbe from Thelen LLP’s San Francisco office.

Devitt focuses her practice on trademark counseling, global trademark portfolio management, prosecution and litigation. She brings her expertise on trademark law, has practiced before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and written and spoken on trademark law before numerous bar associations including the American Bar Association, the International Trademark Association, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association. Devitt is a graduate of Marquette University (M.A. and B.A.) and received her J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law.

Williams focuses her practice on trademark portfolio management, worldwide prosecution and policing of trademarks, dispute resolution, UDPR proceedings, litigation, copyright law, licensing, Internet law and rights of publicity. She brings over ten years of experience in assisting clients in the selection, creation and protection of brands. Williams advises clients in a variety of industries ranging from medical devices and software to apparel and consumer goods and services. Williams received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. 

Bodman LLP has honored its late chairman Richard D. Rohr by establishing an endowed scholarship at the University of Michigan Law School in his honor. The Richard D. Rohr Scholarship fund was initially endowed with $100,000 from Bodman LLP, which was matched with $50,000 by the university.

The Richard D. Rohr Scholarship will be awarded for the first time in the fall of 2009. The recipient is expected to be a second or third-year law student who plans to practice law in Southeast Michigan.

“Under Richard Rohr’s leadership, Bodman grew into one of the largest and most successful law firms in Southeast Michigan,” said Larry R. Shulman, Bodman LLP Chairman. “ He had close ties with the University of Michigan Law School as an alumnus, donor and adjunct faculty member. It is fitting that we help foster the future leaders of Detroit’s legal community at his alma mater.”

Rohr, a prominent member of Detroit legal community and chairman of Bodman LLP for 25 years, died on Wednesday, August 27 at 81 years of age. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School at the top of his class in 1953 and served as editor-in-chief of The University of Michigan Law Review.

“We are deeply honored and appreciative that Bodman has established a scholarship at Michigan Law honoring the memory of Richard Rohr,” said University of Michigan Law School Dean Evan Caminker. “Dick’s association with the Law School began when he was a 1L and endured throughout his lifetime, including his service on our adjunct faculty. Moreover, he was a generous donor to scholarships. In a time when student assistance is more important than ever, there simply could be no more appropriate memorial.”

 With its easily accessible main office in New Haven and convenient satellites in Stamford and Bridgeport, Stratton Faxon Law Firm represents plaintiffs who have suffered personal injury and loss in the most catastrophic ways.

Founded by dedicated trial lawyers Michael A. Stratton and Joel T. Faxon, the team of strong litigators and client champions at Stratton Faxon represent plaintiffs who have been truly wronged, those who have suffered personal injury and loss in the most catastrophic manner. Experienced in the courtroom and recognized by their peers, Stratton Faxon has demonstrated a sincere commitment to taking on the most serious and difficult cases, and bringing them before juries. In 2006, Stratton Faxon won the highest personal injury verdict in Connecticut Federal Court history.

The firm currently represents over 250 families have suffered injury due to the pharmacological agents Vioxx, Bextra, and Celebrex – defective Cox-2 inhibitor drugs used to treat arthritis pain. This class of drugs has been shown to have dangerous side effects and can be linked to serious health problems such as excessive clotting, heart attack and stroke.

Stratton Faxon is currently accepting claims involving the late Dr. George Reardon, a rogue endocrinologist affiliated for more than three decades with Saint Francis Hospital, New England’s largest Catholic hospital, and suspected of victimizing dozens, and perhaps hundreds, of Connecticut children during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, prior to his death in 1998. Many unsuspecting children, primarily young boys, were lured into bogus human growth studies that in some cases may have devolved into full-blown illicit sexual liaisons.

In addition to catastrophic personal injury, medical malpractice, and product liability, Stratton Faxon handles a limited number of cases in the following practice areas: serious auto & truck collisions; birth injury/trauma; wrongful death; spinal cord and brain injury; nursing home abuse/neglect; pharmaceutical liability; aviation disasters; legal malpractice; vaccine injury; industrial or construction site accidents; and stock market losses. Asserts co-founder Michael A. Stratton, “The average person needs to know that without hard-working, authentic trial lawyers, it would simply be a world of might makes right.”

Mr. Ahlstrom represents clients in complex litigation in both federal and state courts. Prior to joining Hodgson Russ, Mr. Ahlstrom was an associate at a large law firm in Washington, D.C. His experiences include working for national and regional firms in the areas of securities fraud and accounting malpractice, as well as a variety of employment matters involving discrimination, retaliation, and whistleblowers. Mr. Ahlstrom also served as a law clerk to the Hon. Frederick J. Scullin, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.

Hodgson Russ attorneys facilitate the U.S. legal aspects of transactions around the world. We practice in virtually every substantive area of law and generally use multidisciplinary work teams to serve the specific, often complex, needs of our clients, which include public and privately held businesses, governmental entities, nonprofit institutions, and individuals. Hodgson Russ has offices in New York City, Albany, Buffalo, and Johnstown, New York; Boca Raton and Palm Beach, Florida; and Toronto, Ontario.

During the spring of 2009, Herrick K. Lidstone, Jr., will be teaching a course at his alma mater, the University of Colorado Law School, Boulder, Colorado as an adjunct professor. This course is intended for third year law students and is concerned with the various federal statutes regulating the issuance of securities and the cases and regulations that have arisen out of those statutes, with an emphasis on statutory interpretation. Mr. Lidstone will be using his book, Securities Law Deskbook with additional course materials. The 2009 supplement for the Securities Law Deskbook is in production.

Richard E. Vollertsen of the Alaska Personal Injury Law Group has been selected for inclusion in the "Best Lawyers In America" 2009 publication. He is now in a distinguished group of attorneys listed in the publication for over 10 years. Selection to the "Best Lawyers In America" listing is based on exhaustive and rigorous peer-review evaluations by the top attorneys in the country.

Published by Richard E. Vollertsen