Foley announced today a number of leadership changes within the firm’s group of multi-disciplinary Industry Teams, effective immediately.
Michael L. Blau, partner in Foley’s Boston office, has been named chair of the firm’s Industry Teams. In this role, Blau will help the Industry Teams develop and execute strategic plans unique to each team. Blau succeeds former chair and current Milwaukee partner Richard S. Florsheim, who assumed oversight responsibility for the Industry Teams over the past six years. Florsheim will continue to serve on Foley’s management committee and as the firm’s lateral hiring partner.
Orlando partner Michael A. Okaty has been appointed to serve as vice-chair of the Industry Teams. A member of Foley’s Business Law Department and former founding chair of the Senior Living Industry Team, he and Blau will work closely with leadership of the firm’s Industry Teams and assist them with strategic planning and execution.
In addition, Foley announced new leadership for several groups within the firm’s Industry Teams:
- Jeffrey A. Soble, partner in Foley’s Chicago office, has been named co-chair of the firm’s Automotive Industry Team. He joins current co-chair and Detroit partner Mark A. Aiello in overseeing a multi-disciplinary team of more than 60 attorneys who specialize in assisting automotive businesses with matters including litigation, finance, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory compliance, labor and employment and bankruptcies and reorganizations.
- Bryan S. Schultz, partner in the Milwaukee office, has been named co-chair of Foley’s Food Industry Team. Schultz joins co-chair Michael D. Flanagan, also a partner in the firm’s Milwaukee office. Schultz and Flanagan will lead an interdisciplinary team that provides legal and lobbying services for companies that produce, distribute or sell food, and the businesses that deal with them, including manufacturers, processors, importers and exporters, food service organizations and trade associations.
- William C. Guthrie has been named co-chair of Foley’s Hospitality, Resort & Golf Industry Team. Guthrie, partner in the Orlando office, will lead the group with co-chairs Fred S. Ridley, partner in the Tampa office, and Van A. Tengberg, managing partner of the firm’s San Diego and Del Mar offices. Together, they will oversee a practice that delivers industry-specific services related to golf courses, clubs, hotels and restaurants, resorts, and timeshare/fractional ownership and timeshare properties.
- Gail M. Goering, partner in Foley’s Chicago office, has been named co-chair of the firm’s Insurance & Reinsurance Industry Team. Goering and current chair Thomas R. Hrdlick, partner in the Milwaukee office, will direct the efforts of a multidisciplinary team of attorneys dedicated to providing legal solutions that reflect and anticipate all aspects of an insurer’s operations, including taxation, regulatory and compliance, IP services, and mergers and acquisitions and complex reinsurance transactions.
- Miami partner Francisco J. Cerezo and Milwaukee partner Kevin D. Makowski have been named co-chairs of Foley’s International Practice. Along with co-chair and Milwaukee partner Timothy J. Sheehan, they will oversee individual teams that are organized by major geographical areas and each headed by partners with local experience in matters including commercial transactions, customs and import regulations, immigration matters, international dispute resolution, and international tax and estate planning.
- San Diego partner Richard A. Kaufman, Silicon Valley partner Antoinette F. Konski and Chicago special counsel Monica R. Chmielewski have been named co-chairs of Foley’s Life Sciences Industry Team. Along with current co-chairs David L. Rosen, partner in the Washington D.C. office, and Gabor Garai, partner in the Boston office, they will oversee a group of corporate, health care, regulatory and IP attorneys who provide counsel to both start-ups and established companies within the life sciences field.
- Milwaukee partner Russell E. Ryba and New York of counsel Brian M. Cohen have been named co-chairs of the firm’s Senior Living Industry Team. They will guide a team of attorneys experienced in representing national and local providers of independent senior housing, assisted living, skilled nursing facilities and continuing care retirement communities.
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