Venable LLP announced today that it has elected 12 attorneys to the firm partnership. The new partners – from Venable’s offices in Baltimore, Maryland; Los Angeles, California; New York City; Tysons, Virginia; and Washington – are emerging leaders from a broad cross section of the firm’s practice groups, including Corporate, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Real Estate, Land Use and Zoning, Patent Prosecution and Counseling, Private Wealth Planning, and Transactional Tax.
Stu Ingis, chairman of Venable, said, “The new partners were elected based on their exceptional legal abilities, contributions to the firm, commitment to client service, and demonstration of the firm’s values. Their promotion to the partnership recognizes both their accomplishments to date and the confidence of the partnership in their future contributions to the firm.”
The following attorneys joined Venable’s partnership effective Jan. 1, 2023.
Baltimore Office
Gueter Aurelien – Ms. Aurelien’s practice focuses on a broad range of corporate law matters, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, commercial financing, equity investments, securities offerings, commercial contracts, and general business transactions. She advises start-up, emerging growth, and later-stage companies in a variety of industries, including financial institutions, specialty lenders, banks, investors, entrepreneurs, and nonprofit organizations.
Nicholas J. Collevecchio, Jr. – Mr. Collevecchio’s practice encompasses a broad range of corporate and commercial matters, with a particular focus on complex mergers and acquisitions, debt financings, equity investments, and commercial contracts. He also regularly advises clients ranging from startups to later-stage companies on general corporate governance and planning matters.
Elizabeth Fialkowski Stieff – Ms. Stieff focuses her practice on tax advisory and planning matters for domestic entities and individuals. She regularly provides transactional tax advice on a range of matters, including mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, private equity transactions, and fund formation. She also works with clients on business formation and operational issues, including choice of entity, raising capital, equity incentive planning, and the like.
Los Angeles Office
Shannon E. Beamer – Ms. Beamer represents pharmaceutical and medical device companies in complex litigation in state and federal courts nationwide. She has been a member of trial teams in national products liability litigation involving several international pharmaceutical manufacturers. She has worked with attorneys from around the country to coordinate overall strategy and the day-to-day handling of individual cases.
Max N. Wellman – Mr. Wellman provides strategic counseling in entertainment, technology, and business matters. He principally represents production companies, studios, influencers, talent management companies, and merchandising companies, as well as artists, entrepreneurs, consumer product brands, and technology start-ups. He understands the needs of the business and creative communities and takes a proactive role in handling his clients’ top legal concerns.
New York City Office
Robert E. Bugg – Mr. Bugg brings experience in a broad range of complex litigations, with an emphasis on intellectual property disputes and post-grant proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Patent Trials and Appeals Board (PTAB). He has managed all aspects of large-scale litigations involving a vast array of technologies.
Prajakta A. Sonalker, Ph.D. – Ms. Sonalker focuses her practice on complex intellectual property litigation, including patent and trade secret disputes, with an emphasis on biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. She has experience in all stages of litigation, from pre-suit investigations through trial and appeals, and proceedings before the PTAB.
Tysons Office
Lindsay Ruffner Heitger – Ms. Heitger concentrates her practice on commercial real estate. She advises clients on matters related to joint ventures, commercial real estate acquisitions, acquisitions for conservation purposes and related conservation easements, dispositions, development, financing, and commercial leasing. Her practice also includes assisting clients with real estate contract disputes, with a focus on successful resolution to avoid litigation.
Washington Office
Jacqueline A. DiRamio – Ms. DiRamio’s practice includes patent prosecution, intellectual property (IP) transactions, and litigation matters. Her patent prosecution experience involves a variety of scientific areas, including the mechanical, electrical, biological, and chemical arts, as well as medical devices. She has worked on opinions, interferences, reexaminations, inter partes reviews, and a case before the International Trade Commission (ITC).
Anna Katherine (A.K.) Moody – Ms. Moody focuses her practice on estate planning and administration. She advises individuals and families on all aspects of wealth planning, including general estate planning; business succession planning; transfer tax planning techniques, such as irrevocable life insurance trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, and intentionally defective grantor trusts; and the modification and reformation of trust agreements, both judicial and nonjudicial.
William W. Weaver – Mr. Weaver’s practice focuses on a wide range of commercial real estate transactions, including the acquisition, disposition, development, and leasing of retail, office, residential, and industrial property. He also assists clients with a variety of real estate finance matters, with extensive involvement in loan originations and credit facilities secured by multifamily properties.
Zachary G. Williams – Mr. Williams focuses his practice on land use and zoning law and real estate development. As land use counsel, he represents developers, property owners, and national commercial and retail tenants with land use and zoning entitlements in the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia. His work includes urban redevelopment, transit-oriented, and infill projects, as well as revitalization of commercial corridors in the DC metropolitan area.
Venable LLP is an American Lawyer Global 100 law firm headquartered in Washington, DC that serves as primary counsel to a worldwide clientele of large and mid-sized organizations, nonprofits, high-net-worth entrepreneurs, and other individuals. With more than 850 professionals across the country, including in California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Virginia, and Washington, DC, the firm strategically advances its clients’ objectives in the United States and around the globe. Venable advises clients on a broad range of business and regulatory law, legislative affairs, complex litigation, and the full range of intellectual property disciplines. For more information, please visit https://www.venable.com/.
