Hughes Hubbard Promotes Four to Partnership and Ten to Counsel

New York, January 7, 2019 – Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP announced today that it has elected four new partners and 10 new counsel, effective Jan. 1, 2019.

“We are pleased to announce this group of exceptionally talented and diverse attorneys who make up our new partner and counsel class,” said Ted Mayer, chair of Hughes Hubbard. “They have each shown commitment, skill and integrity, and we look forward to their continued success.”

New partners Anson Frelinghuysen, Chris Gartman and Fara Tabatabai are based in New York, and Anne Gaustad is based in Paris.

To the position of counsel, the firm elevated Dina Hoffer and Dustin Smith in New York; Emilio Saiz in Miami; Michael DeBernardis and Vitaly Morozov in Washington, D.C.; and Agnes Braka-Calas, Rhidian David, Leon Ioannou, Marie-Agnes Nicolas and Anne Wolff in Paris.

Partners

Anson Frelinghuysen is a member of the Corporate Reorganization & Bankruptcy department. Companies call on Anson to advise them on restructuring their financial affairs both in and out of court, and he represents secured and general creditors, lenders, and opportunistic purchasers in Chapter 11 bankruptcies, out-of-court workouts, loan-to-own transactions, bankruptcy auctions, and adversary and collateral proceedings. Anson also advises investment firms and companies in connection with bankruptcy matters, investigations, corporate activism, and take-private transactions.

Chris Gartman is a partner in Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP’s Corporate Reorganization & Bankruptcy group.  He represents chapter 11 debtors, purchasers, equity holders, and creditors in a wide range of matters.  Some of his notable representations include: the debtors in the Patriot National, CST Industries, Republic Airways and Delta Petroleum chapter 11 proceedings; the trustee for Lehman Brothers Inc. in its SIPA liquidation proceedings; the purchasers in the MSR Resorts, NE Opco and Scout Media chapter 11 section 363 sales; certain defendants in multibillion dollar adversary proceedings in the Adelphia Communications Corp. and Lyondell Chemical Company; the examiner in North General Hospital’s chapter 11 case; and debtors and creditors in a number of out of court workouts. In 2018, Chris received the American Bankruptcy Institute’s “40 Under 40” award on the basis of his outstanding professional achievements in the restructuring industry. Chris has been named a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers every year since 2012 and is a co-author of the book “Examiners in Bankruptcy Cases: A Guide for Examiners, Courts and Practitioners.” 

Anne Gaustad is a member of the Litigation department. Her practice focuses on a range of anti-corruption matters, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, international human rights, as well as international commercial and investment disputes. She has particular experience advising clients around the globe in matters involving anti-corruption compliance matters, including the design and implementation of anti-corruption compliance programs, conducting compliance audits, internal investigations, third-party due diligence reviews,  assessing risks under international and national anti-corruption frameworks, and counseling clients in the post-resolution phase, including in connection with the US Department of Justice, US Securities and Exchange Commission, French Anti-Corruption Agency, Norwegian Økokrim and World Bank inquiries.  Anne is a member of the New York, Paris and Norway bars. 

Fara Tabatabai is a member of the Litigation department.  Her practice focuses on complex commercial, products liability, securities, and employment litigation and arbitration. She represents clients in the banking, pharmaceutical, energy, and technology industries, among others, and has particular expertise in cross-border disputes, including serving as trial counsel in the first U.S.-Canadian cross-border trial in history.

U.S. Counsel

Michael DeBernardis is a member of the Litigation department, where he focuses on anti-corruption and internal investigations and white collar and regulatory defense issues.  He represents corporate and individual clients in criminal, civil and administrative enforcement matters, including matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and securities and accounting fraud.  Michael also represents clients in complex litigation and international arbitration matters.

Dina Hoffer is a member of the Litigation department, where she specializes in antitrust investigation and litigation defense. She represents major global and domestic corporations and their executives facing antitrust investigations initiated by federal and state enforcement agencies, civil litigation, and cross-border disputes, and provides related compliance and counseling.  She serves a diverse range of clients, including those in the pharmaceutical, automotive, manufacturing, biomedical technology, media, and energy industries.

Vitaly Morozov is a member of the Litigation department.  His practice focuses on investment treaty arbitration, international public law, complex cross-border litigation and anti-corruption matters. He represents clients in numerous investor-State disputes under bilateral investment treaties and the Energy Charter Treaty in arbitrations pursuant to the ICSID, SCC and UNCITRAL rules, as well as high-stakes multi-jurisdictional disputes involving parties from Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia in matters relating to a range of industries, including oil and gas, energy, mining, air and space, real estate and banking.

Emilio Saiz is a member of the Corporate department.  He regularly advises corporations and financial institutions in corporate and structured finance transactions, including syndicated and credit-enhanced loan facilities, acquisition financings, project financings, trade financings, restructurings, domestic and cross-border aircraft lending/leasing and derivative products. He also advises corporations and financial institutions in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, product distribution, corporate governance, compliance, and general corporate and commercial matters, with particular focus on Latin America.

Dustin Smith is a member of the Corporate Reorganization & Bankruptcy department, where he represents companies restructuring their financial affairs both in and out of court, as well as representing secured and general creditors in Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcies, out-of-court workouts, and adversary and collateral proceedings. He is also the managing editor of the Hughes Hubbard & Reed Bankruptcy Report, an online resource providing insights on emerging issues and developments in bankruptcy law.

Paris Counsel

Agnes Braka-Calas is a member of the Banking and Financial department and has been a qualified lawyer in France since 1998.  She concentrates on all aspects of banking and finance law, including financing, banking and financial regulations, asset management and the restructuring and acquisition of financial institutions. She is also experienced in project finance.  In this respect, her experience includes the negotiation and drafting of the various project contracts, financing and refinancing and the related securities. She works mainly with international financial institutions, investment firms, asset management companies, investment funds and international unregulated companies.

Rhidian David is dual qualified in France and England & Wales and is a member of the Corporate department, where he specializes in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A), joint ventures, and energy and infrastructure projects. His clients include multinationals, project sponsors, governments, financial institutions and investment funds in France and internationally. He has particular expertise in the energy, infrastructure and financial institutions sectors, particularly in Africa, both Anglophone and Francophone.

Leon Ioannou is a member of the Litigation and International Arbitration departments, where he focuses on international commercial and investment treaty arbitration, particularly in the construction, energy (nuclear, oil and gas), utilities, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, banking and finance, and professional service industries. He has conducted proceedings under most of the major arbitral institutional rules as well as ad hoc proceedings under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Rules. He also has experience conducting international corporate internal investigations, particularly in relation to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and providing advice on general corporate matters. 

Marie-Agnes Nicolas is a member of the Litigation department.  She advises large multinational companies on a range of anti-corruption issues in connection with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the French anti-corruption agency (AFA). Among other things, she has assisted a variety of the firm’s clients in designing anti-corruption policies and programs, performing compliance audits, and conducting internal investigations and due diligence reviews on third party agents and joint venture or business partners around the world. As part of her litigation practice, she has developed a particular expertise advising banks and other financial institutions on a wide range of contentious matters relating to financial regulatory issues and a variety of investment products, including derivatives and structured products.

Anne Wolff is a member of the Litigation and Labor departments, where she assists French and foreign companies and groups with the day-to-day management of employment issues: drafting employment contracts, managing disciplinary issues and terminating employment contracts and representing the clients before the Labor Courts. Among other things, she has specific expertise in assisting companies during the start-up phase and during any restructuring and reorganization or transfer of activity. She also assists the firm’s clients in connection with the HR aspects of the whistleblowing procedures and advises companies concerning the implementation of the recent major changes in French employment law, participating in the negotiation and amendment of collective company agreements and statutes, ensuring compliance with corporate obligations relating to the workforce, setting up and managing staff representative bodies at French and European level. Her clients are involved in a variety of areas, including the pharmaceuticals, marine transportation, banking sectors, and more generally, the service sector, including professional bodies and associations in the social economy sector.