Pillsbury today announced that eight lawyers, including two based internationally, have been selected for promotion to partner effective January 1, 2017. The 2017 class underscores the firm’s broad and deep capabilities in its areas of sector focus. In keeping with Pillsbury’s industry-leading commitment to advancing women to leadership roles, six of the eight partners in the 2017 class are women.

“This group represents the best of Pillsbury’s strengths, including the breadth of our practices and our global reach, integrated platform and exceptional talent. We are particularly proud that this year’s class comprises so many talented women,” said partner Jim Rishwain. “Each of these lawyers has achieved this much-deserved promotion through hard work. They are the bright future for our firm.”

The members of the 2017 partner class are:

Semma Arzapalo: A member of the Corporate practice, Arzapalo represents a wide array of institutional investors in a variety of investment transactions. She handles matters involving complex limited partnerships focused on venture capital, buyout and distressed debt; advises clients in real estate partnerships; and represents clients in secondary sales and purchases of limited partnership interests. She is an active member of the Investment Funds and Investment Management practice specialty team. Arzapalo was a summer associate at Pillsbury in 2004 and earned her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 2005. She is based in the Los Angeles office.

David Beck: Beck is a member of Pillsbury’s Litigation team and advises clients on the resolution of complex business and contract disputes, with particular emphasis in the areas of commercial construction and insurance recovery. He has handled insurance claims involving engineering and construction defects, directors’ and officers’ liability, employment liability and cyber liability, among others, and is a member of the team that received the 2016 and 2017 Law Firm of the Year awards in Construction categories from U.S. News & World Report/Best Lawyers. Beck graduated from the College of William and Mary School of Law in 2007 and joined Pillsbury in 2011. He is based in the Washington, DC office.

Nora Burke: Burke is a member of the Tax practice and focuses on the tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions, lending transactions and securities offerings for both domestic and international clients, as well as general tax issues faced by businesses and by individuals. She has advised Pillsbury’s Swiss bank clients during Department of Justice investigations regarding U.S. tax reporting obligations. Burke was a Pillsbury summer associate in 2007 and graduated from the College of William and Mary School of Law in 2008. She is based in the New York office.

Noa Clark: A member of the Real Estate practice, Clark represents clients in a range of real estate transactions, including financings, acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures, leasing and land use and development matters. Clark joined Pillsbury as a summer associate in 2006 and graduated from New York University School of Law in 2007. She is based in the San Francisco office.

Brooke Daniels: A member of the Global Sourcing & Technology Transactions practice, Daniels is Pillsbury’s only Certified Outsourcing Professional, an accreditation she earned from the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals. She focuses on complex global sourcing and technology transactions on behalf of Fortune 500 international corporate clients, counseling them on a range of strategic and tactical matters and legal issues that arise during the lifecycle of a transaction. Daniels was a summer associate at Pillsbury in 2000 and earned her law degree from Tulane University Law School in 2001. She is based in Washington, DC office.

Olivia Matsushita: Matsushita is a member of the Finance practice and has substantial experience working with international project sponsors, financial institutions and export credit agencies on transactions in Asia, America, the Middle East and Europe, focusing on the development and financing of major projects in the energy and infrastructure sector. Matsushita is credited with Pillsbury’s recognition for its work on the JX Nippon/NRG Energy-sponsored Petra Nova carbon capture and sequestration and enhanced oil recovery project in Texas and the Sumitomo Chemical/Saudi-Aramco sponsored Rabigh project, which was named Deal of the Year by Project Finance International. She has been named a “Next-Generation Lawyer” for Projects and Energy in Japan in the 2016 edition of The Legal 500. Matsushita joined the Firm in 2014 and is based in Tokyo.

Satoshi Murakoshi: Murakoshi is the leader of Pillsbury’s Intellectual Property team in Japan. He has 17 years of experience providing strategic intellectual property counseling; developing patent portfolios; prosecuting patents and trademarks; and representing clients in technology transactions, licensing, litigation and post-grant proceedings before Japan’s patent office. Additionally, he counsels clients on complex multinational patent and trademark issues involving Japanese companies. Murakoshi joined Pillsbury in 2007 and is based in Tokyo.

Christina Pearson: A member of the Corporate practice, Pearson represents companies in the technology, health care and life sciences, and consumer and retail industries on corporate and securities matters in all stages of the business life cycle, from startup to maturity and liquidity transactions. She also assists emerging growth companies in corporate matters and financing transactions and has closed more than 100 venture capital financings. Pearson joined Pillsbury as a summer associate in 2005 and graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2006. She is based in Silicon Valley.

About Pillsbury

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is a leading international law firm with offices around the world and a particular focus on the energy & natural resources, financial services, real estate & construction, and technology sectors. Recognized by Financial Times as one of the most innovative law firms, Pillsbury and its lawyers are highly regarded for their forward-thinking approach, their enthusiasm for collaborating across disciplines and their authoritative commercial awareness. For more information, visit www.pillsburylaw.com.