Pillsbury announced today that 13 attorneys will join its partnership in January 2022.

The new partners work across Pillsbury’s primary client industries—technology, life sciences, energy, financial, real estate and construction—and their skills range from handling business-critical transactions and financings to complex regulatory issues and high-stakes litigation.

“Despite these unprecedented and challenging times, Pillsbury’s attorneys and staff have truly stepped up to the plate for our clients,” said David Dekker, firm Chair. “This class is a testament to the firm’s exemplary efforts during the pandemic and illustrates Pillsbury’s outstanding commitment to teamwork, collegiality and client service. I am gratified and honored to welcome each of them to our partnership with this well-deserved promotion.”

The members of Pillsbury’s 2022 partner class are located in Austin, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, Sacramento, Silicon Valley, and Washington, DC and include:

Matthew M. Brady (Litigation, Los Angeles) is a go-to litigator taking on all aspects of a variety of complex civil litigation matters, including insurance recovery cases, complex contract disputes, property damage disputes, and large-scale construction disputes, as well as white collar defense and investigations. As part of his broader litigation practice, he is a member of Pillsbury’s Insurance Recovery & Advisory practice, which Law360 named a Practice Group of the Year for 2020. Brady graduated from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles.

Matt Carter (Government Contracts, Los Angeles) focuses on litigating bid protests, conducting internal investigations, representing companies and individuals in suspension and debarment proceedings, and providing regulatory and compliance advice. He has prosecuted and defended over 50 bid protests at the Government Accountability Office, the Court of Federal Claims and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A member of the firm’s renowned Government Contracts & Disputes practice, which was honored as a Practice Group of the Year three times by Law360, Carter earned his law degree from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles.

Christopher B. Lacaria (Estates, Trusts & Tax Planning, New York) serves high-net-worth individuals, families of multigenerational wealth, business owners, private investors, family offices and individual and corporate fiduciaries, advising on trusts, estates and tax planning, business succession, philanthropy, and complex trust and estate administration. He works often with founders, and founder- and family-led businesses in the technology, health care, energy, consumer and real estate industries. Lacaria graduated from Yale Law School.

Brian F. McKenna (Corporate & Securities, New York) has a wide-ranging transactional practice that covers mergers and acquisitions as well as strategic and investment transactions on a global basis. He has experience advising public and private companies, private equity and venture capital funds, financial institutions, family offices and sovereign wealth on a range of strategic and investment transactions, with a focus on the financial services, technology and media industries. He earned his law degree from Cornell Law School.

Robert P. Merten III (State & Local Tax, Sacramento) represents and advises clients nationwide on state and local tax issues, primarily including income and franchise tax, sales and use tax, property and transfer tax, and local tax matters. He has substantial experience in all stages of administrative controversy, litigation and appeals. In addition to conflict resolution, he also advises clients on tax planning, audit and compliance issues. He earned his law degree from UC Berkeley.

Veronica T. Nunn (Corporate & Securities, Washington, DC and New York, pending admittance in New York) represents public companies and private equity funds in complex business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, investments, joint ventures and reorganizations. She has particular experience advising clients in the energy and technology sectors. In addition to her legal practice, she was a lecturer-in-law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law from 2018 to 2021. She earned her law degree from Stanford Law School.

Julie Park (Corporate & Securities, Silicon Valley) advises public and private companies on corporate and transactional matters, with a focus on capital markets and securities law matters, including initial public offerings and SPAC transactions. She is a key member of the firm’s Korea practice and is a native Korean speaker. Park earned her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

Lee Rubin (Global Sourcing & Technology Transactions, London) advises on high-value sourcing deals, most notably in the financial and technology sectors. He also has extensive experience advising on cloud and “as a service” arrangements, including on related data handling and privacy issues. Rubin earned his law degree from the University of Birmingham.

Janine Stanisz (Litigation, New York) represents policyholders in all phases of complex litigation involving commercial general liability, property and D&O policies, including securing coverage for defense and indemnity of product liability and securities class actions, and maximizing recovery for property and business interruption losses resulting from natural disasters, explosions and other catastrophic events. She is a member of Pillsbury’s Insurance Recovery & Advisory practice, which Law360 named a Practice Group of the Year for 2020. Stanisz graduated from Brooklyn Law School and was recently named for the second time to “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch” and identified as one of just six Law360 Rising Stars for 2021 in Insurance.

Steven Tepera (Intellectual Property, Austin & Houston) focuses his practice on patent prosecution and civil litigation with an emphasis on intellectual property disputes, particularly in the oil and gas and industrial sectors. He also advises clients on the acquisition, management and protection of intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks and copyrights. Prior to law school, he was an aerospace engineer. He earned his law degree at the University of Texas School of Law and he is a registered patent attorney.

Benjamin D. Tievsky (Litigation, New York) has helped clients recover hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance proceeds in matters involving property damage and business interruption, D&O claims, environmental exposures, and cyber liabilities, among others. He represents U.S. and international policyholders in an array of industries, including public utilities and companies in the natural resources, pharmaceutical, transportation, hospitality, entertainment and technology spaces. He is a member of Pillsbury’s Insurance Recovery & Advisory practice, which Law360 named a Practice Group of the Year for 2020. Tievsky earned his law degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (Yeshiva University).

Vincent C. Zabielski (Energy, London and Washington), advises clients on a wide range of construction and infrastructure projects. He provides practical advice on international energy matters, new-build EPC contracts, power purchase agreements, operation and maintenance contracts, contract disputes, nuclear fuel supply contracts, international treaties, and export controls. He has also advised clients on M&A in the nuclear sector, including several deals involving the supply of medical nuclear isotopes. Zabielski had 15 years of experience as a registered professional engineer before earning a law degree from Rutgers University Law School.

Reza Zarghamee (Environmental, Washington, DC & New York) advises clients on an array of regulatory, transactional and policy matters. His areas of focus include chemical regulation, compliance audits, transactional due diligence (including environmental and sustainable finance), site remediation, and SEC disclosures. On transactional matters, he advises corporations on the scoping, allocation and mitigation of environmental liabilities arising under federal and state cleanup laws such as Superfund. Fluent in Farsi (and Dari) and proficient in French, Zarghamee graduated from Harvard Law School.