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Press Release - - G&M adds five professionals from Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan LLP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Boutique law firm Goldstein & McClintock LLLP adds five professionals from Gonzalez, Saggio & Harlan LLP

Chicago, IllinoisMarch 1, 2016 - Goldstein & McClintock LLLP, a boutique law firm comprised of almost 25 professionals and 7 offices around the country, significantly bolstered its client offerings by adding five professionals from Gonzalez, Saggio & Harlan LLP, one of the most respected minority-owned law firms in the United States. The expansion not only strengthens G&M’s award-winning finance, corporate restructuring, bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, litigation, corporate law, and real estate practice groups, but immediately provides G&M with a robust labor and employment practice, as well as comprehensive experience in sports and energy law, data privacy, education, and business intelligence.  G&M’s attorneys, who have hailed from the top law firms in the country, represent a broad array of sophisticated clients in a wide variety of matters, and are unique in their ability to offer clients top-tier counsel combined with the affordability, accessibility, and individual attention of a boutique law practice.

G&M founding partners, Harley J. Goldstein and Matthew E. McClintock, believe that the new professionals are a fantastic fit for the firm.  “We are very pleased to welcome this prominent group of practitioners to G&M to continue our explosive growth since we started the firm just over four years ago,” said the firm’s Chairman, Harley J. Goldstein.  Mr. McClintock, the firm’s Managing Partner, agrees that the new professionals are “an incredible fit, not only from a practice area and geographic perspective, but also in light of the sophistication of their experience and client base.” 

The new professionals bring decades of experience representing sophisticated corporate clients in a wide range of complex matters. LaVon Johns, who will be based in G&M’s Chicago office, is a highly skilled real estate attorney who has significant experience dealing with complex real estate issues and is also an adjunct professor at Northwestern University School of Law. Robert Clayton, the former associate dean of Tulane University Law School, is a distinguished labor and employment, sports law, and transactional attorney, and will be based in G&M’s Washington D.C. office. Donald Levine, who will be based in G&M’s Chicago office, has significant experience in the areas of corporate and business transactions, real estate and financing transactions, intellectual property and commercial litigation, and has built his practice around serving as outside general counsel to numerous middle-market and large privately-held companies.  Matthew Feery, who will be resident in both G&M’s Chicago and Milwaukee offices, is a talented labor and employment attorney who also routinely advises clients on data privacy and business intelligence issues.  Rebecca Niewiadomski also joins G&M’s Chicago office as a paralegal.

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Brief biographies for each of the new attorneys follow:

LaVon M. Johns joins G&M as a Partner in its Chicago office as a member of its Business & Corporate practice group.  LaVon brings to the firm almost 20 years’ experience representing municipalities, governmental agencies and Fortune 500 companies in a variety of complex commercial transactional matters.  Among other things, LaVon has expertise in commercial and residential real estate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, financing, development incentives, and private-public partnership transactions, general corporate transactions, and data privacy/FOIA transactions.  In a career with almost too many high-profile engagements to count, some of LaVon’s most notable representations include serving as lead real estate counsel to the City of Chicago in connection with the $1.83 billion privatization of the Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge, the $563 million privatization of the four publicly-held underground parking garage structures at Chicago’s Millennium Park, and the $2.8 billion privatization of Chicago Midway International Airport.  LaVon has practiced at several of Chicago’s most prestigious law firms, including Pugh, Jones & Johnson, Wildman Harrold Allen & Dixon, and Altheimer & Gray.  She obtained her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, where she serves as an adjunct professor, and her B.A. from Creighton University.  She has been named a Leading Lawyer and Top Real Estate Attorney by Leading Lawyers Magazine for the last six years, and one of the “Women in Real Estate” by Law Bulletin Publishing Company for the last eleven years.

Robert L. Clayton joins G&M as a Partner in its Washington, D.C. office, and will chair the firm’s new Business Intelligence practice group, as well as its Sports Law practice group.  Robert is a highly accomplished labor and employment, sports law, data privacy and transactional attorney with almost 40 years of experience.  After graduating from Harvard University with an A.B. and George Washington University National Law Center with his J.D., Robert began his law career with the National Labor Relations Board, and then served as the Associate Dean of Tulane Law School for 10 years.  Since his tenure in higher education, Robert has spent 20 years working for some of the nation’s largest and most prestigious labor and employment law firms, including Jackson Lewis and Littler Mendelson, focusing his practice on representing corporations, public institutions and public utilities in labor and employment litigation and NLRB unfair labor practice cases, and advising corporations on ADA and FLSA compliance.  He has also developed considerable expertise in representing institutions of higher learning on Title IV, VI and IX and NCAA compliance matters, and through his government relations practice, provides guidance to clients on the regulatory framework and procurement policies of various federal and state agencies.  Robert is a nationally recognized speaker, publisher and thought leader in the labor and employment and sports law fields, and has served in a variety of high-profile leadership positions with the National Bar Association and American Bar Association, among other organizations.

Donald B. Levine joins G&M as a Partner in its Chicago office, and will chair our new Labor and Employment Practice Group.  Donald has extensive experience and significant expertise in the areas of corporate and business transactions, real estate and financing transactions, construction-related disputes, employment law, RICO, intellectual property and commercial litigation.  He has represented individuals, corporations and global financial institutions in a variety of federal and state litigation matters, arbitrations and mediations, and has handled a wide range of commercial and real estate transactions, including the sale and acquisition of businesses and real property.  In addition, Donald represents clients in transportation and logistics matters involving regulatory licensing and resolution of corporate disputes.  In his employment practices, Donald has structured, negotiated and documented employment relationships for both employers and employees, has implemented employment and human resource policies and programs, and has defended numerous business clients in federal court and before administrative agencies on employment discrimination matters.  Donald also devotes a significant amount of his practice to representing design and medical professionals, as well as members of the clergy on a variety of legal issues, and is a certified mediator with the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois and with ADR Systems.  Donald holds his J.D. from DePaul University College of Law and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin.  In addition to his robust law practice, Donald presents numerous seminars to bar associations and trade organizations on employment, arbitration and clergy-related issues, and serves on the Board of Trustees of a conservative synagogue in Northbrook, Illinois.

Matthew J. Feery joins G&M as a Senior Associate in its Chicago office.  Matthew is an experienced labor and employment practitioner, having represented and defended employers on claims brought in the state and federal courts and before administrative agencies under Title VII, Section 1981, the ADA, the FLSA, the ADEA, the FMLA, and myriad state fair employment laws.  He also develops and drafts employee handbooks, policies, employment agreements, separation agreements, non-compete agreements and other employment-related documents, focusing on the balance of compliance with state and federal laws and the business and cultural goals of his clients, and counsels his clients on a myriad of employee-related issues, including wage-and-hour audits and discrimination and harassment issues.  In addition to his employment practice, Matthew represents a Fortune Global 100 client on a variety of data privacy and FOIA matters.  Matthew received his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law and B.A. from Marquette University, and has studied at the London School of Economics.

For more information contact, please contact:

Matthew E. McClintock

mmclintock@goldmclaw.com

208 S. LaSalle St., Ste. 1750

Chicago, Illinois 60604

(p) 312-337-7700