BOOK OF JARGON - Key Persons
A. Victor Antola retired from the partnership in November 2005. For more than 25 years, Mr. Antola was an active litigator in State and Federal courts and arbitrations. He personally handled hundreds of matters to and, in many cases, through, trial and appeal. Mr. Antola's practice concentrated in the areas of construction disputes (developers, general contractors, suppliers and engineers), securities litigation, partnership disputes, attorney professional liability and contract and tort claims. Mr. Antola litigated in the areas of communications, retail shopping, mobile home parks, investment management, forest products, electronics, insurance, construction, real estate management and securities. He also has had extensive experience in alternative dispute resolution procedures, including mediation and arbitration.
Active in the attorney professional liability insurance arena for a number of years, Mr. Antola helped form a mutual insurance company for approximately twenty national law firms. He is a founding board member of the Bermuda Insurance Company.
At the time of his retirement, Mr. Antola was a member of the Los Angeles County and American Bar Associations, and was admitted to practice in the California State and Federal courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Antola was employed as a Law Clerk to the Honorable A. Andrew Hauk, US District Court, Central District of California during 1969 and 1970.
Job Titles:
- Chief Human Capital & Talent Officer
- Chief Human Capital & Talent Officer / New York
- Latham in 2001 As a Litigation Associate
Mr. Davis draws upon his deep institutional knowledge and extensive interactions with colleagues across the firm, as well as his own experience as an associate, to provide service leadership related to:
Recruiting
Professional development
Global citizenship
Knowledge services
He maintains an active engagement with the firm's Associates Committee, Recruiting Committee, Pro Bono Committee, and Training and Career Enhancement Committee.
Throughout his time as Chief, he has fostered initiatives to expand Latham's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, such as the Diversity Leadership Committee; the Women Enriching Business (WEB) Committee; the firm's CareerDesign program, which provides confidential guidance to attorneys; and the LathamAlumni network.
Mr. Davis joined Latham in 2001 as a litigation associate. He first entered executive leadership in 2008. Prior to joining Latham, Mr. Davis earned a PhD in Chinese History, and taught as a professor at Franklin & Marshall College.
Qualifications
Bar Qualification
Adrian Davis, Chief Human Capital & Talent Officer, fosters the development of Latham lawyers and professional staff at each stage of their career lifecycle.
Ms. Cloarec-Mérendon developed a strong expertise in HR aspects of mergers and acquisitions, company restructuring, mass redundancy plans and in the setting up of outsourcing operations. She also assisted company management in the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements with unions and in setting up chains of delegation of power and of liability including preliminary audit of criminal risks and the development of tailored training to company management. On the litigation side, she represented clients in strategic and sensitive litigation matters, collective litigation, litigation related to the termination of collective agreements, harassment, discrimination, psychosocial risks, loan of personnel, illegal subcontracting, as well as work-related accidents.
Ms. Cloarec-Mérendon's expertise was also focused on diversity, fair working conditions and ethics issues with related negotiation aspects - e.g. implementation of ethics and diversity codes - and the litigation defense aspects, including before criminal courts, particularly in sensitive discrimination and harassment cases. She as well provided ethics and compliance training. Ms. Cloarec-Mérendon taught at the Master of Law in Business Ethics of the University of Paris-Cergy.
At the time of her retirement, she was active in lobbying as well as in the defense of clients' interests during the preparation of legal texts modifying their legal environment.
Ms. Cloarec Mérendon was a frequently featured speaker at professional seminars and she regularly participated in sessions organized by RHM, Dii, Medef, Dalloz, Liaisons Sociales, AFMD.
Ms. Cloarec-Mérendon is listed among the best practitioners in Décideurs, The Legal 500 Paris, European Legal 500, European Legal Experts and Chambers Europe.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Retired Partner / Brussels
Alain Georges retired from the partnership in January 2011.
Alain Georges was a partner in the Paris and Brussels offices of Latham & Watkins. He practiced competition and distribution law at the French and Community level, as well as European law.
He advised and represented large French and foreign companies, trade associations and professional entities. He was active in the banking sector, in particular with respect to payment systems and interbank settlement systems and in the press distribution sector as well as in the areas of telecommunications and new technologies.
He practiced from 1974 through 1981 as a conseil juridique in a US law firm in Paris and New York. After thirteen years at Salès Vincent Georges & Associés, a French law firm whose Brussels office he opened and managed, Alain Georges joined the EU Department of Stibbe which was merged into Latham in 2001.
He is the author of "L'utilisation en bourse d'informations privilégiées dans le droit des Etats-Unis" (Editions Economica, 1976) based on his doctoral thesis on the use of inside information in the law of the United States.
Job Titles:
- Retired Partner / Los Angeles
Alan Clark retired from the partnership in December 2009. A retired partner once resident in our Los Angeles office, Alan B. Clark practiced commercial litigation with the firm since 1975. He represented a broad range of clients drawn from the real estate, entertainment, government contracts, securities, petroleum, insurance, money management, wholesale distribution, motor vehicle and manufacturing fields. Mr. Clark's litigation practice included matters involving antitrust, contract, business tort, intellectual property, unfair competition, insurance, lender liability, corporate and securities, real estate and ERISA issues.
Mr. Clark had extensive experience in lengthy and complex jury trials. He obtained multimillion dollar verdicts on behalf of plaintiffs in business tort and predatory pricing cases. In addition, he developed a recognized expertise in attorney-client privilege and other evidentiary matters.
Mr. Clark has spoken and published at numerous continuing education of the bar programs on evidentiary privileges, unfair competition and unfair trade practices, appellate advocacy and alternative dispute resolution.
At the time of his retirement, Mr. Clark was a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, an Associate of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and a former Master of the George McBurney Business Litigation Inn of Court. Mr. Clark currently served as a director of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, a provider of legal services for low-income residents of Los Angeles, and of America Supporting Americans, a not-for-profit organization providing support for American troops. He is a former director and Chairman of the Board of Skid Row Development Corporation, a Los Angeles charity for the homeless, and is a former director of the Pacific Crest Outward Bound School. He belonged to the Association of Business Trial Lawyers and was a member of the Litigation and Antitrust Law Sections of both the Los Angeles County and American Bar Associations. In addition, Mr. Clark was a member of the Trial Evidence Committee of the ABA Litigation Section, and the Los Angeles County Bar's Entertainment and Intellectual Property Law Section.
At the University of Virginia Law School, Mr. Clark won the William Minor Lile Moot Court Competition. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Clark served as an Infantry officer in the US Army from 1968-1971.
Job Titles:
- Retired Partner / Los Angeles
A well-known litigator in Southern California, Alan I. Rothenberg joined Latham & Watkins in July 1990 and retired from the partnership in December 2000. Before coming to the firm's Los Angeles office, he had been a name partner at Manatt, Phelps, Rothenberg & Phillips for more than 20 years. Marked by diversity, his practice has involved matters drawn from the banking, business, sports and entertainment fields.
In representing lenders, he has handled actions involving lender liability, bank takeovers, wrongful foreclosure, wrongful chargebacks, forged endorsements, D & O coverage and securities violations. For business clients, Mr. Rothenberg has litigated antitrust, breach of contract, franchise and shareholder claims. In the area of sports and entertainment, Mr. Rothenberg has handled numerous breach of contract claims, franchise disputes, league arbitrations, copyright infringements and defamation claims. In addition, he has represented the Los Angeles Lakers in a federal tax litigation involving a tax deficiency over the allocation of franchise cost. And, he has litigated the valuation of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Kings, the Washington Redskins, the Los Angeles Forum and a controlling interest in Teleprompter. He represented the NBA Clippers in their successful relocation from San Diego to Los Angeles. He has been involved in the complex acquisition of the Los Angeles Kings and development of a new arena in Los Angeles, and is serving as counsel to and Vice Chairman of New Coliseum Partners, the organization leading the effort to return NFL football to Los Angeles. He has negotiated individual and collective sports player contracts in the NBA, NHL and for the US Soccer Federation.
An extremely active member of the bar and of his community, Mr. Rothenberg participated in a large number of bar-related organizations. Among his other activities in the legal community, he has served as president and member of the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California. He also has served as chairman of the Sports Law Section and Governing Committee member of the Entertainment and Sports Law Forum of the American Bar Association. In 1990, he was appointed by the California Supreme Court Chief Justice and the Speaker of the California Assembly to the Trial Court Delay Reduction Task Force. He also served on the Future of the Courts Committee of the Judicial Council of the State of California, was a member of the Judicial Council Task Force on Alternative Dispute Resolution and chaired the Los Angeles County Bar Association's special committee on ADR, as well.
Prominent in both civic and business realms, Mr. Rothenberg has served on several public company boards. He was also president of the Music Center's Fraternity of Friends, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the California Museum of Science and Industry. He is on the board and is Vice President of the Constitutional Rights Foundation, and is a board member and officer of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, a member of the board of the Los Angeles Sports Council, the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission and the Los Angeles 2012 Olympic Bid Committee.
His love for sports and, in particular, for soccer has led him to serve as Chairman of the Board of the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Chairman and CEO of the 1994 World Cup Organizing Committee, president of the United States Soccer Federation and founder of Major League Soccer. In the past, he has acted as Soccer Commissioner for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (1984), member of the Board of Directors of the North American Soccer League and chairman of Aztec Sports Limited (owner of the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League. He is also a former member of the Board of Governors of the NBA and serves on numerous committees of FIFA (the international soccer governing body) and CONCACAF (the North American, Central American and Canadian soccer regional governing body).
Mr. Rothenberg has lectured and spoken extensively on business litigation and sports law matters across the country, and received numerous awards and honors from various legal and community organizations.
Job Titles:
- Retired Partner / Chicago
Alan Van Dyke retired from the partnership in December 2018. He advised US and global fund sponsors in connection with private equity fund formation, operations and transaction structuring, as well as acted for fund sponsors on alternative acquisition vehicles for portfolio company acquisitions.
In addition, Mr. Van Dyke has significant tax experience in mergers and acquisitions transactions as well as in real estate funds and employee coinvestment plans. Mr. Van Dyke has extensive experience advising fund clients across a number of fund types, including private equity, infrastructure, real estate, and debt, on all aspects of fund transactions, including fund formation, tax structuring, employee and third-party coinvestment arrangements, and governance and compliance requirements.
In the 2018 Edition of Best Lawyers in America, Mr. Van Dyke was recognized for his work in Tax Law. Prior to joining Latham & Watkins, Mr. Van Dyke was a tax partner at another leading law firm where he served as co-head of the transactional tax practice from 1996 to 2004.
Job Titles:
- Retired
- Retired Partner / New York
"Alan Avery is an experienced bank regulatory attorney who regularly counsels on a wide range of issues including AML compliance and the Bank Secrecy Act."
Alan W. Avery retired from the partnership in December 2022. Mr. Avery was a member of the Corporate Department and Financial Institutions Group. He concentrated on federal and state regulation of banking organizations, advising domestic and foreign banking institutions concerning the impact of US federal and state banking laws on their global operations.
Alan Pettis, admitted to the bar in 1967, retired from the partnership in May 2005. He was an attorney with the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, until he joined Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in 1969. He was managing partner of Gibson's Orange County office when he founded the law firm of Pettis, Tester, Kruse, & Krinsky in 1987. He served as PTKK's managing partner from 1987 to 1993 and joined Latham & Watkins as a partner in 1994. His practice focused primarily on corporate and securities law. He advised clients on structuring and negotiating a variety of transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, private placements, contractual and licensing arrangements, joint ventures, partnerships and limited liability companies. He represented clients in diverse industries including among others biotechnology, finance (including private equity and venture capital funds), health care, manufacturing, medical devices and technology.
He has represented a wide variety of companies including Aderis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Allergan Pharmaceuticals; Alteer Corporation; ARC America Corporation; California Computer Products, Inc.; Century 21 Real Estate; Comprehensive Care Corporation; Cowden International; Data Electronics, Inc.; Distributed Logic Corporation; Empire General Corporation; H.F. Ahmanson & Co.; Gateway Communications; Insight Health Services Corp.; In Touch Communications, Inc.; Irvine Ranch Water District; Irvine Savings & Loan Assn.; Logisticare, Inc; Los Alamitos Race Course; Nahama & Weagant Energy Company; National Semiconductor Corporation; Nelson Research & Development Company; Ossur Prosthetics U.S.A.; Quest Software, Inc.; Quiksilver, Inc.; S&R Precision; Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; The Edgewater Funds; Trend Technologies, LLC; Triumph Capital, Inc.; Wedbush; Noble, Cooke, Inc.; and White Weld & Co.
Job Titles:
- Retired Partner / Washington, D.C.
Allen J. Klein retired from the partnership on May 2013. Mr. Klein represented clients in the structuring, negotiation and documentation of on-shore and off-shore information technology and business process outsourcing transactions. Mr. Klein, who assisted clients in the automotive, banking, beverage, chemical, healthcare, insurance, internet, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, media, paper products and retail industries in the United States, Europe and Africa, and represented governmental entities, also handled complex systems integration transactions, go-to-market arrangements, marketing and distribution arrangements and other similar transactions.
Mr. Klein was involved in numerous ground breaking transactions including the outsourcing by a global chemical company of the logistics functions supporting a multi-billion dollar chemical plant, the off-shore outsourcing by a pharmaceutical company of data management in support of its clinical trial program, the outsourcing by a national Revenue Service of the processing of electronically filed returns, and the implementation of large enterprise VoIP networks.
During Mr. Klein's tenure, Chambers USA consistently rated Latham's Outsourcing Practice as one of the top outsourcing practices in the United States. Mr. Klein figured prominently in the practice summaries Chambers USA provides as part of its ratings, as the directory noted that he was, "talented and hard-working." Chambers Global also repeatedly ranks Latham's Technology and Communications Practice as one of the leading practices of its kind in the world and Mr. Klein figured prominently in this summary of that practice, as well. In addition, Mr. Klein was continually recognized by Chambers USA as one of the top BPO lawyers in the United States and one of the top Technology and IT Outsourcing lawyers in Washington, D.C. Similarly, The Legal 500 US regularly recognized Mr. Klein as a "Leading Lawyer" in the area of Technology - Outsourcing, stating he has "the right strategic focus and sound tactical execution in steering clients through these complex transactions."
Mr. Klein was a frequent speaker at outsourcing conferences, including those organized by the Conference Board, and also a frequent contributor to outsourcing publications. At the time of his retirement, Mr. Klein is a member of the America, District of Columbia and New York Bar Associations.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner / Washington, D.C.
Ms. Reeves has served in multiple management roles at Latham including her previous position as the Global Chair of the firm's Mentoring Committee. She is a past Finalist for the American Lawyer's Mentor of the Year.
Job Titles:
- Chief Communications Officer
Job Titles:
- Chief Client Development Officer
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner / San Diego
Mark W. Smith retired from the partnership in December 1997. Mr. Smith retired from the firm's San Francisco office. He was a business litigator concentrating in the areas of securities and other complex business litigation, and a former chair of the firm's Securities Litigation Group. He had handled numerous securities fraud class actions, M&A litigation and cases involving the America's Cup and the television rights to college football.
Mr. Smith was a member of the State Bar of California and the National Board of Trustees of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America. He was co-author of the book Sample Jury Instructions in Civil Antitrust Cases and has written numerous articles, including "The Demand Requirement and the Special Litigation Committee in Derivative Actions" (with Paul H. Dawes).
Before entering the practice of law he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Mary M. Schroeder of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
Job Titles:
- Chief Officer - Real Estate & Workplace Experience
Job Titles:
- Chief Administrative Officer