Kelley Drye Announces New Partners and Special Counsel

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP is pleased to announce the election of eight new partners. Victoria Anderson, Amaad Bhatti, Wendy Clarke, Kristin Elliott, Glenn Graham, Joe Green, Steven Humphreys, and James Saylor began their tenure as partners effective July 1, 2022. In addition, eleven lawyers were promoted to special counsel, including Jennifer Barks, Maria Biaggi, Rebecca Blake, Courtney Kleshinski, Joshua Morey, Randall Morrison, David Reap, Katie Rogers, Allison Schenkman, Genna Steinberg, and Jennifer Wong.

“The size and diversity of this year’s class of new partners and special counsel is reflective of Kelley Drye’s commitment to elevating talent from within our ranks,” said Dana Rosenfeld, firm managing partner. ​“These attorneys embrace innovative approaches to client service, bring unique skills to the table, and have the legal acumen to serve our clients with distinction.”

The newly elected Kelley Drye partners serve clients in the following areas of practice:

Victoria Anderson (New York – Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation): Victoria’s practice focuses on employee benefits and executive compensation – namely, qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, deferred compensation arrangements under 409A, 457 plans, 403(b) plans, and health and welfare plans. She represents public and private companies on benefits issues related to mergers and acquisitions, with an emphasis on post-transaction plan integration, golden parachute analysis (280G), and executive compensation issues (e.g., 409A). Victoria also has thorough knowledge of HIPAA’s Privacy and Security Rules and provides practical advice on HIPAA compliance and breach notification issues. Victoria is a member of the New York Bar.

Amaad Bhatti (New York – Real Estate): Amaad’s practice concentrates on commercial real estate transactions throughout the United States, with a focus on real property acquisitions and dispositions, joint venture developments, net lease transactions, leasing, mortgage and mezzanine financing and refinancing. Amaad has experience involving various types of commercial real estate assets, including office, hotel, condominium, multifamily, retail, residential, industrial, mixed-use, and distressed assets. He has represented major financial institutions, developers, REITs, commercial landlords and tenants, and other investors and owners of real estate. Amaad is a member of the New York Bar.

Wendy Clarke (Stamford – Corporate): Wendy’s practice focuses on a wide range of corporate transactions, including domestic and cross border mergers and acquisitions. She regularly advises purchasers, targets and their financial advisors in sophisticated public and private transactions across several sectors. Wendy’s experience also includes representing sponsors and borrowers in finance transactions, including asset-based and cash-flow lending, acquisition financings, and secured and unsecured debt structures. In May 2022, Wendy was named by the Governor of the State of Connecticut, Ned Lamont, to the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Foundation Solutions Indemnity Co., Inc. In addition, she currently serves on The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority and the Securities Advisory Council to the State of CT Department of Banking. Wendy is a member of the Connecticut and New York Bars.

Kristin Elliott (New York – Bankruptcy): Kristin represents creditors in complex chapter 11 cases throughout the country. She regularly represents indenture trustees in billion dollar restructurings and helps creditors’ committees and individual trade creditors maximize their interests in bankruptcy matters spanning a wide range of industries including restaurant, retail, shipping, telecommunications and consumer products. Kristin also represents plan administrators and liquidating trustees charged with administering confirmed chapter 11 plans, including through the pursuit of litigation to increase creditor recoveries. Kristin is a member of the New York and New Jersey State Bars.

Glenn Graham (Parsippany – Litigation): Glenn’s practice focuses on all aspects of civil litigation.  His experience includes consumer class action defense, commercial litigation and contract disputes, and law enforcement investigations involving consumer protection and data privacy.  Glenn is a Certified Information Privacy Professional – United States (CIPP/US) by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). Prior to joining Kelley Drye, Glenn served as a deputy attorney general with the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, Consumer Fraud Prosecution section, where he led the agency’s data privacy and cybersecurity efforts. Glenn is a member of the California, New Jersey, and New York Bars.

Joe Green (Washington, D.C. – Environmental): Joe advises on complex environmental regulatory matters for large and small corporate clients and national trade associations.  He is particularly skilled in translating complex business and technical issues into effective positions and advocacy, and in counseling on matters involving regulatory development, compliance and enforcement. Experienced with the range of federal environmental laws and state regulatory programs, as well as with European Union and international requirements, Joe has particular knowledge in the area of chemicals, antimicrobial pesticides, and toxic substances regulation. He also provides counsel regarding California Proposition 65 and the safety of consumer products. Joe is a member of the Virginia and Washington, D.C. Bars. 

Steven Humphreys (Parsippany – Environmental): Steven’s practice focuses on environmental law and related counseling of businesses seeking to protect a wide variety of interests that intersect with environmental law, regulation, and policy. He advises on regulatory compliance and management of environmental risk in matters arising under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and various other federal, state, and local environmental laws.  He represents both private and public entities in litigation matters arising under U.S. and foreign environmental laws. Steven offers particular skill in developing strategies for the identification, management, and allocation of environmental risk in business transactions. Steven is a member of the New Jersey Bar.

James Saylor (New York – Litigation): James’ practice focuses on the defense of consumer class actions under various state and federal laws regulating deceptive trade practices and telemarketing. He also focuses on counseling major corporations facing issues in advertising and has represented such corporations before private regulatory bodies. James has managed complex litigations and arbitration for a diverse breadth of firm clients, including national brick and mortar and online retailers, internationally-recognized brands, tech startups, entertainment companies, and international contractors, among many others. James has provided solutions that have led to favorable outcomes for firm clients at all stages of the adversarial process from informal dispute resolution and early motion practice to discovery, class decertification, summary judgment, trial, and appeal. James is a member of the New York Bar.

The new special counsel and their areas of practice are:

Jennifer Barks (Houston – Environmental): Jennifer focuses her practice on environmental, energy, and commercial litigation in state and federal courts throughout the country. She represents states, sovereigns, and private companies in complex environmental and civil litigation, pursuing contamination-related and natural resource damage claims under Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), products liability, and other tort theories. Jennifer is a member of the California and Texas Bars.

Maria Biaggi (New York – Labor and Employment): Maria’s practice focuses on all aspects of labor and employment law, including litigation, dispute resolution and counseling. She represents employers in disputes in federal and state courts, arbitration and before governmental agencies. Maria is a member of the New York Bar.

Rebecca Blake (New York – Litigation): Rebecca represents clients in complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts. In addition to her commercial litigation practice, Rebecca is active in Kelley Drye’s pro bono program. Rebecca is a member of the New York Bar.

Courtney Kleshinski (Chicago – Corporate): Courtney’s corporate transactional practice includes structuring and negotiating strategic investments, joint ventures, co-investment vehicles, and advising investment managers. She works with publicly traded, privately-held, and family-owned businesses in a variety of commercial and transactional matters. Courtney is a member of the Illinois Bar.

Joshua Morey (Washington – International Trade):  Josh’s practice focuses on international trade matters, including representing domestic industries in U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings against unfairly priced and subsidized foreign imports.  Josh is a member of the New York and Washington, D.C. Bars.

Randall Morrison, Jr. (New York – Litigation): Randall’s practice centers on represents clients in connection with litigation, regulatory investigations, and business counseling. Randall has first chair jury trial experience and has briefed and argued appeals. Prior to joining Kelley Drye, he was an assistant corporation counsel with the New York City Law Department. Randall is a member of the New York Bar.

David Reap (New York – Litigation): Dave focuses on consumer protection, products liability, and environmental matters. Dave currently serves as special counsel to multiple state and territory Attorneys General – including New Jersey, Ohio, North Carolina, and Guam – seeking natural resource damages and related relief as a result of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) environmental contamination. Before joining Kelley Drye, Dave served as a deputy attorney general in the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. David is a member of the New Jersey and New York Bars.

Katie Rogers (Washington – Advertising): Katie’s practice centers on regulatory counseling and compliance, including in the areas of advertising and consumer protection, food and dietary supplements, privacy, and consumer product safety. Katie also advises companies on environmental benefit claims and consumer product safety issues. Katie is a member of the California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Washington, D.C. Bars. 

Allison Schenkman (New York – Real Estate): Allison deals in complex commercial real estate transactions, where she represents commercial banks, REITs, debt funds, institutional lenders, insurance companies and owners in connection with CMBS, balance sheet and mezzanine loan originations, loan participations, and syndications. Allison is a member of the Florida and New York Bars.

Genna Steinberg (Washington – Litigation): Genna focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, including copyright, trademark, trade secret, employment, advertising, real estate, and breach of contract disputes. Genna has extensive experience practicing in federal and state courts, as well before arbitration tribunals. Genna is a member of the New York and Washington, D.C. Bars.

Jennifer Wong (Chicago – Corporate): Jennifer represents both issuers and underwriters in all aspects of public and private securities offerings, including initial public offerings, follow-on equity offerings, and private placements. Jennifer is a member of the Illinois and New York Bars.