Dewey & LeBoeuf snares first laterals

Newly-formed Dewey & LeBoeuf has made its first new hires, adding four partners in Washington DC.

Donovan Picard and Edward Rowe have joined the arbitration and litigation practice from Hunton & Williams, where they served as partner and counsel respectively. Lawrence Sung has joined the IP practice, having left Nixon Peabody’s partnership earlier this year. Robert Lorndale has joined the corporate practice from Ivins Phillips & Barker, where he was a partner.

Dewey & LeBoeuf chairman Steven Davis said: “The Washington DC office is experiencing exponential growth and these high calibre lawyers will contribute to the quality, scale and scope of our practice there.”

Picard, who at one time served as chair of Hunton’s international law and dispute resolution group, has advised on a range of boundary and investment disputes, and government enforcement actions. He advised the government of Yemen in a boundary dispute with Saudi Arabia and represented the government of Ethiopia in arbitration regarding the borders with Eritrea.

Rowe’s practice focuses on international arbitration and litigation involving sovereign states and international trade and investment. He has represented sovereign states in a number of diplomatic matters, such as the negotiation of a comprehensive peace treaty and negotiation of a bilateral investment treaty.

Sung, who has a PhD in microbiology, has over 15 years of experience in biotechnology, medical device and pharmaceutical patent counselling, litigation, and technology transfer. He also holds the appointment of law school professor and director of the Intellectual Property Law Program at the University of Maryland School of Law.

Lorndale’s practice focuses on the federal income taxation of business transactions. He specialises in planning corporate acquisitions, dispositions, spin-offs and restructurings, as well as consolidated return matters.