Seven lawyers head to Steptoe

Seven lawyers from Locke, Lord, Edwards have left for Steptoe & Johnson LLP in the past month, expanding the firm’s toxic tort litigation practice.

On Wednesday, Robert L. Shuftan, Anthony G. Hopp and Jeremy S. Goldkind joined four former colleagues who moved to Steptoe in February.

“Their arrival … greatly strengthens the firm’s complex commercial, environmental, mass and toxic tort capabilities and creates a deep litigation bench in the Midwest to match our East and West Coast capabilities,” said Washington, D.C.-based Steptoe Chairman Philip R West.

Steptoe is an international law firm known for its work in complex litigation, arbitration and regulatory work. Its practices include corporate law, antitrust, security and finance, environmental law, government affairs, insurance, intellectual property, tax, telecommunications and white-collar criminal defense.

The firm has more than 500 lawyers across 10 offices, including London, Beijing and Brussels. Steptoe’s Chicago office, which opened in 2007, now has 30 attorneys.

Shuftan, who served in various leadership roles at Edwards, Wildman, Palmer LLP including two stints as managing partner over 15 years, said when he thought about the next phase of his career and where he wanted to practice, Steptoe seemed like a natural fit.

He handles complex commercial, class-action, toxic tort and environmental law cases and has represented companies in the chemical, pharmaceutical and medical device product industries.

Shuftan also counsels corporate boards and individuals in senior management positions on matters including reputation management and legal questions related to operations.

“Steptoe & Johnson has one of the best environmental regulatory practices in the country,” he said.

As a litigator, Shuftan has worked with many of Steptoe’s attorneys for more than 15 years. He was attracted to the move for the chance to create a full-service practice for clients on environmental issues. His clients deal with regulatory issues at the local, state and federal levels, and Steptoe’s presence in Washington, was also a factor.

Hopp has first-chair trial experience and represents clients in complex commercial, environmental and mass tort matters such as consumer class actions, insurance coverage disputes, bad faith and unfair competition claims. He has also counseled clients on risk management and product stewardship issues, product recalls and internal corporate investigations.

Goldkind has defended chemical, pharmaceutical and industrial manufacturers in product-liability and mass tort matters. His practice also includes complex commercial matters for clients in the technology, advertising, health-care and financial sectors.

The trio joins Michael R. Dockterman, Cal R. Burnton, John E. Frey and Derek C. Smith who moved to the firm last month.

Dockterman — who was a senior litigation partner and spent his entire 37-year legal career at Edwards, Wildman — said while the firm was going through its merger with Locke, Lord LLP, it became apparent that there would be a conflict between two of the firm’s clients and that he may need to leave.

“Conflicts are just a part of business. I get it,” he said. “If they had made the other client choice, someone else would have to leave. It’s just what happens when you merge a 1,000-lawyer firm.”

The newly formed firm of Locke, Lord, Edwards began operations on Jan. 10. Jennifer A. Kenedy, Chicago office managing partner, said in a statement that firm combinations of this size create unavoidable conflicts that impact the ability of some lawyers to stay.

“Unfortunately, two of those conflicts occurred in Chicago,” she said. “These are fine lawyers, and we wish them all the very best at their new firm.”

Dockterman’s practice concentrates on commercial, governmental and white-collar criminal matters and includes antitrust, intellectual property, environment, contract, fraud and liability cases.

He has represented clients such as Motorola Solutions and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., Leo Burnett Co., Digitas, Razorfish and Ecolab. In 2006, Dockterman was the lead trial attorney for Toys R Us and won successful trial and appellate court verdicts in the toy retailer’s dispute with Amazon.com.

Burnton and Smith both handle mass toxic tort and complex product-liability matters. Burnton has first-chair trial experience and his practice includes a focus on high-risk matters involving unique scientific and environmental theories.

Smith has defended chemical and pharmaceutical companies with a focus on defense of personal-injury claims against the companies.

Frey’s complex commercial litigation practice includes antitrust, bankruptcy, contract and environmental, insurance and securities work. He also does internal corporate investigations for large national and international corporations.

West recalled the first time he met Dockterman, and he knew immediately that he wanted him for the firm.

The Chicago office has a business litigation practice that covers employee benefits, intellectual property, anti-corruption and white-collar criminal defense.

Among the office’s attorneys is former federal prosecutor Christopher S. Niewoehner, who tried the case that resulted in the conviction of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

“I think we’ve got as strong a core group of lawyers (in Chicago) as we’ve ever had,” West said.

Among the seven newest Steptoe attorneys, Shuftan, Dockterman and Frey have practiced together for 36 years.

“We grew up together and were brought up by Max Wildman that it’s not about how good of a lawyer you are, it’s about being good to people and being fine lawyers,” Shuftan said. “Bringing that culture we grew up with down the street, that makes me very pleased. And our clients are very pleased.”