NEW YORK (January 5, 2021) – Morrison & Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce the election of nine lawyers to the firm’s partnership, effective January 1, 2021. The class of 2021 includes lawyers from a wide range of thriving practices across seven offices in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
“I am delighted to welcome this highly accomplished group of lawyers to our partnership,” said Larren M. Nashelsky, chair of Morrison & Foerster. “Our new partners are extraordinarily talented, and each has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to our clients, colleagues, and communities. I’m confident they will continue to make many valuable contributions to the firm in years to come.”
The following lawyers have been elected partners:
- Saqib Alam, a member of the Litigation Department and part of the Investigations + White Collar Defense Group, is based in London and Singapore. He is admitted to practice in New York, England & Wales, and Singapore. Mr. Alam’s practice focuses on advising companies with global operations on compliance investigations and U.S. and UK regulatory enforcement matters. He has deep experience investigating alleged bribery, money laundering, antitrust violations, sanctions violations, and fraud across Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, and South America, and has helped clients resolve legal issues across more than 30 countries. Mr. Alam also advises clients in complex commercial litigation and international arbitration matters. His litigation and arbitration experience (LCIA, ICC, SIAC) spans a broad range of industries and geographies, with a particular focus on Asia. Mr. Alam clerked for the Chief Justice and Supreme Court of Singapore from 2007 to 2009. He graduated from King’s College, University of London, with First Class Honors in Law.
- Paul Davis, a member of the Corporate Department and part of the Private Funds Group, is based in the Singapore office. His practice focuses on cross-border private equity and real estate transactions. Mr. Davis has more than nine years of experience in Japan and Singapore representing leading private equity funds and strategic investors in cross-border M&A, joint ventures, fund formation, and asset acquisitions. He represents real estate private equity funds in the acquisition, financing, and disposition of assets. Mr. Davis received his J.D. from Columbia Law School and his B.A. from New York University.
- Justin Haan, a member of the Corporate Department and part of the Technology Transactions Group, is based in the San Francisco office. His practice focuses on transactions and counseling involving intellectual property and technology, including licensing arrangements, technology transfers, and joint development activities. Mr. Haan structures and negotiates a wide range of commercial agreements, including software and content licenses, service agreements, reseller arrangements, and collaboration, manufacturing, supply, and distribution agreements. He advises clients on the development, procurement, and commercialization of cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented/virtual reality, semiconductors, cloud computing services, and unmanned aircraft systems. Mr. Haan also counsels clients on open source software, complex patent-related transactions, and the intellectual property aspects of M&A transactions. He received his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and his A.B. from Harvard University.
- Alex Iftimie, a member of the Litigation Department and part of the National Security, Global Risk & Crisis Management, Privacy + Data Security, and Investigations + White Collar Defense Groups, is based in the San Francisco office. His practice involves advising clients on sensitive cyber and U.S. national security matters, internal investigations, and government enforcement actions. Mr. Iftimie advises Fortune 500 and high-growth clients on all aspects of breach preparedness and response, including counseling executives on cybersecurity governance and risk management, and responding to cyber incidents ranging from ransomware attacks to nation-state sponsored economic espionage. He also advises clients on responding to law enforcement requests and the lawfulness of defensive network activities and threat intelligence research. Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, he held multiple senior positions at the U.S. Department of Justice. Mr. Iftimie received his J.D. from Yale Law School and his B.A. from the University of Southern California.
- Crystal Kaldjob, a member of the Finance Department and part of the Financial Services Group, is based in the Washington, D.C. office. Her practice focuses on advising financial services clients on a wide range of issues in regulatory and transactional contexts. Ms. Kaldjob provides practical, solution-oriented regulatory and transactional assistance to merchants, fintech companies, banks, and other financial institutions on strategic partnerships, including structuring and negotiating private label, co-brand credit card, and point-of-sale financing partnerships, marketplace lending arrangements, asset purchases, and loan portfolio sales and acquisitions. Her regulatory experience involves advising financial institutions, fintech companies, and merchants on compliance with consumer and retail banking laws, including laws related to the offering and operation of consumer credit and financial products and services. Ms. Kaldjob received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and her B.A. from the University of Virginia.
- Tomohiko Kimura, a member of the Corporate Department and part of the Antitrust Law and Mergers + Acquisitions Groups, is based in the Tokyo office. His practice focuses on antitrust and competition law, including merger control, cartel defense, investigations of unilateral conduct/unfair trade practices, and antitrust litigation. Mr. Kimura regularly represents clients in proceedings before the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) and assists clients in conducting internal investigations to identify and address anticompetitive conduct. His practice also spans advising clients on a wide range of competition matters, including joint ventures and strategic alliances. Mr. Kimura previously served as a chief investigator with the JFTC, where he handled global cartels as well as IP-related cases involving high-tech industries. He currently serves as a Non-Government Advisor to the JFTC. Mr. Kimura received his LL.M from Cornell Law School and his LL.B. from Kyoto University.
- John Lanham, a member of the Litigation Department and part of the Patent Litigation Group, is based in the San Diego office. Mr. Lanham represents clients in a variety of industries, including life sciences, healthcare, software, and semiconductors. He has experience representing clients in district courts across the country and regularly assists clients with all phases of litigation, including development of case strategy, damages analysis, dispositive motions, claim construction, fact discovery, expert discovery, trial preparation, and alternative dispute resolution. Mr. Lanham is an officer of the San Diego Intellectual Property Law Association. He received his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, where he was an associate editor of the Northwestern University Law Review, and his B.A. from the Colorado College.
- Maureen Linch, a member of the Tax Department and part of the U.S. Federal Tax Group, is based in the San Francisco office. She counsels clients in a wide variety of matters involving U.S. federal income taxation. Ms. Linch’s practice includes a range of transactional, structuring, and advisory tax matters in both the U.S. and international contexts. She has experience helping clients address tax issues associated with mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, the development and exploitation of technology and intellectual property, expatriation of individuals and companies, the creation and implementation of multijurisdictional structures, financial transactions, derivatives, bankruptcy, debt and equity issuances, the modification of debt instruments, litigation and settlements, fund formation, venture capital investments, renewable energy project development, and tax equity financing. Ms. Linch received her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and her M.A. and B.A. from Columbia University.
- James Newton, a member of the Finance Department and part of the Business Restructuring + Insolvency Group, is based in the New York office. He represents debtors, creditors’ committees, ad hoc bondholder and lender groups, indenture trustees, and individual creditors in connection with corporate and municipal restructuring and financing transactions. In addition to representing parties in connection with complex in-court restructuring transactions, Mr. Newton has extensive experience advising clients in a wide array of out-of-court transactions, including exchange offers, swap and hedging transactions, structured finance transactions, and distressed M&A and rescue financing transactions. Mr. Newton received his J.D. and M.B.A. from Temple University, his LL.M. in bankruptcy law from St. John’s University, and a B.S.B.A. in finance from the University of Florida.