Transitions

[caption id="attachment_19421" align="alignright" width="134" caption="Mary Patricia Benz"][/caption] Mary Patricia Benz, an experienced trial and appellate lawyer, opened her practice in downtown Chicago concentrating on litigation and appeals, mediation and arbitration, and lawyer professional responsibility matters. In her business model, Ms. Benz often works with co-counsel, adding collaborative services and offering clients an efficient, creative and personal approach to complex legal problems. Ms. Benz has over 30 years of experience in state and federal courts and will focus on dispute resolution for individuals and businesses including lawyers, educators, and other professionals. Recent cases include a dispute among the principals of a real estate development company, a contract dispute among pharmaceutical vendors, an alleged class action involving claims of violation of individuals’ rights of publicity, insurance disputes involving property damage coverage and title insurance, consumer disputes, breach of fiduciary duty claims, employment disputes, professional malpractice and malicious prosecution claims, disputes related to attorney’s fees and professional discipline, and legal ethics counseling. For more than 10 years, Ms. Benz served as a volunteer on the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) hearing and inquiry boards providing her with a solid base for representing lawyers at ARDC and counseling lawyers about ethics issues.

[caption id="attachment_19014" align="alignright" width="160" caption="Donald J. Straka"][/caption] Walentine O’Toole McQuilan & Gordon is pleased to announce that Donald J. Straka has joined the firm as a partner in the area of corporate and banking law. Straka has over 20 years of experience in representing public and private corporate clients, financial institutions, medical practices, manufacturing concerns and regulatory authorities in multiple jurisdictions. He specializes in corporate law, banking law and regulation, lending and finance, mergers and acquisitions (private and public companies), business transactions and litigation, regulatory matters, securities, real estate and employment matters. He provides strategic legal advice to clients relative to their growth and financial objectives, organizing and structuring business entities, acquisitions and divestitures, and negotiating and closing complex transactions. He served for eight years as the Chief Legal Officer of a Midwest regional Bank Holding Company and its subsidiaries where he advised the Board of Directors and led the Legal, Human Resources and Security Departments and served on a number of Committees. He has also served as a Director and/or CEO of various other corporate entities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

[caption id="attachment_18818" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Brenda J. Robinson"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_18817" align="alignright" width="150" caption="J. Patrick Fitzsimmons"][/caption] J. Patrick Fitzsimmons and Brenda J. Robinson have joined Baker & Daniels LLP as new partners in the law firm's Chicago office. Fitzsimmons concentrates his transactional practice in health care, medical device, biotech and life sciences.

[caption id="attachment_18507" align="alignright" width="147" caption="Asher D. Funk"][/caption] Polsinelli Shughart PC welcomes attorney Asher D. Funk as an associate in the national law firm’s Trial department where he will focus his practice on government investigations and criminal defense of fraud and abuse issues within the health care industry. Funk brings a wealth of experience previously representing “whistleblowers” under the False Claims Act. He will now represent health care clients facing government investigations, civil and criminal lawsuits. Previously, Funk worked closely with the attorneys from the Department of Justice and state attorney generals’ offices across the country during the investigation and prosecution of False Claims Acts cases. Funk joins a national team of government investigations/white-collar criminal defense attorneys stretching from Phoenix to Washington, D.C. The firm advises clients on corporate governance issues and assists in structuring compliance programs to help clients avoid problems before they arise.