Michael Best & Friedrich LLP announced Thursday that it had hired an experienced corporate and securities attorney as a partner in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and a former Charter Communications vice president as a data privacy partner in Milwaukee.
Christopher D. Seamster joined Michael Best's Winston-Salem office last week after six years as counsel with North Carolina firm Blanco Tackabery, where he chaired the corporate practice.
Seamster told Law360 Pulse on Friday that he joined Michael Best because of the firm's dedicated industry teams, which include food and beverage, healthcare, higher education, digital technology and marketing and the full-service offering that allows him to internally provide a wider range of services to clients.
"What I really found attractive about Michael Best was the extensive resources," he said. "They don't only have independent practices based on area of law, but they also have industry practices, and being able to fully service a transaction from all aspects is a phenomenal asset to have for serving clients."
Linda C. Emery joined Michael Best in Milwaukee at the start of July after spending a little under five years with Quarles & Brady LLP. She said that she was attracted to Michael Best because of the firm's approach to client service and, like Seamster, she added that the firm's different offerings were a major draw.
"I thought Michael Best offered me an opportunity to better support my clients especially in the technology space because the firm is highly focused on innovative approaches to working with those types of clients," Emery said.
Seamster, a graduate of Touro College's Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, represents clients including individual investors, small companies and large corporations on corporate matters such as mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring and buyouts and securities matters, which include equity and debt servicing, compliance and general counsel service for day-to-day activities.
"With his expansive background in M&A and restructuring, Chris will be a great addition to our deep bench of corporate lawyers," corporate chair Jason Rogers said in a statement. "His strong background in representing clients in securities law will also help strengthen our robust practice group."
Along with his corporate and security work, Seamster has experience in renewable energy, working with solar renewable energy clients with corporate structuring and tax equity investments for solar farm development projects.
"Renewable energy has been an emerging field for years now, and I think given the way things are unfolding, it will continue to grow and expand," he said.
Emery, who graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, works on domestic and global data privacy matters, data breach incident response and IT technology licensing for clients in areas such as consumer goods, e-commerce, financial services and healthcare.
"Linda has clearly demonstrated her ability to guide clients through the ever-changing rules, regulations and outside threats they face when they maintain confidential financial and personal information of customers, employees, business partners, students, patients and service providers," Rogers said in a statement. "Our clients will greatly benefit from her vast knowledge in this space, and we're thrilled to welcome her to the team."
Before joining Quarles & Brady, Emery spent over 10 years as an IP attorney with von Briesen & Roper SC, and she also had stints as vice president and in-house counsel with Assurant Health and Charter Communications, two experiences she says influenced her decision to get into data privacy and gave her insight on the inner workings of corporations.
"I started as a litigator and came out the other side as a technology and data privacy lawyer," Emery said. "The great thing about being in-house is that you're part of both the business and legal team, so you see a great variety of issues arise in areas you might not have expertise. I think that's helped me in private practice because I know what it's like to be in-house and how it's important to respond to specific needs in a timely and efficient way."
Along with the recently announced hires, Michael Best also hired senior counsel Gwendolyn W. Lewis to the labor and employment team in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the end of May and Chicago-based IP partner Peter Prommer in March.
The firm also made a number of hires to its lobbying arm in the early spring, adding health care principals Eric Duvall and John Foley in Milwaukee.
Michael Best is a Wisconsin-based firm that has 19 offices in six states and Washington, D.C., including eight offices in North Carolina. The firm has about 270 attorneys, according to the most recent Law360 400.
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