Crowell & Moring elected 12 new partners effective January 1, 2025. The firm also promoted four lawyers to senior counsel and 25 associates to counsel.
The new partners practice in a wide range of areas, including Antitrust and Competition, Government Contracts, Health Care, Litigation, Patents, Privacy and Cybersecurity, Pro Bono, and White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement.
“Our new partners have developed strong, highly valued practices and have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional client service. We are delighted to welcome them to the partnership and to celebrate their important contributions to our clients, the firm and our communities,” said Philip T. Inglima, chair of Crowell & Moring.
The newly elected partners are:
Jay DeSanto (Washington) – A member of the Litigation and Health Care Groups, DeSanto frequently defends health plans in both contracted and non-contracted disputes brought by healthcare providers. He regularly advises health plans on claims reimbursement disputes and counsels them on enforcing their contracts. DeSanto also has robust experience bringing claims on behalf of health plans against providers in offensive recovery actions. Outside his healthcare litigation practice, DeSanto is often called upon to help manage complexlitigation engagements across a spectrum of industries. He is a soup-to-nuts litigator who handles all phases of litigation, including drafting pleadings, briefs, and dispositive motions; engaging in discovery; taking and defending depositions; presenting at trial; and drafting appellate briefs.
Lyndsay Gorton (Washington) – A member of the Government Contracts Group, Gorton’s practice focuses on government contracts litigation and counseling, including government investigations, fraud matters under the False Claims Act, and federal and state regulatory compliance. In addition to her primary government contracts practice, Gorton has federal court litigation experience representing a broad variety of clients in commercial litigation matters and has led and managed teams at every stage of litigation, including discovery, dispositive motion practice, trial, and settlement. She also uses her litigation experience to assist clients with internal investigations, risk management, and compliance.
Michael Gruden (Washington) – A member of the Privacy and Cybersecurity and Government Contracts groups, Gruden counsels clients on cybersecurity compliance reviews, risk assessments, data breaches, incident response, and regulatory investigations, and he assists government contractors with federal contract compliance and administration matters throughout the contract lifecycle. Gruden is a former Pentagon IT acquisition branch chief, and he is a Certified Information Privacy Professional with a U.S. government concentration (CIPP/G). He is also a Registered Practitioner under the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) framework. Gruden chairs the ABA Science & Technology Section’s Homeland Security Committee.
Alice Hall-Partyka (Los Angeles) – A member of the Health Care Group, Hall-Partyka counsels payers, providers, and technology companies on a broad range of health care regulatory, corporate, and policy matters. She uses her industry experience to help clients identify practical solutions and navigate complex regulatory frameworks. Hall-Partyka advises health care companies that are adapting to evolving laws and regulations, developing new products or services, or seeking to improve their regulatory compliance. She also strategizes with and represents clients that are responding to governmental inquiries and investigations. She also regularly represents asylum applicants and advises nonprofit organizations as part of her active pro bono practice.
Raija Horstman (Los Angeles) – A member of the firm’s Litigation Group, Raija is a trial lawyer who focuses her practice on trade secrets, false advertising, unfair competition, copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and consumer and employment class actions. She has in-depth experience at all stages of litigation and has represented clients in a broad range of high-stakes disputes in the fields of entertainment, technology, and manufacturers and retailers of consumer products. She has litigated and tried cases involving trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of publicity, unfair competition, false advertising, employment and consumer class actions, as well as general business and complex commercial litigation matters, including fraud, breach of contract, breach of warranty, and breach of fiduciary duty.
Nkechi Kanu (Washington) – A member of the Government Contracts Group, Kanu advises government contractors on internal and government investigations arising under the False Claims Act, with a particular focus on alleged noncompliance with cybersecurity requirements. Her FCA experience also includes procurement fraud, health care fraud, and defense industry fraud. Additionally, Kanu advises and advocates for government contractors and other clients in highly regulated environments in matters involving civil and administrative enforcement. This includes cases arising under federal grand juries, inspector generals, and suspension and debarment offices. She also handles affirmative claims recovery matters, analyzing potential claims and changes, counseling clients, and representing government contractors, including subcontractors, in claims and dispute proceedings.
Jared Levine (New York) – A member of the Litigation Group, Levine’s practice focuses on complex trial and appellate matters, with an emphasis on antitrust litigation, energy infrastructure disputes, financial services litigation, class action defense, post-closing merger and asset sale disputes, and false advertising claims. He appears regularly in state and federal courts, as well as domestic and international arbitrations, where he represents clients from a broad range of industries, including renewable energy producers, insurance companies, private equity firms, media and telecommunications companies, industrial manufacturers, financial institutions, and software providers. Levine also maintains an active pro bono impact litigation docket focused on representing low-income New York City tenants in group overcharge litigation and immigrants challenging unlawful detention and deportation practices.
Matthew McBurney (Washington) – A member of the Antitrust and Competition Group, McBurney manages, litigates, and resolves complex antitrust litigation, with a focus on multinational cartel litigation. He has extensive experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in such cases and has done so at both the trial and appellate levels in federal and state courts throughout the country. In addition to antitrust, McBurney manages and litigates complex cases involving health care issues, product liability, and commercial disputes, advising clients on creative solutions, innovative strategies, and decisive action to address the diverse litigation needs and challenges they face.
Tiana Russell (Washington) – Since joining the firm as public service counsel in 2019, Russell has been instrumental in coordinating, promoting, and participating in the pro bono work performed at Crowell, including mentoring and supervising the lawyers involved. This work encompasses a diverse set of issues, including advancing racial equity, immigration, criminal justice, reproductive rights, gun violence prevention, LGBTQ+ rights, and poverty law. She acts as a liaison to the legal services and nonprofit community, develops and selects pro bono opportunities, and ensures a broad range of participation in the firm’s pro bono activities. Russell serves on the board of directors for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, the Washington Council of Lawyers and the Crowell & Moring Foundation. She also serves on the Junior Board of the D.C. Volunteer Lawyers’ Project and as the chair of the Advisory Committee for the D.C. Bar Foundation.
Michael Samuels (Washington) – A member of the Government Contracts Group, Samuels counsels and represents buyers and sellers, including both strategic and private equity clients, as well as lenders and venture capital investors, in complex M&A transactions involving government contractors. He guides all aspects of the government contracts regulatory M&A process, including due diligence, negotiating the government contracts terms of the purchase or merger agreement, and other transactional and post-closing issues such as those related to small-business compliance and deal structuring considerations and facility clearances. Samuels also assists with other corporate-adjacent government contracts matters, such as reorganizations, novations, change-of-name agreements, and organizational conflicts of interest. In addition, he counsels clients on a wide range of regulatory compliance issues, subcontractor and teaming agreements, small-business issues and size protests, intellectual property data rights and software issues, bid protests, and cybersecurity matters. Samuels currently serves as co-chair of the Mergers and Acquisitions Committee of the ABA’s Public Contract Law Section.
Ali Tehrani (Washington, D.C.) – A member of the Patents Group, Ali focuses his practice on high-stakes intellectual property litigation across federal and state courts, at the appellate level, and in proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He regularly counsels clients on the most challenging IP issues whether they involve litigation, transactions, regulatory guidance, employment, cybersecurity, or brand protection. Drawing from his experiences across diverse technologies and disciplines, Ali is uniquely situated to provide multidimensional strategies to protect and monetize IP rights, negotiate complex agreements involving cutting edge technologies, and offer comprehensive counseling that integrates proprietary rights with business objectives.
Lisa Umans (New York) – A member of the White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement Group, Umans represents large institutional clients and individuals in internal investigations and high-profile government inquiries. She regularly counsels corporations and individuals in federal and state regulatory and criminal investigations conducted by grand juries, congressional committees, and domestic and international law enforcement and regulatory agencies, including the DOJ’s Criminal and Antitrust Divisions, U.S. Attorney’s Offices, Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and before various state attorneys general. She has also served in a chief of staff role in two federal compliance monitorships. Committed to ensuring equal access to justice, Umans provides pro bono counsel to indigent clients facing criminal prosecution as part of the Southern District of New York Criminal Justice Act panel.
Crowell lawyers promoted to senior counsel are: Christine Hawes of the Labor and Employment Group (Washington), Yi Huang of the International Trade Group (Shanghai), Aaron Marx of the International Trade Group (Washington), and Jackson Pai of the International Trade Group (Los Angeles).
Crowell associates promoted to counsel are: Fan Cheng, Sophie Davis, Kathryn Douglass, Lauren Fleming, Rina Gashaw, Suzanne Giammalva, Chantel Greene, David Griffith, Chris Gurley, Garylene (Gage) Javier, Kimberley Johnson, Ashleigh Kaspari, Amanda Kwagala, Mary LaFleur Miklusak, Shawn Layman, Laura Martinez, Donna Reuter, Anna Saber, Mariam Sarwar, Issac Schabes, Ian Schuler, Catherine Shames, Charlene Sun, Evelien Van Espen, and Charis Zimmick.
About Crowell & Moring LLP
Crowell & Moring is an international law firm with operations in the United States, Europe, MENA, and Asia. Drawing on significant government, business, industry and legal experience, the firm helps clients capitalize on opportunities and provides creative solutions to complex litigation and arbitration, regulatory and policy, and corporate and transactional issues. The firm is consistently recognized for its commitment to pro bono service as well as its programs and initiatives to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.
