Seven Baltimore attorneys named "Lawyer of the Year" in their practices
Washington, DC – August 15, 2016 – Ninety-four Venable attorneys were recognized in the 2017 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. The attorneys from the Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Towson, Tysons Corner, and Washington, DC offices represent a broad cross section of the firm’s corporate, government, intellectual property, and litigation practices.
Additionally, Best Lawyers® named seven Baltimore attorneys as "Lawyer of the Year" in their practices. Only a single attorney in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is recognized as a "Lawyer of the Year." This honor reflects the high level of respect attorneys have earned among their peers in their communities and respective practice areas for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity. The following Venable attorneys were named "Lawyer of the Year" in Baltimore:
Robert A. Hoffman – Land Use and Zoning Law 
Charles J. Morton, Jr. – Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law 
Bruce R. Parker – Product Liability Litigation – Defendants 
Kenneth L. Thompson – Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants 
Robert L. Waldman – Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law 
Thomas D. Washburne, Jr. – Corporate Law 
Five attorneys – Jessica L. Grant, Claudia A. Lewis, Lawrence Roberts, Ralph S. Tyler, and Po Yi – were listed in Best Lawyers for the first time this year.
Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation totaling more than 6.7 million votes resulting in more than 55,000 leading attorneys being included in the newest edition.
The complete list of Venable attorneys honored in The Best Lawyers in America 2017 follows below. The year next to each attorney's name indicates the first year in which he or she was included in Best Lawyers:
David G. Adams (2007) 
- FDA Law 
Robert G. Ames (2006) 
- Employment Law – Management 
- Labor Law – Management 
Jeffrey P. Ayres (2007) 
- Employment Law – Management 
- Labor Law – Management 
- Litigation – Labor and Employment 
Peter S. Britell (2007) 
- Real Estate Law 
Jennifer J. Bruton (2014) 
- Real Estate Law 
Walter R. Calvert (2007) 
- Public Finance Law 
- Tax Law 
Courtney G. Capute (2012) 
- Leisure and Hospitality Law 
- Real Estate Law 
Wallace E. Christner (2007) 
- Corporate Compliance Law 
Bryson L. Cook (1993) 
- Corporate Law 
- International Trade and Finance Law 
- Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law 
- Mergers and Acquisitions Law 
- Tax Law 
John F. Cooney (2012) 
- Administrative / Regulatory Law 
William D. Coston (2009) 
- Litigation – Intellectual Property 
- Litigation – Patent 
Gregory A. Cross (2012) 
- Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law 
- Litigation – Bankruptcy 
James E. Cumbie (2008) 
- Public Finance Law 
C. Carey Deeley, Jr. (2014) 
- Commercial Litigation 
Douglas C. Emhoff (2014) 
- Litigation – Intellectual Property 
Alan J. Epstein (2014) 
- Tax Law 
Geoffrey C. Etnire (2006) 
- Real Estate Law 
Kurt J. Fischer (2008) 
- Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law 
- Real Estate Law
Michael D. Foster (2016) 
- Tax Law 
Thomas W. France (2008) 
- Mergers and Acquisitions Law 
Stephen K. Gallagher (2007) 
- Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law 
- Commercial Litigation 
- Litigation – Bankruptcy 
Geoffrey R. Garinther (2013) 
- Criminal Defense: White-Collar 
Nora E. Garrote (2014) 
- Technology Law 
Lawrence H. Gesner (2007) 
- Real Estate Law 
Ronald R. Glancz (2008) 
- Banking and Finance Law 
- Financial Services Regulation Law 
- Litigation – Banking and Finance 
Jeffrey K. Gonya (2006) 
- Non-Profit / Charities Law 
- Trusts and Estates 
Robert G. Gottlieb (2006) 
- Real Estate Law 
Jessica L. Grant (2017) 
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Plaintiffs 
Douglas H. Green (2012) 
- Environmental Law 
- Litigation – Environmental 
Gary D. Hailey (2009) 
- Advertising Law 
W. Warren Hamel (2015) 
- Criminal Defense: White-Collar 
- Government Relations Practice 
James J. Hanks, Jr. (2006) 
- Corporate Governance Law 
- Corporate Law 
- Mergers and Acquisitions Law 
- Securities / Capital Markets Law 
Mark B. Harrison (2010) 
- Technology Law 
Marta D. Harting (2006) 
- Commercial Litigation 
- Energy Law 
Adam R. Hess (2006) 
- Litigation – Intellectual Property 
- Litigation – Patent 
- Patent Law 
Kenneth R. Hoffman (2006) 
- Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law 
Robert A. Hoffman (2011) 
- Land Use and Zoning Law 
- Litigation – Land Use and Zoning 
Todd J. Horn (2009) 
- Employment Law – Management 
- Litigation – Labor and Employment 
Philip M. Horowitz (1993) 
- Real Estate Law 
Stuart P. Ingis (2015) 
- Advertising Law 
Thora A. Johnson (2016) 
- Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law 
Jeffrey D. Knowles (2012) 
- Advertising Law 
Alexander W. Koff (2011) 
- International Arbitration – Commercial 
- International Arbitration – Governmental 
Sharon A. Kroupa (2012) 
- Corporate Governance Law 
Claudia A. Lewis (2017) 
- FDA Law 
Thomas M. Lingan (2011) 
- Environmental Law 
- Litigation – Environmental 
Michael B. Luftman (2013) 
- Trusts and Estates 
Michael B. MacWilliams (2013) 
- Commercial Litigation 
Christopher R. Mellott (2015) 
- Commercial Litigation 
Thomas E.D. Millspaugh (2008) 
- Real Estate Law 
Mitchell Y. Mirviss (2013) 
- Appellate Practice 
Charles J. Morton, Jr. (2010) 
- Corporate Law 
- Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law 
- Mergers and Acquisitions Law 
- Securitization and Structured Finance Law 
- Technology Law 
- Venture Capital Law 
Amy Ralph Mudge (2015) 
- Advertising Law 
Michele Mulrooney (2016) 
- Trusts and Estates 
Jeanne L. Newlon (2008) 
- Trusts and Estates 
Brian J. O'Connor (2006) 
- Litigation and Controversy – Tax 
- Tax Law 
Gregory J. Ossi (2014) 
- Litigation – Labor and Employment 
Bruce R. Parker (2010) 
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants 
- Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants 
- Product Liability Litigation – Defendants 
Jennifer A. Pratt (2013) 
- Tax Law 
Lawrence Roberts (2017) 
- Communications Law 
Maria E. Rodriguez (2013) 
- Commercial Litigation 
Jeffrey S. Sabin (2012) 
- Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law 
Michael A. Sartori (2008) 
- Technology Law 
Michael D. Schiffer (2013) 
- Corporate Law 
Joseph C. Schmelter (2013) 
- Mergers and Acquisitions Law 
Brian L. Schwalb (2010) 
- Commercial Litigation 
- Litigation – Real Estate 
- Litigation – Trusts and Estates 
- Litigation and Controversy – Tax 
A. Christopher Sega (2006) 
- Tax Law 
- Trusts and Estates 
Randal M. Shaheen (2014) 
- Advertising Law 
Ralph E. Sharpe (2015) 
- Banking and Finance Law 
James L. Shea (1995) 
- Appellate Practice 
- Bet-the-Company Litigation 
- Commercial Litigation 
Kevin L. Shepherd (2006) 
- Real Estate Law 
Douglas L. Siegler (2006) 
- Trusts and Estates 
David S. Smith (2013) 
- Labor Law – Management 
Eric R. Smith (2013) 
- Corporate Law 
John R. Stierhoff (2016) 
- Government Relations Practice 
Paul F. Strain (2006) 
- Commercial Litigation 
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants 
- Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants 
- Product Liability Litigation – Defendants 
Ronald W. Taylor (2006) 
- Employment Law – Management 
- Labor Law – Management 
- Litigation – Labor and Employment 
Jeffrey S. Tenenbaum (2012) 
- Non-Profit / Charities Law 
Craig A. Thompson (2013) 
- Product Liability Litigation – Defendants 
Kenneth L. Thompson (2007) 
- Bet-the-Company Litigation 
- Commercial Litigation 
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants 
- Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants 
- Product Liability Litigation – Defendants 
Stacie E. Tobin (2013) 
- Commercial Litigation 
Stefan F. Tucker (1987) 
- Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law 
- Real Estate Law 
- Tax Law 
- Trusts and Estates 
Ralph S. Tyler (2017) 
- Health Care Law 
Michael J. Volpe (2016) 
- Employment Law – Management 
- Labor Law - Management 
Robert L. Waldman (2007) 
- Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law 
- Non-Profit / Charities Law 
- Tax Law 
William L. Walsh Jr. (2015) 
- Corporate Governance Law 
Thomas D. Washburne, Jr. (2006) 
- Banking and Finance Law 
- Corporate Law 
- Mergers and Acquisitions Law 
Richard L. Wasserman (1995) 
- Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law 
- Bet-the-Company Litigation 
- Litigation – Bankruptcy 
G. Stewart Webb, Jr. (2014) 
- Commercial Litigation 
Edward L. Wender (2010) 
- Real Estate Law 
Po Yi (2017) 
- Advertising Law 
Brian M. Zimmet (2015) 
- Energy Law 
A.J. Zottola (2014) 
- Technology Law 
###
Venable LLP is an American Lawyer Global 100 law firm headquartered in Washington, DC, with offices in California, Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Virginia. Our lawyers and legislative advisors serve domestic and international clients in all areas of corporate and business law, complex litigation, intellectual property, regulatory matters, and government affairs.