Trump Turns to Florida Lawyers; Speaker Shuffle; Martin on the Move
Washington Wrap is a weekly look at the biggest legal industry news and Big Law moves shaping the legal business in Washington, D.C.
April 20, 2018 at 03:11 PM
5 minute read
Washington Wrap is a weekly look at the biggest legal industry news and Big Law moves shaping the legal business in Washington, D.C. Send tips and lateral moves to Ryan Lovelace at [email protected].
Rudy Giuliani may have gotten all the headlines, but the former New York City mayor and on-again, off-again Greenberg Traurig partner isn't the only new lawyer to join the president's legal team this week.
The other additions—barring any sudden reversals—are Jane Serene Raskin and Marty Raskin, who run Raskin & Raskin in Coral Gables, Florida. Their firm's website appeared to be offline on Friday, but an archived version outlines a bit about the duo's expertise.
Marty Raskin was a federal prosecutor in New Jersey and eventually led the Criminal Division for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami before entering private practice and partnering with his wife. After starting her career at a predecessor firm to Bingham McCutchen, Jane Serene Raskin served stints as a federal prosecutor in Boston and as counsel to the assistant attorney general of the Criminal Division in Washington.
According to their bios, the two met when she was delivering a speech at the American Bar Association National Institute in New Orleans. They married in 1990, and formed their own Florida firm shortly thereafter.
David Weinstein, a partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson in South Florida and a former federal prosecutor in Miami, suggested the Raskins' particular expertise in the Sunshine State may have been a selling point.
Weinstein, who said he has known the Raskins for about 20 years in professional and social settings, said the president may be looking for someone with home court experience to navigate any legal scrutiny surrounding Trump's holdings in the area.
“For whatever reason, there's always a South Florida connection,” Weinstein said.
While the Raskins' role on President Donald Trump's team remains hazy, Giuliani told CNN his “limited” contributions to the team would be focused on getting special counsel Robert Mueller to end his investigation soon.
The hires come after New York attorney Steven Molo reportedly joined the growing ranks this week of leading lawyers passing on representing Trump.
Law Firm Moves, News, and Notes:
Former House Speaker John Boehner is reuniting with former top aide David Stewart at Squire Patton Boggs this month. Stewart, who also helped departing House Speaker Paul Ryan lead the GOP charge to pass tax cut legislation last year, is not a lawyer and will work as a principal in the firm's public policy practice.
Boehner, meanwhile, recently joined the advisory board of cannabis investment firms at Acreage Holdings. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, likewise joined the ranks of prominent Washington politicians making the country friendlier to pot this week. Schumer announced Friday he would introduce legislation to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level.
Speaking of speakers, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is exiting Dentons. The former Georgia congressman and Trump loyalist said in a statement he is in talks with other firms and plans to announce a new home soon.
The end of Gingrich's three-year gig at the global Big Law firm was first announced in an internal email by Dentons CEO in the United States, Mike McNamara, earlier this week.
Like father like son: A couple of months after James Tyrrell Jr. left Locke Lord for the friendly confines of Newark, New Jersey-based Sills Cummis & Gross, James Tyrrell III is moving to Venable as counsel in Washington, D.C.
The son most recently worked at Clark Hill before Venable and will focus on complex political law compliance and campaign finance regulation.
The father is well-known for handling litigation with a global scope and took a litigation team from Locke Lord with him to his new firm. Earlier in his career, James Tyrrell Jr. practiced and held management positions at Latham & Watkins and Squire Patton Boggs.
D.C. lawyers swapping law firms is nothing new, but William “Billy” Martin has definitely gotten around over the last two decades.
Martin joined Barnes & Thornburg from Miles & Stockbridge this month—marking his ninth different firm in the preceding 18 years.
Martin will work as a partner in Barnes & Thornburg's white-collar and investigations practice in Washington, and said he's excited to begin working with fellow former prosecutors.
Elizabeth Lan Davis, a chief trial attorney at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, joined the financial services and regulatory firm Murphy & McGonigle in Washington.
Davis led civil regulatory enforcement litigation and investigations at the CFTC and will work as a member of Murphy & McGonigle's securities regulation and securities litigation practices. She previously worked for nine years in the U.S. Department of Justice's Tax Division.
The president's 2020 campaign filings this week with the Federal Election Commission showed more than $800,000 spent on legal fees thus far in 2018.
Alongside larger firms raking in the big bucks such as Jones Day and McDermott Will & Emery listed on the FEC documents, is D.C. boutique Schertler & Onorato. The FEC filings show the firm, which represents longtime Trump bodyguard Keith Schiller, collecting little more than $66,000.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllFTC Sues PepsiCo for Alleged Price Break to Big-Box Retailer, Incurs Holyoak's Wrath
5 minute readSupreme Court Will Hear Religious Parents' Bid to Opt Out of LGBTQ-Themed School Books
Wells Fargo and Bank of America Agree to Pay Combined $60 Million to Settle SEC Probe
Trending Stories
- 1SDNY Criminal Division Deputy Chief Returns to Debevoise
- 2Brownstein Adds Former Interior Secretary, Offering 'Strategic Counsel' During New Trump Term
- 3Tragedy on I-95: Florida Lawsuit Against Horizon Freight System Could Set New Precedent in Crash Cases
- 4Weil, Loading Up on More Regulatory Talent, Adds SEC Asset Management Co-Chief
- 5Big Banks Did Great Last Year. What Does That Mean for Big Law?
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250