Kutak Rock LLP has elected 30 new partners from its attorney ranks in 11 of the firm’s 18 offices—Denver, Fayetteville, Irvine, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Omaha, Philadelphia, Rogers, Scottsdale, Spokane and Springfield. The promotions became effective on January 1, 2020. 

“Our new partners have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to client service, our firm and our communities,” said Jay Selanders, Chair of Kutak Rock. “This group is reflective of Kutak Rock’s core values, including the firm’s longstanding dedication to diversity and inclusion. They represent the future leaders of the firm and we are proud to welcome them to the partnership.”

Fifty-five percent of the new partners are women, and 60% of the class is “Mansfield Diverse,” double the requirement for Mansfield Certification Plus, and further identifying Kutak Rock as a firm meeting the goals set forth by the Mansfield Rule. 

The attorneys elected to the partnership are: 

Kristin G. Caid (Denver) practices in the area of public finance, serving as bond counsel, disclosure counsel and underwriter’s counsel. Her public finance practice focuses on healthcare and charter school financings.

Hillary E. Ellis (Denver) focuses her transactional practice on complex commercial real estate matters, including commercial finance and general corporate matters related to the development, acquisition and disposition of commercial properties of all types and leasing of retail, office and industrial properties.

Stephen M. Dacus (Fayetteville) is a business-focused litigator who represents a wide variety of clients—from local employers and entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 companies and international businesses—on a broad range of complex commercial litigation matters.

J. David Bournazian (Irvine) is a trial litigator and advisor and is often called upon by clients to handle their most difficult and sensitive matters. He represents national and international clients, including well known and publicly traded companies, in both litigation and transactional matters.

Kevin J. Grochow (Irvine) focuses his practice on the representation of municipalities and public entities in litigation ranging from general liability matters to inverse condemnation actions and civil rights violations. His practice also focuses on general business and environmental litigation as well as the defense of insurance companies and their insured individuals and businesses. 

Andrew G. Borders (Kansas City) focuses his practice on public and institutional banking finance and commercial lending, and represents foreign and domestic credit providers in municipal, non-profit, higher education and healthcare financings.

Jacy J. Hurst (Kansas City) practices in the areas of healthcare regulatory compliance and employment law counseling, where her extensive litigation experience informs her practice. She advises healthcare clients, including pharmacies, regarding compliance with healthcare and privacy laws and regulations including the Stark Law, the Anti-Kickback Statute, HIPAA, 340B and Medicare/Medicaid. In her employment practice, Jacy advises clients regarding compliance with anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, anti-retaliation and breach of contract laws and policy development.     

Brian L. Main (Kansas City) focuses his practice on corporate law and intellectual property law, with an emphasis on helping clients develop and protect their intellectual property assets. His previous experience as a manufacturing engineer and structural analyst allows him to assist and guide clients through every phase of a product’s life cycle.

Justin M. Nichols (Kansas City) has extensive experience in both the litigation and transactional aspects of finance and real estate, with a particular focus on automotive finance. Justin defends national and local banks and finance companies in litigation, documents loans, and handles all aspects of the finance, leasing and purchase of real estate. Justin is currently the team leader for the financial services practice in Kutak Rock’s Kansas City office.

Meredith A. Webster (Kansas City) is in the litigation practice group and focuses her practice on representing insurance companies and businesses in complex disputes.  Meredith routinely defends insurance companies across the country in disputes involving policy coverage, vexatious refusal to pay, and bad faith.  She also represents insurance companies, health-care entities, and other businesses in litigating compliance, HIPAA, and intellectual property matters.

K. Jon Breyer (Minneapolis) is a seasoned trial lawyer and a MSBA Certified Civil Trial Law Specialist who handles complex business disputes arising from all varieties of business agreements. He is also a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) and routinely advises on privacy and data security issues, including the existing patchwork of U.S. federal and state laws, state breach notification laws, state information security laws, existing self-regulatory frameworks, as well as compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Cindy L. Davis (Minneapolis) practices in the areas of employee benefits, ERISA, commercial real estate and general business and transaction matters. She represents employee benefit plan sponsors, boards of trustees, administrators and third-party administrators (TPAs). She has a wealth of knowledge and extensive experience related to employee benefit plans and specifically with the issues unique to Taft-Hartley employee benefit plans. 

Asher R. Ball (Omaha) represents participants in the affordable housing credit industry, with the majority his practice involving the representation of tax credit investors and syndicators on equity aspects of lower-tier investments. His practice encompasses corporate and real estate finance ranging from development of large-scale multi-phase projects in major markets to homes and multifamily apartments in rural locales.

Torri A. Criger (Omaha) focuses her practice on corporate healthcare, providing transactional, regulatory and compliance guidance for various types of healthcare providers.  She has significant experience in representing members of the pharmacy industry, including retail pharmacies, specialty pharmacies, veterinary pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers.  Her experience prior to joining Kutak Rock as in-house counsel to an academic medical center enables her to provide unique insight to clients on the legal and practical implications of business arrangements and day-to-day operational and regulatory matters.

Maggie L. Ebert (Omaha) focuses her practice on intellectual property and complex commercial litigation in both state and federal court. In addition to her litigation practice, Maggie is well-versed in P-1B visas for internationally recognized entertainment groups performing in the United States.

Erica N. Goven (Omaha) concentrates her practice on corporate and regulatory matters associated with the licensing, procurement and sale of intellectual property. Additionally, Erica focuses her practice on trademark clearance, counseling clients on trademark and copyright protection issues, and the maintenance and enforcement of intellectual property rights.

Patrick J. Krebs (Omaha) focuses his practice primarily on commercial real estate development, acquisitions, dispositions and commercial leasing transactions. He also represents equity investors and syndicators in transactions involving the low-income housing and historic tax credit programs.

Alexis L. Pappas (Omaha) concentrates her practice on employee benefits law. She aids clients in the creation, ongoing administration and regulatory compliance of health and welfare plans. Her practice also embraces retirement plans and qualified tuition programs.

Michelle E. Pernicek (Omaha) represents clients in various types of public finance transactions, including securitizations, derivatives and general corporate matters. She has advised multiple financial institutions and banking clients with respect to Dodd-Frank regulatory matters, and has an active national multifamily practice, with experience serving as bond counsel and lender counsel in financings of multifamily housing projects.

Carol A. Svolos (Omaha) focuses her practice on intellectual property and complex commercial litigation. Carol has brought major patent and trademark cases in numerous venues and has assisted in the defense of clients through trial in high stakes patent infringement actions.  She also advises healthcare clients in major disputes, including class actions, as well as litigation with healthcare billing and software development vendors. 

Ronald R. Sylvester (Omaha) represents tax credit investors and syndicators in various tax-credit finance transactions. His experience includes representing clients on transactions financed through low-income housing tax credits, historic rehabilitation tax credits, energy tax credits, and state tax credits.

Melissa A. Bozeman (Philadelphia) is a commercial litigator who devotes her practice to strategic problem-solving and contingency planning for a variety of business clients and entrepreneurs. Her core practice focuses on prosecuting business tort claims such as fraud, tortious interference with contractual relationships, and breach of fiduciary duty, as well as contractual and intellectual property claims.

Kelsey E. Fohner (Rogers) is a member of Kutak Rock’s National Healthcare Practice and represents health systems, individual hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, community health providers and physician practices in transactional matters and regulatory compliance.  She has significant experience drafting and negotiating various agreements between healthcare providers.  She frequently advises clients in areas of federal and state fraud and abuse laws, medical information privacy, provider licensing, health system operations and provider enrollment. 

Monika Calamita (Scottsdale) concentrates her practice on public finance transactions involving charter schools in numerous states. Her experience includes acting as bond counsel, disclosure counsel, issuer’s counsel, bank counsel and underwriter’s counsel. She has also worked on general obligation bond financings and industrial revenue bond financings including 501(c)(3) facilities, housing, prisons and healthcare.

Adam R. Baird (Spokane) is a member of the firm’s National Public Finance Tax Department and focuses his practice on tax law, public finance and the financial transactions permitted by Sections 103 and 141-150 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. His legal experience includes representation as bond counsel, underwriter counsel, bank counsel, borrower counsel, developer counsel, and special tax counsel, which includes providing advice on tax and regulatory matters on a variety of public finance transactions.

Geana M. Van Dessel (Spokane) has experience in all phases of complex commercial litigation.  She has tried both bench and jury cases and has represented clients in AAA commercial arbitration. Her litigation experience includes trademark, contract, securities, trade secret, banking, employment, and consumer protection litigation, both in federal and state court. She has defended multiple federal class actions and handles federal criminal defense cases by court-appointment.

Heather C. Yakely (Spokane) is the managing partner in the firm's Spokane office and has experience in both state and appellate courts in employment and constitutional law issues, municipal law, and tort defense. She has successfully defended law enforcement personnel and municipalities in civil rights defense and has successfully defended clients, municipal and private, in various employment matters, including discrimination, sexual harassment and ADA litigation.

James H. Jeffries (Springfield) focuses his practice on helping businesses grow and succeed throughout their lifespan. He utilizes his expertise in intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and related areas, to assist clients in identifying and protecting their key assets. His work also includes representing clients and their businesses from the startup phase through the entire lifecycle of the business, including formation, capital raising, contract negotiation, financing, asset purchases, mergers, and acquisitions. He also represents clients with respect to commercial real estate acquisition, development, and ownership matters.

Michael D. Textor (Springfield) has a national trial practice that focuses on the construction and design industries. He has extensive experience representing engineering and architectural firms with design liability issues and he often counsels contractors, construction managers, and public and private owners through the complexities of construction challenges. He has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America every year since 2010 and is the 2020 president of the Construction Lawyers Society of America, an invitation-only fellowship of the world’s best construction lawyers.

Randell D. Wallace (Springfield) concentrates his practice on the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and economic development incentives. He also counsels local, regional and national developers, lenders, healthcare and educational institutions in real estate acquisition and divestiture, planning and zoning matters, and lending transactions.