The law firm of Baker Donelson has announced new leadership for seven of its practice groups.
Martha L. Boyd, a shareholder in the Nashville office, has been named chair of the Firm's Labor & Employment Group. Ms. Boyd, who has served as vice chair of the Labor & Employment Group since 2022, advises non-profits, for-profits, and public companies on a wide range of employment issues. She is a Certified Fraud Examiner and is trained in conducting workplace investigations of harassment or other misconduct, and she has conducted numerous investigations in her 25 years of practicing law. Ms. Boyd also has extensive experience working with foreign-owned companies, helping to bridge the gap between their understanding of U.S. labor and employment laws in comparison to their country of origin. She devotes a significant amount of her practice to training executives and managers in understanding their legal obligations, positive employee relations, and workplace violence prevention.
Bradley E. Chambers, a shareholder in the Houston office, has been named chair of the Firm's newly created Logistics, Energy and Manufacturing Litigation Group. A former member of the Firm's board of directors and previous managing shareholder of the Houston office, Mr. Chambers focuses his practice on the representation of clients in high-stakes litigation and trials throughout Texas, across the United States, and internationally. For more than 25 years, he has represented clients in a variety of industries in complex litigation, including catastrophic and mass tort claims. His trial experience includes both federal and state courts, as well as jurisdictions outside of Texas and the United States. In addition to his trial practice, Mr. Chambers advises clients during all aspects of the business life cycle from start-up, acquisition, restructuring, and divestiture, with an emphasis on strategic planning.
Jennifer K. Dunlap, a shareholder in Baker Donelson's Charleston office, has been named vice chair of the Firm's Labor & Employment Group. Ms. Dunlap helps employers in the financial services, health care, hospitality, manufacturing, and technology industries navigate matters involving labor and employment laws. In addition to advising on best practices in employment, she is an experienced litigator, defending businesses in disputes in federal and state courts. She has defended numerous employers in collective and class action lawsuits involving alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and local wage and hour laws.
Mary Ann Jackson, a shareholder in the Memphis office, has been named chair of the Firm's Tax Group. A member of the Firm's board of directors and previous chair of the Firm's Corporate Group, Ms. Jackson has extensive experience in forming and structuring business organizations, such as limited liability companies, partnerships, and joint ventures, as well as advising clients regarding private securities offerings, shareholder agreements, employment agreements, venture capital fund formation, real estate and other fund formation, confidentiality agreements, and general business contracts. She has advised a variety of nonprofit organizations regarding issues of formation, structuring, compliance, joint ventures, for-profit subsidiaries, intermediate sanctions, unrelated business taxable income, lobbying, tax reporting, and fundraising. Ms. Jackson has worked in the health care field providing general counsel representation, assisting with the acquisition and formation of physician practices, and advising clients on tax exemption issues.
Marcus M. Maples, a shareholder in the Birmingham office, has been named chair of the Firm's Commercial Litigation Group. Mr. Maples, who is the immediate past president of the Birmingham Bar Association, tries cases and leads defense teams in a wide range of high-stakes cases including complex commercial litigation, shareholder disputes, and construction litigation. He has experience litigating in at least a dozen states due to his role as national counsel for an international engineering firm. Mr. Maples is also a member of Baker Donelson's Diversity Committee and serves as chair of the Firm's Diversity and Inclusion Compact Advisory Board.
Sebastian Meis, a shareholder in the Atlanta office, has been named chair of the Firm's Corporate Group. A transactional corporate attorney and member of Baker Donelson's Cross-Border Practice Team, Mr. Meis is licensed in the U.S. and Germany. He advises both U.S. and non-U.S. companies in M&A and corporate matters, including cross-border transactions, including foreign direct investment, as well as the formation and restructuring of corporations and partnerships, and takes on the role of trusted advisor for many non-U.S. companies. His experience comprises representing investment funds in corporate, tax, and bank regulatory matters in connection with real estate, as well as energy investments in the U.S. In addition, he has advised global enterprises on the acquisition of businesses and restructuring of investments. He has extensive experience in advising multinational companies and individuals on complex business immigration issues and international tax matters.
Jeffrey M. Pomeroy, a shareholder in the Birmingham office, has been named chair of the Firm's Real Estate Group. Mr. Pomeroy, who joined Baker Donelson in 2019, has served as vice chair of the Firm's Real Estate Group since April 2023. His practice focuses on the development, acquisition, disposition, leasing, management, and financing of commercial and mixed-use real estate projects. He has extensive retail, office, hospitality, multifamily, and mixed-use real estate experience, and he regularly handles all phases of purchase, sale, lease, and loan transactions. Mr. Pomeroy also advises and assists clients with issues relating to joint venture/capital stack structures, entity formation and governance, project entitlements, and development incentives.
Matt Woolf, a shareholder in the New Orleans office, has been named chair of the Complex Litigation and Class Actions Group. Mr. Woolf previously chaired the Firm's Business Litigation Group. He concentrates his practice on commercial disputes and insurance defense, and he has considerable experience defending class and mass actions against the insurance industry, as well as administrating, managing, and defending large volumes of individual claims and lawsuits over a broad geographic region. Mr. Woolf's experience includes numerous lines of private and commercial property, life, and liability insurance, bad faith, coverage, regulatory, and third-party defense. He also represents clients in a wide variety of commercial litigation matters, with particular experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in securities fraud litigation, complex corporate class and mass action litigation, and a variety of contractual, fiduciary, and business tort litigation.