News & Insights

As reported widely by national and global media, the U.S. Soccer Federation hired Alston & Bird in December 2022 to investigate allegations against the U.S. Men’s National Team head coach, as well as allegations of potential inappropriate behavior toward U.S. Soccer officials and staff by others. The findings of that investigation are detailed in Alston & Bird’s Report to the U.S. Soccer Federation, which U.S. Soccer made available to the public on March 13, 2023.

Alston & Bird served as trial counsel for Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a breach of contract case pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. The case arises from Whitesell’s breach of a supply agreement entered into between Whitesell and Electrolux in 2000. Whitesell originally asserted breach of contract claims against Electrolux and sought more than $100 million in damages. Electrolux successfully defeated those claims before trial through motions practice. As a result, Electrolux proceeded to trial as a counterclaim plaintiff and, following a two-week jury trial, obtained a complete verdict of $1.2 million after the jury concluded that Whitesell breached the contract. The $1.2 million represents the full amount that Electrolux sought in the trial. In addition to the verdict, the court also entered judgment in favor of Electrolux for an additional $3.8 million based on Electrolux’s prior success on another breach of contract claim against Whitesell, bringing the total judgment in Electrolux’s favor to $5 million. Representing Electrolux in the case were Alston & Bird partner Amanda Waide and senior associate Jamie George.

Alston & Bird’s retired Managing Partner, Ben Johnson, will be honored with the Emory Medal at Emory University’s Alumni Awards Ceremony on Thursday, March 16, 2023.

Alston & Bird’s Mary Benton, the firm’s Pro Bono Partner, has been honored with a 2023 Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Service for Judicial District 5. For the past 23 years, the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism has presented these awards to recognize lawyers and judges throughout Georgia who have made significant contributions to their communities.

Alston & Bird strengthened and expanded its capabilities to provide corporate, tax, and real estate advice to real estate investment trusts (REITs) and other clients with the addition of three partners in Dallas who collectively bring several decades of legal experience. Don Hammett and Lane Folsom join the Financial Services & Products Group and REITs & Funds Team, while Raleigh Johnston becomes part of the Federal & International Tax Group.

Alston & Bird represented Pathstone, a New Jersey-based wealth management advisor, in its new strategic private equity investment from Kelso & Company and its additional private equity investment from Lovell Minnick Partners (LMP).

Alston & Bird attorneys in the firm’s Intellectual Property Post Grant Proceedings Team have published a third edition of their book on navigating post-grant proceedings of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).

Alston & Bird has been honored once again by Patexia Inc. as a market leader representing respondents and complainants in Section 337 investigations conducted by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).

Alston & Bird client AOG Institutional Diversified Fund, has announced that its registration statement on Form N-2 was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on January 12, 2023.

Alston & Bird represented Ready Capital Corporation, a New York–based multistrategy real estate finance company, in its $787 million acquisition of Broadmark Realty Capital, a Washington-based company specializing in owning, developing, and managing real estate properties.

Alston & Bird is pleased to announce that Rajat Rana, partner in the firm’s Litigation & Trial Practice Group, has been named a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellow for 2023.

Corporate Control Alert, the legal and financial dealmaking journal published by The Deal, has ranked Alston & Bird sixth among counsel to financial advisors on U.S. M&A transactions with a value of $100 million or more announced between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2022.

The U.S. Bank Law Division has named Alston & Bird the recipient of the 2022 “Invested in Diversity” Award. Now in its fourth year, the award recognizes one of the Law Division’s close outside counsel partners for advancing diversity in the legal profession.

Alston & Bird has been recognized once again as a global leader in trademark law in the 2023 edition of the World Trademark Review 1000: The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals.

Alston & Bird client Spectrum Science, an independent, integrated marketing, communications, and media agency focused on health and science, has received a strategic investment from Knox Lane, a growth-oriented investment firm focused on partnering with businesses in the services and consumer sectors.

Alston & Bird client Charis Holdings, the holding company for Charis Bank, has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Vista Bancshares, the holding company for Vista Bank.

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