Nelson Mullins Lands Practice Leader From Baker Donelson—and Other 'On the Move' News
Daniel Cohen, Nelson Mullins, Atlanta (Courtesy photo: Bill Adler)
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough has added partner Dan Cohen to lead its higher education practice. Cohen headed the higher education practice at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz before the move.
“While we have a very comprehensive practice, Dan’s higher education and Title IX experience expands our offering to clients,” said Glenn Brock, who heads Nelson Mullins’ broader education law practice. “In addition, I think the size of our team and the ancillary practices that support our team will be of great benefit to Dan’s clients.”
Nelson Mullins’ education law practice includes more than 50 attorneys and policy advisers representing elementary and high schools, colleges and universities and education services providers. Name partner Dick Riley started the practice after serving as secretary of education for the Clinton administration, as well as a related education consulting firm EducationCounsel.
“Nelson Mullins is the best in the marketplace for education law services,” Cohen said, adding that his rates will stay the same. “I have been very impressed with the scope of its education practice, and its depth will help my education clients with all their legal needs.”
Cohen handles Title IX compliance and litigation for college athletic programs and advises institutions in sexual misconduct matters. He declined to name clients but said he has represented universities in Title IX matters in every Power Five athletic conference as well as public research institutions in 10 states. He serves as a special assistant attorney general for Georgia and North Dakota to represent their public universities in Title IX matters.
Cohen said he’s been working with college athletic departments since the mid-1990s. Title IX has been “a rapidly evolving area of law over the past decade or so,” he said, expanding under the Obama administration to focus on sexual misconduct matters. Consequently, he explained, his university clients have increasingly sought advice on gender equity compliance.
He helps schools draft policies and procedures around gender equity, conducts trainings, audits and investigations and defends them in litigation. Investigations could be internal, brought by the federal Office for Civil Rights or sparked by litigation from a student.
BRIEFLY
Veteran entertainment lawyer Kendall Minter has joined Taylor English Duma as a partner from his own firm, Minter & Associates. Minter handles entertainment, intellectual property, international licensing and corporate matters for an array clients in music, film, television, theater and new media.
High-profile clients have included Jermaine Dupri, Backstreet Boys, Evander Holyfield, Lena Horne, Peter Tosh and Ashanti as well as gospel artists such as Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond and Tasha Cobbs Leonard. He’s also represented Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Atlanta-based ministers Creflo Dollar and E. Dewey Smith and Eddie Long, who died of cancer two years ago.
Minter received the National Bar Association’s “Living Legend Entertainment Attorney Award” in 2015 for his work in the field. He helped found the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association in 1980 and serves on its advisory board. He’s chairman emeritus of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, which he also co-founded.
Krevolin & Horst has recruited litigator Joyce Gist Lewis as a partner from Shingler Lewis, which she and George Shingler founded in 2012 to handle business litigation and government liability cases. Both had been partners at litigation boutique Casey Gilson, where Shingler hired Gilson as a new associate in 1999 fresh out of Georgia State University College of Law. Shingler is now running The Shingler Law Firm in Decatur.
Gist Lewis received the Outstanding Woman in the Profession Award last year from the Atlanta Bar Association. She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia’s Board of Governors and serves on the bar’s Advisory Committee on Legislation. She’s also chair of the Lawyers Club of Atlanta, the board president of the Federal Defender Program and a master in GSU’s Bleckley Inn of Court.
Krevolin & Horst has also added an associate, Daniel Alfino, to its corporate practice, representing early stage companies and charter schools, from Troutman Sanders.
Health care partner Rebekah Plowman has joined Arnall Golden Gregory from Jones Day. Plowman defends health care providers in False Claims Act litigation brought by federal and state agencies and qui tam whistleblowers, and in other government enforcement actions. She also advises on regulatory issues, including compliance programs. A cardiac nurse before becoming a lawyer, she serves on the Dispute Resolution Service Council for the American Health Lawyers Association.
“Rebekah will be a great resource for our clients who need strong representation in reimbursement disputes and top-notch guidance on regulatory issues,” said Hedy S. Rubinger, who heads Arnall Golden’s health care practice, in a statement. “As a former healthcare provider, Rebekah is able to provide unique insights into a highly complex industry.”
Tracy Plott has joined Rogers & Hardin as a partner from Ballard Spahr. Plott has over 25 years' experience in commercial real estate and financing transactions. Notably, she led Ballard Spahr team for The Kroger Co.’s 2016 sale of the “Murder Kroger” property next to Ponce City Market at 725 Ponce de Leon Ave. N.E. to New City, a local developer. New City is building a 12-story mixed-use development on the site, including a smaller, more upscale Kroger that opens onto the Beltline, which the company hopes to rebrand as “Beltline Kroger.”
Personal injury firm Harris Lowry Manton has hired Sarah Adle as an associate from the Tyrone Law Firm, a plaintiffs firm handling birth injuries. Adle is handling product liability, wrongful death and personal injury cases, with a focus on medical malpractice at Harris Lowry.
