Winston & Strawn Names 11 New U.S. Partners

Diverse Class Underscores Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion, Effectiveness of Executive-Led Associate Mentoring Program

NEW YORK – December 16, 2020 – Winston & Strawn LLP is pleased to announce that 11 attorneys have been elected partner. This class reflects Winston’s ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion, with 54 percent from diverse backgrounds, 46 percent women, and 31 percent representing racial and ethnic minorities.

Among this new class are Sofia Arguello, Cristina I. Calvar, and Angela A. Smedley, the first graduates of Winston & Strawn’s Diversity and Inclusion Associate Sponsorship Program, a mentoring initiative that pairs high-potential women, minority, and LGBTQ associates in their fifth and sixth year of practice with a sponsor from the firm’s Executive Committee. Additional members of the class include Mark Christy, Peter W. Clarke, Kerry C. Donovan, Sean Kelly, Bradley A. Noojin, Benjamin Ostrander, Jeanifer Parsigian, and Patrick Selinger.

The new partners represent five practice areas and six Winston offices in the U.S.:

• Sofia Arguello (New York) focuses her practice on civil antitrust litigation, international cartel investigations led by enforcement agencies around the world, and white collar and regulatory defense. Sofia also specializes in corporate internal investigations and compliance monitoring, focusing on anti-corruption and FCPA issues, particularly in the Latin American region.
• Cristina I. Calvar (New York) is an experienced litigator who handles challenging and complex litigation matters, with an emphasis on internal and government investigations. She focuses her practice on advising private equity firms and financial institutions in white-collar matters, regulatory enforcement, and related civil litigation, often on multiple fronts at once. Her matters involve a wide range of issues, including corporate governance, the False Claims Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, securities fraud, accounting fraud, and fraudulent transfer litigation.
• Mark Christy (Chicago) advises clients in a wide variety of structured finance and project finance transactions, including transactions relating to CLOs, warehouse/leverage facilities, and other securitization structures, financing renewable and alternative energy sources, real estate mortgage investment conduits (REMICs), commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and real estate investment trusts (REITs).
• Peter W. Clarke (Chicago) represents public and private company clients in a variety of complex business transactions, with a particular emphasis on mergers and acquisitions.
• Kerry C. Donovan (New York and Los Angeles) is a versatile litigator with experience in a broad range of complex commercial litigation, including securities and M&A-related litigation, antitrust, RICO, and bankruptcy. Kerry primarily represents clients in the financial services, banking, and pharmaceutical sectors in high-stakes matters, where she has delivered winning results at the trial and appellate level. Prior to joining Winston, Kerry served as a law clerk to the Honorable Joel A. Pisano, U.S.D.J. for the District of New Jersey.
• Sean Kelly (New York) focuses on complex finance transactions including asset-backed securitizations, asset-based lending, mortgage repurchase facilities, fund finances, and corporate finance facilities, with experience across a broad range of assets including PACE, consumer loans, receivables, mortgages, management fees, capital calls, and all types of transportation assets. He represents numerous industry participants, including underwriters, issuers, initial purchasers, borrowers, lenders, and rating agencies. Sean was named to the Best Lawyers 2021 banking and finance list of “Ones to Watch.”
• Bradley A. Noojin (Washington, D.C.) represents domestic and international clients in a broad range of complex corporate and transactional matters, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, and strategic transactions, including permanent capital acquisition partnerships (P/CAPs), real estate investment trusts (REITs), and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). His transactional experience spans a variety of industries, including automotive, transportation and logistics, financial services, technology, health care, telecommunications, government contracting, and paper and packaging.
• Benjamin Ostrander (Chicago) is an experienced litigator whose practice focuses on restrictive covenant, trade secret, and employment-related disputes before trial and appellate courts and arbitration panels across the country. Ben was named to Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch 2021.
• Jeanifer Parsigian (San Francisco) is an accomplished antitrust, sports, and commercial litigator. She concentrates her practice on civil antitrust and unfair competition litigation with particular expertise in mixed issues of antitrust and intellectual property law, and high-stakes class actions. She regularly represents major U.S. and multinational corporations in complex commercial litigation and class actions at the trial and appellate levels, and in connection with a wide array of federal and state antitrust and competition issues.
• Patrick Selinger (Houston) focuses his practice on the infrastructure and energy industries. He represents clients in a wide range of transactions, including infrastructure development, mergers and acquisitions, project financings, and public-private partnerships. He also served as in-house counsel at a multi-national commodities trading company and as a secondee to the international legal department of a major Japanese trading house in Tokyo.
• Angela A. Smedley (New York) focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, leveraging insights from her federal court clerkship to defend financial services clients against individual and class actions across multiple jurisdictions. Angela also employs her years of sports litigation experience to represent professional sports unions and athletes in labor arbitrations, antitrust litigation, and complex disputes at the trial and appellate levels.

“We are very proud of this diverse group of talented new partners, each of whom reflect the firm’s commitment to excellence in client service, and a collaborative, inclusive workplace,” said Tom Fitzgerald, Winston chairman. “All are outstanding lawyers with sector expertise and insight that will benefit our clients and the firm while contributing to the positive evolution of Winston’s global culture and capabilities.”