Group Is Led by Nationally Renowned Litigator Richard L. Wyatt, Jr.



    NEW YORK, Aug. 4 /EMWNews/ -- Hunton & Williams LLP announced today

it is continuing its aggressive national expansion adding nine partners

from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, led by Richard L. Wyatt, Jr., a

member of the firm's executive committee and past chairman of the

litigation; labor & employment; intellectual property; and international

trade practices. Six of the new partners will join the firm in Washington,

two will join in Houston, and one will join in Los Angeles.



    These partners will help grow several of Hunton & Williams' key

practice areas, including corporate securities, M&A, labor and employment,

RICO and intellectual property. The group handles complex litigation and

corporate work for many national and global clients. Seven of the new

partners are class action litigators who will join the firm's 300-member

litigation practice, one of the largest in the nation. One of the partners

is a corporate, securities and M&A attorney and one is an intellectual

property attorney. This group follows eight labor and employment class

action lawyers who left Akin Gump to join Hunton & Williams on July 1.



    Wyatt joins as co-head of Hunton & Williams' litigation group, and will

be based in the Washington office. Joining Wyatt in Washington are

litigation partners Michael J. Mueller, who will be co-head of the firm's

commercial litigation practice, Joseph P. Esposito, Michael A. O'Shea and

Todd M. Stenerson. J. Steven Patterson, a corporate, securities and M&A

partner, will join the firm's Washington office as co-head of its

corporate, securities and M&A practice.



    Augmenting the firm's Houston office are partners Kevin J. White and

Holly H. Williamson, both well-known labor and employment litigators.

Bringing additional strength to Hunton & Williams' growing presence in Los

Angeles is Phillip J. Eskenazi, who focuses on complex business litigation,

and was named one of California's top 20 lawyers under 40 in 2006.



    "Richard and his partners are leaders in their fields who share our

dedication to providing excellent client service," said Wally Martinez,

Hunton & Williams' managing partner. "Over the past few years we have made

significant strategic decisions to bring on high-level lateral partners in

key practices and geographic regions. This group will significantly

strengthen our national litigation and corporate practices out of

Washington and continue our expansion in California and Texas."



    Wyatt and his team regularly advise the management and boards of public

companies in connection with complex business litigation, strategic reviews

of business and transactional alternatives and director compliance with

fiduciary duties. Wyatt frequently serves as lead counsel in appeals from

adverse decisions in matters not originally handled by him or members of

his firm.



    "Hunton & Williams offered us a partnership and platform that is almost

unique in the current legal world. It is a strong, client-focused global

firm with a vast array of top tier partners and practices. This team has

been privileged to work together and serve many of our common clients for

decades. In Hunton & Williams we found a firm that shares our ideals of

teamwork and understands our client devotion," said Wyatt. "In addition,

while the firm has an extraordinary tradition of providing high quality

legal services, it also has a forward-looking strategic plan that aligns

perfectly with the current and future needs of our clients. We are honored

to join the firm and we are thrilled to be part of Hunton's future

endeavors."



    Wyatt has served as strategic and lead counsel to both plaintiffs and

defendants in litigation involving antitrust, securities, RICO, labor and

employment, and First Amendment. He is currently representing a client in

its defense of 25 class actions arising from an invasion of its computer

network and prosecuting an antitrust case on behalf of another client. He

is also representing a major construction company in a damages trial

following an adverse liability decision before his engagement. He currently

serves as national employment law class action counsel for a major US

company for which he and his partners routinely defend employment law and

wage-hour class actions. He is also defending multiple shareholder actions

challenging the recent acquisition of a major fast food chain.

    About Hunton & Williams LLP



    Hunton & Williams provides legal services to a broad array of entities

including corporations, financial institutions, governments and

individuals. Since our establishment more than a century ago, Hunton &

Williams has grown to more than 1,000 lawyers serving clients in 100

countries from 19 offices around the world. While our practice has a strong

industry focus on energy, financial services and life sciences, the depth

and breadth of our experience extends to more than 100 separate practice

areas, including environmental law, bankruptcy and creditors rights,

commercial litigation, corporate transactions and securities law,

intellectual property, international and government relations, products

liability, and privacy and information management. For additional

information visit our website at http://www.hunton.com.