Alumni Newsletter

MVA is pleased to announce that SARAH DOHONEY BYRNE, senior counsel in the firm’s Charlotte office and leader of MVA’s HUMAN TRAFFICKING PREVENTION & COMPLIANCE practice, has been named to THE AMERICAN LAWYER magazine’s 2022 list of South Trailblazers.

MVA has been ranked number one on the Triad Business Journal’s Largest N.C. Metro-Area Law Firms list published September 9 with 339 attorneys.

MVA is pleased to announce that a number of individuals were ranked in the 32nd edition of IFLR1000 United States. MVA chairman TOM MITCHELL and member CHARLIE HARRIS were rated as “highly regarded” banking & finance lawyers in North Carolina, and member STEVE HOPE was rated as a “highly regarded” M&A lawyer in North Carolina. Member CAROLYN MEADE was rated as a “notable practitioner” in M&A in North Carolina and counsel ED IVEY was rated as a “rising star” in capital markets: derivatives and capital markets: structured finance and securitisation.

Litigation Counsel JONATHAN PRYTHERCH discusses the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's amendments to one rule allowing member firms to protect certain customers from financial exploitation in his Westlaw Today article titled, “FINRA's expansion of safeguards to prevent the financial exploitation of specified adults in Rule 2165.”

Financial Regulatory Advice & Response Associate John Lightbourne was named to The National Law Journal’s 2022 list of Cryptocurrency/Blockchain/Fintech Trailblazers. The National Law Journal’s Trailblazers list recognizes professionals who have moved the needle in the legal industry by making significant contributions in the cryptocurrency, blockchain, and fintech industries.

Corporate Member CAROLYN MEADE provided deal advisory services and legal representation of FranDevCo in the transaction partnership with ABACO, a premier lower middle market private equity firm led by Michael Abdy, with backing from Noah Lowy of the Lowy Family Group. MVA Tax Consultant LAURA GRAY also provided tax advice on the transaction.

The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), the nation’s largest association of insolvency professionals, has appointed MVA Bankruptcy & Restructuring Member LUIS LLUBERAS to serve on the Advisory Board for ABI’s annual Caribbean Insolvency Symposium (CIS). 

Employment & Labor Member JOHN ZALOOM was quoted in the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) article titled, “Distinctions Among Class, Collective and Representative Actions Make a Difference” which was published on August 23.

We are pleased to announce that the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America© has listed 104 MVA attorneys who were highly recommended by their peers. In addition, 11 firm attorneys were named Best Lawyers® “Lawyer of the Year” and 34 MVA attorneys were selected as Best Lawyers® “Ones to Watch.”

Co-head of Privacy & Data Security Member KARIN MCGINNIS and Financial Regulatory Advice & Response Counsel JONATHAN PRYTHERCH were interviewed for the Citywire article titled, “How Advisors Should Prepare for New Cybersecurity Rules” which was published on August 18.

Litigation Associate JULES CARTER’s article titled, “Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know About NFTs and Securities Regulation (and a Few Things You Didn't)” was published by Westlaw Today on August 15. In this article, Jules explores some of the circumstances in which a non-fungible token can be considered an investment contract and explains how this can threaten the viability of a related business.

MVA is pleased to announce the arrival of TRACEY EASTON as senior counsel and a member of the firm’s COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE (CRE) group based in the Charleston office.

MVA was again ranked as a top legal adviser on syndicated loans. The firm's Finance team ranked in the top tier of Refinitiv Loan Pricing Corporation’s (LPC) first half of 2022 U.S. Law Firm League Tables for representing Lead Arrangers on syndicated loan transactions. For the first half of this year, MVA has advised on 80 syndicated loan transactions, which generated over $61 billion in aggregate gross proceeds and earned the firm a second place position on the league table for all syndicated loans based on number of deals. As further evidence of MVA's ongoing distinction in the secured/leveraged lending market, MVA advised on 40 syndicated leveraged loan transactions, which generated more than $21 billion in aggregate gross proceeds, earning the firm a second place position on the league table specifically for syndicated leveraged loans based on number of deals.

Co-head of White Collar, Regulatory Defense & Investigations VALECIA MCDOWELL and Litigation Associate ELENA MITCHELL were quoted in a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) article titled, “Equity Audits Address Racism in the Workplace,” which was published on August 9.

MVA is pleased to announce that attorneys CHARLES M. JORDAN, JR. and DAVID B. WHEELER have been named to Charleston Business Magazine’s 2022 Legal Elite listing of top attorneys in the region as recognized by their peers.

MVA secured a major victory for its client, retired Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation CEO Bill Lovette, in a high-profile federal criminal antitrust case brought by the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division alleging a multi-year conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices in the national broiler chicken market in violation of the Sherman Act. 

Member FRANK E. SCHALL was recognized by Benchmark Litigation as among the leading litigators in the United States age 40 and under.

Relatedly, Litigation Team attorneys JOHN FAGG, FRANK SCHALL, JIM MCLOUGHLIN, KAITLIN PRICE, CATHERINE PRATER and FIELDING HUSETH were named American Lawyer’s Runners Up for Litigators of the Week for having zealously represented Mr. Lovette through three trials.