Pittsburgh, January 23, 2012 - The partners of global law firm K&L Gates LLP have voted to elect the following 30 lawyers to the firm’s partnership, effective March 1, 2012. “We’re very fortunate to have a continuing inflow into our partnership of such able lawyers from our own ranks,” said Peter J. Kalis, K&L Gates Chairman and Global Managing Partner. “This year is no exception with 30 new partners from 17 different offices of the firm.” Thomas Derlin was named a partner in K&L Gates’ Berlin office. A member of the firm’s corporate and transactional practice, Derlin focuses on domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and public takeover law, as well as general corporate and commercial matters.

In K&L Gates’ Boston office, Mark J. Duggan was named a partner in the firm’s investment management, hedge funds, and alternative investments practice. Duggan concentrates on investment management regulatory matters, bank collective funds, and ERISA fiduciary issues.

Karen M. Nelson was named a partner in the firm’s Charlotte office. Focusing her practice on real estate investment, development, and finance, Nelson regularly represents financial institutions in connection with distressed real estate assets.

Michael A. Beckett, Carolyn A. Jayne, and James M. Reiland were named partners in the firm’s Chicago office. Beckett’s intellectual property procurement and portfolio management practice focuses on domestic and international patent prosecution in mechanical, chemical, and biotechnology patent law; Jayne advises private investment funds and new investment advisers on corporate, securities, and finance matters; and Reiland represents public and private companies in business disputes and complex commercial litigation and arbitration. In K&L Gates’ Dallas office, Sandi K. Elrod was named a partner in the real estate investment, development, and finance practice. Elrod focuses on general commercial real estate and lending matters, and represents clients with the acquisition, disposition, and development of commercial and residential properties.

Christian Büche was named a partner in the firm’s Frankfurt office. A member of the banking and finance practice, Büche advises clients in finance, restructuring, insolvency, and banking regulatory law.

James S. Mottram was named a partner in the firm’s London office. Mottram counsels on corporate tax issues with a focus on funds taxation and international structuring. Kevin S. Asfour was named a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Asfour’s practice focuses on commercial disputes, corporate securities litigation, defense of lender-liability claims, and insurance coverage matters.

Christina M. Paul and Christopher B. Tillson were named partners in the firm’s Miami office. Paul represents clients in products liability, risk management, and complex commercial disputes, with an emphasis on maritime transactions and transportation casualty defense; while Tillson is a corporate lawyer with a focus on international business and finance transactions.

In K&L Gates’ Palo Alto office, Christine B. Redfield was named a partner in the intellectual property procurement and portfolio management practice. Redfield concentrates on international trademark and trade name counseling, including portfolio development and protection and cyberspace trademark rights.

In Pittsburgh, Jennifer C. O’Hara, Maria Trainor, Charles F. Pegher, Michael J.R. Schalk, Andrew R. Stanton, Christopher M. Verdini, and Christopher G. Wolfe were named partners. Both O’Hara and Trainor are members of the corporate group, with O’Hara concentrating her practice on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and private equity and commercial transactions, while Trainor focuses on international and domestic mergers and acquisitions, and venture capital and corporate governance matters. Pegher works in trust and estate administration and estate planning, and Schalk, a member of the litigation and dispute resolution practice, handles a wide variety of complex commercial litigation, including the defense of toxic tort claims tried in courts across the United States. Stanton focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, including business torts, contract disputes, shareholder disputes, and insurance coverage litigation. Verdini counsels clients on complex litigation matters with an emphasis on intellectual property litigation, while Wolfe’s patent practice concentrates on computer systems and software, electrical circuits, mechanical devices, signal processing, business methods, and general physics.

Anthony J. Barwick was named a partner in the firm’s Raleigh office. Barwick advises clients in the structuring, negotiating, and completion of financing and real estate matters. Heidi Eckel Alessi and C. Rachal Winger were named partners in the firm’s Seattle office. Alessi advises employers on employee benefits, executive compensation, and health, wellness, and cafeteria plans. Winger focuses her practice on intellectual property law with an emphasis on life sciences patent-related matters.

In K&L Gates’ Singapore office, Lawrence H. Altman and Ian Fisher were named partners. As a corporate and finance lawyer, Altman advises clients on a variety of commercial transactions, with an emphasis on private placements, structured debt, restructurings, and buybacks. Fisher concentrates his practice on international arbitration and dispute resolution, advising on shipping, construction, and insurance disputes.

Brian M. Werst was named a partner in the firm’s Spokane office. Werst focuses on general municipal law, public finance, real estate, labor and employment, transactional law, and litigation.

Piotr Augustyniak was named a partner in the firm’s Warsaw office. Augustyniak advises domestic and foreign clients and multinational corporations on tax planning, acquisitions, divestitures, and disposals of companies.

In K&L Gates’ Washington, D.C., office, Holly Spencer Bunting, David A. Tallman, and Eric C. Rusnak were named partners. Bunting and Tallman are members of the mortgage banking and consumer finance group, with Bunting concentrating on federal and state regulatory enforcement issues, while Tallman focuses on mortgage and consumer regulatory compliance matters. Rusnak practices intellectual property litigation, focusing on technology. Contact: Mike Rick

T. +1.412.355.6455, mike.rick@klgates.com

K&L Gates includes lawyers practicing out of 40 offices located in North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East, and represents numerous GLOBAL 500, FORTUNE 100, and FTSE 100 corporations, in addition to growth and middle market companies, entrepreneurs, capital market participants and public sector entities. For more information about K&L Gates or its locations and registrations, visit www.klgates.com.

K&L Gates has offices in: Anchorage, Austin, Beijing, Berlin, Boston, Brussels, Charleston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Doha, Dubai, Fort Worth, Frankfurt, Harrisburg, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Moscow, Newark, New York, Orange County, Palo Alto, Paris, Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park, San Diego, San Francisco, São Paulo, Seattle, Shanghai, Singapore, Spokane, Taipei, Tokyo, Warsaw, and Washington, D.C.