PARIS – McDermott Will & Emery advised Oscaro in its transaction with Parts Holding Europe group, a major European player in spare car parts distribution backed by Private Equity giant Bain Capital.

Founded in 2005, Oscaro is a European leader of the online spare parts market with a 2017 turnover of over 300 million euros and more than 8 million clients. Its alliance with Parts Holding Europe, a solid and ambitious partner, enables the development of a European omni-channel leader in all customer segments, including institutional and individual consumers.

By becoming a controlling shareholder, the Parts Holding Europe group is giving its full potential to this pioneering and emblematic brand in online sales in Europe.

The McDermott team advising Oscaro included partners Grégoire Andrieux, Lionel Lesur, Timothée Gagnepain and Pierre-Arnoux Mayoly (Corporate), Antoine Vergnat (Tax), Romain Perray (Data Protection) and Alexis Werl (Dispute Resolution), counsels Laura Morelli (IP) and Myrtille Lapuelle (Employment) as well as associates Louis Leroy, Charline Boulenger, Louise Aberg, Lucille Madariaga, Charles de Raignac, Sarah Candelibes, Côme de Saint-Vincent, Benjamin Briand and Julie Uzan-Naulin.

About McDermott Will & Emery
McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,100 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.

LOS ANGELES – McDermott Will & Emery today announced the addition of William (“Bill”) Donovan, Jr. to the Firm’s Litigation Practice Group in Los Angeles. Bill represents clients across various industries in all stages of litigation, including trials, appeals and arbitration. As a first chair trial lawyer, he is known for handling high-profile civil matters and for defending accounting firms in the face of complicated litigation issues.

“Clients trust McDermott to handle ‘bet-the-company litigation’ matters, and this is exactly what Bill is known for,” said Ira Coleman chairman of McDermott. “When everything is on the line, our goal is to be that trusted partner for our clients – and that’s what Bill has excelled at throughout his career. Bill also joins us at an exciting time for our growing West Coast team, and we couldn’t be more delighted to welcome him to the family.”

Bill offers a valued perspective after having served in legal positions spanning the government, in-house and private practice. Earlier in his career, he served as a trial attorney with the US Department of Justice where he honed his litigation skills through a number of trial and appellate matters. He also spent part of his legal career as in-house counsel at a Fortune 50 telecommunications company where he defended the company in class actions and other complex litigation matters. Bill most recently served in private practice as the head of Cooley’s Los Angeles litigation group with a focus on complex commercial cases and consumer class actions.

Bill has in-depth experience in accounting liability matters and has successfully defended a number of high profile tax and accounting cases through trial. He also provides counsel on compliance, enforcement and regulatory issues and advises clients during all phases of investigations conducted by federal and state agencies.

“Bill’s legal prowess both inside and outside the courtroom will benefit clients seeking strategic guidance at every step of the litigation process,” said David S. Rosenbloom, global head of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. “His arrival enhances the services we offer to companies facing their biggest commercial cases not only on the West Coast but across the firm’s global platform. We are thrilled to have a litigator of his caliber on the team.”

“With the constant threat of litigation, companies need a law firm to rely on when things get complicated – and McDermott is the type of trusted partner I’d want,” Donovan added. “The firm has the talent to staff even the most complex matters, and I’m looking forward to becoming an integral part of McDermott’s already comprehensive litigation capabilities.”

Consistently ranked by Super Lawyers, Bill has a reputation as a top litigator in Southern California, and this year he was named a BTI Client Service All-Star MVP.

Bill joins McDermott’s other recent arrivals in Los Angeles, including fellow litigation partner Mike Piazza and employment partners Maria Rodriguez and Michelle Strowhiro.

McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.

PARIS – McDermott Will & Emery advised Canadian company LuminUltra Technologies Ltd., a company specializing in the monitoring and testing of microbes in drinking water, sewage water treatment and a market leader in rapid and portable microbiology monitoring instruments in the acquisition of the “ATP-Métrie” activity involving the microbiological solutions tests used by the aqua-tools company, a French company specializing in water microbiology in the industrial, health and environmental sectors.

McDermott Will & Emery acted along with LuminUltra Technologies Ltd. with a team composed of Partner Lionel Lesur, Raphaël Ben Chemhoun and Anaël Hadji in Corporate, Partner Antoine Vergnat, Romain Desmonts and Thibault Stumm in Tax, Partner Romain Perray in Data Protection, Counsel Laura Morelli and Charles de Raignac, in Intellectual Property and Partner Jilali Maazouz and Ludovic Berges in Employment.

The Fidal firm advised aqua-tools with Associate Director Laïd Estelle Laurent, Partner Bruno Nogueiro and Arthur Boutemy.

About McDermott Will & Emery

McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,100 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.

Düsseldorf – McDermott Will & Emery advised Austrian SIGNA Group on the formation of a joint venture with Canadian Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) to merge retail chains Galeria Kaufhof and Karstadt Warenhaus. SIGNA also acquired 50 percent of HBC’S European real estate portfolio. The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.

SIGNA and HBC intend to form a new retail company which will include Galeria Kaufhof GmbH, Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH, HBC’s European retail business, Karstadt Sports and all food and catering departments of both companies. In addition, the e-commerce businesses of both retail chains will merge. The new company will have 241 large city-center locations in Europe and employ a total of 32,000 staff.

SIGNA Retail will hold 50.01 percent of the shares of the new holding company and HBC will hold the remaining 49.99 percent. Within the partnership, SIGNA Prime Selection AG will acquire a 50 percent interest in HBC’s European real estate holding. HBC will continue to hold 50 percent of the real estate assets.

The McDermott team who comprehensively advised SIGNA on all legal issues was led by partners Matthias Kampshoff (M&A, Restructuring), Jan Hückel (M&A), Jens Ortmanns and Gregor Lamla (Real Estate), Christian Krohs (Antitrust), Oliver Lieth (Finance) and Kian Tauser (Tax).

About McDermott Will & Emery

McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai. www.mwe.com

SAN FRANCISCO and LOS ANGELES – International law firm McDermott Will & Emery today announced the addition of Charles (Chuck) Moll and Troy Van Dongen in the firm’s San Francisco office and Marcy Jo Mandel in the firm’s Los Angeles office. The trio joins from Winston & Strawn and offers experience successfully representing clients in complex state and local tax controversies in California and throughout the United States.

Moll, who served as the nationwide head of Winston & Strawn’s State and Local Tax (SALT) practice, focuses on resolving tax controversies. He is known for representing clients before all levels of state and local tax authorities and has in-depth litigation experience across California courts, the US Tax Court and the US Supreme Court.

“We are thrilled to welcome someone of Chuck’s stature with such a well-deserved reputation in California and a proven track record of success across the country,” said Jane Wells May head of McDermott’s SALT Practice. “The arrival of Chuck and his team bolster our California SALT presence and further strengthen the high-quality state and local tax capabilities clients expect from McDermott.”

“McDermott is a tax powerhouse, and we are excited to join the team and collaborate with its distinguished SALT practitioners,” said Moll. “As taxpayers grapple with an increasingly complex state and local tax landscape, having experienced, strategic counsel is more important than ever. McDermott has the best platform from which to offer that.”

Moll is joined in San Francisco by partner Troy Van Dongen, whose practice focuses on the resolution of state and local tax controversies through both litigation and negotiation. Van Dongen has extensive experience in property taxation and advises clients on various other state and local tax matters including franchise, sales and use and income tax. His clients span an array of industries including telecommunications, manufacturing, software, finance and sports and entertainment.

The group is rounded out by Marcy Jo Mandel, who has joined as counsel in McDermott’s Los Angeles office. As a tax litigator, Mandel focuses her practice on resolving state and local tax controversies drawing from over 35 years of experience, including her long service as California’s Deputy State Controller for Taxation. In that role, Mandel advised three consecutive State Controllers on a wide variety of important tax policy issues and sat on the State Board of Equalization and the Franchise Tax Board on each Controller’s behalf.

“This group’s arrival is a great example of how we continue to bring in the best practitioners to the best teams,” said Ira Coleman, chairman of McDermott. “We are particularly excited for the energy and experience they will bring to our offices on the West Coast, particularly to our growing San Francisco team.”

All three practitioners are known as thought leaders and have received a variety of awards and recognitions that speak to the quality of their work.  Moll and Mandel join McDermott counsel Roy Crawford as fellow recipients of the California State Bar’s Benjamin F. Miller Award for outstanding contributions in the field of state and local tax law.

Consistently ranked by Chambers USA and Super Lawyers, Moll is among the top SALT practitioners in the country and serves on the Executive Committee of the ABA Tax Section’s State and Local Tax Committee and is editor and California author for the ABA Property Tax Desk book.

Also ranked by Chambers, Van Dongen is the incoming chair for the Taxation Section of the California Lawyers Association. He also serves as chair for the Marin County Assessment Appeals Board, and is a member of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration Director’s Advisory Council.

Moll and Van Dongen are part of McDermott’s expanding presence in San Francisco, including the April 2018 arrival of employment partners Ron Holland, David Durham, Pankit Doshi and Christopher Foster.

McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.

SAN FRANCISCO and LOS ANGELES – International law firm McDermott Will & Emery today announced the addition of Charles (Chuck) Moll and Troy Van Dongen in the firm’s San Francisco office and Marcy Jo Mandel in the firm’s Los Angeles office. The trio joins from Winston & Strawn and offers experience successfully representing clients in complex state and local tax controversies in California and throughout the United States.

Moll, who served as the nationwide head of Winston & Strawn’s State and Local Tax (SALT) practice, focuses on resolving tax controversies. He is known for representing clients before all levels of state and local tax authorities and has in-depth litigation experience across California courts, the US Tax Court and the US Supreme Court.

“We are thrilled to welcome someone of Chuck’s stature with such a well-deserved reputation in California and a proven track record of success across the country,” said Jane Wells May head of McDermott’s SALT Practice. “The arrival of Chuck and his team bolster our California SALT presence and further strengthen the high-quality state and local tax capabilities clients expect from McDermott.”

“McDermott is a tax powerhouse, and we are excited to join the team and collaborate with its distinguished SALT practitioners,” said Moll. “As taxpayers grapple with an increasingly complex state and local tax landscape, having experienced, strategic counsel is more important than ever. McDermott has the best platform from which to offer that.”

Moll is joined in San Francisco by partner Troy Van Dongen, whose practice focuses on the resolution of state and local tax controversies through both litigation and negotiation. Van Dongen has extensive experience in property taxation and advises clients on various other state and local tax matters including franchise, sales and use and income tax. His clients span an array of industries including telecommunications, manufacturing, software, finance and sports and entertainment.

The group is rounded out by Marcy Jo Mandel, who has joined as counsel in McDermott’s Los Angeles office. As a tax litigator, Mandel focuses her practice on resolving state and local tax controversies drawing from over 35 years of experience, including her long service as California’s Deputy State Controller for Taxation. In that role, Mandel advised three consecutive State Controllers on a wide variety of important tax policy issues and sat on the State Board of Equalization and the Franchise Tax Board on each Controller’s behalf.

“This group’s arrival is a great example of how we continue to bring in the best practitioners to the best teams,” said Ira Coleman, chairman of McDermott. “We are particularly excited for the energy and experience they will bring to our offices on the West Coast, particularly to our growing San Francisco team.”

All three practitioners are known as thought leaders and have received a variety of awards and recognitions that speak to the quality of their work. Moll and Mandel join McDermott counsel Roy Crawford as fellow recipients of the California State Bar’s Benjamin F. Miller Award for outstanding contributions in the field of state and local tax law.

Consistently ranked by Chambers USA and Super Lawyers, Moll is among the top SALT practitioners in the country and serves on the Executive Committee of the ABA Tax Section’s State and Local Tax Committee and is editor and California author for the ABA Property Tax Desk book.

Also ranked by Chambers, Van Dongen is the incoming chair for the Taxation Section of the California Lawyers Association. He also serves as chair for the Marin County Assessment Appeals Board, and is a member of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration Director’s Advisory Council.

Moll and Van Dongen are part of McDermott’s expanding presence in San Francisco, including the April 2018 arrival of employment partners Ron Holland, David Durham, Pankit Doshi and Christopher Foster.

McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.

CHICAGO – International law firm McDermott Will & Emery today announced the arrival of all-star intellectual property lawyer Christina Martini as partner in the Chicago office. Martini joins from DLA Piper, where she practiced for nearly 25 years. She was recently named by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of Chicago’s Most Influential Minority Lawyers.

Martini’s experience reaches across a wide variety of business sectors, including the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries, which are known for their unique, high-stakes challenges in the development and protection of brands. Previously, she served as on-loan intellectual property counsel for both Kraft Foods, Inc. and Searle/Monsanto, where she gained invaluable insight regarding the legal and business responsibilities of in-house counsel.

Martini was Chair of the Chicago Intellectual Property Practice at her prior firm and held a number of other key leadership roles, including as the National Hiring Partner – Associate Recruiting and as a member of its Executive, Policy, and Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committees.

Martini has been named to the BTI “Client Service All-Star Team” and is consistently recognized for her intellectual property prowess. In 2014 she was included on Managing Intellectual Property’s “IP Stars – Top 250 Women in IP”, and for the last eight consecutive years she has been named to the World Trademark Review 1000. Martini has also been designated as an Illinois Super Lawyer and is ranked in Chambers and The Legal 500.

“Tina strengthens our copyright and trademark work, solidifying McDermott’s ability to provide comprehensive and across-the-board intellectual property counsel,” said Nicole Jantzi, leader of the Firm’s Global Intellectual Property Practice. “She has a well-deserved reputation in the legal community and a proven track record of both leadership and the ability to collaborate across teams and practice areas. We are excited to onboard her as we continue to expand and fortify our domestic and international service offerings.”

“We are also particularly delighted to welcome such an extraordinary role model and effective champion for gender and racial and ethnic diversity,” added Ira Coleman, chairman of McDermott. “We know from discussions with our clients, our engagement with diversity thought leaders and our participation in diversity advancement programs that we are not going to meaningfully move the needle without hiring diverse talent into our equity partnership. Tina is just one example of how we are listening to our clients, reaching out and bringing in skilled and high-achieving diverse lateral partners. We are delighted to have Tina join our team; her energy, enthusiasm and passion are simply contagious.”

Martini has extensive international experience in counseling, prosecution, enforcement, due diligence and licensing matters, and in assisting clients in protecting their intellectual property rights through litigation and other means. She is instrumental in domain name proceedings before various administrative organizations, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization. Martini advises clients in the areas of brand development and management and designs, executes, maintains and enforces large intellectual property portfolios globally. She also regularly handles domain name, social media and online advertising strategy and enforcement. She holds a BSIE from University of Illinois at Chicago and a JD from Northwestern University.

“I am thrilled to be part of McDermott’s IP team and look forward to collaborating with my exceptionally talented colleagues. McDermott’s strong client-service orientation and its commitment to seamless service offerings across the globe is a terrific match to meet the always-evolving business and legal needs of the sophisticated multinational companies with whom I have the honor and privilege to partner,” Martini said.

Martini joins McDermott’s flourishing Intellectual Property practice, which is renowned for its broad trial, appellate, prosecution and transactional experience. The more than 140 IP professionals in the group hold degrees in a variety of technical and scientific fields and are uniquely capable of handling intellectual property matters across a wide spectrum of industries. Some 110 members of McDermott’s intellectual property team hold technical and/or scientific degrees and nearly 100 are registered to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). McDermott’s Intellectual Property practice includes numerous lawyers with valuable industry experience as well as former USPTO examiners and petition specialists.

McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.