Stewart Aaron Named Head of Arnold & Porter's New York Office
New York, April 11, 2012 -- Arnold & Porter LLP has announced that Stewart D. Aaron has been named the head of its New York office. He has served as the administrative partner in the office for the past five years, and succeeds Philip H. Curtis as office head. Cynthia Mann, a partner in Arnold & Porter's tax practice, will be the new administrative partner.
Mr. Aaron is a commercial litigator who has focused much of his work on the securities sector. In addition to his litigation practice, he devotes a substantial amount of time to a variety of pro bono work and currently serves as the president of the New York County Lawyers' Association, NYCLA.
"For over 25 years, our New York office has provided top tier legal advice and support to our New York and internationally-based clients. The strength of our lawyers coupled with our regulatory expertise has made us an important part of the city's legal market," said Tom Milch, Arnold & Porter's Chairman. "Stewart brings a broad range of experience to his new role, and his leadership will be important as the firm continues to strengthen our presence in New York."
With 107 practicing attorneys, the New York office is one of the largest in the firm's network of nine offices in North America and Europe.
Mr. Aaron said, "It is a privilege to become the head of the New York office of a law firm that provides the highest quality legal service to its clients, but also recognizes that law firms as well as individual lawyers have a responsibility to give something back to the community. In both areas, Arnold & Porter is second to none, and keeping it that way will be my major priority in my new position." Mr. Aaron will continue to be a fully practicing attorney.
The New York office has significant strength in complex litigation, investigations work, and financial services transactions. New York-based attorneys have been actively involved in some of the highest profile legal matters of the day, including Madoff litigation, the AIG Credit Facility Trust, and apartheid reparations. Attorneys in the New York office worked on several of the most notable transactions of 2011 involving financial services companies. Of particular note was its representation of State Bancorp in its acquisition by Valley Bancorp and in the representation of Aurora Bank, FSB in its sale by the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy estate. Attorneys from the firm's financial services team advised Banco do Brasil on the corporate, regulatory, and tax aspects of its acquisition of Florida-based EuroBank.
A team of attorneys in the office also are representing, on a pro bono basis, the Al Falah Center, a Muslim congregation located in Bridgewater, New Jersey, in litigation against the Township of Bridgewater for religious discrimination and civil rights violations under the federal and state constitutions.
Earlier this year, Mr. Aaron successfully defended a hedge fund client in a long-running $8 billion case against it and other hedge funds. Last year, Mr. Aaron also led a team of attorneys that represented the Upper West Success Academy, a charter school in New York City, that prevailed in litigation relating to its quest to locate in an under-utilized school building. He was one of the first attorneys to go to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to represent detainees there following the commencement of the war in Afghanistan. He is rated in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business (2009-2011) and New York Super Lawyers (2006-2011).
Arnold & Porter LLP is an international law firm of more than 800 lawyers with offices in Brussels, Denver, London, Los Angeles, New York, Northern Virginia, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Washington, DC. The firm, founded in 1946, maintains more than 25 practice areas spanning a broad spectrum of the law, with a primary focus on litigation, transactional matters, and regulatory issues.