Bailey Glasser Announces Partner Elevations for 2022

Bailey Glasser is pleased to announce the elevation of seven new partners, and one new equity partner, effective January 1, 2022. The newly elected partners are Arthur H. Bryant, Maggie B. Burrus, Joshua I. Hammack, Sharon F. Iskra, Benjamin P. Lajoie, Brian J. McAllister, and Stephen Putnoki-Higgins. Nicholas S. Johnson, a partner and practice area leader, has also been elevated to equity partner.

“We congratulate these talented lawyers on their new roles at Bailey Glasser,” said founding partner Ben Bailey. “As Bailey Glasser continues to grow and flourish, we are proud to elevate partners who are exceptionally talented, deeply committed to our clients, and have critical roles to play in this firm’s diverse practice. I couldn’t be happier that these folks have made this commitment to Bailey Glasser and its future. I am also very happy to welcome Nick Johnson to our equity partner group, as he will be a key component of our firm’s future success.”

Founding partner Brian Glasser added, “Congratulations to these lawyers on their elections to partner and to Nick Johnson upon his elevation to equity partner. My colleagues’ sophisticated legal skills, quality of client work, and dedication to the firm have been integral parts to our success and enable us to meet our clients’ complicated legal challenges. It is my pleasure to welcome these lawyers to partnership and to work alongside them, and I appreciate the commitment they have made to Bailey Glasser and our future.”

• Nicholas S. Johnson has accepted the firm's offer to become an equity partner. Nick's remarkable skills as a trial lawyer, his critical work for the firm as the Corporate, Commercial Litigation, and Criminal Practice Area Leader, and his proven ability to fight successfully for the firm's clients are renowned as he assumes this new role. Nick was co-lead counsel (along with Brian Glasser) of the trial team that won a $32.7M jury verdict on behalf of Ramaco Resources, Inc. in 2021. Nick’s diverse practice includes complex litigation over large “deals gone wrong,” including mineral development agreements, sale-leasebacks, financial derivatives, insurance contracts, recoupment agreements, LLC or partnership agreements, and UCC sales contracts, to name a few. He is one of the few lawyers who can also pivot from litigation and just as artfully craft complex commercial documents to ensure a business runs smoothly.
• Arthur H. Bryant joined Bailey Glasser after a long, successful tenure as Executive Director of Public Justice. He has won major victories and established precedents in constitutional law, consumer protection, toxic torts, civil rights, class actions, and mass torts. He was recently named by the National Law Journal as a 2021 Trailblazer in Sports Law. In the past year, Arthur has won settlements preserving women's (and men's) intercollegiate athletic opportunities and advancing gender equity at Brown University, the College of William & Mary, Clemson University, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, East Carolina University, University of St. Thomas, La Salle University, Dartmouth College, and Dickinson College.  
• Maggie B. Burrus handles high-stakes litigation and guides companies of all sizes through complex restructurings and Chapter 11 bankruptcies. Named a “Rising Star” by West Virginia Super Lawyers, listed as among the nation’s “Best Lawyers” by Women in the Law, and included in the “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch” for 2022, Maggie advises debtors, creditors, investors, and other interested parties in the context of out-of-court and in-court corporate restructurings, liquidations, distressed financings, acquisitions, and receiverships. 
• Joshua I. Hammack represents clients in state and federal courts across the country, both at trial and on appeal and before regulatory agencies. With a passion and talent for writing briefs – his work includes drafting amicus briefs and petitions for certiorari for the Supreme Court of the United States – Joshua deeply researches each matter he handles, then persuasively writes about them with clarity and precision. Based in our Washington, D.C. office, he was an integral member of the trial team that won a $32.7M jury verdict on behalf of Ramaco Resources, Inc. in 2021.
• Sharon F. Iskra leads the firm's Institutional Abuse & Neglect team and is a nationally recognized advocate for children, individuals with special needs, and others who have been abused, neglected, or exploited in institutions such as group homes, rehabilitation centers, universities, hotels, and foster care facilities. Based in our Charleston, WV office, Sharon was lead counsel of the trial team that secured the largest verdict on record in Hardy County, WV on behalf of two mentally disabled and nonverbal children who were abused at a residential group home. Sharon is also a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) representing children in abuse and neglect cases, and she makes frequent presentations on the subject. 
• Benjamin P. Lajoie is a commercial litigation and corporate attorney who represents clients in the life sciences, technology, and financial industries. He has helped lead multidistrict litigation involving medical device product liability on behalf of nationwide consumers, and represented companies in competitor suits from unfair and deceptive trade practices. Benjamin is skilled in successfully litigating claims and contract disputes, competing interests, counterclaims, contract and tort claims, and Uniform Commercial Code remedies. He has successfully represented life science companies in disputes with vendors, as well as a class of beneficiaries in a breach of fiduciary duty case against the institutional trustee.
• Brian J. McAllister is an integral part of the firm's cutting-edge Electronically Stored Information (ESI) group, where he assists clients and lawyers in the implementation of structured, strategic, and analytic e-Discovery functionalities, including collection and preservation, document review, use of technology, as well as technology-assisted review (TAR) and ESI protocols. Brian also offers significant claims administration experience, serving as a primary point of contact for claimants in the Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Multidistrict Litigation, as well as recently coordinating  claims administration in Krakauer v. Dish Network, L.L.C., a class action in which Bailey Glasser secured a $61M  judgment for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
• Stephen Putnoki-Higgins protects family wealth through careful estate and tax planning, as well as estate administration. Stephen guides his clients through proactive assistance in achieving key tax and non-tax goals, such as probate avoidance and the preservation of familial harmony. He also strategically assists in transfer tax planning for high-net worth individuals, including closely held business owners and other professionals. Stephen additionally helps nonprofit organizations in structure, governance, and other matters, including the Drum Major Institute, which was co-founded in 1961 by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and is now led by Martin Luther King, III and Arndrea Waters King.

About Bailey & Glasser, LLP

Bailey Glasser was founded in 1999 by Ben Bailey and Brian Glasser in Charleston, West Virginia. Now a national firm with over 80 lawyers across 17 offices including in Alabama, California, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, Idaho, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, and Washington, DC, we bring a trial-focused approach to litigation that vigorously protect the interests of our clients – governments, businesses in many industries and of all sizes (including Fortune 500 companies), individual plaintiffs and defendants, and even law firms that call upon us to help them in matters because of our unique blend of resources and trial experience. Bailey Glasser's sophisticated corporate practice provides strategic guidance, counseling, and innovative solutions in virtually every type of corporate, real estate, and financial transaction, including business formations, public and private securities offerings, corporate finance transactions, mergers and acquisitions, spinoffs, development, leasing, personal property transactions, executive hiring and compensation, ownership disputes, and commercial lending.  For more information, please visit www.BaileyGlasser.com.