BRIEFINGS
News From and About the People of Nelson
Mullins
PAIR OF MAJOR MILESTONES FOR GAMING GROUP BRIEFINGS IS CHANGING...
In November, the Gaming Group held a Responsible Gaming Roundtable event in the Boston office. It was the first installment of a new speaker series focused on raising awareness of problem gambling and promoting strategies for responsible play.
It followed on the heels of the firm’s membership with the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG), the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to mitigating gamblingrelated harm. The partnership marked a milestone moment as Nelson Mullins became the first law firm to join NCPG since its founding 50 years ago.
Led by Brianne Doura-Schawohl, the Roundtable provided key insights into the upcoming policy landscape affecting problem gambling prevention and responsible gaming regulation. Mark Vander Linden, the Director of Research and Responsible Gaming at the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, elected to be a lastminute guest speaker alongside a client – an unexpected stamp of approval from a key regulator.
Representatives from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office attended in person, as well as from the Gaming Group’s largest client, PrizePicks, and the Kindbridge Research Institute.
Virtual attendees included clients Light & Wonder, PrizePicks, Underdog, and Betr, prospective client UG COAM, as well as XST Capital, the MGC and the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council, among others. Overall, the event emphasized the presence of the Nelson Mullins Gaming Group in Boston and the firm’s commitment to the mission of responsible gaming, which is of huge importance to regulators and operators in the space.
The Gaming Group is led by partner Katie Baker and combines deep industry experience and knowledge, a solid regulatory foundation, businessfirst solutions to counsel and advise clients across the gaming landscape.
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For 2025, Briefings will bring you the same stories in a new format! We're dusting off the "Briefings" section of NMConnect to bring you news from and about the people of Nelson Mullins in real time!
Want to submit a story? Email Kyle Turk in Internal Communications or send to the Marketing Department at marketingpr@nelsonmullins.com
Thanks for reading!
Left to right: Rachael Chen, Lindy Reed, Joe Murphy, Sam Ahearn, Nick Techiera, Caitlin Sullivan.
BRIEFLY
The firm’s FinTech and Regulation Practice was recently recognized by Chambers and Partners as a leading practice in its Chambers FinTech Guide for 2025.
D.C. partner Chris Cushing was ranked by The Hill in its annual Top Lobbyists list for 2024. Cushing was named among the top “hired gun” lobbyists in Washington, D.C., and has earned the honor five years in a row.
Atlanta partners Amy B. Cheng and Michael Hollingsworth were both named in Atlanta Magazine’s “Atlanta 500” List, which recognizes the city’s most powerful leaders across multiple fields.
Chicago partner David Ogles was recently recognized in the 2025 Illinois Super Lawyers Magazine in the area of Business Litigation. It’s his first year as part of the list.
Managing Partner Jim Lehman was named among the 50 Most Influential People in Columbia, S.C., by Columbia Business Monthly – Jim was inducted into the publication’s Hall of Fame on Feb. 6.
The firm’s Women’s Affinity Group, known as Women on the Go (or “WOGO”) was recently recognized in the December 2024 issue of North Carolina Lawyers Weekly.
Charleston partners Eli Poliakoff and Phillip Mullinnix attended a December retirement reception for Cindy Hutto, the Vice-President of Corporate Integrity at Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System. Cindy was a partner at the firm from 2000 to 2014 before joining the hospital system.
Twenty firm attorneys were joined by local attorneys and University of South Carolina law students for a Criminal Records Relief CLE training on January 20. Speakers from SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center and the Rainy Day Fund trained on reviewing records for expungement or pardon, helping remove barriers to housing and employment.
Policy advisors Chris Cushing and Jake Kohn invited former United Kingdom Prime Minister Liz Truss to the D.C. office on Dec. 3 for a roundtable with the American Association of Jewish Lawyers.
Partner Alex Katich’s free throw before the Nuggets-Magic basketball game on February 6 earned thousands of dollars for the Dress for Success chapter in Denver. Dress for Success is a nonprofit that distributes job readiness tools and professional attire to at-risk women in cities across the country.
REVAMPED GREENVILLE LITIGATION TEAM FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE
Change was in the air at the start of 2024 in Greenville.
After a handful of partners and associates left the firm during 2023, faces both familiar and new were drafted in to help tackle the caseload in a growing city that was named the fourth-best place to live by U.S. News & World Report back in May.
The results are exactly what everyone involved could’ve asked for. Partner and litigation team leader Sam Outten’s plan to bring in a diverse group of new attorneys has revived the group and has both fresh-faced and experienced lawyers excited about what’s to come.
“There’s people moving here every day, and with this team, we’ve got a lot of varied experiences,” of counsel Sheria Clarke said. She rejoined the firm in June after spending time as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in South Carolina the last three years. “We’re very proud of the number of female litigators we have on this team, and firm leadership has been very supportive about whatever we need to help build our practice.”
It’s taken just a couple months for the newly-formed team to get up and running – senior associate Megan Rushton started in February 2024, associate Rayja Fowler started with the firm in September 2022, and associate Mayme Medlock was part of the new crop of fall associates this past September.
The team focuses on business and commercial litigation.
“We’re pretty good as a group at recognizing each other’s strengths,” partner Laura McDonald said. “These attorneys (on our team) are not the type to have competitiveness or hurt feelings; it’s very collaborative.”
For the team’s younger litigators, getting a chance to learn from the more experienced members has quickly become one of their favorite parts of working at Nelson Mullins, which in Megan’s eyes, matches a small-office atmosphere with “bigfirm” resources.
“The team I work with today, I get to look around and say, ‘I want to be like her when I grow up,’” Rushton noted. “I get to pick up different styles of working with Laura and Sheria on this team, and they’ve been blazing the trail for us, helping to cherry-pick the qualities from them that we want to demonstrate in our practice.”
With guidance from Sam, Laura, and partners Lindsay Builder and Miles Coleman, they also feel empowered to take on whatever’s in front of them.
That’s meant individual federal court appearances for newer associates, as well as a settlement in a death case where the team’s defense dodged multiple motions for sanctions during trial.
“I got my first federal court trial this year with Sam and Lindsay, and it ended up settling favorably for us after maybe five years of work,” Rayja said. “The team just trusts us and the firm lets me do whatever I’m willing to not say no to.”
Change is not always a bad thing. In Greenville, the rebuilt litigation team brings a stronger, more diverse, and more synergistic group of lawyers to serve the firm’s growing client base and needs.
Neinast
Rushton
Medlock Fowler
Outten Builder Coleman McDonald Clarke
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Additionally, on February 11, the Nelson Mullins Gaming Group hosted the “Gambling Harm and Problem Gambling Risk Education Seminar” in Washington, D.C., with guest speaker, Brianne Doura-Schawohl, founder and CEO of Doura-Schawohl Consulting LLC and former Legislative Director for the National Council on Problem Gambling.
The virtual CLE presentation covered three main components of responsible gaming and problem play. Doura-Schawohl first examined the landscape of responsible gambling and problem gambling across the U.S., highlighting current expectations and approaches. This was followed by explaining warning signs and triggers of a gambling addiction, with an emphasis on educating attorneys on what to look for to properly address the issue.
The presentation concluded with key takeaways from the domestic and international legalized gambling market as well as some projections of the problem gaming landscape in the near future.
The Pittsburgh office held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in late 2024. Although they remain in the same building, they are now in Suite 3200 of One PPG Place.
Dallas partner Tanya Scarbrough (center left), was selected by the Dallas Bar Association to co-chair its judiciary committee and its judicial investiture committee.
SIX ATLANTA ATTORNEYS NAMED AS "TOP LAWYERS" IN GEORGIA MAGAZINE
Five partners and one of counsel from the firm's Atlanta office were recognized in the Winter 2025 issue of GaBiz Magazine, a quarterly issue of Atlanta magazine.
Erika Birg (Alternate Dispute Resolution), Phil Cooper (Securities/Capital Markets), Stan Jones, Jr. (Administrative/Regulatory; Government Relations; Healthcare), Earle Taylor (Public Finance), Charles Vaughn (M&A) and Rhys Wilson (M&A) were each named as "Top Lawyers" of 2024.
DENVER ASSOCIATE SELECTED FOR CODACC
Denver associate, Stephen Ruiz, has been selected to participate in the Colorado Bar Association’s Colorado Diverse Attorney Community Circle (CODACC), for the class of 2025. CODACC (CODACC) is a selection-based program committed to fostering mentorship, education, and community among diverse attorneys in Colorado.
The initiative provides dedicated professional development for diverse Colorado attorneys, to ultimately encourage and strengthen diverse representation in the legal field. Stephen is eager to connect with and learn from fellow attorneys in the diverse Denver community while also contributing his own lived experiences to help support and uplift diverse voices in the legal profession.
A team of Boca Raton associates helped the firm win a “Family Feud” competition in support of the Eda & Cliff Viner Community Scholars Foundation. A team of Michael Marcus, Nick Carbo, Chase Nielsen, Stephanie Hussaini, and Ben Marton won the event, which helps award scholarships to deserving students in Palm Beach County.
Birg Jones Cooper
Taylor Vaughn Wilson
ENCOMPASS TEAM CELEBRATES SUCCESSFUL SERVICE PROJECT
At the end of the year, Encompass and its team members closed their annual service project just in time for the holiday season. Led by Columbia partner Julie Flaming, the 2024 project benefited Sistercare, a women’s shelter in the midlands of South Carolina that serves to rehabilitate women and families affected by domestic violence.
Among the donations were household necessities and personal care items such as paper towels, toilet paper, wet wipes, bath sponges, dish soap, hand soap, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, feminine supplies, trash bags, lotion, and more. All items will be used to support members of the community who need them while they are in the safekeeping of Sistercare
Sistercare’s mission is to “reduce the occurrence and impact of domestic violence in the Midlands.” The organization serves to empower and support survivors and allow them to become educated about domestic violence so that they may better their future and their children’s futures.
Pictured from left to right: Kim Patton, Lucie Cohen, Heyward Bonyata, Anna Ryan Parker, Jarrett Coco.
Raleigh partner Drew Heath (right) was recently appointed to the Board of Trustees for the University of North Carolina Asheville, and was sworn in in midFebruary. A 2003 alumnus, Drew previously served on the Board of Directors for UNCA’s alumni association. He’s part of the firm’s Government Relations group.
In early December, members of the Minneapolis office hosted a successful holiday donation drive for a local family of seven through the Jeremiah Program.
The New York holiday party had their minds boggled by a mentalist when they celebrated in mid-December.
HOUSTON OFFICE ASSEMBLES HOLIDAY BAGS FOR HOMELESS VETS
A team from the Houston office, headed by partner Darren Skyles and administrative coordinator Shelly Bradley, helped donate 100 bags for local homeless veterans during the holidays.
Darren is a co-chair of a Houston Bar Association’s committee, The Campaign to End Homelessness and Hunger. The HBA does a handful of food drives and works with homeless agencies throughout the city, but workers in the firm’s Houston office helped deliver a healthy portion of the bags set for distribution in December.
“The goal for the committee is to do 600 bags for the holiday season, so we were really happy to contribute one-sixth of the whole total,” Darren said. “We’ve been doing this for five to 10 years, and we were really happy with the output this time.”
Anel Valdez, Ana Zavala, Stephanie Dillehay, Maria Barela, Rahwa Berhe, and Doris Jones all assisted Darren and Shelly with their efforts organizing, gathering supplies, and assembling bags.
D.C. senior policy advisor Liz Demaree (third from left, in yellow) received the Pro Merito Melitensi Silver Award for her work with Malta Camp USA back in November. She serves as the programming director for the summer camp, which hosts week-long summer camps for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Attorneys from both of the Palm Beach offices met at the State of the County Breakfast hosted by the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce in December. Kristin Ahr served on the Chamber’s board for the last three years and Eileen O’Malley was recently appointed to the board. Front row, left to right: Kristin Ahr, Michelle Jessell, Zelica Quigley Back row: Eileen O’Malley, Rusty Melges, Clifford Hertz, John Raymond
Ben Britz Partner | DC
Lucia Caif Associate | Miami
Carly Couch Associate | Charlotte
Austin Daniel Sr. Associate | Dallas Uptown
Beth Gioia Of Counsel | Pittsburgh
Karl Jackson Associate | Houston
Mark Jones Partner | Houston
Jill Kowalski Of Counsel | Tallahassee
Benjamin Lajoie Partner | Boston
Laura Maher Partner | Boca Raton
NEW ATTORNEYS
December 2024 -- February 2025
Lisa Margonis Partner | Houston
Chris Marks Partner | Los Angeles
Dustyn Mascia Of Counsel | Boston
Maggie Mathis Of Counsel | Atlanta
Rocio Mendoza Partner | Houston
Max Nikitas Associate | Boston
Jason Northcutt Partner | D.C.
Adriana Obeso Associate | Miami
Kenya Parrish-Dixon Partner | DC
Mauricio Rivero Partner | Miami
Manuel Schoenhuber Partner | Houston
Barclay Taylor Partner | Atlanta
Tammy Terry Partner | Houston
Vivianette Velazquez Of Counsel | Orlando
James Walsh Of Counsel | Charleston
James Washburn Partner | Atlanta
Alissa Watson Associate | Atlanta
David Weidner Of Counsel | Pittsburgh