Lowenstein Sandler Expands National Platform in DC

New York, NY, August 11, 2014 – Continuing its national expansion, Lowenstein Sandler has opened an office in Washington, DC. The new office brings together accomplished, sophisticated lawyers in the firm’s antitrust, investment management, commercial and insurance litigation practices.

The office will initially be staffed by five partners. Lowenstein’s antitrust chair Jeff Blumenfeld, commercial litigation partner Miguel Pozo, and investment management partner Matthew Magidson are relocating to Washington from New York and New Jersey. They are joined by four new lawyers -- insurance litigation partners Andrew Reidy and Cathy Serafin, counsel Joseph Saka and associate Courtney Alvarez, all previously with Dickstein Shapiro. In addition, Michael McGaughey, also previously with Dickstein Shapiro, will be joining Lowenstein Sandler as a partner in Los Angeles, expanding the firm’s litigation capabilities in California.

“This is a natural extension of our strategy to build our national platform with talented, well-respected lawyers in our core practice areas,” said Gary Wingens, Lowenstein Sandler’s chairman and managing partner.  “We are excited to open the office with just the right mix of seasoned current partners and distinguished new colleagues. Our DC office will add an important new dimension to how we serve clients in our core industries, and will immediately make Lowenstein a player in a dynamic regional business community with a large and rich pool of legal talent.”

The new office is located at 2200 Pennsylvania Ave. The firm plans to immediately expand the office by recruiting additional lawyers for its litigation practices, as well as other core areas of the firm, such as intellectual property, life sciences, technology, investment management and its capital markets-based practices.

Advancing Lowenstein’s National Strategy

Lowenstein Sandler continues to build its preeminent national firm by focusing on its industry-leading highly sophisticated practices in investment management, private equity, M&A, insurance recovery, bankruptcy and technology, among others.

The new Washington, DC office follows Lowenstein’s recent expansion into Palo Alto, where it focuses on intellectual property and technology. In New York, the firm has grown by adding more than 70 lawyers to better serve its national client base of top hedge funds, private equity funds, M&A clients, debtors and creditors in insolvency matters, and the city’s burgeoning community of technology start-ups and venture funds.

Expanding Insurance Coverage Litigation

The addition of Andrew Reidy, Cathy Serafin, Michael McGaughey, Joe Saka and Courtney Alvarez substantially expands the size of Lowenstein’s insurance litigation practice. Their experience representing policyholders in complex insurance matters, and particularly their marquis reputation as leaders in the D&O insurance field, adds significant depth and breadth to the practice. 

“Andrew, Cathy, Mike, Joe and Courtney are a great team and will contribute to the development of our insurance practice in important ways, adding new dimensions to the practice as well as greater capacity to areas of historic strength,” said Lowenstein’s insurance practice chair Lynda A. Bennett, who worked with Reidy and Serafin at another firm earlier in their careers. “We are delighted to have them in the firm, and anchoring our new Washington team.”

A pioneering firm in the field of coverage litigation, Lowenstein has litigated claims against insurance companies, helped clients through cost-effective claims negotiations and advised clients in evaluating and customizing insurance policies and contracts. The firm has litigated hundreds of coverage cases in more than 20 states.

“We are very excited for the opportunity to help open Lowenstein’s Washington, DC office and expand its national insurance coverage practice in a new market,” said Andrew Reidy.

About the Lawyers

Andrew Reidy’s practice is focused on representing holders of Directors & Officers and Errors & Omissions insurance policies.  For more than 25 years, he has represented policyholders in disputes against insurance companies in connection with a wide variety of policies, including commercial liability, directors and officers, property, errors and omissions, crime, and fidelity policies. He has successfully tried insurance cases and argued complex insurance issues before the highest courts of Massachusetts, Iowa, and Delaware.

Cathy Serafin has extensive experience resolving complex insurance disputes on behalf of policyholders and has obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance recoveries through settlements as well as bench and jury trials. Much of Cathys’ work has focused on protecting her policyholder clients against bad faith claim denials.  She has obtained coverage for clients facing liability claims alleging, for example, securities fraud, product liability, environmental liability, defamation, and construction defects.  She also has experience assisting clients with coverage for business interruption losses and theft claims.

Michael McGaughey represents corporate policyholders in recovery efforts and litigation against insurance companies and has broad experience in complex commercial litigation in both federal and state courts, including in the areas of antitrust, unfair competition, unfair business practices, breach of contract, business torts, civil investigative demands, RESPA, and class actions. He has litigated cases in the refining, manufacturing, aerospace, paper and forest products, banking, juice products, and recycling industries. Mike McGaughey will continue serving clients from Los Angeles.

Jeff Blumenfeld serves as chair of Lowenstein Sandler’s Antitrust & Trade Regulation practice, focusing on antitrust litigation and counseling. He is also a member of the firm’s Tech Group, in which he counsels clients and their investors on competition issues facing emerging technology companies, particularly at the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property.

Miguel Pozo is the current National President of the Hispanic National Bar Association and has been on its Board of Governors since 2004.Miguel is a homegrown Lowenstein Sandler partner with more than 15 years of experience helping clients protect their critical intellectual property rights from attack and infringement from competitors and counterfeiters, particularly in the context of social media platforms.

Matthew Magidson is a Partner in Lowenstein Sandler’s Investment Management Group and chairs the firm’s Derivatives and Structured Products Practice. He regularly negotiates the complex agreements and credit facilities that are at the heart of his clients’ transactions and advises derivatives clients on regulatory compliance, most notably related to Dodd-Frank, and on the uncertainties facing the industry regarding further regulation.

Counsel Joseph Saka has successfully assisted clients in recovering tens of millions of dollars from their insurers, pursuing coverage for a wide variety of underlying liabilities, including coverage for mass tort, business tort, professional liability, and fiduciary claims. Joe also has helped clients pursue coverage for first-party property claims and he counsels clients on prospective insurance placement.

Courtney Alvarez, an Associate with the firm, focuses on representing corporate policyholders in a variety of insurance coverage disputes relating to directors and officers liabilities, government investigations, professional errors and omissions liabilities, products liabilities, and environmental liabilities. Her clients have included defense contracting firms, financial services firms, automobile parts manufacturers, government-sponsored enterprises, regulated utilities, and individual directors and officers.

About Lowenstein Sandler 



Lowenstein Sandler is a leading national law firm. Our 300 lawyers in New York, Washington, DC, New Jersey and California immerse themselves in our clients’ industries in order to deeply understand their businesses. We are characterized by our passion for our clients’ success, our commitment to our people, and our pro bono and public interest work in the communities that we serve. For more information, please visit www.lowenstein.com.