ATLANTA (July 30, 2021) – Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP (SGR) is pleased to announce that the firm served as legal counsel to SecurEnds, Inc., a cloud-native Identity Governance company, in a $21 million Series A investment led by Elephant Partners, a venture capital firm focused on the enterprise software, consumer internet, and mobile markets. To date, the investment is one of the largest A-rounds in Atlanta’s burgeoning cybersecurity and tech start up ecosystem and comes following a 340% increase in year-over-year annual recurring revenue. SecurEnds enables the world’s most forward-thinking companies to fully automate user access reviews, entitlement audits,… Read more

ATLANTA (July 15, 2021) – Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP (SGR) is pleased to announce that Partner Jill Bechtold has been appointed to the Steering Committee for the International Association of Defense Counsel’s (IADC’s) 2022 Midyear Meeting. The annual event will be held February 19-24 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Ms. Bechtold accepted her membership to the IADC’s invitation-only organization of approximately 2,500 corporate and insurance defense attorneys and insurance executives in 2016. She was previously on the Steering Committee for the IADC’s 2017 Annual Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal. As a partner in SGR’s Jacksonville Litigation Practice, Jill Bechtold practices in the… Read more

ATLANTA (July 13, 2021) – Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP (SGR) is pleased to announce that firm client, CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc. (NYSE: CTT), has announced a definitive agreement to sell 18,063 acres of prime Oregon timberlands, known as the Brandon Property, to Roseburg Resources Co. (Roseburg) for $100 million in cash, approximately $5,536 per acre. The sale is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. CatchMark purchased the Brandon Property in August 2018 for $88.8 million, exclusive of transaction costs. The Pacific Northwest property’s sale to Roseburg capitalizes on the current favorable… Read more

ATLANTA (July 12, 2021) – Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP (SGR) is pleased to announce the addition of Judy de León Jarecki-Black, Ph.D. to the firm’s Intellectual Property (IP) Practice based in Atlanta. Dr. Jarecki-Black will lead the firm’s growing biotech/chemistry patent team. She joins SGR from Merial Limited (now Boehringer-Ingelheim Animal Health), a leading global animal health biotech and pharmaceutical company, where she was the Global Head of IP. With more than 20 years of experience, Dr. Jarecki-Black is a seasoned and accomplished patent and IP attorney, including in both private and corporate practice. During her 18-year tenure with… Read more

ATLANTA (July 12, 2021) – Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP (SGR) is pleased to announce the firm acted as legal counsel in connection with two transactions that were recently awarded Deals of the Year for 2020 by Airfinance Journal, the leading commercial aviation industry publication. SGR represented Aviation Capital Group (ACG) as part of a Virgin Atlantic transaction which was awarded Europe Deal of the Year for 2020, and in a Pegasus Airlines transaction which was awarded Tax Lease Deal of the Year for 2020. The Europe Deal of the Year accolade recognizes Virgin Atlantic’s £1.2bn ($1.66 billion) recapitalization plan…. Read more

ATLANTA (June 2, 2021) – Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP (SGR) is pleased to announce that the firm has been recognized by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) with a 2020 Patent Pro Bono Law Firm and Corporate Achievement Certificate. Additionally, two of SGR’s Intellectual Property Practice attorneys, Gregory Kirsch and Thomas Wiseman have been individually recognized with 2020 Patent Pro Bono Achievement Certificates. The Achievement Certificates are presented in recognition of individuals and law firms who reported 50 or more hours of patent pro bono service to a regional patent pro bono program. The goal of the… Read more

ATLANTA (June 24, 2021) – Smith Gambrell & Russell, LLP (SGR) is pleased to announce the attorneys that have been selected to the 2021 Florida Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor. The SGR attorneys in the Jacksonville office selected to the 2021 Super Lawyers list and their specified area of practice: Dana G. Bradford II (Civil Litigation: Defense) Alan S. Wachs (Insurance Coverage) The SGR attorney in the Jacksonville office selected to 2021 Rising… Read more

ATLANTA (June 22, 2021) – Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP (SGR) is pleased to announce the firm served as legal counsel to Account Control Technology Holdings, Inc. (ACTH), one of the nation’s leading debt recovery, accounts receivable management (ARM), and business process outsourcing companies, in its sale to Transworld Systems Inc. (TSI), the largest U.S. technology-enabled provider of ARM solutions. The transaction, which now forms the largest ARM company in the U.S., closed on June 4, 2021. During its more than 30 years in operation, ACTH grew to become a leading provider of business management and financial services for the… Read more

ATLANTA (June 17, 2021) – Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP (SGR) is pleased to announce that Partners Peter Crofton and Gregory Smith have been re-elected as State of Bar of Georgia (Georgia Bar) Construction Law Section officers. Mr. Crofton and Mr. Smith will continue their roles as Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, with one-year terms that run July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022. Additionally, the Construction Law Section was honored with 2020-21 Section Award of Achievement presented during the Annual Meeting of the State Bar on June 12. The annual Section Awards of Achievement honor outstanding sections of the… Read more

ATLANTA (June 7, 2021) – Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP (SGR) is pleased to announce that the firm has been recognized by Construction Executive magazine in The Top 50 Construction Law Firms™ for 2021. Construction Executive ranked SGR 42 among the top 50 construction practices in the country.  SGR’s Construction Group is known for its depth of knowledge of the AEC industry, ability to handle all aspects of the construction process from project conception through dispute resolution, and work on behalf of owners and contractors across the U.S. and abroad. This is the magazine’s third annual U.S. ranking of the… Read more