News

Paul M. Aguggia ’88 was appointed to the board of directors of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc., parent company of Dime Community Bank. Aguggia is a corporate services attorney and partner at Holland & Knight and is based in its Washington, D.C. office.

Jeff Benson JD/MA ’93 has joined Chapel Hill-based Investors Title as executive vice-president – North Carolina and commercial market development. Prior to joining the company, Benson served as partner, president and general counsel for eight years at The Dilweg Companies, a Durham-based real estate investment firm. Before that, he practiced law for 21 years in the real estate department of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.

Allan Capute ’85 has retired from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where he was an appellate lawyer, after 32 years of service. Capute is now a student at the Virginia Theological Seminary.

Lafayette L. Crump ’98, Commissioner of City Development for Milwaukee, was interviewed about his career and the city’s future in Shepherd Express magazine. Crump, who grew up in Milwaukee, was appointed to the position in July 2020. Prior to that, he was chief operating officer of Prism Technical Management & Marketing Services, a multidisciplinary consulting firm, and a longtime lawyer in private practice. 

Nicola Di Giovanni LLM ’02 has joined Skadden as a partner in the firm’s Paris office. Di Giovanni focuses his practice on domestic and cross-border private equity matters, advising investment funds, family offices and industrial companies on acquisitions, buyouts and joint ventures. Prior to joining Skadden he held partnerships at Winston & Strawn, K&L Gates, and Baker & McKenzie.

Ruth Dowling ’94 has been promoted to executive vice president, chief administrative officer, general counsel and secretary at real estate investment trust American Tower, effective January 1. Dowling has been with the company since 2011, most recently serving as regional general counsel in Latin America, Europe and Africa. Previously she was a senior partner at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge. 

Josh Fliegel ’15 has begun a new role as trial attorney with the Land Acquisition Section of the U.S. Department of Justice. Fliegel moved into government service from BakerHostetler’s Chicago office, where he practiced complex commercial litigation and was named to the firm’s “Ones to Watch” list.

Stephen Martin ’01 has joined Georgia-based biodegradable-plastics maker Danimer Scientific as chief legal officer and corporate secretary. Martin was formerly general counsel of Kaman Distribution Group and of Accuride Corp. He served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force from 1992 to 1998.

Jon MacDonald ’99 has joined Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Orange County (Calif.) office as a member of the firm’s real estate practice group. Before joining Gibson Dunn, MacDonald served as general counsel at Fairfield Residential, a multifamily and mixed-use investment and development company. MacDonald is a member of the Urban Development & Mixed-Use Council for the Urban Land Institute. He began his legal career at Paul Hastings.

Haniya H. Mir ’15 has been named partner at Raleigh firm Brooks Pierce. Mir represents businesses of all sizes on a variety of matters including mergers and acquisitions, securities law, corporate governance, entity formation, and equity and debt financing. Prior to joining the firm in April 2019, Mir was an associate at K&L Gates.

Wendy Oliver ’87 has joined OnPoint Community Credit Union as senior vice president and chief legal officer. Oliver brings more than 30 years of experience as a legal advisor in the financial services industry. Before joining OnPoint, she held general counsel and chief compliance officer positions at Grit Financial Inc. and Aven, a California-based fintech startup.

Adrienne Jackson ’21 and Nicole Phillips ’21 were named “Future Rainmakers” by legal recruiter Lateral Link. Jackson is an associate in the private equity practice of Weil’s corporate department, based in Silicon Valley. Phillips is a real estate associate in Jones Day’s Atlanta office, where she advises clients on complex commercial real estate transactions.

Josh Roling ’12 was named a “Rising Star” by Milwaukee Business News. Roling is a partner at Foley & Lardner in Milwaukee and a member of the firm’s real estate practice group. He represents developers, investors, owners, and tenants in all aspects of commercial real estate transactions, including acquisitions and sales, development, leasing, new market tax credit financing, tax increment financing, private placements, and zoning.

Carol Van der Vorst ’04 has joined the leveraged finance team of Freshfields in London as a partner. She will advise the firm’s financial sponsor clients on complex cross-border debt financing transactions. Van Der Horst previously served as a partner at Ropes & Gray and as a managing director in the debt underwriting group at Goldman Sachs.