• Drunk Driving (DUII, DUI, DWI) - including underage drinking and driving, refusing a breathalyzer test, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and other drug or alcohol related driving offenses
• Criminal Driving Offenses - including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault, hit & run, attempting to elude police, reckless driving and licensure issues
• Drug Crimes - including possession, delivery, and manufacturing of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, designer drugs and prescription drugs
• Property Crimes - including theft, embezzlement, forgery, fraud, computer crimes and burglary
• Violent Crimes - including menacing, stalking and assault
• Stalking - including criminal offenses and civil actions

The Washington law firm Arent Fox said Monday that it has named longtime partner Mark M. Katz as its new chairman, a leadership change that comes as the legal sector copes with an economic downturn that has curtailed business and prompted layoffs.

Katz, 52, succeeds Marc L. Fleischaker, who served as chairman of the firm's executive committee for 14 years. Fleischaker will remain at the firm, concentrating on antitrust and civil rights cases.

Like many of its counterparts, Arent Fox has faced declining revenue as corporate clients cut back on legal work, particularly in commercial real estate and finance, Katz said Monday in an interview. Although the firm cut 13 associates and 15 staff members and is in the early stages of restructuring how it bills clients, Katz said Arent Fox wasn't hurt as deeply by the recession because it decided to grow more cautiously during the boom.

"Some of the firms that grew very rapidly and worked on a mega-international platform seem to be running into difficulties," he said. "We've grown on a patient pace, and that's helped us."

As of 2008, the latest year for which statistics from the economic development group Greater Washington Initiative are available, more than 40,000 lawyers worked in the Washington region, second only to the New York area. Nearly 64,000 people work in the legal profession in the Washington region, which employs more people in that sector on a per-capita basis than any U.S. metropolitan area.

The D.C. office of law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP has relocated its headquarters to larger space downtown.

The firm said that its new location, on the top floor of 1717 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, more than doubles the size of its offices and will allow for continued expansion of its practice.

"This relocation marks an important step in Curtis’ ongoing expansion in Washington,” said D.C. Managing Partner Daniel Lenihan.

The firm said that it has added four senior lawyers to its D.C. office since December 2008.

According to its Web site, Curtis has three U.S. offices with 16 professionals working in Washington, five working in Houston and more than 100 based in New York. In addition, Curtis has 10 international offices.

K&L Gates LLP, Pittsburgh’s largest law firm, said Monday it has established an office in Warsaw, marking its 36th location and third new site so far this year. It is the first Pittsburgh-based firm to open an office in the Polish city.

The office is expected to open March 15. K&L Gates hired a team of lawyers from Hogan & Hartson Jamka, the Warsaw office of Washington, D.C.-based Hogan & Hartson LLP, to staff it. Maciej Jamka will serve as administrative partner of K&L Gates’ Warsaw office which K&L Gates Chairman and Global Managing Partner Peter Kalis said via e-mail will include “approximately 30 lawyers.”

Kalis said Warsaw is a strategic location. “Poland is a Top 20 global economy and one that has withstood the challenges of the global financial crisis,” Kalis said in a prepared statement.

In January, K&L Gates opened offices in Tokyo and Moscow. It employs roughly 2,000 lawyers, including 237 in Pittsburgh, and topped $1 billion in 2009 revenue.

K&L Gates expects to move into new offices in Downtown Pittsburgh in One Oliver Plaza, a few blocks from its present home in the Henry W. Oliver Building, later this month. The date has not been disclosed publicly.

If you've been arrested for DUI, this is most likely one of the worst days of your life. As a former police officer, I know the range of emotions that you must be feeling. You're probably angry at yourself for letting this happen, embarrassed to face family and friends, worried about your job, scared because you don’t know whether you’re going to jail and confused because you're not sure what to do next. As a Pittsburgh Police Lieutenant, I spent several years in charge of the Pittsburgh Police DUI Task Force and have extensive experience with all aspects of DUI law in Pennsylvania. The attorneys in my office help steer you through this nightmare so that you are able to get on with your life.

Experience has taught me that the great majority of people arrested for DUI are not bad people or criminals; they are good people who may have made a bad choice, or have done something out of character. If you've been charged with DUI in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County or in any of the surrounding counties, please contact us at 412-429-4360 for a free consultation. Our phone answers 24 hours a day and we'll return your call the same day. You may also email us directly at info@gbmlawpittsburgh.com or use the contact form. We respond to phone calls and emails 7 days a week and are available to speak and meet with you on weekends.

Pittsburgh DUI Defense Lawyer