Hill Ward Henderson is pleased to announce the election of eight new shareholders: Ryan M. Angel; Jill K. Bell; Carolina Y. Blanco; David W. Hughes; Connolly C. McArthur; Tori C. Simmons; Emily B. Weeks; and Timothy P. Zehnder. This election now brings the firm’s number of shareholders to 71, of 111 attorneys.
Angel is a member of the firm's Corporate group. His practice primarily focuses on general corporate advice and mergers and acquisitions. His experience includes advising privately-held companies and their owners with respect to mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, entity formation and various other corporate matters. Angel received his J.D. cum laude from Stetson University College of Law, his LL.M. from the University of Florida, and his B.S. from the University of South Florida.
Bell is a member of the firm's Real Estate group. Her practice includes real property purchase and sale transactions, institutional lending, commercial development, and commercial leasing. Bell received her J.D. summa cum laude from Stetson University College of Law and her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.
Blanco is a member of the firm’s Litigation group. Her practice covers an array of commercial litigation matters in federal and state court, with experience representing clients in a wide variety of business disputes, including fraud, intentional torts, and contract disputes. She also has experience defending companies in products liability matters. In addition to her litigation practice, Blanco serves as outside counsel for healthcare entities needing assistance with physician credentialing issues, peer review disputes, revocation of physician privileges, reporting requirements, and hospital-conducted administrative hearings. Blanco received her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School and her B.A. cum laude from the University of Florida.
Hughes is a member of the firm's Litigation group. His practice primarily focuses on the defense of medical malpractice, hospital liability, nursing home and long-term care facilities, professional liability, and premises liability. He also handles a diverse array of personal injury claims. He has successfully defended hospitals, physicians, nursing homes, pharmaceutical companies, and individual physicians and nurses in Department of Health licensure investigations. He received his J.D. cum laude from the University of Florida College of Law and his B.A. with honors from Haverford College.
McArthur is a member of the firm's Litigation group. She has extensive experience representing long-term care communities, including assisted living facilities and nursing-homes, from pre-suit through final resolution. Her representation of long-term care communities includes defending resident’s rights and premises liability claims and drafting and enforcing arbitration agreements. McArthur received her J.D. with honors from the University of Florida College of Law, and her M.B.A. and B.S. with honors from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Simmons is a member of the firm's Litigation group. She represents clients in a variety of business disputes and class action litigation in state and federal court. In addition to her general commercial litigation practice, she represents individuals and firms in professional liability matters. Simmons received her J.D. from Duke University School of Law and her B.A. summa cum laude from the University of Central Arkansas.
Weeks is a member of the firm’s Trusts & Estates group. Her practice primarily involves estate planning, tax planning, the administration of trusts and estates, and business succession planning. She is a graduate of the Florida Fellows Institute of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Prior to joining the firm, Weeks worked at Ernst & Young, LLP where she advised high net worth individuals on income tax, gift tax, and estate tax planning. Weeks received her J.D. and LL.M. from the University of Miami School of Law, and her B.S. and M.ACC. from the University of Florida.
Zehnder is a member of the firm's Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation group. His practice focuses primarily on advising employers (private and public, tax-exempt and for-profit) on a wide variety of benefits matters that arise throughout the lifespan of their benefits programs. This includes regularly counseling clients on plan design, administration and termination matters, compliance with applicable laws (including the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA, HIPAA, and the Affordable Care Act), and resolution of compliance issues with the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. He received his J.D. and LL.M. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and his B.S. from the University of Florida.