Hill Ward Henderson is pleased to announce the election of three new shareholders: David A. Keel, Matthew Lastinger, and Allison M. Stevenson. This election now brings the firm’s number of shareholders to 79 of 122 attorneys.
Keel’s practice involves representing the construction industry, including owners, developers, contractors, subcontractors and design professionals in litigation and transactional matters. His practice primarily involves the preparation of design and construction contracts and litigation of claims relating to development, design and construction. His litigation experience involves lien foreclosure actions, delay claims, breach of contract claims, construction defect claims, and payment and performance bond claims. He is also well-versed in defending clients against OSHA citations as well as matters before the Construction Industry Licensing Board (“CILB”). He is an active member in the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of Associated Builders & Contractors and the Hillsborough County Bar Association.
Lastinger’s practice focuses on assisting clients with complex business transactions, commercial contracts, and general corporate advice. Lastinger represents privately-held companies, private equity funds, independent sponsors, and institutional investors in a variety of business combination and other transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, equity financings and other strategic investments. He also represents public companies in connection with business acquisitions, divestitures, corporate governance, and entity formation. As part of his practice, Lastinger has represented clients in the sale or acquisition of independent insurance brokers, security and patrol service providers, manufacturing companies and divisions, heavy equipment dealerships, restaurants, home service providers, distributors, and information technology service providers.
Stevenson devotes her practice to working with product manufacturers and retailers to ensure they are protected against claims for personal injury, wrongful death, false or unfair marketing, and trade libel. She has successfully defended a diverse array of claims in state and federal courts, including in the cosmetics, medical device, tobacco, and home product litigation arenas. Her academic research is devoted to issues involving pay equality and workplace diversity. She chairs the National Association of Women Lawyers Advocacy Committee, is a member of the board of directors of the Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers, and has published and contributed to works centered on reducing the disparity in pay and mentorship among genders and ethnicities in a wide array of professions.