Law Briefs
By Doug Sherwin

Elizabeth Balfour was named Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP's Pro Bono Attorney of the Year, an award that recognizes the important community service work done by the firm's attorneys.

As part of the award presentation on May 16, Sheppard Mullin will donate $5,000 to the Children at Risk Committee of the San Diego County Bar Association. The Committee teaches children how the justice system operates, and implements literacy and enrichment programs that rely on volunteers from the legal community, including judges, lawyers and law students.

"Elizabeth has been a perennial pro bono supporter and is a fine lawyer, which includes her tremendous commitment to the Children at Risk Committee, as well as indigent pro bono work on various legal matters," said Guy Halgren, chair of the Executive Committee of Sheppard Mullin. "She embodies Sheppard Mullin's commitment to the community by providing legal services to those who could otherwise not afford representation."

Balfour has been co-chair of the Children at Risk Committee since December 2003. Her leadership of the committee involves coordinating the mock trial video program; creating, with committee members, a program on peaceful conflict resolution for elementary school students and training volunteer attorneys to take the program into schools; and furthering the committee's partnership with Kennedy Elementary School by implementing a peer mediation program at the school and supporting literacy programs through volunteer participation an fundraising.

A sixth-year associate in the firm's Del Mar Heights office, Balfour works as a member of Sheppard Mullin's White Collar Defense and business Trial Practice Groups.

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Doug Carsten has joined Foley & Lardner as senior counsel in its intellectual property practice group and life sciences industry team. He'll focus his practice on complex patent litigation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnical fields.

Prior to joining Foley, Carsten was an attorney in the San Diego office of DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP. His practice focused on intellectual property litigation with an emphasis on pharmaceutical patent litigation. He's also worked at Irell & Manella LLP.

Carsten holds degrees from Georgetown (J.D., cum laude), Harvard (M.A., organic chemistry) and the State University of New York at Stony Brook (B.S., summa cum laude, chemistry and English).

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San Diego's oldest plaintiff's law firm -- formerly known as Casey Gerry Reed & Schenk -- has been renamed Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield, a moniker that reflects the accomplishments of the firm's five partners while paying tribute to its founders.

"Casey Gerry has flourished in San Diego since 1947 and is now known as one of the best victim's advocate firms in the nation," said senior partner David Casey Jr. "As we near our 60th anniversary, this new name simultaneously signifies our past and future."

The firm's roots date back nearly six decades, when Casey's late father, David Casey Sr., founded a fledgling law firm to provide quality service for plaintiffs in civil litigation and personal injury cases. Longtime partner Richard Gerry joined forces with the elder Casey in 1969 and remained active in the firm until his death last year. David Casey Jr. and Frederick Schenk were named partners in 1980 and 1991, respectively, while Gayle Blatt, Thomas Penfield and Robert Francavilla followed suit in 2000.

The firm has earned a national reputation for its legal abilities, with highlights including roles in the $5 billion settlement in the Exxon Valdez oil spill; "Trial Lawyers Care," the pro bono program for families of Sept. 11 victims; and California's high-profile $25 billion settlement with the tobacco companies. Casey Gerry's 13 attorneys practice in various areas, including personal injury, pharmaceutical drug, asbestos litigation, class action and products liability.