Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp Takes Growth Surge Bicoastal With Additions to Labor Practice in New York, D.C.
Arrival of Prominent Lateral Trio Follows Last Month’s Expansion on West Coast
Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP (MSK) announced today that it has expanded its national Labor & Employment group with the addition of three attorneys in New York and Washington, D.C., including the former chair of an Am Law 100 labor practice.
New MSK partner Louis Cannon and associate Cassandra Horton join MSK’s Washington, D.C., office from Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, where Cannon headed the labor relations group. New MSK partner Loren Forrest joins MSK’s New York office from another Am Law 100 firm, Holland & Knight, where he was a partner in the labor and employment group.
“For the second time in a matter of weeks, we have made a major addition of talent in an area of historic strength for MSK—one that delivers on our strategic priorities and underscores the national scope of our work,” said Yakub Hazzard, chair of MSK. “The labor and employment practice has been a calling card of MSK for decades, through our success for clients in the entertainment industry and far beyond. As top-flight labor lawyers on the East Coast, Louis, Loren, and Cassandra will help us build and expand on that history.”
This East Coast-based group follows another prominent team that recently joined the firm on the West Coast. In March, MSK announced a three-lawyer group that includes one of the country’s preeminent copyright and media litigators, Aaron Moss, joined the firm’s Entertainment and Intellectual Property Litigation practice in Los Angeles.
Among the most recent additions, Louis Cannon has spent his entire, nearly 20-year, legal career representing clients in a variety of sectors in all aspects of labor relations. Before heading up Baker Donelson’s labor relations practice, he routinely served as chief negotiator in collective bargaining negotiations and first-chaired National Labor Relations Board cases and labor arbitrations for clients in healthcare, higher education, hospitality, manufacturing and other industries. He also guides clients through union avoidance efforts, election campaigns, and other significant labor matters. Cannon received both his undergraduate and J.D. degrees from the University of Maryland.
“MSK is well known for its influential work in labor and employment, which starts with the talented group of lawyers the firm has assembled in this area,” said Cannon. “We look forward to complementing their work.”
Loren Forrest represents management on a wide variety of issues in employment litigation, labor relations management, and human resources consulting matters, with particularly deep expertise in anti-harassment and anti-discrimination issues. He litigates disputes before federal courts, the NLRB, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, and other agencies. Among other notable engagements, he has advised professional sports franchises on compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and on anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training. He received his J.D. from the Fordham University School of Law, where he was a Stein Scholar in Public Interest Law.
“With its impeccable reputation and forward-thinking advocates, MSK provides an ideal platform for my management-side practice in New York,” said Forrest. “The firm has a truly national Labor & Employment practice that offers comprehensive service to its clients.”
Cassandra Horton has practiced alongside Cannon for her entire legal career, beginning in 2018. Named to the National Black Lawyers’ Top 40 Under 40 list, she has experience representing employers in pre- and post-union election hearings, collective bargaining negotiations, and in unfair labor practice proceedings before the NLRB. She also counsels employers on the implications of the National Labor Relations Act. Horton received her J.D. from George Washington University Law School.