Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP is pleased to announce that Partners Joyce Mazero and Leonard H. (Len) MacPhee will lead the Firm’s Global Supply Network Industry Team from its Dallas and new Denver offices. Ms. Mazero and Mr. MacPhee were most recently partners with Perkins Coie LLP, where they led its Supply Chain and Franchise & Distribution Practice Groups.
Ms. Mazero has significant experience as lead project partner, assisting clients in developing strategy, structuring, negotiating, implementing and resolving disputes for product and service-based domestic and international franchise, distribution, manufacturing and logistics businesses. Among her strengths are structuring and negotiating group purchasing cooperatives and arrangements for global contract manufacturing and sourcing, international franchise systems, special venue licensing, dedicated transportation and outsourced logistics management.
“Joyce’s well-recognized international reputation as a strong advocate and trusted, strategic business advisor for her clients in the supply chain, food service, restaurant and retail industries reflects an important benchmark showcasing our commitment to ‘best in class’ legal services targeting these industries,” says Gardere Chair Holland N. O’Neil. “The continued growth of our international trade and supply chain expertise is greatly enhanced with the addition of Joyce.”
Ms. Mazero has served on the boards of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, International Franchise Association, Women’s Foodservice Forum and the American Bar Association’s Forum on Franchising. Ms. Mazero currently serves on the NRA’s Executive Supply Chain Advisory Council and as a trustee for the College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism at the University of North Texas. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Women’s Foodservice Forum Leadership Award, International Franchise Association Bonnie Levine Award and the Dallas Business Journal Women in Business Award. Ms. Mazero has consistently received the highest national ranking awarded by Chambers USA as one of the nation’s leading franchise attorneys, and she is recognized as a leading franchise attorney in Chambers Global, The Best Lawyers in America©, U.S. News & World Report, International Who’s Who of Franchise Lawyers and Franchise Times. She is routinely named a Texas Super Lawyer and among D Magazine’s Best Lawyers in Dallas, in addition to serving as a member of Franchise Times’ Legal Eagles Hall of Fame.
Mr. MacPhee will be opening and managing the Firm’s new Denver office. He is well-known for his experience analyzing and advising clients on significant supply network matters, including pre-litigation work, structuring business strategies and negotiating contracts for the rollout, wind down and transition of product distribution networks across multiple supply chains. He frequently litigates business disputes and issues relating to supply network and distribution matters, as well as disputes involving contracts, business torts, trade secrets, trade dress, covenants not to compete, and enforcement of intellectual property rights before state and federal trial and appellate courts, including arbitration panels.
“Len brings a wealth of experience in supply chain and distribution matters, including franchise and commercial litigation,” says Ms. O’Neil. “Adding a well-established national practice with high-caliber Denver-based attorneys, led by Len, is the ideal way for Gardere to expand its footprint into Colorado, and we look forward to growing in that market.”
Mr. MacPhee is recognized as one of America’s leading franchise lawyers by Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America® and Colorado Super Lawyers. In 2014, he was named Franchise Law “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers® Denver. Mr. MacPhee received his J.D. from The Dickinson School of Law at Pennsylvania State University. He serves on International Franchise Association committees for the IFA Legal Symposium and IFA Annual Convention, and as a host of Denver’s Franchise Business Network.
Joining Ms. Mazero and Mr. MacPhee are Partner Jess A. Dance and Associate Sarah A. Walters.
Mr. Dance focuses his practice on franchise, distribution and supply chain matters, as well as complex commercial litigation. He frequently represents clients in litigation and arbitration, and on a pre-litigation basis relating to supply network, distribution, trade secrets, trade dress, covenants not to compete, and enforcement of contract and trademark rights. He also advises clients in supply and distribution contract drafting and negotiation. Mr. Dance previously served as an assistant attorney general with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, representing state agencies in state and federal court in a variety of constitutional cases. He graduated with honors from the Georgetown University Law Center and has been recognized as a Colorado Rising Star by Super Lawyers. Mr. Dance has authored multiple articles for Law 360 and the International Law Office’s Franchising Newsletter – USA, and has presented at the IFA Legal Symposium and Denver Franchise Business Network events. In 2012, he was co-recipient of the Colorado Lawyer Committee’s “Team of the Year” award for his work on a pro bono case involving public school funding.
Ms. Walters focuses her practice on supply chain, franchise, distribution and logistics matters, counseling and coordinating projects for national and global clients for transactional, regulatory, governance and dispute resolution projects. This includes negotiation of a wide range of franchise and supply chain contracts on a domestic and international basis. Ms. Walters served as general counsel for a national franchisor, where she was responsible for the company’s franchise transactions, regulatory and corporate governance matters, and supply and distribution transactions. She is the host of Dallas’ Franchise Business Network and served as chair of the Dallas Bar Association Franchise Law Section in 2015.
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