Barnes & Thornburg Welcomes New Attorneys and Legal Professionals

Barnes & Thornburg has added new labor and employment and litigation attorneys and legal professionals to its Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New York, and South Bend offices. 

An associate in the Indianapolis office, Steven Baldwin focuses his practice on a wide range of complex business and commercial litigation matters, including contract, business tort and unfair competition lawsuits. He represents plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts in jurisdictions throughout the U.S,  in virtually all aspects of litigation, including drafting pleadings, motions, discovery, summary judgment briefs, and defending and taking depositions and preparing expert witnesses for trial. Baldwin earned his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 2017 and his B.A. from the University of Michigan in 2013.

Mitchell Berry, a staff attorney in the Fort Wayne office, focuses his practice in the areas of labor and employment litigation and education law. He represents employers facing employment litigation, as well as Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) related issues. Berry drafts and responds to written discovery for cases in federal and state courts, and prepares position statements on behalf of employers in response to administrative charges of discrimination and retaliation. He earned his J.D. from the Notre Dame Law School in 2020 and his B.A. in political science from the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne in 2017.

Beth Behrens, an associate in the Indianapolis office, is a commercial and business litigator who practices in an array of civil disputes, ranging from product liability defense and medical malpractice defense to complex commercial litigation. Behrens is well-versed in trial preparation, including preparing thorough timelines and factual chronologies; assisting with case strategy; drafting and preparing trial briefings and motions; locating, retaining, and consulting with expert witnesses; taking and defending fact and expert depositions; and preparing witnesses and experts for trial testimony. She earned her J.D. from Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis in 2012 and her B.A. from State University of New York College at Cortland in 2007.

An associate in the Los Angeles office, Andrew Berman advocates for clients involved in commercial litigation, cybersecurity, data privacy, insurance recovery, and related issues. He performs research and analysis, and drafts complaints and motions, including summary judgment and dismissals, briefs, and discovery requests for a wide range of matters, and provides additional support for pre-trial hearings and trials. Berman earned his Master of Laws from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law in 2021, his J.D. from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2020 and his B.A. in political science from Loyola University Chicago in 2017.

Chisara Ezie-Boncoeur, of counsel in the South Bend office, engages in virtually all phases of complex commercial litigation and alternative dispute resolution. She has represented individuals and companies as plaintiff and defendant in the course of her career. On a regular basis, Ezie-Boncoeur conducts depositions, witness preparation, discovery, legal analysis, and negotiations, and drafts pleadings, briefs, demand letters, along with engaging in motion practice. She has also been involved with evidentiary hearings and multiple temporary restraining orders (TROs) and the like. She earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2014 and her A.B. in anthropology from Cornell University in 2009.

With more than 15 years of in-house and law firm experience in senior level paralegal roles, Johnna Vitti is versatile and highly organized in assisting with complex litigation and dispute resolution matters. A paralegal in the New York office, she is skilled in managing cases, starting from the discovery phase forward. Vitti has particular strength with matters in the areas of securities, commercial and bankruptcy litigation and appeals, as well as in reviewing court procedures. She earned her paralegal certificate from Norwalk Community College.

An associate in the Los Angeles office, Mihran Yezbekyan helps his clients navigate the often complex challenges that can arise in the course of litigation. His practice is focused in the areas of product liability and mass torts, consumer class actions, and multidistrict litigation (MDLs). Yezbekyan is experienced in handling written discovery, taking and defending depositions, drafting dispositive motions and arguing pretrial motions in matters of traditional litigation and alternative dispute resolution. He earned his J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law in 2018 and his B.A. in political science from the University of California in 2015.

With more than 700 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from offices in Atlanta, Boston, California, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, New York, Ohio, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, Texas and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com or on Twitter @BTLawNews.