To submit items for Movers & Shakers, please email text and high-resolution photos to news@ hartfordbusiness.com.
McCarter & English has expanded its business litigation group in Hartford with the addition of Thomas J. Finn and Paula Cruz Cedillo as partners. Finn and Cedillo focus their practices on securities litigation, white collar criminal defense matters and complex commercial litigation. They are returning to McCarter after working for a period at Jorden Burt LLP, a financial services boutique firm. McCarter & English has 400 attorneys and represents Fortune 500 and middle-market companies with offices in Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Stamford and Wilmington.Â
• • •
Danielle P. Ferrucci has been named a partner at the law firm of Shipman & Goodwin LLP in Hartford. Her practice encompasses the areas of estate planning, estate settlement and trust administration. She serves on the executive committee of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Estate and Probate Section and the professional advisory committees of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and the University of Connecticut Foundation. She is statewide co-chair for Leave a Legacy Connecticut,
• • •
Vicky Valery has joined Mintz & Hoke Communications Group as an interactive producer. In this new role, she is responsible for project management and workflow for the interactive department of the Avon communications firm.
Previously, Valery was a paralegal for the Judicial Branch at Bristol Superior Court.
• • •
Everyday Democracy, a national community advocacy group based in East Hartford, has added Valeriano (Val) Ramos to its staff in the new position of director of strategic alliances. In his new role, Ramos will lead a variety of outreach and partnership strategies to help Everyday Democracy build alliances with potential partners and funders. The organization helps people of different backgrounds and views talk and work together to solve problems and create communities. Ramos most recently he served as director of constituent services for Connecticut Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz where he was in charge of constituent relations. He has extensive experience working with the Latino community through his previous leadership roles with Tu Voto Si Cuenta, Yale College, Guakia, Inc., and the Connecticut Association for United Spanish Action. Ramos also is an internationally-renowned classical Flamenco guitarist.
• • •
Leggette, Brashears & Graham Inc., a professional groundwater and environmental engineering services firm based in Shelton, has named Darrick Jones a senior associate in its Farmington office. Jones is a geologist with 16 years of consulting experience in geology, hydrogeology, environmental site assessment and remediation. His core business practice includes transaction consulting, site development related work, Connecticut Transfer Act site assessments and litigation support. Leggette, Brashears & Graham was the first consulting firm in the United States to specialize in groundwater geology. It has 19 regional offices across the country.
• • •
The law firm of Wiggin and Dana has named four partners and one counsel. New partners are Robert S. Hoff, a member of the firm’s white collar defense, investigations and corporate compliance practice group and the litigation department; Steven B. Malech, a member of the firm’s litigation department, as well as the firm’s antitrust and consumer protection and probate litigation practice groups; Rebecca A. Matthews, a member in both the corporate and health care departments; and Kevin M. Smith, a member of the litigation department. Named counsel is Rachel B. Arnedt, a member of the labor, employment and benefits department. Wiggin and Dana is a full service firm with more than 130 attorneys with offices in Hartford, New Haven, New York and Philadelphia.
• • •
Pita Group has added five new team members, including naming Heather Jutcawitz as director of marketing. Jutcawitz brings more than 10 years of agency and digital marketing experience. Most recently, she was marketing director at Dr. Energy Saver in Seymour, where she led integrated campaigns. She also has been a brand strategist and client service lead at Brand Content, a Boston-based advertising agency. Other additions to the staff of the Rocky Hill marketing, interactive and productions firm are Nick Paradise as interactive art director from creative director at Response Marketing in New Haven; Micah Murray, senior interactive developer, from a web applications developer at the American Radio Relay League; Steve Latronica Jr., interactive developer, from systems administrator at Ovation Benefits Group; and Sandy Frayler, account executive, from account executive at the TracyLocke agency in Wilton.
• • •
Rachel Balloch, a podiatrist, and Michael C. Biondi, a radiologist, have joined the medical staff of St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center. Dr. Balloch most recently served as an attending physician and externship director in the Podiatry Department at University Hospital/University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark. At Saint Francis, she is practicing as a member of Bloomfield Foot Specialists LLC, and has been named the surgical director of the Saint Francis Podiatric Surgery Residency Program. Dr. Biondi most recently served as a member of the cross sectional imaging staff at the National Naval Medical Center and held the rank of Commander in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps. At Saint Francis, he is practicing as a member of Radiology Associates of Hartford P.C.
Â
