BakerHostetlerannounced today that six lawyers have been elected to the partnership. The new partners are in six of the firm’s 14 offices and represent clients in the practice areas of Business, Employment, Intellectual Property, Litigation and Tax.

New partner in the firm’s Cleveland office:

• Susan Whittaker Hughes, a member of the firm’s Tax Group, provides employee benefit legal services to large employers. Her practice targets health and welfare benefit plan design and compliance. She has extensive experience with healthcare reform matters, having worked on Affordable Care Act issues since the law’s execution, and with qualified plans and executive compensation. Susan graduated summa cum laude three times: She earned a J.D. from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 2008, where she was Business Editor of the Cleveland State Law Review, and received an M.A. and a B.A. from Ohio University in 2003 and 2002, respectively.

New partner in the firm’s Houston office:

• Will Daugherty is a member of the Chambers USA-ranked Privacy and Data Protection team in the firm’s Intellectual Property Group. He has extensive experience counseling clients in a wealth of industries on all aspects of preparing for and responding to data security incidents. Will also advises clients on privacy and data security issues spanning the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards and more. He graduated cum laude with a J.D. from Tulane University Law School in 2005 and earned a B.S. from Louisiana State University in 2001.

New partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office:

• Shareef Farag is a member of the firm’s Employment Group. He represents employers in addressing employment law issues and focuses his practice on wage and hour class action litigation, discrimination and harassment litigation, and traditional labor arbitration. He has first- and second-chair experience in trial and arbitration. Shareef counsels clients daily on employment law challenges, working with them to avoid and mitigate risk, vigorously protect their interests and achieve business goals. He earned a J.D. from Loyola Law School in 2007, and two B.A.s from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 2003.

New partner in the firm’s New York office:

• Tatiana Markel, a member of the firm’s Business Group, focuses her practice on bankruptcy-related litigation, with an emphasis on cross-border investigations to trace and recover misappropriated assets. She has been integrally involved in the firm’s court-appointed representation of Trustee Irving H. Picard for the SIPA liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in his efforts to recover assets for the Fund of Customer Property, litigating complex issues and assisting in unraveling the maze of interconnected parties. Tatiana graduated summa cum laude with a J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law in 2008, where she was Executive Publications Editor of the Buffalo Law Review, and graduated summa cum laude with a B.B.A. from Florida Atlantic University in 2004.

New partner in the firm’s Philadelphia office:

• Jeffry Duffy, a member of the firm’s Litigation Group, uses his experience as a litigator and former diplomat to advise clients on all aspects of dispute resolution. He concentrates his practice on antitrust and unfair competition, insurance and reinsurance coverage, and commercial and civil rights litigation. His international experience, including diplomatic service in Japan and Singapore, translates into effective cross-cultural communication and productive cooperation with counterparts and adversaries on behalf of clients. Jeff holds a Diploma from the London School of Economics, a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

New partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office:

• Louis Cannon, a member of the firm’s Employment Group, represents clients in all aspects of labor and employment law, with an emphasis on traditional labor matters. As lead negotiator in collective bargaining, Louis has appeared before the National Labor Relations Board in unfair labor practice and representation proceedings and labor arbitration, and provided National Labor Relations Act compliance advice, including union avoidance. Louis earned his J.D. from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law in 2006, where he was Associate Editor of the Maryland Law Review, and graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. from the University of Maryland in 2001.