Spencer Fane is pleased to announce 11 attorneys have been elected to the partnership, maintaining the firm’s robust internal advancement pipeline. The new partners include Preston Enoch (Dallas), Zach Fairlie (Kansas City), Thomas Hiatt (Kansas City), Jacob Hollars (Denver), Nicole Karam (Dallas), Drew O’Malley (Tampa), Karen Olson (Minneapolis), Laurie Patton (Plano), Nicole Peykov (Denver), Kayla Scroggins-Uptigrove (Denver), and Beth Siemer (St. Louis). The elections were effective January 1, 2023.
“We are thrilled to elevate these attorneys to partnership as Spencer Fane continues to position itself to provide the absolute best caliber talent available to our clients,” said Spencer Fane Chair Pat Whalen. “These 11 professionals embody our client-centered culture and commitment to delivering extraordinary service with humility.”
Meet each of the firm’s newest partners below.
Preston has extensive experience in complex commercial litigation and has represented both companies and individuals in matters such as legal malpractice, fraud, breach of contract, promissory estoppel, and negligence.
Graduating cum laude, Preston completed his undergraduate education at the University of Oklahoma and his law degree from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law. During law school, he served as intern with the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.
Zach is a financial services litigator who represents creditors, receivers, trustees, indenture trustees, unsecured creditor committees, and other constituencies in corporate bankruptcy, restructuring, and non-bankruptcy insolvency matters. His bankruptcy, restructuring, and creditors’ rights practice primarily consists of representing clients in litigation related to corporate bankruptcy proceedings, commercial receiverships, and commercial loan enforcement.
Prior to joining Spencer Fane, Zach clerked for the Honorable Cynthia A. Norton in Kansas City, Missouri and the Honorable Linda Reade in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He obtained his law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law and earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Northern Iowa.
Thomas is a trial attorney who helps businesses in all aspects of litigation including consulting pre-lawsuit, conducting and managing e-discovery, engaging in motion practice, and trying cases to verdict. He has experience in construction defect and payment disputes (representing owners, general contractors, and subcontractors), real estate disputes, and financial services litigation involving fraudulent transfer and piercing the corporate veil theories.
Thomas earned his law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas in political science and history.
Jacob is a litigator specializing in real estate, special district, commercial, and appellate matters. He represents companies in commercial disputes, such as breach of contract and real estate matters, and assists them in protecting their business. In addition, Jacob has experience representing contractors in construction defect claims. He is also an experienced appellate litigator.
While in law school at Saint Louis University School of Law, Jacob worked as a staff member and articles editor at Saint Louis University Public Law Review and was awarded “Articles Editor of the Year” by the organization in the 2013-2014 school year. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Nicole Karam
Nicole is a diligent business litigator who helps clients resolve eminent domain cases and other real property disputes. Nicole represents both condemning authorities and landowners throughout Texas, helping condemning authorities acquire property to be used for various public purposes, and assisting individual property owners with government acquisition of private property for infrastructure needs.
Nicole completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Rochester before earning her law degree, summa cum laude, from Albany Law School.
Drew is a full-service litigator who helps clients with all of their litigation needs. His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation with an emphasis on consumer finance, real estate, and corporate disputes.
After earning his undergraduate degree in finance at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business Administration, Drew received his law degree from the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law.
Karen is an experienced regulatory, compliance, and litigation attorney that uses her significant government and private practice experience to represent her clients. Most recently, she served as Deputy Attorney General for the State of Minnesota for more than a decade. As Deputy Attorney General, Karen represented the Attorney General, Governor, Legislature, and state agencies and boards on complex and high-profile legal matters.
Before attending law school from the Mitchell Hamline School of Law, Karen earned her undergraduate degree in business at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
Laurie represents companies and individuals in a wide range of commercial litigation matters and employment disputes, working closely with her clients to identify their objectives and develop a strategy to achieve those goals. She helps clients identify potential risks and liabilities related to their business and workforce and advises clients on how to implement policies and procedures to minimize those risks.
Laurie graduated with honors from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, where she served as associate managing editor for the SMU International Law Review Association. She earned her undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University.
Nicole counsels developers in the creation of taxing districts for their proposed developments, which involves the use of tax revenue and municipal debt as financing vehicles. She also represents special districts such as metropolitan districts, water and sanitation districts, business improvement districts, and governmental authorities throughout Colorado in the formation, operation, and maintenance phases.
While attending the University of Wisconsin Law School, where she graduated cum laude, Nicole externed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office and served as a judicial intern for Justice David Prosser at the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Kayla helps clients successfully navigate complex civil litigation with an emphasis on insurance, commercial, and class action lawsuits at the trial and appellate levels. In her trial work, she has gained significant experience examining expert and fact witnesses, including cross-examination of party-opponents.
After receiving a degree in mathematics from the University of Colorado, Kayla obtained her law degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, earning both the Order of the Coif and the Order of St. Ives.
Beth is a pragmatic health care attorney who advises individuals and organizations navigating complex state and federal laws that govern transactions, compliance, and reimbursement. Working with various providers, payers, benefit managers, and vendors in the health care space, she offers practical tools, actionable advice, and customized solutions that allow her clients to keep the focus on innovating and providing high quality products and services. Her experience has focused on contracting and compliance in the context of health care fraud and abuse laws and privacy laws, both in private practice and in house with a large, complex, vertically integrated health care company.
Beth completed her undergraduate studies at Truman State University, summa cum laude, and earned her law degree from the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, cum laude.
