Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C. is pleased to announce the hiring of eight new associate attorneys in its Birmingham office, including: Allen B. “Josh” Bennett, G. Maria Fleisher, Heather A. Powell, Christopher S. Randolph, Jr., Jessica A. Shaver, Katherine L. “Katie” Soppet, M. Starr Turner and Ashley T. Wright.

Allen B. “Josh” Bennett has joined the firm’s Labor and Employment practice group. Mr. Bennett’s practice focuses on representing management in a wide variety of EEO and labor and employment matters. He also represents mining companies in a variety of administrative matters, including Federal Mine Safety and Health Act (MSHA) enforcement actions, MSHA special investigations and MSHA investigations of mine accidents. Mr. Bennett is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law. While in law school he was a Notes Editor for the Alabama Law Review and a member of the Campbell Moot Court Board, the Labor and Employment Moot Court team and the Bench and Bar Legal Honor Society. Mr. Bennett received his undergraduate degree, with distinction, from the University of Virginia where he was a Jefferson Scholar.

G. Maria Fleisher is practicing with the firm’s General Corporate, Corporate Governance and Compliance, Securities Regulation and Corporate Finance and Banking practice groups. Ms. Fleisher is a summa cum laude graduate of Cumberland School of law where she was Copy Editor for the Cumberland Law Review, a Judge Abraham Caruthers Fellow and a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship. Prior to law school Ms. Fleisher attended the University of Alabama where she graduated summa cum laude and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Heather A. Powell has joined the firm’s General Litigation practice group. Ms. Powell's practice focuses primarily on complex civil litigation, commercial disputes, and fiduciary litigation. She graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law with High Honors. While in law school she was a member of the North Carolina Law Review and a recipient of the Merit Scholarship. Ms. Powell received her undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Samford University where she was a recipient of the Class Honors Medals and the Presidential Scholarship. Ms. Powell is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa.

Christopher S. Randolph, Jr. has joined the firm’s General Litigation and Appellate and Post-Verdict practice groups. Mr. Randolph attended Harvard Law School where he graduated cum laude and was the Submissions Editor for the Harvard Journal on Legislation. He also received the Joseph H. Beale Prize for Conflict of Laws and was a Dean’s Scholar. Mr. Randolph received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University where he graduated with High Honors in political science. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and while at Vanderbilt was a recipient of the Founder’s Medal for First Honors in the College of Arts and Science, the Alexander Heard Award for Political Science and the Phi Beta Kappa Centennial Award. Prior to joining Maynard, Mr. Randolph was a judicial law clerk to the Honorable William H. Pryor Jr., United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Jessica A. Shaver is practicing with the firm’s Securities Litigation practice group. Ms. Shaver’s practice focuses primarily on the defense of brokerage firms and financial institutions against claims asserted by customers in state and federal court and in arbitration proceedings before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the New York Stock Exchange. Ms. Shaver received her juris doctor from Georgetown University Law Center where she was the recipient of the Law Center Scholar Scholarship and the DeCrane Endowed Scholarship. She received her undergraduate degree from The University of Alabama where she was a member of the University Honors Program and the Blount Undergraduate Initiative.

Katherine L. “Katie” Soppet has joined the firm’s Insurance and Financial Services Litigation, ERISA and Group Insurance Litigation, Complex Litigation and Health Care practice groups. Ms. Soppet received her juris doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law where she was on the Editorial Board for the Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law. She is also a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Alabama where she was a recipient of the Blount Presidential Scholarship. Ms. Soppet is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa.

M. Starr Turner has joined the firm’s General Litigation practice group. Ms. Turner is a graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law. While in law school, she was a Senior Editor of the Alabama Law Review and a member of the John A. Campbell Moot Court Board, the Criminal Law Moot Court Team, the Ethics and Professionalism Trial Team and the Bench and Bar Legal Honor Society. Ms. Turner received her undergraduate degree from Emory University where she was a recipient of a Kenneth Cole Scholarship and a National Merit Scholarship. Prior to joining Maynard, Ms. Turner was a judicial law clerk for two years with Federal Magistrate Judge James E. Graham in the Southern District of Georgia.

Ashley T. Wright is practicing in the firm’s General Corporate, Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Governance and Compliance and Securities Regulation and Corporate Finance practice groups. Mr. Wright assists in the representation of private equity funds, venture capital funds and corporate investors in mergers and acquisitions and various financing transactions. He also assists corporations of varying sizes with corporate governance and compliance issues. Mr. Wright is a cum laude graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law where he was a Notes Editor for the Alabama Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree from Yale University.