News Release

McGlinchey Stafford adds 4 accomplished litigators in 3 states, opens Boston office

June 20, 2019

McGlinchey Stafford announces the hire of four attorneys from LeClair Ryan, including Patrick Voke, a seasoned trial lawyer with thirty years of experience in commercial, insurance, and financial services litigation matters, as well as Shanna Boughton, the co-chair of her former firm’s Consumer Financial Services Litigation team. These two partners opened McGlinchey Stafford’s Boston office on Monday joined by two colleagues who will work in McGlinchey Stafford’s New York City and Dallas offices. With these hires, McGlinchey Stafford establishes its initial New England presence, with the new Boston office providing a “hub” to better serve its clients in the region’s financial, insurance, and commercial markets.

The Boston office is the firm’s fifteenth nationwide, and the eighth new office to open in nine years, representing continued growth of service capabilities for corporate clients across the firm’s national platform and practice areas. McGlinchey Stafford’s Boston office represents clients in all areas of litigation and commercial practice, mirroring the firm’s capabilities in other offices.

Members (Partners) Shanna Boughton and Patrick Voke join the firm to serve clients on a regional and national basis from the Boston office. Mikelle Bliss will join the firm’s New York City office as Of Counsel and Helen Mosothoane will join the Dallas office as an Associate. These attorneys bring decades of experience handling complex commercial litigation as well as professional liability defense, insurance, bankruptcy, class actions, and real estate matters for a variety of business clients including financial institutions and insurance companies.

“We are thrilled that Patrick, Shanna, Mikelle, and Helen are joining our firm,” says Anthony Rollo, who chairs both McGlinchey Stafford’s Strategic Growth Committee and the firm’s eighty-attorney Consumer Financial Services Litigation practice group. “In one stroke, the addition of these highly-talented attorneys and a new Boston location strategically enhance our ability to deliver best-in-class, scalable solutions for client challenges in the financial services, insurance, and commercial spaces across our growing national platform.”

“This is a stellar group of lawyers we’ve known and worked with a long time, and who share our commitment to client service,” says Rudy Aguilar, Managing Member of McGlinchey Stafford. “We’re excited to bring them on as we grow the firm’s footprint all the way up the East Coast, complementing our considerable national presence.”

“What made McGlinchey Stafford stand out among the firms we considered is their leading-edge regulatory and compliance practice for the consumer financial services industry, which complements the litigation services we offer,” says Member Shanna Boughton. “We really felt that this was the right place to offer additional value to our existing clients, and to grow our work with other financial institutions across the firm’s tri-coastal footprint.”

“I have known and admired my colleagues at McGlinchey Stafford and am proud to join them,” says Member Patrick Voke. “The firm and its lawyers are universally respected. We are excited to be a part of the firm’s expansion into the Boston and New England markets, and we look forward to bringing their impeccable level of service to all of our clients nationwide.”

The new team members work closely with McGlinchey Stafford’s national practice group attorneys in other offices across its strategically integrated nationwide platform to provide clients with a full range of comprehensive legal solutions while delivering exceptional service:

Shanna Boughton, Member (Boston)
Licensed in Massachusetts, Michigan, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico, Shanna Boughton is a sixteen-year attorney who offers a wealth of experience in complex litigation, including commercial matters, lender liability defense, insurance defense, and bankruptcy. Co-leader of her prior firm’s Consumer Financial Services Litigation team, she has successfully defended financial institutions in class and individual actions, representing lenders relating to fraud, mortgage-backed securities, residential and commercial foreclosures, title matters, unfair lending, and commercial loan workouts in State and Federal courts. Shanna is also a certified mediator.

Patrick Voke, Member (Boston)
Patrick Voke has thirty years of experience as a trial attorney. He focuses his practice on complex civil litigation and commercial disputes for financial institutions, businesses, and insurance companies. Patrick represents clients in state and federal courts, as well as ADR venues. He has defended financial institutions and organizations in Ponzi scheme victim and consumer class actions, mortgage foreclosure litigation, mortgage-backed securities litigation, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and other state and federal consumer protection litigation, as well as bankruptcy adversary proceedings and other consumer and commercial lending-related claims. He also represents leading insurance companies and corporations in a wide variety of major litigation matters.

Mikelle Bliss, Of Counsel (New York)
Mikelle Bliss has twenty years of experience primarily handling financial services litigation, focusing on banking, creditors rights, consumer protection litigation, lender liability defense, and mortgage foreclosures in both New York and New Jersey. Mikelle also litigates a variety of commercial, construction, title, and real estate litigation matters.

Helen Mosothoane, Associate (Dallas)
Helen Mosothoane’s practice focuses primarily on banking and consumer financial services litigation. She also has experience in labor and employment law, wage and hour issues, warranty and consumer fraud, class action, personal injury, products liability, and transactional matters. Helen is a twelve-year attorney licensed in Texas and California, and is a native Spanish speaker.