Barnes & Thornburg Welcomes New Attorneys and Legal Professionals

Barnes & Thornburg has added corporate, litigation and intellectual property attorneys and legal professionals, as well as an attorney in the firm’s general counsel’s office, to its Chicago, Dallas, Indianapolis and Los Angeles offices. 

With a decade of practice as a licensed attorney in Japan, Yoshiki Funasaka works as a business transaction advisor with the firm’s attorneys to expand business development efforts and facilitate relationships with existing and potential clients in the U.S. and Japan. Funasaka, who is in the Chicago office, consults with attorneys in the areas of contract and corporate law, providing focused business insight and support as a liaison between Japanese and U.S. clients and firm attorneys to help advise across the spectrum of corporate work. Funasaka earned his LL.M. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2021, attended The Legal Training and Research Institute of the Supreme Court of Japan in 2010, and earned his J.D. from Kyoto University Law School in 2009 and his Bachelor of Law from the Kyoto University Faculty of Law in 2007.

An attorney with nearly 20 years of general counsel, commercial litigation and lawyer ethics experience, Christopher Grgurich is counsel with the firm’s general counsel office and advises legal practitioners and those in firm leadership and management positions. Grgurich’s priority is to guide Barnes & Thornburg attorneys through ethical and business conflicts and related issues that may arise in the course of their practices. Grgurich earned his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law in 2003, his MBA in finance and marketing from the University of Illinois College of Business in 2003 and his B.S. from Eureka College in 1999. He practices in the firm’s Chicago office.

An associate in the Los Angeles office, Katerina Mills assists with a range of financial services and digital asset regulatory matters, transactions, compliance, and licensure. She advises on day-to-day compliance issues, anti-money laundering and financial institution regulatory matters, payment products and cryptocurrency regulations, and issues involving financial technology products. Mills earned her M.S.B.A. in finance from the University of Colorado at Boulder Leeds School of Business in 2019, her B.A. in mathematics from the University of Denver in 2015, her M.A. in economics from the University of Denver in 2014, her J.D. from the University of Denver in 2013, and her B.A. in mass communications and media studies from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2011.

A patent agent in the Indianapolis office with a background in mechanical engineering and applied mathematics, Osa Renko assists owners and inventors with completing, prosecuting and revising patent applications in the U.S. and abroad. He is also responsible for conducting patentability and freedom to operate studies, prior art searches, and drafting legally enforceable claims of ownership. Renko earned his M.S. in systems engineering from Florida Institute of Technology in 2013, his M.S. in applied mathematics from Florida Institute of Technology in 2012 and his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Florida Institute of Technology in 2010.

Jake Winslett, an associate in the Dallas office, focuses his practice on a variety of litigation and dispute resolution matters, with a focus on product liability defense involving medical devices and pharmaceuticals. Winslett defends medical device and pharmaceutical clients in complex commercial disputes and multidistrict litigation (MDL). He also has experience litigating tort, breach of contract, and other commercial and corporate litigation actions. Winslett earned his J.D. from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in 2019 and his B.S. in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin in 2016.

A patent technical specialist in the Indianapolis office, Samantha Zeiders-Young works with attorneys and clients on matters involving many areas of intellectual property law, specifically patents and related preparation and prosecution. Zeiders-Young assists with virtually all patent matters, including reviewing, editing and drafting applications, conducting searches and responding to formal actions. She earned her Ph.D. in organic chemistry and chemical biology from Purdue University in 2021 and her B.S. in biochemistry from Lafayette College in 2015.

With more than 700 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from offices in Atlanta, Boston, California, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, New York, Ohio, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, Texas and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com or on Twitter @BTLawNews.