Damon Morey LLP partner Sheri Mooney was appointed by Erie county Executive Chris Collins and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown to the board of directors of the Buffalo and Erie County Workforce Investment Board.

The board is charged with overseeing local workforce-investment activities to increase the employment, retention and earnings of participants and enhance the productivity and competitiveness of Erie County.

Mooney was also selected to join the Women's Group, a network of female professionals who share a common goal to shape and revitalize the Western New York.

Nixon ranks 2nd on Dow's PE list

Nixon Peabody LLP was ranked one of the most active private-equity/venture-capital law firms in the United States in a survey conducted by Dow Jones' Private Equity Analyst.

The firm was ranked second in the country for the formation of private-equity funds based on general-partner and limited-partner representation in 2009. It is the sixth consecutive year that the firm's private-equity practice has placed among the top five law firms nationally in this category.

Brand to speak on health-care costs

Phillips Lytle LLP attorney Mark Brand will present at the seminar "Empowering the Employer: How Value-Based Decision Making Can Contain Healthcare Costs" May 4 in Albany. The seminar is targeted at employers and health-care providers. Brand focuses his legal practice in the area of employee-benefits law and related retirement and estate-planning considerations.

Another Phillips Lytle partner, David Flynn, served as a panelist at the Upstate Venture Association of New York's Buffalo capital forum, "Opportunities & Resources in Renewable Energy," April 13 at the Embassy Suites in Buffalo. The UVA is a statewide organization formed to advance venture-capital and private-equity investments.

At Phillips, Flynn concentrates his practice in the areas of environmental law and energy and is the team leader for the firm's nanotechnology practice team.

Monte taking part in elder-law program

Rebecca Monte, a partner with the law firm of Chelus Herdzik Speyer & Monte PC, will be speaking at the 2010 National Healthcare Decisions Day program sponsored by the Elder Law Section of the New York State Bar Association.

The event is scheduled for April 18 at 1 p.m. at the Ivy Rose Senior Living Apartments, 1188 Hertel Ave., Buffalo.

UB Law hosts forum on Haiti, energy issues

University at Buffalo Law School students participated in a public forum on April 14 to discuss ways renewable energy resources can reshape the future of Haiti.

The forum, "A Brighter Future for Haiti: The Power of Renewable Energy," included presentations from three UB Law School students enrolled in the school's Environment and Development clinic as well as the Women, Children & Social Justice clinic.

"We have many new projects in the works in Haiti, which include providing solar electrification (using solar photovoltaic panels to convert the sun's energy into electrical power) to an orphanage of 68 girls who are currently living outside in makeshift tents," Paige Mecca, executive director of the Solar Liberty Foundation and a UB Law alumna, said in a prepared statement.

Hodgson Russ forms new tax practice group

Hodgson Russ LLP formed its newest practice group - New York tax investigations and defense - morphing a longtime service the firm has provided into a formal practice group.

The group will be led by attorneys Cathy Fleming and Alvan Bobrow, both based out of the firm's New York City office, and will include attorneys from Hodgson's offices throughout the state.

- Compiled by Matt Chandler