Press Release

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Jones Walker continues to expand in Alabama, announcing today that Michael D. Waters and Katharine F. Musso are joining the firm's banking practice in the firm's Birmingham, Ala. office.

"Our banking practice continues to grow, and we are pleased to have Mike Waters and Kate Musso join the firm's Birmingham office," said William H. Hines, Jones Walker's Managing Partner. "These attorneys bring significant experience to Jones Walker and will add depth to our active banking practice in Alabama, throughout the Gulf South, and beyond. Our practices and our clients alike benefit from the depth of experience and reputation Mike and Kate bring to the firm."

"Joining Jones Walker at this point in my career is energizing and exciting," said Mr. Waters. "With all the new and expanded regulatory and business challenges affecting the financial industry, and the continuing enforcement actions that are likely to contribute to more legal issues for the industry, I cannot think of a better firm in the region that has the extensive resources and depth of experience in the banking area to handle these challenges for my clients," he added.

Mr. Waters joins Jones Walker as co-chair of its Banking & Financial Services Practice Group after having served as Chair of the Financial Institutions and Services Practice Group at Balch & Bingham LLP, where he had been a partner for 12 years. His practice encompasses corporate, securities, and banking law. Mr. Waters' 30-plus years of experience in the banking industry includes new bank formations, mergers and acquisitions, public company representation, public and private securities offerings, negotiations with the FDIC on purchases of failed bank assets, and bank regulatory matters.

Mr. Waters will also head the firm's Birmingham office.

A former Rhodes Scholar, Mr. Waters received his undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1972 and his juris doctor degree from the University of Alabama in 1977. He is admitted to practice in both Alabama and Washington, D.C. Mr. Waters serves as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Alabama School of Law, where he teaches courses in banking and corporate mergers and acquisitions.

Ms. Musso joins Jones Walker with more than 20 years of experience practicing law, primarily in bank regulatory and general corporate representations. Her clients include banks, thrifts, insurance companies, brokerage dealers, investment advisers, and hedge funds. She focuses on bank federal and state regulatory matters, mergers and acquisitions, and counseling troubled financial institutions.

Ms. Musso is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), as certified by the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists. She received her juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School and is licensed to practice in Alabama, Georgia, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Her undergraduate degree was conferred by Harvard College, cum laude, where she was a John Harvard Scholar.

Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrère & Denègre L.L.P. (www.joneswalker.com) provides a comprehensive range of legal services to a national and international corporate client base through offices in Alabama, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.

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