Law 360 named McGuireWoods partners Dan Howell and Brian Schmalzbach to its 2025 list of Rising Stars honoring lawyers younger than 40 for extraordinary career achievements.
Howell advises companies and private equity funds in mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, equity investments, cross-border transactions and joint ventures. His practice spans industries such as energy, logistics, food and beverage, chemicals, financial services, technology, manufacturing and business services.
Howell played a key role in Dominion Energy’s $14 billion sale of its three natural gas distribution companies to Enbridge, a series of transactions creating North America’s largest natural gas utility franchise by volume. He was part of a McGuireWoods team that advised Carpenter Co. on its acquisition of Belgium-based Recticel’s global engineered foams business, a transformative deal that positioned Carpenter as one of the world’s largest vertically integrated manufacturers of polyurethane foams and specialty polymer products.
Additionally, Howell assisted Origo hf, an Icelandic IT services firm, on its $195 million sale of a minority interest in Tempo to Diversis Capital, one of the largest Icelandic transactions of 2022. The transaction was named the IT Deal of the Year (over $100 million) in The M&A Advisor’s International M&A Awards. The M&A Advisor recently named Howell a winner of its 2025 Emerging Leaders Awards.
“Dan is an outstanding attorney and strategic adviser who thrives on helping clients navigate important and complicated deals, and we are thrilled to see him recognized again for his excellent work, ” said Richard W. Viola, deputy managing partner of McGuireWoods’ corporate practice.
Schmalzbach co-leads McGuireWoods’ Business Litigation Practice Group and is a former co-chair of the firm’s appellate practice. He has successfully argued before most federal appellate courts and argued a closely watched civil rights case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2024. Schmalzbach and McGuireWoods represented winners of a preliminary injunction that ended the automatic suspension of their driver’s licenses in a dispute over who qualifies as an eligible “prevailing party” under the federal civil rights attorney’s fee statute. Though the high court ruled against the civil rights plaintiffs, the case raised critical questions about access to justice and attracted a broad coalition of amici in support of the plaintiffs.
Schmalzbach’s notable victories include defending North Carolina commercial shrimpers in a Clean Water Act (CWA) challenge to their operations. The state’s largest commercial shrimp operations were sued by an organization that accused the shrimpers of violating the CWA by discarding bycatch — everything caught by their nets other than shrimp. After the defendants prevailed on a motion to dismiss in the trial court, Schmalzbach argued the case before the Fourth Circuit in 2023. The appeals court affirmed, holding that the shrimpers’ fishing practices did not violate the CWA.
“Brian has an uncommon ability to translate intricate legal issues into compelling arguments that resonate with judges,” said Noreen Kelly, McGuireWoods’ deputy managing partner for litigation. “He is a top-notch advocate for clients and a valued leader and mentor in our firm, and we congratulate him on this honor.”