Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Snell & Wilmer, L.L.P.

American Bar Association Elects Don Bivens to Board of Governors
Snell & Wilmer announced today that Don Bivens, a partner in the Phoenix office, has been elected to the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Board of Governors, representing District 11. Bivens will serve a three-year-term on the 37-member board representing Arizona, Colorado, and Oklahoma. Bivens was elected at the ABA’s mid-year meeting in Miami, Florida along with eight others.

Bivens received his juris doctor from the University of Texas Law School in 1977 and did his undergraduate at Yale University in 1974 where he graduated magna cum laude. His focus lies in commercial litigation. Bivens is also the chair of the litigation section of the ABA’s resource committee. "I will do my best to make positive contributions to the Board of Governors. I value the opportunity," said Bivens. The Board of Governors oversees administration and management of the association. They have the authority to speak and act on behalf of the association. The ABA is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world and has over 410,000 members.

02-26-2007

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Sills, Cummis, Epstein & Gross, P.C.

Sills Cummis' New York Office Has Moved To One Rockefeller Plaza
Sills Cummis Epstein & Gross continues to grow and expand as reflected in the relocation of the Firm's New York office to One Rockefeller Plaza.

Sills Cummis Epstein & Gross P.C.
One Rockefeller Plaza
25th Floor
New York, New York 10020

02-26-2007

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Ross, Dixon & Bell, LLP

Gary Dixon Selected as Leading Lawyer In Insurance
Ross, Dixon & Bell, LLP is pleased to announce that founding partner Gary Dixon has been named a leading lawyer in insurance by the Legal Times. The Legal Times is the premier legal publication in Washington, DC.

Winnowed from nominations by their peers and selected based on Legal Times reporting and analysis, “Leading Lawyers” identifies the metro D.C. lawyers who are the tops in their practice specialty.

According to the article, Mr. Dixon is one of 10 lawyers who “have handled some of the highest-profile insurance cases in the last 25 years” and has the ability to “navigate the complicated ins and outs of insurance policies.” The Legal Times notes that “clients say that Dixon has an ability to make them feel as if each one of them is his only concern.

02-26-2007

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Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Pillsbury Training Videos Win Communicator Awards
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman is the recipient of two awards in The 13th Annual Communicator Awards Video Competition. The firm submitted two of its internally-produced training videos, both of which were presented an Award of Distinction for exceeding industry standards in quality and excellence.

“Conversations on Business Development,” a 45-minute video which features 10 Pillsbury partners discussing various aspects of business development, received an Award of Distinction in the “Training” category. The piece is designed to train associates and young partners about the best way to approach business development and highlight those methods that are most effective in securing new client work.

Pillsbury’s internal acting troupe, the “Pillsbury Players,” which is drawn from lawyers and staff at the firm, was also bestowed with an Award of Distinction in the “On-Camera Talent” category for the collection of short video scenarios, “Recognizing and Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Legal Workplace.”

The videos were produced as part of an ongoing attorney development initiative through Pillsbury University, which strives to elevate training to a more sophisticated level to ensure our lawyers are providing the best possible quality service to our clients. Pillsbury University’s library now contains numerous videos that are not only used internally, but also to help clients fulfill CLE requirements as well as keep in-house counsel informed of the ever-changing rules in the legal landscape.

Valerie Fitch, an attorney and for the past 9 years, Pillsbury's Director of Professional Development, writes the scripts for the firm’s training videos. “Pillsbury is always exploring new ways to provide value-added services to our internal and external clients. Most law firms provide educational programs, but our commitment to providing current, cutting-edge training to our own attorneys and to our clients and friends of the firm is especially strong and long-standing,” Fitch said.

The 13th Annual Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program recognizing creative excellence in the communication field. Founded by communication professionals over a decade ago, The Communicator Awards holds annual competitions for audio, video and print media. Entries and winners have come from all 50 states and numerous foreign countries. A peer-reviewed competition, all work is judged solely on its quality, creativity and resourcefulness regardless of the size or budget of the submitting entity.

02-26-2007

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Pepper Hamilton, L.L.P.

Common Mistakes Owners Make When Selling Their Businesses
Owners of closely-held or family-owned businesses are making some common mistakes when selling their business that are costing them millions of dollars in lost value, according to Pepper Hamilton, a multi-practice law firm with 450 attorneys in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Michigan, California, Massachusetts and Washington, DC.

According to Bruce K. Fenton, Partner with Pepper Hamilton LLP, the most common mistakes owners make when selling these business – which have market values of from $10 million to $150 million and up – are:

* undervaluing their companies, including by:
o underestimating the value of their company intangibles, such as intellectual property

o fixing a total value for the company without consulting experts with knowledge of valuation techniques and the current state of the “market”

* not realizing the full tax benefits from the deal

* allowing their focus on the sale process to allow them to become distracted from operating their businesses.


Undervaluing Their Companies

The biggest mistake owners of these businesses make is not taking the proper steps to determine the true value of their businesses or the state of the market, according to Fenton. “They often lose much more money on a deal than they would have spent retaining the right experts with knowledge of these matters,” Fenton said.

Underestimating the Value of Company Intangibles

Owners must be able to quantify the intangibles that make their business attractive, such as their intellectual property. Intangibles include the value of copyrights, patents, trademarks, research and development, as well as the goodwill associated with the company’s brand, embodied in customer lists, know-how, and proprietary procedures.

“Owners need to be able to predict the future worth of ideas that have been developed and set the price accordingly,” said Fenton. Such intangibles, while more difficult to assess than plant and equipment, are real assets that can contribute significantly to the company’s worth, and if underestimated, can contribute to a significant underestimation of the company’s total value.”

Fixing a Total Value Without Considering the Current State of the Market

“Owners often assume they know exactly how much their businesses are worth. They sell their companies for what they think are fair prices without fully assessing the businesses’ true value,” Fenton added. Since most valuations are based on multiples of earnings (or cash flow) and not net asset value, even if owners have a good idea of what the assets of their businesses are worth, they still can significantly undervalue their businesses unless they have extensive knowledge of valuation techniques and the current state of the buy-out market.

“Many owners try to avoid financially committing to hiring the right experts. They use the two-lawyer firm that did their wills, or a friend’s divorce, or the same accountants who have been doing their books for years. Inevitably, this strategy backfires, and they wind up losing money,” Fenton said.

Not Realizing Full Tax Benefits

In addition to potentially being short-changed on the true value of their businesses, owners risk not realizing all of the tax benefits to which they may be entitled.

“Experts in tax law know the right way to structure a deal to minimize the tax consequences, obtain the proper tax breaks, and receive the optimum overall tax treatment,” said Fenton. “Experts can explore different tax structures that improve the valuation of a deal for both buyers and sellers. In this way, even if the seller’s tax position cannot be improved, if a structural improvement can make the deal more attractive to the buyer, frequently the buyer will be willing to pay more in order to capture that tax benefit.”

Becoming Distracted from Operating the Business

Business owners need to make certain they do not get so involved in selling their enterprise that they become distracted from operating the business. “It is impossible for a business owner to simultaneously run his or her business and try to handle every aspect of the sales process – which can take several months – without something suffering,” said Fenton.

“By neglecting to pay full attention to the day-to-day operations of the business, the owner is likely to make mistakes in operating the business which could lead to a decline in revenue. Such a decline would almost certainly enable the buyer to try to lower the sales price. Owners must stay focused on hitting their projections and making sure the company does not experience any change in its business that would enable the buyer to claim that the projections prepared for the buyer are no longer attainable.

02-26-2007

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Pepper Hamilton, L.L.P.

Timothy R. McTaggart, Bank Regulatory Lawyer and Former Delaware Bank Commissioner, Joins Pepper Hamilton in Washington
Pepper Hamilton LLP announced that Timothy R. McTaggart, an experienced bank regulatory lawyer and former Delaware Bank Commissioner, has joined the firm’s financial services practice as a partner in the Washington office.

“Tim is a welcome addition to the firm’s bank regulatory practice,” said David A. Wormser, the partner in charge of Pepper’s Washington office. “His knowledge of Washington and Delaware, and his reputation as a ‘go to’ lawyer for many banks and securities firms will make our practice that much stronger. We’re very pleased he has chosen to join Pepper.”

“Tim’s experience as a bank regulator in Delaware, his national practice and his deep knowledge of the banking industry will significantly augment our existing bank regulatory and consumer finance practice and allow us to better serve clients,” added Richard P. Eckman, chairman of Pepper’s financial services practice group. “That background coupled with his extensive Washington experience makes him a perfect match for Pepper.”

Mr. McTaggart focuses his practice on bank and financial services regulatory matters. He also has significant experience handling transactional, enforcement and legislative matters for financial services clients, and he has testified before the U.S. House and Senate Banking Committees on various financial services matters.

He has represented companies that have sold their private label credit card portfolios to banking entities, moved portfolios to new providers, and bought or reorganized specific lines of business. He also has represented financial services companies, foreign banks, investor groups, bank trade associations, investment firms and retailers in connection with issues such as Internet banking, state and federal regulation, government-sponsored enterprise matters, and privacy and data safeguard issues.

In the mid-1990s, Mr. McTaggart served as Bank Commissioner of the State of Delaware, where he supervised and set policy for retail banks, trust companies, wholesale banks, credit card banks, saving banks, mortgage companies and other financial services companies with operations in Delaware and across the nation.

“Joining Pepper is an excellent fit for me,” said Mr. McTaggart. “With Pepper’s resources, I will be able to grow my practice, complement the firm’s existing practice and ensure that clients receive the best possible service.”

Mr. McTaggart joins Pepper from Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP in Washington, where he was a partner in the corporate and financial services department. Before that, he was a partner with Nixon Peabody. Prior to becoming Delaware Bank Commissioner in 1994, Mr. McTaggart served as counsel to the United States Senate Banking Committee. He started his legal career in the Legal Division of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Mr. McTaggart has published numerous articles on bank regulation, privacy, data security and corporate law issues pertaining to financial services firms, as well as with respect to escheat law issues. He is a regular speaker on those topics and others.

A leader in the bar and the community, Mr. McTaggart serves as chair of the Trust and Investment Services Subcommittee of the American Bar Association’s Banking Law Committee. He also is a director of the Harvard Club of Washington, D.C., and has served as a director of various nonprofit educational and cultural organizations in Washington, D.C., and Wilmington, Delaware.

Mr. McTaggart is a graduate of Harvard University (A.B. 1982) and Harvard Law School (J.D. 1985). He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.

02-26-2007

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Norris, Mclaughlin & Marcus, P.A.

Norris McLaughlin & Marcus To Sponsor International Business Seminar At Raritan Valley Community College
The Somerville law firm of Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, P.A. will sponsor an international business seminar on Thursday, March 22, 2007 at the conference center of the Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) North Branch Campus. Glenn L. Stein, an associate of Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, is a member of the Advisory Board of the RVCC Center for International Business and Education (CIBE), which will host the seminar.

This seminar is designed for small and medium-sized U.S. businesses seeking to expand their sales into overseas markets. Country representatives from Germany, Korea, China and Russia will discuss international opportunities, trade missions, legal and accounting issues, market research, and overseas resources such as incubators, office space and incentives for expanding sales distribution and partnerships in global markets.

The cost for this event is $35, which includes a continental breakfast and lunch. To register online, visit the CIBE web site at https://www.raritanval.edu/cibe/register.htm.

Since 1988, the CIBE has worked with business, government and academic professionals to strengthen relationships, develop cross-cultural understanding and pursue commercial interests - serving as a collaborative partner for international professionals on a local and global basis. In addition to advising Raritan Valley Community College on international issues related to the curriculum and serving as a link to the business community, the CIBE hosts this international business seminar and a Fall conference, the “Consul Program for New Jersey Life Sciences,” which seeks to encourage investment in New Jersey by creating a forum for commercial officers of foreign consulates to meet with business, government and academic leaders in the bio-tech and life sciences industry.

Stein practices in the firm’s Corporate Law Group where he represents a broad range of clients in commercial transactions, securities offerings, mergers & acquisitions and corporate governance matters. He currently also Chairs the Legislative Affairs Committee of the Somerset County Business Partnership and serves as Vice Chair of the Somerset County Employer Legislative Committee.

Stein earned his B.A. in 1997 and his M.P.A. in 1998, both from the University at Albany, State University of New York, and his J.D. in 2003 from Seton Hall University School of Law. Prior to law school, Stein worked in the New York State Senate as a Legislative Analyst for the Senate Finance Committee and Assistant Legislative Director for Senator Serphin R. Maltese.

02-26-2007

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