Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Nixon Peabody LLP

Nixon Peabody LLP Expands to Silicon Valley; As Part of Strategic Plan to Provide Exemplary Service to Client Needs in California and to Expand Its Presence Nationally in the Areas of Venture Capital and Emerging Growth, Law Firm Adds Group of Business Attorneys to Open Silicon Valley Office
Harry P. Trueheart, chairman of Nixon Peabody, said, “We have responded to our clients’ needs by establishing a Silicon Valley office. In light of our commitment to extraordinary client service, we feel this is an opportune time to enhance our capabilities for clients who are based in California as well as for other clients who operate in California. Silicon Valley is one of the leading growth markets in the world economy today. We represent a wide variety of high-tech, biotech, venture capital, and emerging growth businesses located in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. Nixon Peabody is ranked nationally in these areas, and we are thrilled to offer this location as another resource to our clients. We are also pleased to welcome the new group of attorneys who are joining the firm to help in creating this new office.”

James C. (“Jim”) Chapman and a group of four other attorneys are joining Nixon Peabody from the Silicon Valley Law Group. They will be joined by several Business and Intellectual Property attorneys from Nixon Peabody’s San Francisco office in founding Nixon Peabody’s Silicon Valley office.

Jonathan R. Karis, partner and leader of the Venture Capital, Emerging Growth and Technology practice at Nixon Peabody, said, "Nixon Peabody’s expansion into Silicon Valley is the logical next step for us as we expand our presence in the venture capital and emerging growth company spaces nationwide. We have an established and growing practice in those areas on the East Coast already. The addition of Jim Chapman in Silicon Valley and the recent additions of Dan Offner and Dave Anderson in our Los Angeles office solidify the firm’s position as one of the top firms nationally in representing venture capital firms and emerging growth companies."

Mr. Chapman joins Nixon Peabody as a new partner in the Venture Capital, Emerging Growth and Technology Practice. Prior to Nixon Peabody, he was a founder of the Silicon Valley Law Group, where he also chaired the firm’s Corporate and Securities Group. His practice areas include public and private securities offerings, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, and international business transactions. He has been involved in more than 150 mergers, acquisitions, and financing transactions. Mr. Chapman holds a B.A. from Catholic University of America, and an M.B.A. and a J.D. from Santa Clara University. The other attorneys joining Nixon Peabody from the Silicon Valley Law Group and their areas of practice are: Ms. Lisa Chapman, Counsel, Labor & Employment; Mr. Stephen W. Clinton, Counsel, Venture Capital, Emerging Growth and Technology; Mr. Michael Schachter, Associate, Venture Capital, Emerging Growth and Technology; and Ms. Wanli Xu, Associate, Venture Capital, Emerging Growth and Technology.

In reference to joining Nixon Peabody, Mr. Chapman said, “When it comes to advising investors, venture capital firms, and emerging businesses, Nixon Peabody is a law firm on the move. Not only does this law firm take time to understand issues from the clients’ perspective, but it also is committed to delivering a uniquely positive experience in every client interaction. This translates into providing clients with the best resources possible, whether that be by drawing upon local resources in California or in other key markets across the nation, such as in Boston and New York City. It’s something I very much look forward to being a part of and to leading in Silicon Valley.”

The Silicon Valley office will operate temporarily in Palo Alto, immediately off of the Embarcadero at 2225 East Bayshore Road, until a permanent location is selected in the coming months. As part of a commitment to strengthen the firm’s reach on the West Coast, Nixon Peabody in recent months has announced several new partner additions. Birgit Millauer, Ph.D., joined the firm as partner in its San Francisco office. She is an established biotechnology and life sciences patent attorney, and joins one of the most highly ranked intellectual property practices in the country. In Los Angeles, Nixon Peabody expanded its Commercial Litigation practice with the addition of Thaddeus Stauber as partner in the Business Litigation group, and enhanced its Venture Capital, Emerging Growth and Technology Practice with the addition of Daniel Offner and David Anderson as partners.

02-14-2007

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Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP

Wyrick Robbins counsels Strategic Technologies, Inc. in Merger
Consonus of Salt Lake City, Utah and Strategic Technologies, Inc. (STI) of Cary, North Carolina have joined forces and merged into Consonus Technologies, Inc. (CTI). The merger unites Consonus, a high-availability data center and IT managed service provider, with STI, a data-center focused provider of managed services and complex infrastructure solutions with twelve office locations in the eastern United States. The combined company is headed by Mike Shook, president, founder and CEO of STI.

Wyrick Robbins has served as legal counsel to Strategic Technologies, Inc. since the company was founded in 1988, representing STI in a variety of areas, including business acquisitions, employment, real estate and IP matters, financings, employee benefits, corporate governance and general contract matters.

02-14-2007

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Willcox & Savage, Attorneys at Law

Willcox & Savage Announces New Partner
Willcox & Savage is proud to announce that Tasos A. Galiotos has joined the firm as a shareholder. Tasos focuses much of his practice on commercial real estate with an emphasis on senior housing facilities including nursing homes and assisted living facilities. “We are delighted to welcome Tasos and his clients to our firm. His experience in senior housing on a regional and national level adds considerable depth to our real estate practice,” stated Robert L. Dewey, Managing Partner.

Tasos graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1994. He received his B.S. from the University of Virginia in 1991.

02-14-2007

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Torys LLP

Torys' Deal Maker to Help "Bring India to the World"
When Mumbai-based Hindalco quietly joined the bidding race for Alcan spinoff Novelis in December, it tapped a team of Canadian and U.S. Torys' lawyers, led by indefatigable deal maker Patricia Koval. It is the second time that Pat has acted for Aditya Birla Group, the massive Indian holding company that owns Hindalco. The first transaction she led for the company was its C$126 million acquisition of Minacs Worldwide.

The Birla family turned to Pat after she was recommended by the Reichmanns, a Canadian business family. The Reichmans got acquainted with the Birlas last year, and when a former O&Y executive introduced the Birlas to Pat, she said, "we became friends immediately."

02-14-2007

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Strasburger & Price, LLP

Judge awards Texas Mutual $8.2M
A Houston construction crane company executive defrauded Austin-based Texas Mutual Insurance Co. out of millions of dollars in workers compensation insurance premiums and must pay more than $8 million back, a Travis County court ruled earlier this month.

District Court Judge Orlinda Naranjo awarded Texas Mutual an $8.2 million judgment against United Crane Inc. executive Gary Quintinsky on Feb. 6 after a jury found he committed fraud by misrepresenting the payroll value of several companies in his control.


Texas Mutual used that payroll amount to determine Quintinsky's workers compensation premiums at prices significantly lower than they should have been, says its lawyer, Bob O'Boyle with Austin law firm Strasburger & Price LLP. He says Quintinsky underrepresented payroll amounts by tens of millions of dollars through an elaborate conspiracy with other individuals and companies. Together, he says, they created false financial records and forged Texas Workforce Commission reports to avoid paying lawful premiums and to avoid the companies' poor claims history.

O'Boyle says the damage award includes a "very unusual" $2.5 million in exemplary damages against Quintinsky -- meant to make an example out of him.

"We are grateful that the jury saw fit to send a warning to any employer who might be tempted to avoid paying lawful premium for workers compensation insurance," O'Boyle says.

Texas Mutual is the state's workers compensation insurer of last resort, set up by the legislature to provide workers comp insurance to employers -- usually high-risk or dangerous businesses -- who can't secure it on the open market.

United Crane, which leases construction cranes, had a dismal claims history; its policy premiums were three times the average, O'Boyle says. But because of its status as the state-funded insurance safety net, Texas Mutual had no choice but to insure it.

The that Quintinsky duped a state agency out of legitimate income, and the fact that his fraud also increased workers comp premiums for others and made it harder for other crane businesses to compete, O'Boyle says, made the jury mad.

Quintinsky's lawyer, Bogdan Rentea in Austin, says his client fully intends to pursue an appeal, and won't be paying the judgment anytime soon.

There are "technical issues that I think will prevent this," he says, "from surviving an appeal."

Quintinsky has 30 days to file a motion for a new trial before appealing the verdict to Austin's Third Court of Appeals.

02-14-2007

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Senniger, Powers, Leavitt & Roedel's, P.C.

Senniger Powers' Attorney Updates Chemical Engineering Community on a Potentially Significant Supreme Court Patent Case
In an article published in the February issue of Chemical Engineering Progress, a technical publication of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Senniger Powers' attorney Michael J. Vander Molen discusses the potential impact of KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., a case currently pending before the Supreme Court. The dispute in KSR involves the statutory standard of non-obviousness of invention. Specifically, the Supreme Court is reviewing the Federal Circuit's "teaching-suggestion-motivation" test. Under this test, when two or more references are combined to show obviousness, there must be a teaching, suggestion or motivation to combine the references. The test is intended to avoid a bias that a claimed combination is obvious in light of the fact that the combination was made by the inventor. In the article, Mr. Vander Molen discusses the arguments for and against the test. The Supreme Court's decision could impact the validity of thousands of previously issued patents, as well as the ability of future inventors to secure patents.

02-14-2007

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Sands Anderson Marks & MillerA Professional Corporation

Frank Sutherland Joins Government Relations Team at Richmond Office
Francis A. (Frank) Sutherland has joined the the Government Relations practice group, firm President C. Thomas Ebel announced today.

Sutherland, who retired last year from Jefferson Pilot Financial as Vice President and Insurance Counsel, has extensive experience in regulatory and government relations, lobbying and the provision of legal advice to insurance companies and their executives. His career includes a long stint in the legal department of Life Insurance of Virginia (now Genworth) when it was one of Richmond’s biggest corporate citizens.

“It would be difficult to overstate the incredible value that Frank’s experience will make available to our clients in the insurance business,” said Benjamin R. Lacy IV, chair of the Government Relations practice.

Sutherland is a member of the Virginia State Bar and the North Carolina State Bar. He is a 1962 graduate of Middlebury College and graduated from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1965.

Sutherland served on active duty in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General Corps from 1965-1968 and left the service in 1982 as a reserve officer with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Sutherland was awarded the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation in 1974 and served as President of the Richmond CLU Chapter. He chaired the Corporate Counsel Section of the Richmond Bar Association 1987-1988.

In 2004, Sutherland chaired the North Carolina Forum for Research and Economic Education, a non-partisan political research business association which provides businesses with information to make informed political decisions from a business perspective. He has served on numerous state guaranty associations, including service as Chair of the North Carolina Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association. He has been a member of the Association of Life Insurance Counsel since 1982.

02-14-2007

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