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Law Firm News

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Rawle & Henderson, LLP.

Philadelphia Jury Returns Defense Verdict In Non-Occupational Asbestos Exposure Case
Rawle & Henderson LLP is pleased to report that John C. McMeekin II and Kevin Hexstall won a hotly contested defense verdict in favor of Honeywell International, Inc. in the matter of The Estate of Allen Stafford v. Honeywell International, Inc. on February 12, 2007. The trial had begun on February 1, 2007 before the Honorable Myrna Field in Philadelphia County and involved testimony from some of the worlds leading experts on the diagnosis of asbestos diseases and the use of immunohistochemical tumor markers to make a differential pathologic diagnosis. After a week long trial the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Honeywell International, Inc. after deliberating for approximately three hours total over two days.

The Stafford Estate alleged that decedent contracted peritoneal mesothelioma as a result of non-occupational exposure to asbestos while changing brakes on his own and family members vehicles for over 30 years ending in 1983. In support of Plaintiff's case, the estate offered the testimony of the diagnosing pathologist and the death certificate attesting to peritoneal mesothelioma as the cause of death. John and Kevin successfully argued that the diagnosis of peritoneal mesothelioma was a misdiagnosis and that, based on a review of immunohistochemical staining of the tumor tissue the tumor markers favored a diagnosis of metastatic adenocarcinoma, most likely renal cell carcinoma. The client is very pleased with the jury's finding on medical causation and believes that they came to the correct conclusion in this matter.

02-12-2007

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Pepper Hamilton, L.L.P.

Nina Gussack Elected Chair of Pepper Hamilton's Executive Committee
Pepper Hamilton LLP announced that Nina M. Gussack, chair of the firm’s pharmaceutical and medical litigation and counseling practice, has been elected chair of the Executive Committee, the firm’s governing body. She assumes the position from Barry M. Abelson, one of the firm’s most senior corporate and securities partners, who has chaired the Executive Committee since 1995, and who will continue his full-time practice of law.

“Nina is a leader in the bar, the firm and her practice,” said Mr. Abelson. “She has extraordinary energy, passion and commitment to clients. She is both a visionary with big ideas and a driver who gets things done. We are delighted to have her lead the Committee, and I am proud to have her as my successor.”

“I look forward to moving Pepper to a new level of national and international prominence,” said Ms. Gussack. “Our litigation and corporate expertise, our deep knowledge of our clients’ industries and our creative counseling will continue to propel the firm forward in a global marketplace. These assets will ensure that Pepper is seen as a ‘go to’ firm for clients seeking the best solutions to their thorniest legal challenges and most complex business transactions.”

“Pepper owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Barry Abelson for his dynamic and dedicated leadership over the past 12 years, and we look forward to his continued involvement as we pursue our strategic objectives,” said Robert E. Heideck, Pepper’s executive partner. “His entrepreneurial spirit and relentless energy have served and will continue to serve the firm extremely well.”

During Mr. Abelson’s tenure as chair of the Executive Committee, Pepper has seen one of its greatest periods of expansion. The firm has opened offices in Pittsburgh, Princeton, Orange County (Ca.) and Boston. It has grown from 274 lawyers to 450 lawyers. Its gross revenues have climbed from $81 million to $259 million.

Ms. Gussack’s practice is concentrated in civil litigation, with a primary emphasis on the defense of pharmaceutical and medical device companies regarding marketed products, investigational new drugs, medical devices and over-the-counter drug products. She also counsels clients on clinical trial compliance, FDA compliance in promotional activities, and Lanham Act claims in the pharmaceutical industry. She will maintain an active law practice while serving as chair of the Executive Committee.

Active in professional organizations, Ms. Gussack is a member of the Product Liability Advisory Council, the International Association of Defense Counsel, the Defense Research Institute (chair of the Drug and Medical Device Committee, 2003-04), the Ethics Committee of Wills Eye Hospital (Philadelphia, Pa.) and the Women’s Pharmaceutical Network.

Ms. Gussack has spent her entire legal career at Pepper, starting as a summer associate in 1978. She joined the firm as an associate after she graduated from Villanova University School of Law in 1979, and was elected to the partnership in 1987.

Ms. Gussack is the first woman in Pepper’s 117-year history to be elected chair of the Executive Committee. Pepper has a long and successful record of promoting women to leadership roles in the firm – Barbara W. Mather, who is currently co-chair of the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department, served as the firm’s executive partner in the early 1990s; women chair the firm’s practices in antitrust, pharmaceutical and medical litigation and counseling, insurance, investment funds, media and communications, real estate and tax; and women serve on every firm management committee, including the Executive Committee, Finance Committee, Compensation Committee and Hiring Committee. The firm elected its first female partner, Roberta P. McKinney, in 1960.

02-12-2007

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Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP

Milbank Closes Largest-Ever Latin American High Yield Offering
In the largest-ever Latin American high yield offering, Mexican company Vitro, S.A.B. de C.V. (“Vitro”) has completed a $1 billion high yield note offering the proceeds of which will be used to recapitalize substantially all of its outstanding short term and long term debt. The offering, with joint lead managers Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Lehman Brothers, covered the sale of $300,000,000 8.625% Senior Notes due 2012 and $700,000,000 9/125% Senior Notes due 2017. Concurrent with the transaction, Vitro also successfully completed a tender offer, and defeasance, of the outstanding $250,000,000 Senior Secured Guaranteed Notes due 2011 of its subsidiary Vitro Envases Norteamerica, S.A. de C.V. As a leading Mexican company, Vitro’s offering was closely followed by the financial community, and Fitch Ratings upgraded its initial rating three notches to ‘B’ from ‘CCC,’ citing improvement in the company’s capital structure and debt profile, as well as the improvement in Vitro’s operations.

The international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP represented Vitro in negotiating, structuring and closing the transaction.

The Milbank team representing Vitro included Howard Kelberg and his New York-based partners Joy K. Gallup and Richard J. Wight, associates Frank Vivero, Cecilio Castillero, Pedro Reyes, Michelle Ko, Ellie J. Kwack and Jorge Oria, and partners Andrew Walker (tax) and Wilbur Foster (creditors rights). Mexico-based Kuri Breña, Sánchez Ugarte, Corcuera Y Aznar provided local counsel to Vitro with respect to Mexican law.

About Vitro
Vitro, S.A.B. de C.V. (“Vitro”) [NYSE: VTO; BMV: VITROA], headquartered in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, is a diversified international holding company that conducts substantially all of its operations through subsidiaries. One of the world’s leading glass producers, Vitro is a major participant in two principal glass manufacturing businesses: flat glass and glass containers. Its subsidiaries serve multiple product markets, including construction and automotive glass; food and beverage, wine, liquor, cosmetics and pharmaceutical glass containers. Vitro also produces raw materials and equipment and capital goods for industrial use, which are vertically integrated in the Glass Containers businesses unit. Vitro has joint ventures with major world-class partners and industry leaders that provide its subsidiaries with access to international markets, distribution channels and state-of-the-art technology. Vitro’s subsidiaries have facilities and distribution centers in nine countries, located in North, Central and South America, and Europe, and export to more than 45 countries worldwide. (website: www.vitro.com)

02-12-2007

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Wiggin and Dana LLP

Wiggin and Dana Submits Amicus Brief In Landmark Antitrust Case in U.S. Supreme Court
Wiggin and Dana LLP assisted in the preparation of an amicus curiae brief in Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc., a landmark antitrust case now before the United States Supreme Court. The brief was submitted on behalf of PING, Inc. , a manufacturer of innovative, custom-fit golf products.

02-12-2007

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Torys LLP

Torys Wins Marketing Award for Podcasts
Torys' 2006 podcast series won the Hubbard One Excellence in Legal Marketing Award for Marketing Initiative of the Year. The series, which leveraged new media technology in six unscripted video interviews with various expert lawyers, finished ahead of 25 other nominees, all American.

Hubbard One, a Thomson Elite business and the leading web consultancy for law firms, presented the award to Torys on January 25 in San Diego at the 14th annual Marketing Partner Forum. Further information about the award can be found here.

Torys' 2007 podcast series was launched in February. The video presentations are also available by RSS subscription and through iTunes' music store.

02-12-2007

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Shipman & Goodwin LLP

Shelton BOE to hire Shipman & Goodwin attorney, Jennifer Janelle
The Board of Education will hire a lawyer who specializes in energy management to try to get the most bang for its buck in lighting the district’s schools and buildings.

The board allocated $5,000 to hire attorney Jennifer Janelle of the Hartford firm Shipman and Goodwin. It’s the first phase of a two-phase plan that is expected to cost a total of $15,000.

"We have gotten more aggressive as costs have risen because it is now more important to look at energy-saving measures," Superintendent of Schools Robin Willink said.

After hearing from a number of potential consultants, board members decided they liked best what they heard from Janelle.

"She is a great choice," said Business Manager Allan Cameron. "This is a good investment for the board.

"The state Department of Education has resources that are outside what you normally see," Cameron said.

"We have relentlessly tried to crack that code" to find funding sources, he said, and feel the results will be better with Janelle’s help.

The district has already taken energy-saving measures, Cameron said, including setting all thermostats at 68 degrees and installing motion sensors in classrooms that turn lights off when empty.

"We have talked to all administrators and made them aware that we have to be energy aware," he said.

School officials were shocked to learn that after the Shelton High School renovation project is completed, the school will use more energy despite the installation of energy-efficient components, Cameron said.

That extra usage is attributed to the state’s new indoor air quality requirements, he said.

"We will be using more energy than we are today," he said. "It will be used more efficiently, but we will use more."

That, coupled with the recent electricity rate increases, makes it even more imperative that the district do all it can to save, he said.

And three-quarters of the district’s electricity use is at the high school and Shelton Intermediate School, he said.

Hiring Janelle now means she’ll be able to give input into the new fifth- and sixth-grade school planned for the old Shelton Intermediate School, School Building Committee vice-chairman James Orazietti said.

"As a member of the building committee, I can’t emphasize enough how we need to do this planning," he said. "We were floored by her information, and I highly recommend that we bring her on board."

"We are still at the stage where whatever information she gives us, we can still incorporate" into the new school, Operations Director Bill Banfe said.

02-12-2007

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Rutan & Tucker, LLP

Derek Dundas Joins Corporate Section of Rutan & Tucker
Attorney Derek D. Dundas has recently joined Rutan & Tucker LLP, California’s largest full-service law firm based in Orange County, as a partner in the Corporate and Securities Section. In his practice, Dundas will represent public and private clients in a wide range of corporate and securities transactions, including public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital financing, executive compensation issues, and Securities and Exchange matters.

He was previously with the Orange County office of law firm Latham & Watkins LLP, where he provided legal counsel for many companies, including Allianz Global Investors, Allergan and Broadcom Corporation. Dundas received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1996, and his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1992.

“We welcome Derek and know he will be a great asset for the firm and our clients,“ said Mike Hornak, the firm’s managing partner.

02-12-2007

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