Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, LLP

Simpson Thacher Advises Blackstone in $3.3 Billion Acquisition of Cardinal Health's Pharmaceutical Technologies and Services Segment
The Firm is advising Blackstone in its announced $3.3 billion acquisition of the Pharmaceutical Technologies and Services (PTS) segment of Cardinal Health, Inc. The Cardinal Health PTS segment develops, manufactures and packages medication and other products for pharmaceutical and biotech firms, employs approximately 10,000 people and generates $1.8 billion in annual revenue.

The Simpson Thacher team working on this deal includes: Wilson Neely, Peter Martelli, Conan McIntyre, Nentcho Nentchev, Sebastian Tiller and Laurie Gay (M&A); Gary Mandel, Noah Beck and Sean Austin (Tax); Brian Robbins and Carl Berry (Employee Benefits); Alden Millard and Melissa Hutson (Credit); Ed Tolley, Kathryn Gettles-Atwa and Lisia Leon (Capital Markets); Lori Lesser, Noah Leibowitz, Kirstie Howard, Scott Sukenick and Steven Liang (Intellectual Property); Fagie Hartman and Jacqueline Rosenblum (Labor); Krista McManus, Andrew Silverman and Aaron Rosenberg (Real Estate); Adeeb Fadil and Tim Mulvihill (Environmental); David Vann, Michael Naughton, and Jonathan Parker (Antitrust); Jonathan Youngwood, Elisa Alcabes and Eric Albert (Litigation); and Kathryn White and Amy Craiger (Paralegal).

Lawyers:
• Eric M. Albert
• Elisa Alcabes
• Sean M. Austin
• Noah D. Beck
• Adeeb R. Fadil
• Laurie Gay
• Kathryn J. Gettles-Atwa
• Fagie Hartman
• Kirstie M. Howard
• Melissa J. Hutson
• Noah M. Leibowitz
• Lisia L. Leon
• Lori E. Lesser
• Steven Liang
• Gary B. Mandel
• Peter Martelli
• Conan McIntyre
• Krista B. McManus
• J. Alden Millard
• Timothy J. Mulvihill
• Michael C. Naughton
• Wilson S. Neely
• Nentcho Nentchev
• Jonathan D. Parker
• Brian D. Robbins
• Jacqueline M. Rosenblum
• Andrew J. Silverman
• Scott A. Sukenick
• Sebastian Tiller
• Edward P. Tolley
• David E. Vann
• Jonathan K. Youngwood

02-08-2007

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Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Firm Success in Walsh v. IKON Office Solutions Noted by Daily Journal as One of Top Defense Verdicts in California in 2006
Gil Diekmann, Catherine Dacre, Francis Ortman III and Eric Hill noted for their representation of IKON Office Solutions in California's first defense verdict in a wage-and-hour class action before a jury.

The annual list of top defense verdicts in the February 8 issue of the Daily Journal highlights the success of Gil Diekmann, Catherine Dacre, Francis Ortman III and Eric Hill for their representation of IKON Office Solutions. The article ("In Wage Case, Attorneys Credit Attack On 'Pseudoscience' for Victory)" notes: "Making a major international corporation look sympathetic to a jury can be tough going in the best of times. But what about when jurors - who hail from San Francisco, a bastion of workers' rights and other liberal values - are hearing evidence from dozens of witnesses that the firm is shafting lower-level employees in matters of wages and overtime?

"It's a crapshoot," said Gilmore Diekmann of Seyfarth Shaw's San Francisco office, who last year scored California's first defense verdict in a wage-and-hour class action before a jury. Walsh v. IKON Office Solutions, CGC04-429428 (San Francisco Super. Ct. 2006). "This is the kind of case where you have to keep both fingers crossed," Diekmann said, "because these are wage issues a jury is sympathetic to." But the verdict, which saved his clients $50 million, was more than mere luck. Diekmann and Seyfarth attorneys Catherine Dacre, Francis Ortman III and Eric Hill had to attack seven class claims from the plaintiffs. The key, Diekmann said, was picking apart the "pseudoscience" presented by the other side in the form of surveys and expert witnesses.

The first major victory for Seyfarth lawyers came when they persuaded Superior Court Judge David Ballati to decertify one portion of the case - a claim that IKON had misclassified the employment status of and underpaid certain sales employees - as a class action. That turn of events, which Diekmann said was worth $35 million to his clients, is under appeal. Diekmann said he was able to show that the employees in question had such diverse duties and approaches to their jobs that they did not qualify as a class, Diekmann said.

The defense also got an all-encompassing Labor Code violation claim thrown out and later successfully fought a $15 million claim that IKON failed to reimburse employees properly for out-of-pocket business expenses. "On cross-examination, witnesses who had said they'd had to spend X amount of dollars would say they didn't actually have to spend it," Diekmann said. Seyfarth attorneys settled three of the plaintiffs' smaller claims for $1.1 million but got $135,000 back in reversions.

02-08-2007

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Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Val Hoffman Quoted in HR Magazine
Val Hoffman was quoted in HR Magazine in the January 2007 issue addressing the additional guidance given to federal contractors by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) regarding the OFCCP’s final rule on Internet Applicants. Hoffman’s comments address the problem created when recruiters use screening tools that produce too many candidates to be evaluated individually. The OFCCP has recommended the use of random sampling to narrow the pool of candidates. There are significant issues with this approach. Hoffman says, “Random sampling as a data management technique makes sense when filling low-skilled jobs.” She expressed criticism about random sampling explaining that, “there will undoubtedly be highly competent people whose resumes are never reviewed.

02-08-2007

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Piper Rudnick, L.L.P.

DLA Piper advises bank syndicate in Adams insolvency and recovery
DLA Piper has advised a banking syndicate on the insolvency of Adams Childrenswear Limited, Adams Property Holdings Limited and Mini Mode Childrenswear Limited. This is the latest deal for the restructuring team who have been involved in a number of high-profile retail insolvencies in recent months.

On 1 February 2007, the immediate sale of the majority of the business and assets of Adams Childrenswear Limited (“Adams”) to a newly formed company backed by retail entrepreneur, John Shannon was announced following the appointment as joint administrators of Rob Hunt, David Hargrave and Michael Jervis of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Adams had a UK store portfolio of around 330 stores and as a result of the transaction 273 stores will continue to trade. The costs of closing the remaining 57 severely loss-making stores was too great for the group to deal with outside of a formal insolvency process.

DLA Piper advised the banks on the appropriate structure for the transaction which involved a careful analysis of the contractual position of the group. A multi-disciplinary team was involved in reviewing the leases for a substantial leasehold portfolio together with obtaining intellectual property input on the groups' IP portfolio. These issues had to be dealt with in a short timeframe.

Simon Neilson-Clark, partner and head of DLA Piper's Restructuring Group, commented: "This was a good opportunity for DLA Piper's restructuring team to demonstrate that we are the advisers of choice when it comes to dealing with retailers in financial distress. This instruction is just one of a number of retail related matters that the team have been involved with recently such as Allders, MVC, Music Zone, Little Chef and The Greeting Card Group."

The DLA Piper team included Jonathan Leitch, Lucy Skidmore, Finella Fogarty, Sarah Davison, Nick Peters (Restructuring), Tracy Fisher (Tax), Zoe Ham and Louisa Copeman (TMC) and Kate Hodgkiss and Eleanor Winslet (Employment).

The bank syndicate was led by Barclays Bank PLC and also included: Halifax Bank of Scotland; Allied Irish Bank; The Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays Bank PLC.

02-08-2007

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Piper Rudnick, L.L.P.

DLA Piper's Middle East drive continues with Islamic finance partner appointment
DLA Piper is pleased to announce that leading project and Islamic finance specialist, Oliver Agha, has been appointed as a partner in its Dubai office. Oliver, who has worked on some of the most complex Islamic finance projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, joined DLA Piper on 5 February 2007.

Oliver, a US qualified lawyer, was formerly head of projects at Clifford Chance's Saudi Arabian law firm affiliate, Al-Jadaan. Whilst there he established the projects team, taking it from two to ten lawyers, and advised on ground-breaking Islamic finance structures and major project finance deals.

Oliver's experience includes having advised lead lender, JBIC, on the landmark $9.5 billion Rabigh project financing of a Saudi Arabian petrochemical refinery - recognised by International Financial Law Review (IFLR) as 'Project Finance Deal of the Year' in 2006 - and being a lead lawyer involved in restructuring the first conventional loan transaction into an ijara Islamic finance transaction in the Kingdom.

He has advised lenders on other major petrochemical project financings in the region most recently on the structuring, documenting and negotiation of the Al-Waha project, the first greenfield project to be financed on an exclusively Islamic basis without any commercial bank debt. His broad experience also includes Sukuk Al Ijaras and Sukuk Al Mudarabas Islamic financing structures. Oliver advised on the first-ever Sukuk approved by the Capital Market Authority in the Kingdom for an aggregate issue of SR 3 billion ($800 million). Oliver is a leading authority in the synthesis of various regulatory Saudi laws and has extensive experience advising multilateral lenders in Saudi Arabia, other parts of the Middle East and in Asia.

Earlier in his career, Oliver worked for law firms in New York, Washington DC and Hong Kong. He is a member of the New York and Connecticut Bars and was a registered foreign lawyer in Hong Kong.

His arrival is significant given the substantial demand for experienced Islamic and project finance advisers in the Middle East and he will lead the development of DLA Piper's global profile in the area of Islamic finance.

Oliver's appointment follows a number of other recent hires to DLA Piper's Dubai office. Senior projects and public procurement partner, Brian Clark, relocated to Dubai from London in January 2007. Privatisation and infrastructure specialist, Bruce Mullins, joined last month to spearhead a new office in Oman, pending a recent licence application. January also marked the arrival of real estate specialist and head, Tom O'Grady. In November 2006, Al Harith Sinclair joined as a partner to head the financial regulatory practice.

"Oliver's arrival marks an important step in the continued expansion of our finance practice in the Gulf. He has first-class skills in an area where there is huge demand in the Gulf, particularly in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar," said David Church, Regional Managing Partner at DLA Piper Middle East LLP. "Oliver has been involved in some of the most complex Islamic finance deals in the Middle East and we intend to build a dedicated team around him in order to widen our offering to clients."

Nigel Knowles, Joint CEO at DLA Piper, said: "We are fully committed to developing a broad range of services across the Middle East, as we have done across Europe, Asia and the US and I am delighted Oliver has decided to join us in order to help achieve this.

02-08-2007

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Piper Rudnick, L.L.P.

DLA Piper promotes 66 to partnership
DLA Piper today announced that 66 lawyers have been promoted to the partnership for 2007. Across Europe and Asia there are 27 newly elected partners, with a further 39 in the U.S.

The promotions, effective from 1 January 2007, were made across all key practice areas throughout DLA Piper’s global network of offices.

The London office had the largest increase of new partners in Europe, with 10 promotions across seven practice areas. Two partner promotions were made in the Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool offices. The remaining 11 promotions were made in Beijing, Amsterdam, CEE, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hong Kong, Kyiv, Madrid, Milan, St. Petersburg and Sheffield. Of the 39 promotions in the U.S., seven were in Chicago, five in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, and four in Baltimore, New York and San Diego. The remaining 14 promotions were made in Austin, Boston, Dallas, East Palo Alto, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.

"We have a talented team of lawyers and I am delighted to be able to announce this year's round of partnership promotions. The new partners have each demonstrated their commitment and ability to look after our clients," said Nigel Knowles, Joint CEO at DLA Piper.

Francis B. Burch, Jr., Joint CEO at DLA Piper, said: "These new partners represent the future of DLA Piper. The breadth of practice areas and jurisdictions represented by this group is a testament to our global focus and our vision to serve clients around the world.

02-08-2007

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Morrison & Foerster, LLP

Morrison & Foerster Expands Bankruptcy and Restructuring Practice
Morrison & Foerster LLP announced today that Gary Lee and Karen Ostad have joined the firm as partners, in its Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group in New York. Mr. Lee and Ms. Ostad, with a collective 35 years of experience, have been involved, primarily on behalf of creditors, in many of the largest and most publicized bankruptcy cases and out-of-court restructurings, domestically and internationally. They have counseled foreign representatives of non-U.S. debtors in proceedings to seek recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings, and have represented buyers of distressed assets. Mr. Lee and Ms. Ostad join the firm from the New York office of Lovells, where Mr. Lee headed that firm’s U.S. insolvency and restructuring practice.

“Adding two partners of the caliber of Gary and Karen to our Bankruptcy and Restructuring practice is another significant step in our global presence,” said Keith Wetmore, Chair of Morrison & Foerster.

Larren Nashelsky, one of Morrison & Foerster’s managing partners and the Chair of the firm’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group, added, “Gary and Karen’s extensive expertise, market knowledge, and reputation in domestic and international insolvency matters bring added depth to our global bankruptcy practice, and continue the expansion of our significant strength in New York.”

Mr. Lee, who will co-chair the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group with Mr. Nashelsky, has been involved in domestic and international restructuring and insolvency matters in the U.S., arising particularly out of corporate and insurance company insolvencies. He represents financial institutions in domestic and cross-border work-outs and insolvencies. Mr. Lee also has extensive experience in the implementation of foreign liquidations and schemes of arrangement in the U.S., as well as issues arising under Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Ms. Ostad represents significant stakeholders in large and complex U.S. and multi-national insolvency proceedings and proceedings under Chapter 15, and out-of-court restructurings of distressed companies and distressed acquisitions. She advises on both the corporate and the litigation aspects of restructurings.

“The reputation of the firm’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group and the opportunity for us to further build the practice, both nationally and internationally, with top-quality practitioners were key factors in choosing Morrison & Foerster,” stated Mr. Lee. Ms. Ostad added, “We look forward to collaborating with and drawing support from the incredibly strong and deep practices throughout the firm.”

Mr. Lee received his LL.B., with honors, from Manchester University, England; Chancery Lane. Ms. Ostad received her J.D. from New York Law School and her B.A. from New York University.

02-08-2007

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