Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Jorden Burt LLP

JORDEN BURT Alert: DOL Clarifies the "Level-Fee" Requirement of the new Investment Advice Exemption
The Department of Labor (the “Department”) issued Field Assistance Bulletin 2007-1 providing guidance relating to the investment advice provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (“PPA”), including clarification of the “level-fee” requirement of an “eligible investment advice arrangement.” Under such an arrangement, any fees (including any commission or other compensation) received by the fiduciary adviser for the investment advice must either be the same regardless of the investment option selected or must be determined by use of a computer model that meets certain statutory requirements.

The Department clarified that only the fees (or other compensation) of the fiduciary adviser may not vary. The Department takes a broad view of this requirement and interprets it as meaning that “the fees or other compensation (including salary, bonuses, awards, promotions or any other thing of value) received, directly or indirectly from an employer, affiliate or other party, by a fiduciary adviser (or used for the adviser’s benefit) may not be based, in whole or in part, on the investment options selected by participants or beneficiaries.”

The Department’s view is that Congress did not intend for the “level-fee” requirement “to extend to affiliates of the fiduciary adviser unless the affiliate is also a provider of investment advice to a plan. Thus, “an affiliate of a registered investment adviser, a bank or similar financial institution, an insurance company, or a registered broker dealer will be subject to the varying fee limitation only if that affiliate is providing investment advice to plan participants and beneficiaries.”

In addition, it is the Department’s view that “when an individual acts as an employee, agent or registered representative on behalf of an entity engaged to provide investment advice to a plan, that individual, as well as the entity, must be treated as the fiduciary adviser.” Thus, both the individual and the entity would be subject to the “level-fee” requirement.

02-06-2007

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Arent Fox LLP

Arent Fox Announces Associate Salary Increases
Arent Fox LLP – a full-service law firm with offices in Washington, DC, New York City and Los Angeles – announces today that it will raise first-year salaries in Washington and Los Angeles to $145,000. First-year salaries in New York will be raised to $160,000. All increases are retroactive to January 1, 2007.

Arent Fox, which recently expanded to the West Coast through its merger with O’Brien Abeles LLP, is implementing the raises to reflect the firm’s commitment to hiring and retaining the best legal talent. “Arent Fox strives to provide legal services that are second to none,” says Marc Fleischaker, chairman. “We believe that attracting and rewarding associates who share both our vision for excellence and commitment to the community will further enhance our value to our clients.

02-06-2007

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Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC

Womble Carlyle Sponsors Celebration of Sit-in, Civil Rights
Forty-seven years ago, four brave young men in Greensboro changed the course of American history.

The Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins were a catalyst for the civil rights movement and helped bring about legal equality for all Americans. Thursday, February 1st, those sit-ins were remembered with a Gala Celebration at Greensboro’s Koury Convention Center. Womble Carlyle helped sponsor the event and Jack Hicks, an intellectual property attorney in the firm’s Greensboro office, served as one of the co-chairs of the Gala Celebration.

On Feb. 1, 1960, four students from North Carolina A&T University staged a sit-in at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in downtown Greensboro. The four were protesting the segregation laws of the day, which excluded African-Americans from using the same public establishments, such as restaurants, as white customers.

The non-violent protests continued for months and eventually, Woolworth’s relented and allowed African-American patrons to dine in the same areas as white customers.

"The Greensboro sit-ins were the spark that ignited sit-ins all over the Southeast," Hicks said. "In North Carolina, there’s really no other location that is associated on such a positive level with the civil rights movement."

Hicks noted that the four young men literally risked their lives, as by 1960, more than 2,000 African-Americans had been murdered for participating in civil rights demonstrations. But while protests in other cities were met with violence and police brutality, the Greensboro sit-ins were peaceful and Hicks said that can be a point of pride for the entire community.

The sit-in movement is credited with helping overturn the "Jim Crow" segregation laws. Today, a portion of the Woolworth’s lunch counter is on display in the Smithsonian Institute.

Hicks also serves as co-chair of the Legal Division of the Campaign to Complete the Dream, the effort to convert the old Woolworth’s building into the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.

"It is one of the few museums that is going to be located on the site of the historic event," Hicks said. Organizers will need approximately $20 million to complete the project and about half of that total has been raised to date.

Proceeds from the Gala Celebration will help support that effort and in December, Womble Carlyle contributed $10,000 to the Campaign to Complete the Dream. The firm has pledged to contribute an additional $10,000 in each of the next two years.

Thursday night, the three living members of the "Greensboro Four" were in attendance and honored for their contributions to justice, as were other civil rights champions. United States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall was posthumously awarded the International Civil and Human Rights Award, the organization’s highest honor.

Womble Carlyle attorney Virginia Hoptman, who clerked for Justice Marshall on the Supreme Court, accepted the award on his and his family’s behalf.

"Womble Carlyle is proud to honor the legacy of the Greensboro sit-ins and the positive change those events helped promote," said Gloria Agard, the firm’s Director of Diversity and Workplace Initiatives.

Also attending from Womble Carlyle were attorneys Alison Ashe-Card and Tripp Greason, Melissa Weaver, Office Manager for the firm’s Greensboro office; Laura Spain, the firm’s benefits manager; and Marina Skinner, knowledge management specialist. Special guests of the firm included Dr. Samuel Moseley, Political Science Department Chairman at North Carolina A&T State University; John and Laquetta Barbee of Banner Pharmacaps; Sam Pinero, 2006-07 Womble Carlyle Scholar from the Wake Forest University School of Law; and Wake Forest law school student Alex Reyes.

02-06-2007

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Thompson Hine LLP

Thompson Hine's Marketing Department Ranks Ninth in National Review
Thompson Hine LLP’s marketing and communications program has been ranked ninth best in the country in The Second Annual MLF 50—The Top 50 Law Firms in Marketing and Communications. The rankings were announced in a recent issue of the American Lawyer Media publication Marketing the Law Firm. Thompson Hine is the only Ohio firm listed in the top 10.

In its annual review of the marketing programs of over 150 firms, MLF researches a variety of criteria including client service programs, marketing strategy, results, marketing staff, communications/public relations and outreach activities (e.g., pro bono, diversity programs). Many firms apply for consideration, but Thompson Hine did not; the firm was selected by MLF after conducting its own independent research.

“Thompson Hine has developed a number of leading-edge programs in marketing and sales that are gaining national attention,” explains Elizabeth Anne “Betiayn” Tursi, Editor-in-Chief of Marketing the Law Firm magazine. “Their client service team program is very impressive, as is their firm-wide service excellence initiative. In addition, the firm’s Women’s Initiative set a high standard for women in law programs and deserved recognition. Many firms create women in law programs as part of their overall marketing strategy, but few make the commitment that Thompson Hine has demonstrated.”

“It’s really an honor to be selected,” says Alvidas Jasin, who has served as Thompson Hine’s Director of Business Development for nearly six years. “I am fortunate to be working in a firm that truly understands and embraces client service and marketing.”

“I am very proud of our success,” says David Hooker, Thompson Hine’s Managing Partner. “Alvidas and his team have helped the firm launch some very important marketing and service excellence programs. I congratulate them on receiving this much deserved recognition in this national publication.

02-06-2007

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Thompson Hine LLP

Firm's Marketing Department Ranks Ninth in National Review
Thompson Hine LLP’s marketing and communications program has been ranked ninth best in the country in The Second Annual MLF 50—The Top 50 Law Firms in Marketing and Communications. The rankings were announced in a recent issue of the American Lawyer Media publication Marketing the Law Firm. Thompson Hine is the only Ohio firm listed in the top 10.

In its annual review of the marketing programs of over 150 firms, MLF researches a variety of criteria including client service programs, marketing strategy, results, marketing staff, communications/public relations and outreach activities (e.g., pro bono, diversity programs). Many firms apply for consideration, but Thompson Hine did not; the firm was selected by MLF after conducting its own independent research.

“Thompson Hine has developed a number of leading-edge programs in marketing and sales that are gaining national attention,” explains Elizabeth Anne “Betiayn” Tursi, Editor-in-Chief of Marketing the Law Firm magazine. “Their client service team program is very impressive, as is their firm-wide service excellence initiative. In addition, the firm’s Women’s Initiative set a high standard for women in law programs and deserved recognition. Many firms create women in law programs as part of their overall marketing strategy, but few make the commitment that Thompson Hine has demonstrated.”

“It’s really an honor to be selected,” says Alvidas Jasin, who has served as Thompson Hine’s Director of Business Development for nearly six years. “I am fortunate to be working in a firm that truly understands and embraces client service and marketing.”

“I am very proud of our success,” says David Hooker, Thompson Hine’s Managing Partner. “Alvidas and his team have helped the firm launch some very important marketing and service excellence programs. I congratulate them on receiving this much deserved recognition in this national publication.

02-06-2007

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Thelen, Reid, Brown, Raysman & Steiner, LLP

Four Thelen Partners Named Connecticut Super Lawyers
Four partners from Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP's Hartford office have been recognized as "2007 Connecticut Super Lawyers."

The Super Lawyers listing annually features leading attorneys in more than 60 areas of practice who represent the top 5% of practicing attorneys in their state. Connecticut Super Lawyers are selected through a peer balloting process conducted by a research and review panel organized by Law & Politics magazine.

02-06-2007

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Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP

Sheppard Mullin Elects Six Attorneys To Partnership
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is pleased to announce that the firm has elevated six of its attorneys to partner. The six new partners are Gregory P. Barbee (Los Angeles), Erik S. Bliss (San Diego), Randall J. Clement (Orange County), Ella Foley-Gannon (San Francisco), Samantha D. Hardy (San Diego) and Daniel N. Yannuzzi (Del Mar Heights).


"We are proud to welcome these outstanding attorneys into the partnership," said Guy Halgren, chairman of the firm. "Our new partners represent the very best of Sheppard Mullin and have shown a strong commitment to the firm's core values and client service standards."

Greg Barbee is in the firm's Government Contracts and Regulated Industries practice group in the Los Angeles office. Barbee specializes in commercial litigation, with an emphasis on general business disputes and intellectual property. He has represented businesses and individuals in litigation and arbitrations related to contractual disputes, business torts, real estate and the entertainment industry. Barbee's intellectual property expertise includes patent, trademark, trade dress, trade secret, unfair competition, computer, Internet and domain name litigation and arbitrations. He received his J.D., order of the coif, from University of Southern California in 1996 and his undergraduate degree from University of California, Los Angeles in 1991.

Erik Bliss is in the Business Trial practice group and based in San Diego. Bliss’ practice focuses on complex business litigation, with an emphasis on consumer fraud and trade regulation, antitrust, commercial contract and business tort matters. He has handled numerous cases in state and federal trial courts involving consumer fraud, antitrust, breach of contract, and interference claims. Bliss has briefed and argued several appeals of cases involving these issues. He received his law degree, order of the coif, from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1995 and his undergraduate degree, with honors, from Dartmouth College in 1992.

Randy Clement, in the firm's Business Trial practice group in the Orange County office, has significant experience in a broad range of complex business disputes and class actions filed in federal and state courts, including securities, fiduciary duties, insurance, unfair competition, the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, trade secrets, and RICO. For example, Clement represented the directors and executive officers of a leading technology company in a class action arising out of a going private acquisition. He has also defended companies and insurance carriers in other class actions, including an IPO case that was included in the multidistrict litigation pending in the Southern District of New York. He received his J.D. from University of California, Los Angeles in 1997 and his undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from University of California, Santa Barbara in 1993.

Ella Foley-Gannon is a member of the firm's Real Estate, Land Use and Environmental practice group and based in the San Francisco office. Foley-Gannon specializes in counseling clients undertaking complex development projects in California. She has represented clients in preparing land use plans, multi-phased development plans, and large residential, commercial and mixed used development projects. Foley-Gannon's practice focuses on providing legal and strategic advice to land development companies on wide range of federal and state regulatory matters. These include the Clean Water Act, the Federal Endangered Species Act, the California Endangered Species Act, the Porter-Cologne Act, and California Department of Fish and Game Stream Alteration Agreements. She received her law degree, magna cum laude, order of the coif, from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in 1998 and her undergraduate degree from University of Michigan in 1989.

Samantha Hardy is in the firm's Labor and Employment practice group in the San Diego office. Hardy practices labor and employment law, with an emphasis on California and national wage and hour issues. She has a significant amount of experience representing employers in wage and hour class actions, as well as representing employers before administrative agencies, advising management on wage and hour matters, and conducting wage and hour audits to identify potential issues. Hardy also handles a variety of other types of labor and employment matters, including immigration matters. She received her J.D. from University of Chicago in 1998 and her undergraduate degree from Columbia University in 1995.

Dan Yannuzzi, in the Intellectual Property practice group and based in the firm's Del Mar Heights office, has experience in all areas of IP law with an emphasis in strategic portfolio development, technology licensing, patent litigation, and transactional matters. Yannuzzi provides client counseling on portfolio development and other intellectual property strategies in a wide range of high technology fields, including computer architecture, electronic circuits, optics, data coding, medical devices, business methods, semiconductor processes, wireless communications, network technologies, computer graphics, and computer software. He has served as primary outside patent counsel to numerous electronics, software, telecommunications, and medical device companies. Yannuzzi received his law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1993, his graduate degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1986 and his undergraduate degree from University of Delaware in 1982.

02-06-2007

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