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25383 matches |  13644-13650 displayed

1  1946 1947 1948 1949 1950  3627

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Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz, P.A.

Passing More Than Wealth When You Die
Estate planning attorneys are very focused on reducing the burden of estate taxes, probate costs and other fees for their clients. They spend a great deal of time doing tax planning. They advise clients how to protect an inheritance from a child’s creditors, immaturity or bad marriage and otherwise focus on the financial aspects of estate planning. What the attorney often fails to do is to counsel clients on leaving another kind of legacy to future generations.
Most of us have more than wealth to pass on to future generations. I have written in the past about ethical wills where you can explain your values, detail significant events in your family’s history, and otherwise leave personal information so that young children or grandchildren may become fully acquainted with prior generations.

On the financial side it is also important to consider what amounts your children and grandchildren may need to assist their endeavors and whether you have sufficient remaining assets to provide for charitable or other philanthropic causes. One method of achieving your charitable goals is to establish a family foundation while you are living or provide for its establishment on your death, thus providing your family with the means to continue to fulfill your charitable desires. If you can afford to set up the foundation during your lifetime, it may give you great pleasure to see your children take an active interest in charitable endeavors. If the children do not prove to be good stewards of your charitable desires, you may want to adjust your estate planning to make other charitable provisions.

Leaving a substantial inheritance to future generations with the best possible tax planning but without making certain that it is protected from immaturity, bad marriages and creditors is not sufficient. You must be certain that you are passing on the right values to future generations. The use of trusts, charitable foundations and other vehicles can accomplish your goals. To waste the opportunity to leave a long lasting legacy as a result of your lifetime endeavors is quite tragic.

12-11-2006

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Heller Ehrman, LLP

Genentech Prevails in Patent Infringement Case
Heller Ehrman LLP announced that client Genentech, Inc. has prevailed in an important patent infringement case concerning recombinant DNA technology and the treatment of children with a severe growth disorder.

In late 2004, Genentech, and its exclusive licensee, Tercica Inc., sued Insmed Incorporated for infringing three of its biotechnology patents. The jury affirmed Genentech’s great contribution to the field of human growth by upholding the validity of the pioneering patent related to production of insulin-like growth factor and by finding the two other patents infringed by the Defendants. The jury even made the rare finding that the patent on treating the children had been willfully infringed. Damages were also awarded in the amount of $7.5 million plus a running royalty of 15-20 percent of sales.

The Heller Ehrman team representing Genentech was led by M. Patricia Thayer and Ethan C. Glass from the firm’s San Francisco office.

“It is rewarding to see a jury work so hard to understand a complex case and then issue such an overwhelming victory,” said Thayer, a shareholder and co-chair of Heller Ehrman’s Intellectual Property Litigation practice group. “This is a great verdict for our client, Genentech, and its licensee, and this is yet another win in a string of jury trial successes for our practice group over the past several years.”

Heller Ehrman has successfully represented clients in nine patent litigation trials in the past three years. The American Lawyer recently recognized the firm’s IP litigation practice as one of the top five intellectual property litigation departments in the U.S.

The case is Genentech, Inc. et al., Inc. v. Insmed Incorporated et al., C-04-5429 CW (EMC). Judge Claudia Wilken presided over the month-long trial.

12-11-2006

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Healy & Baillie, L.L.P.

Blank Rome Partnering with Israeli Clients
Blank Rome recognizes Israel’s potential for economic growth and expansion and is dedicated to becoming part of that growth. Blank Rome’s legal and government relations teams consists of over 500 attorneys and government relations professionals located in New York, Washington, DC, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio, and Hong Kong. The Firm, now celebrating its 60th anniversary, provides counsel in a broad range of areas of the law and government relations.

Blank Rome has long represented real estate, high tech, and other U.S. and Israeli businesses in securities, tax, intellectual property (patent and trademark), mergers ands acquisitions, and other U.S. transactions. We note, especially for Israeli executives and their counsel, our experience and sophistication in government relations, government contracts, homeland security, intellectual property, and maritime law—areas that may be of special interest to Israeli enterprises hoping to do business or expand their operations and sales in the U.S. Through its strategic alliance with Brussels-headquartered Interel, Blank Rome can also help guide individuals and companies seeking public affairs and government relations advice in the European Union.

Blank Rome takes this endeavor very seriously and is dedicating personnel, time, and resources to develop relationships with leaders in the Israeli business and legal communities. We are interested in meeting with business people, attorneys, and others who might have need of our services and an interest in working with us.

12-11-2006

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Haskell, Slaughter, Young & Gallion, L.L.C.

Haskell Slaughter’s Driver Receives “Distinguished Service Award” from Women Lawyers Section and is Appointed to Two Committees of The Birmingham Bar Association
Haskell Slaughter Young & Rediker, LLC associate Khristi Doss Driver was honored with the "Distinguished Service Award" from the Women Lawyers Section of the Birmingham Bar Association. Ms. Driver was also appointed to serve as Chair of the Projects Committee of the Women Lawyers Section and to serve on the Association's Medical Liaison Committee for 2007.

Ms. Driver was nominated by her peers and was one of six honorees of the Distinguished Service Award last month at the Annual Meeting of the Women Lawyers Section. Ms. Driver's activities cited in the award included:

Assisting with a "Bunny Bags" wine-tasting fundraiser benefiting a local YWCA program that provides law enforcement agencies with educational materials for children dealing with domestic violence;
Serving as the Team Captain for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race for the Cure, in which the Section's team membership doubled from last year and raised more than $3,335.00;
Organizing a program for Section members entitled "Discover Your Style," which presented fashion-related education to help women lawyers find their own personal style and dress for success; and
Scheduling a seminar to educate women lawyers on marketing their services entitled "Rainmaking for Profit and Fun."

As Chair of the Projects Committee of the Women Lawyers Section, Ms. Driver will coordinate all of the community service projects for the Section. In her role on the Medical Liaison Committee, Ms. Driver will help coordinate events between the medical and legal community in Birmingham, utilizing her experience in healthcare litigation defense.

Ms. Driver's practice is focused on civil trials and appeals. She has represented insurers and insureds in a wide variety of matters, including products liability, insurance coverage matters, property and casualty claims, fraud, bad faith and punitive damages claims and employment discrimination cases. Ms. Driver was awarded full scholarships to both the University of Alabama and Cumberland School of Law. At law school, she was active in both trial advocacy competitions and the Cumberland Law Review.

12-11-2006

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Locke Reynolds LLP

Jury Returns Unanimous Verdict for Ford Motor Company
After just over three hours of deliberation, a federal jury in Albuquerque, New Mexico, returned a unanimous verdict for Ford Motor Company in the wrongful death case brought by Edna Moreland, individually and as personal representative of Harold Moreland, Sr. The case was tried by Kevin Schiferl and Todd Croftchik of Locke Reynolds LLP (Indianapolis, IN) and Jeff Croasdell and Christopher Lee Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin & Robb, PA (Albuquerque, NM). Plaintiff was represented by Brian Chase and Jerry Gans of Bisnar & Chase LLP (Newport Beach, CA) and David Jaramillo of The Gaddy Law Firm (Albuquerque, NM).

On March 23, 2003, at 4:30 A.M., the decedent, Harold Moreland Sr., 62, was driving his 1993 Ford Aerostar minivan on Interstate 10 in southern New Mexico. The decedent's sons, Harold Moreland Jr., 34, and Anthony Moreland, 36, were passengers. All three passengers were Ohio resident and were traveling from Phoenix, AZ to New Iberia, LA to visit family. For unknown reasons, the decedent drifted into the median, overcorrected, and lost control of the van. The Aerostar rolled 3 ½-4 ½ times and the decedent, who Plaintiff claims was initially belted, was ejected and died four hours later. The autopsy report concluded that the decedent died of natural causes -- an acute coronary artery thrombosis (a blood clot in the heart.)

Plaintiff alleged a defect in the restraint system of decedent's 1993 Ford Aerostar minivan. Specifically, she alleged that the RCF 67 style seatbelt buckle incorporated into this vehicle is prone to a condition called "false latch" and that condition manifested itself in this particular accident, causing Mr. Moreland's unfortunate death. Although experts often times draw a distinction, false latch is also frequently referred to as "partial engagement" and defines a condition where the seatbelt's tongue (attached to the webbing) is inserted into the buckle but is not completely engaged or secured. Therefore, the occupant believes he is fully restrained by the seatbelt system but in fact he is not. Ford contended that there were no defects in the Aerostar's seatbelt system and that the design of the seatbelt system, along with the physical evidence conclusively proved that system is not susceptible to false latch and that the decedent never attempted to fasten his seatbelt in the first place.

Plaintiff's defect claim rested on the shoulders of Steven Meyer, P.E. Mr. Meyer is a professional engineer who reconstructed this particular accident and opined on the false latch defect condition. Mr. Meyer's reconstruction was largely on par with Ford's, i.e. the vehicle departed the left side of the roadway at a shallow angle going between 65-70 miles per hour, the decedent overcorrected with a hard right steer input while in the dirt median and, the vehicle rotated (yawed) in a clockwise direction and began to roll over while traveling approximately 50 miles per hour. The most significant discrepancy in accident reconstructions involved the total number of rolls and the corresponding angular roll velocities. Meyer testified that the Aerostar rolled 3 1/2 times during the 200 foot roll distance; Ford's accident reconstructionist, Karl Stopschinski, testified that the Aerostar rolled 4 1/2 times in the same distance. The importance of the additional roll is best explained through the vehicle's roll rate. Generally speaking, more rolls in the same distance equates to a faster average roll rate which, in turn, equates to higher centrifugal forces on the occupants.

Meyer opined that the RCF 67 style side release seatbelt buckle is susceptible to "false latching" because the buckle lacks a spring-loaded tongue eject feature, which will forcibly spit out a tongue unless it is firmly and positively latched. That spring-loaded tongue eject feature was Plaintiff's feasible alternative design. The feasibility of that particular design went uncontested as it was already being used in 1993 by a number of manufacturers, including Ford. Meyer's "proof" that decedent was belted in a false latch condition was based upon two pieces of evidence. The first was Anthony Moreland's testimony that he assisted his father with putting his seatbelt on and saw his father insert the latch plate into the buckle. Ford, however, brought to Mr. Meyer's attention the fact that Anthony Moreland also testified that he pulled on his father's seatbelt it to ensure that it was fastened - a fact that Meyer was forced to admit would be inconsistent with a false latch claim. The other evidence Meyer relied upon was the various markings on the seatbelt webbing, driver's door trim panel, and door frame area that he claimed were consistent with belt use in this accident. Specifically, Meyer claimed that the seatbelt retractor created two marks on the webbing that could only have been created if the belt had initially been worn and that there were marks on the door trim panel and door frame area that were created by the belt as it was carried out the window with the decedent during the ejection process.

Ford's seatbelt expert, Jeffrey Pearson, countered Mr. Meyer with the undisputed testimony that over 500,000,000 RCF 67 style buckles were installed in production automobiles and the design has never been recalled. Additionally, Mr. Pearson testified that this particular design, and the specific buckle at issue in decedent's Aerostar complied with the applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards promulgated by the federal government, including Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 209 which contains a specific test for partial engagement. Most importantly, Mr. Pearson conducted testing on the buckle at issue and on an exemplar RCF 67 style buckle. The results of that testing showed conclusively that a properly functioning RCF 67 style buckle (such as decedent's) cannot be placed in a false latch condition for any significant period of time. Mr. Pearson's testing showed that it takes a concerted effort to place the buckle in a false latch condition in the first place as opposed to being able to do it accidentally. Mr. Pearson's testing also demonstrated that once you successfully place the buckle in the tenuous false latch position, the buckle will retract with only the slightest movement of the occupant. The practical effect of Mr. Pearson's testing and corresponding testimony was to completely refute Plaintiff's theory that decedent could put his buckle in a false latch condition and proceed to drive for 15 to 20 miles without the buckle ever giving him notification that it was, in fact, unlatched. Plaintiff's expert, Mr. Meyer had done no testing to demonstrate that such a theory was possible, much less probable to any degree of engineering certainty.

The physical evidence also supported Ford's contention of no belt usage. Plaintiff claimed that a phantom driver had struck the Aerostar from the rear, causing this accident. To rule out such a theory, Plaintiff's insurance company had retained an independent accident reconstructionist to inspect the scene of the accident and the vehicle. That independent witness took numerous photographs of the scene and vehicle. Ford called that witness to testify and he shared with the jury his opinion that there was no such phantom contact with the Aerostar and, more importantly, that his vehicle inspection revealed that the decedent's belt appeared "pristine" and new, "as if it had never been used." That testimony was likely crucial to the jury's determination that this seatbelt system was not defective and that decedent had never attempted to latch his seatbelt in the first place, as opposed to any purported false latch possibility.

Admittedly, the biomechanical issues of decedent's accident related injuries were relatively insignificant. Plaintiff's biomechanical expert, Dr. Anthony Sances, testified that the decedent was ejected during the first quarter to half roll; that the ejection caused his dislocated femur; and that the decedent would not have suffered any significant injuries had the seatbelt buckle performed properly. Ford's biomechanical expert, Dr. Robert Piziali disagreed on the timing of the ejection but otherwise agreed. Dr. Piziali also testified regarding the peculiar absence of injuries to Mr. Moreland. Dr. Piziali's testified that had Mr. Moreland's belt been falsely latched, he would have become entangled in the seatbelt during the ejection process and we would see evidence of those "entanglement" injuries on the decedent's body. There were no such injuries noted in the medical records or in the autopsy report. The absence of those entanglement injuries was further evidence that the decedent had never attempted to use his seatbelt system, as opposed to the seatbelt being falsely latched.

The issue of causation was hotly contested. Plaintiff's medical expert, Dr. Kenneth A. Williams testified that the decedent died from hypovolemic shock caused, in large part, by the internal bleeding associated with the decedent's accident-related dislocated and displaced femur. Ford did not call any retained medical experts to testify but instead relied upon the testimony of Dr. Corinne Stern, the board-certified forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy of the decedent. Dr. Stern testified Mr. Moreland died of a coronary artery thrombosis unrelated to any of his accident related injuries. Both conditions produce similar symptoms, i.e. initial fluctuations in the heart rate with pronounced bradycardia near death and a corresponding drop in blood pressure due to an insufficient supply of blood to the heart.

The jury was comprised of eight jurors, two of whom were alternates. The case was presided over by the Honorable Magistrate Judge W. Daniel Schneider.

12-10-2006

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McAfee & Taft A Professional Corporation

Michael Joseph Quoted on the Benefits of Telecommuting on Bad Weather Days
Ten days after a November snowstorm left many Oklahoma employees stranded at home and unable to travel to work, Oklahoman reporter Jim Stafford interviewed local businesspeople about the various methods and benefits of telecommuting.

In the article, McAfee & Taft shareholder and director Michael Joseph reported that the firm's VPN (virtual private network) access allowed homebound lawyers and paralegals to continue working as usual. He noted that's a critical issue when dealing with clients across the United States. "Lawyers in our firm deal in matters and transactions all over the country," he said. "It may be that we have snow here and people can't get to work, but they may be dealing with people in California or southern Texas or Florida or somewhere else and they can still continue to do busienss with them.

12-10-2006

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Sheehan, Phinney, Bass & Green, P.A.

SHEEHAN PHINNEY HOSTS U.S. SENATOR AND POTENTIAL 2008 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BARACK OBAMA ON HIS FIRST TRIP TO NEW HAMPSHIRE
Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green hosted a private reception for U.S. Senator and potential 2008 presidential candidate Barack Obama (D-IL) at the firm’s Manchester, N.H. office on Sunday, December 10. This reception, in advance of a larger gathering for the public in downtown Manchester, was part of the senator’s first trip to the state as a presidential aspirant, and an opportunity for many community leaders to meet the senator.

Katherine Hanna, former Chief Policy Advisor to Gov. John Lynch and former Legal Counsel to the N.H. Democratic State Committee; and Graham Chynoweth, President of the New Hampshire Young Democrats, both Sheehan Phinney lawyers, co-hosted the gathering.

“It was an honor for the firm to host such a nationally renowned candidate on his first foray to the state,” Hanna said. “Sheehan Phinney has a proud tradition of engaging in the political life of our state and looks forward to hosting candidates from both major parties as the 2008 presidential race develops.

12-10-2006

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25383 matches |  13644-13650 displayed

1  1946 1947 1948 1949 1950  3627