Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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25383 matches |  13980-13986 displayed

1  1996 1997 1998 1999 2000  3627

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Hiscock & Barclay, LLP

Management Elections at Hiscock & Barclay, LLP
John P. Langan was elected by members of the Firm to his third, three-year term as Hiscock & Barclay’s Managing Partner; Gerald Stack was elected to the Firm’s Management Committee and as the Managing Director of the Syracuse office.

Langan (Cazenovia resident) is the Managing Partner of the Firm and Chair of the Energy & Utilities Practice Area. He is an experienced trial lawyer, whose practice focuses on commercial litigation and insurance and tort defense litigation. Langan joined Hiscock & Barclay in 1993, was elected to the Firm’s Management Committee in 1997, and became Managing Partner in 2000.

Stack (Winkworth resident), partner, is a preeminent lawyer in the area of tax-driven business transactions and individual wealth and estate planning. Stack is an Adjunct Professor at Syracuse University and Co-Chair of the Firm’s Tax Practice Area. Stack joined Hiscock & Barclay, LLP in April of 2006 after serving for many years as a member of the Management Committee of his former firm, Hancock & Estabrook.

12-04-2006

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Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC

Dr. Gwendolyn Acker Wood Joins Eckert Seamans in Pittsburgh\\
The national law firm of Eckert Seamans Cherin and Mellott, LLC today announced that attorney Gwendolyn R. Acker Wood, Ph.D. has joined the firm.

Gwendolyn R. Acker Wood, Ph.D. joins as an Associate in the Business Division of the Pittsburgh office. She focuses her practice on intellectual property law, with a special emphasis on biotechnology, life sciences, and the chemical arts. Prior to law school, Dr. Wood worked as a research scientist in psychoneuropathology and psychoimmunology and also served as an adjunct professor in several disciplines. Dr. Wood received her law degree from the Duquesne University School of Law and her doctorate, master of science, and bachelor of science degrees, all in biology, from New York University. Dr. Wood is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. She is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association (Arts and the Law Section), the Pennsylvania Intellectual Property Law Association, and the Pittsburgh Technology Council. She resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The national law firm of Eckert Seamans Cherin and Mellott, LLC today announced that attorney Gwendolyn R. Acker Wood, Ph.D. has joined the firm.

Gwendolyn R. Acker Wood, Ph.D. joins as an Associate in the Business Division of the Pittsburgh office. She focuses her practice on intellectual property law, with a special emphasis on biotechnology, life sciences, and the chemical arts. Prior to law school, Dr. Wood worked as a research scientist in psychoneuropathology and psychoimmunology and also served as an adjunct professor in several disciplines. Dr. Wood received her law degree from the Duquesne University School of Law and her doctorate, master of science, and bachelor of science degrees, all in biology, from New York University. Dr. Wood is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. She is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association (Arts and the Law Section), the Pennsylvania Intellectual Property Law Association, and the Pittsburgh Technology Council. She resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

12-04-2006

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Barnes & Thornburg LLP

Department of Labor Requests Comments From Public Regarding FMLA
The Department of Labor (DOL) is seeking comments on the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993, which is the first examination of the regulations since they were issued in 1995. The DOL identified 12 general topics of interest and a number of specific issues within each general category. Barnes & Thornburg intends to submit a response advocating on behalf of employer rights.

12-04-2006

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Wolf Block Schorr & Solis

WolfBlock Adds Saul Behar as Partner in Real Estate Practice Group
WolfBlock announced that attorney Saul A. Behar has joined the firm as a partner in the Real Estate practice group, effective today. He is resident in WolfBlock's Philadelphia office.

Behar has 20 years of experience handling a variety of corporate, real estate and capital markets transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions of assets and stock, equity offerings, secured and unsecured financings and joint ventures, as well as other legal and corporate governance matters. He comes to WolfBlock from Provident Realty Partners LLP (PRP) in Princeton, NJ, where he was executive vice president, general counsel and secretary.

Prior to PRP, Behar was senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Provident Senior Living Trust in Princeton; senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Keystone Property Trust in West Conshohocken, PA; and a senior in-house counsel at Pep Boys in Philadelphia. Earlier in his career, Behar practiced law at Dechert Price & Rhoads, now Dechert LLP, in Philadelphia.

"Saul is an experienced and accomplished real estate attorney," said Herman C. Fala, chair of WolfBlock's Real Estate practice group. "In addition, as a former general counsel to a public company, he is well positioned to deliver outstanding client service.

12-04-2006

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Wolf Block Schorr & Solis

WolfBlock Urges NJ Physicians To Opt Out of Sutter v. Horizon Class Action Settlement
WolfBlock is strongly encouraging the physicians it represents in New Jersey to reject a proposed class action settlement of a lawsuit accusing Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of poor reimbursement practices.

According to WolfBlock partner Charles X. Gormally, much of the settlement in Sutter v. Horizon "is already required either by law or the contract provisions in the typical Horizon provider agreement. Perhaps more distressing is that some parts the settlement consideration fail to meet the requirements of applicable law and thus offers less of a benefit to class members." Additionally, wrote Gormally to Essex County Superior Court Judge Stephen Bernstein, the settlement "provides no direct financial payment to any of the class members."

. The parties in the case will notify the court on December 20 how many physicians have opted out, and Gormally anticipates that to be a factor in determining whether the settlement is approved

"[The] settlement … is based not on payment to class members, but merely an acknowledgement that applicable law in fact applies to Horizon," wrote Gormally. "While it may be therapeutic to some to know that Horizon is not above the law, the value ascribed to the class members, and the dubious nature of the 'consideration' since it is already largely required by law, is objectionable and suspect.

12-04-2006

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White & Case, LLP

White & Case Advises OMA on Only Registered IPO in Mexico
White & Case advised Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, S.A.B. de C.V., commonly known by its trade name OMA, in a $376 million initial public offering ("IPO"). It is the only IPO registered on the Mexican Stock Exchange for 2006, in addition to being listed on NASDAQ.

The price for its American Depositary Shares (ADSs) is fixed at $18.00 per ADS. The offering price of the Series B shares is Ps. 24.85 per share. Each ADS represents eight Series B shares. The IPO consists of 167 million OMA Series B shares (in the form of shares or ADSs), excluding the over-allotment option. The underwriters have a thirty-day option to purchase an additional 25 million Series B shares (15 percent of the amount being offered) to cover over-allotments. The Series B shares being sold, including those subject to the over-allotment option, represent approximately 48 percent of OMA's total equity.

All the Series B shares are currently outstanding and are being sold by the Mexican government. OMA will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares or ADSs.

"With strategic shareholders ICA, Mexico's largest engineering, procurement and construction company, and Aeroports de Paris, the second largest European airports operator, OMA should make a strong showing on the exchanges that will hopefully spur more Mexican IPO's in the coming years," said lead counsel Howard Kleinman, partner in the New York.

The White & Case team was led by partner Howard Kleinman and assisted by associates John Vetterli and Lindsay Shorr in New York; and assisted by partner Juan Manuel Gonzalez and associate Juan Pablo Visoso in Mexico City.

White & Case has a long record of helping companies go public, drawing on the Firm's vast experience in securities, global finance, corporate restructuring and banking law.

12-04-2006

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Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.

Supreme Court to Hear Arguments in Major Whistleblower Lawsuit - Experienced False Claims Act Litigator Available for Comment
The Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments Tuesday, December 5, in a two-decade-old case that, despite relatively little publicity, may be one of the most significant involving civil litigation and the public interest to be argued before the Court this year.

The justices are scheduled to hear Rockwell International Corp. et al. v. United States et al. The case could decide whether it will be more difficult or easier for individuals to file so-called whistleblower successful lawsuits, called qui tam actions, under the False Claims Act where individuals can bring cases in the name of the United States seeking to recover damages for fraud. This will be the first time that the Court has addressed issues concerning the statute’s "original source" provision, a term that has confounded lower courts and litigants alike, since Congress significantly overhauled the False Claims Act in 1986.

Since 1986, the False Claims Act has been the federal government’s primary weapon in combating fraud in government contracting, and the statute has been used to recover more than $17 billion from corporations and individuals accused of defrauding various government agencies. Already this year, courts have awarded more than $3 billion to the United States through qui tam recoveries. Since 1986, nearly $2 billion in bounties have been awarded to relators, or so-called whistleblowers, who initiate the lawsuits.

"The question at the heart of this case is how much knowledge and information about fraud must whistleblowers have before they are eligible to bring a claim under the False Claims Act?" says Charles Tetrault, a partner in Vinson & Elkins' Washington, D.C. office, a nationally recognized expert on qui tam actions. "The federal courts of appeal differ dramatically on the standard. The Supreme Court's decision in this case could make it easier for whistleblowers to be successful in False Claims Act cases or it could significantly rein in individuals who bring qui tam lawsuits."

The Rockwell case began in June 1986, when James Stone informed the Federal Bureau of Investigation about numerous environmental crimes that he believed had occurred at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Golden, Colorado, during the six years he had worked there as a principal engineer. Mr. Stone had been laid off three months earlier. In 1989, Mr. Stone sued Rockwell International Corp., which operated the plant on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy, claiming the company had hidden environmental and safety concerns from the agency. The qui tam action also alleged that Rockwell had provided falsified information to the government in order to obtain increased payments for its services.

Based on Mr. Stone's information, scores of agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Environmental Protection Agency conducted a three-day search of the facility. In 1992, Rockwell agreed to plead guilty and pay fines of more than $18 million.

In the qui tam action, in 1995, after initially declining to do so, the federal government intervened in Mr. Stone's case, taking over the conduct of the case. In 1999, a jury sided with Mr. Stone and the federal government on three of ten counts, awarding $1.4 million in damages, which was trebled under the statute to $4.2 million.

Rockwell, which is now known as Boeing North American, Inc., appealed, arguing that Mr. Stone was not an "original source" of information regarding the alleged fraud. As such, he was ineligible to bring a suit under the False Claims Act. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit disagreed, reading the "original source" provision expansively to conclude that Mr. Stone qualified as a relator because he had enough "direct and independent knowledge" of the information underlying or supporting the fraud allegation.

"Increasingly, many FCA cases, especially industrywide cases, are brought based on little more than suspicion, supposition, and speculation," says Mr. Tetrault, who is currently handling numerous major qui tam cases in the federal district and appellate courts. "Cases should not proceed unless the relator provides the government something of value to justify the substantial bounties available under the statute. The original source doctrine is important in separating genuine whistleblowers who provide information of real value to the government from parasitic relators who may have a theory about how fraud could be committed but who have no information or knowledge about particular defendants."

"What is needed from the Supreme Court in this case is a uniform road map, a bright line — or at least a less blurry line — on what type of knowledge must be possessed to be a proper relator," says Mr. Tetrault. "A relator must be someone who brings new information to light about a fraud, not someone who has second hand information or who merely suspects something fishy is going on."

Mr. Tetrault says the Rockwell case is important for an additional reason: the Supreme Court has heard only a hand full of False Claims Act cases since 1986, and this is the first False Claims Act case heard by the Court since Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito were appointed. Both men had significant experience with the False Claims Act as appellate judges, and Chief Justice Roberts even argued an FCA case to the Court while in private practice. Their first-hand experience in the area could define the contours of the False Claims Act for years to come.

12-04-2006

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25383 matches |  13980-13986 displayed

1  1996 1997 1998 1999 2000  3627