Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Clayton S. Friedman Joins Manatt In Orange County
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, the national law and consulting firm, announced today that Clayton S. Friedman, a prominent attorney with extensive experience in multi-state regulatory, e-commerce and consumer protection work, has joined the firm as a partner. Mr. Friedman comes to Manatt from Buchalter Nemer where he was a shareholder in the Orange County office.

In addition to his multi-state regulatory practice, Mr. Friedman represents clients before various federal agencies and departments, including the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission. Mr. Friedman has developed an extensive e-commerce practice, including advertising, marketing privacy and regulatory work involving Internet marketing and sales. Mr. Friedman’s practice includes representation of prominent clients in government investigations and litigation, and in a range of compliance matters.

“We continue to expand our federal and state government practice,” said Paul H. Irving, Manatt’s Chief Executive and Managing Partner. “Clay joins an extraordinary group of lawyers representing leading companies in advertising, marketing, consumer protection and business expansion work. He’s known for strong governmental and regulatory relationships, and is recognized for his successes as an advocate. We’re very pleased to have him join us, and expect him to be a valuable addition to the firm.”

“Manatt is known for excellence at the intersection of business and government,” said Mr. Friedman. “The firm has a very deep bench in California, New York and Washington, D.C. in a range of practices that complement my skills and experience. From advertising to healthcare to financial services to technology, I am excited by Manatt’s resources, and the opportunity to do more to serve clients on a national basis.”

Mr. Friedman began his career in the office of the Attorney General, State of Missouri, and served in positions ranging from assistant deputy attorney general to manager of the Kansas City regional office. He acted as lead counsel for numerous states in multi-state enforcement actions, and served on two National Association of Attorneys General task forces which formulated advertising guidelines for the airline and rental car industries. Mr. Friedman also served as Chief Counsel and Director of the Business Regulation Project for the National Association of Attorneys General, a project encompassing antitrust, consumer protection, insurance and charitable trust issues.

Mr. Friedman received his B.A., cum laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1981 and his J.D., cum laude, from Saint Louis University in 1984. He is the editor and a chapter author of the Reference Pricing Handbook (National Association of Attorneys General, 1988) and the NAAG/FTC Rule Enforcement Handbook (National Association of Attorneys General, 1993). Mr. Friedman is a former vice chairman of the American Bar Association’s Consumer Protection Committee.

11-27-2006

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Jones Day, P.C.

Jones Day advises Macquarie Goodman in $1.6billion acquisition
Jones Day's London and Munich offices acted for Macquarie Goodman, in relation to the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Akeler Holdings S.A., the business parks developer, for £649 million (inclusive of assumed debt). The consideration included £600 million for the acquisition by Macquarie Goodman's managed fund, Arlington Business Parks Partnership (ABPP), of Akeler's UK business parks and £49 million for the acquisition by Macquarie Goodman of Akeler's properties in Continental Europe and Akeler's management business. The vendors were Global Fund 1, LLGP SICAF and Macquarie Bank. The acquisition has initially been funded with debt. ABPP will subsequently raise £100 million via a capital raising fully underwritten by Macquarie Goodman.

The Jones Day team was led by senior corporate partner, Neil Seaton, who began advising Macquarie Goodman following the £173 million sale of Arlington Securities plc, the firm's longstanding client, to Macquarie Goodman at the end of 2005, together with corporate partner James Goold.

Neil Seaton commented "This was a substantial and complex transaction smoothly and successfully executed in a very short timescale, it represents the third significant transaction on which we have represented Macquarie Goodman in the past year."

The Jones Day team comprised lawyers from a variety of practices including corporate, finance, employment, property, planning, construction and environmental.

11-27-2006

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Jenner & Block LLP

Jenner & Block Receives Pro Bono Institute’s 2006 John H. Pickering Award
The Pro Bono Institute recently honored Jenner & Block with the 2006 John H. Pickering Award in recognition of the Firm’s “unswerving commitment to pro bono service” and the Firm’s history of handling ”controversial, challenging, and time-consuming pro bono matters.”

In bestowing the award, the Pro Bono Institute highlighted several of Jenner & Block’s recent pro bono accomplishments, including:

* Representing several detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay who are challenging the legality of their prolonged detention.

* Continuing to provide free legal services to non-profits so more of those organizations’ resources go to serve their institutional purposes, including helping groups obtain 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status and counseling them on tax, employment, and corporate issues.

* Helping to develop the legal arguments for the Florida attorneys representing Michael Schiavo in the litigation concerning his wife, the late Terri Schiavo, who had been kept alive against her wishes by a Florida law supported by that state’s Governor.

* Obtaining a federal court ruling in January 2005 in favor of 14,000 African-American public housing residents that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development violated the federal Fair Housing Act by failing to consider regional approaches to ameliorate racial segregation in public housing in the Baltimore region.

* Representing Missouri and California death row inmates in challenging their state lethal injection protocols. In Missouri, a federal court recently halted all executions in Missouri pending changes to the lethal injection protocol to ensure that the condemned are not subjected to unconstitutional pain and suffering.

* Persuading the U.S. Supreme Court in Wiggins v. Smith to find that a death row inmate had received ineffective assistance of counsel, thereby extending Jenner & Block’s long-time leadership in death penalty cases, which began with the landmark 1968 decision in Witherspoon v. Illinois.

* Persuading the U.S. Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas to strike down the Texas “homosexual conduct” law, which criminalized sexual intimacy by same-sex couples but not identical conduct by opposite-sex couples. Jenner worked closely with the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund in Lawrence.

* Preparing an amicus brief on behalf of 65 major companies in the U.S. Supreme Court cases of Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger -- which challenged the University of Michigan’s affirmative action admission policies. In a historic 5-4 decision, the Court expressly relied upon Jenner’s brief in upholding the Michigan Law School’s admissions program.

* Providing a partner as Co-Chair of the Illinois Governor’s Commission on Capital Punishment, which authored a report that was widely considered to be a critical factor in the historic decision to grant clemency to or pardon all of the individuals on the state’s death row.

Jenner & Block Partner and Pro Bono Committee Co-Chair Barry Levenstam accepted the award on behalf of the Firm.

In 2005, the Pro Bono Institute established this award in memory of John H. Pickering, a recognized leader and committed advocate of pro bono legal work. The annual award was created to recognize a major law firm that “embodies Mr. Pickering’s spirit of service” and demonstrates an “exceptional culture of pro bono service.”

Founded in 1996, the Pro Bono Institute is a non-profit organization that explores and identifies new approaches to - and resources for - the provision of legal services to the poor, disadvantaged, and other individuals or groups unable to secure legal assistance to address critical problems.

The Institute launched the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge(SM) eleven years ago to change how pro bono work was viewed, managed and integrated in major law firms. To date, the Challenge has resulted in over 23 million hours of pro bono legal assistance to those most in need. Jenner & Block is a Founding Member of the Institute’s Law Firm Project and a Charter Signatory to the Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge(SM).

The Firm was presented with the award at the Institute’s inaugural Corporate Pro Bono Challenge(SM) Gala, held in New York on November 9 to signify the commencement of the Institute’s Corporate Pro Bono Challenge(SM), which is designed to empower corporate legal departments to identify, benchmark, and communicate their commitment to pro bono service.

11-27-2006

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Jenner & Block LLP

Seventh Circuit Affirms Ruling in Favor of Video Game Industry Clients
In another victory for the Firm’s video game industry clients, a federal appeals court on November 27 affirmed a district court’s permanent injunction against the enforcement of Illinois’ Sexually Explicit Video Games Law (SEVGL) because the law is an unconstitutional violation of the video game makers’ and retailers' freedom of speech.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that the law was “overbroad” in its attempt to control minors' access to certain video games. Moreover, the court agreed that the law’s proposed labeling and signage requirements for certain games unconstitutionally compelled speech in violation of the First Amendment.

The disputed law would have subjected retailers and store clerks to criminal charges and fines for allowing minors to buy or rent video games designated by Illinois as being “sexually explicit,” and would have also required video game retailers to place labels on all games containing “sexually explicit” content.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois had issued a permanent injunction against the enforcement of the Violent Video Games Law and the SEVGL in December 2005.

Partners Paul M. Smith, Katherine A. Fallow and David P. Sanders, and Associates Duane Pozza, Matthew S. Hellman and Wade A. Thomson represented the Entertainment Software Association, et al., in this matter.

11-27-2006

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Jenner & Block LLP

Solovy Discusses Trial Tips and Strategies at the CBA’s “Trial Superstars” Event
Jenner & Block Chairman Jerold S. Solovy recently discussed best practices for presenting a case to a jury and other trial techniques and strategies at the recent Chicago Bar Association “Trial Superstars” event. More than 250 attorneys attended the seminar.

Mr. Solovy spoke on the importance of sequencing witnesses, recommending that attorneys save their best witness for last during direct examination in order to leave a strong impression in the minds of the jurors. He also suggested that the attendees prepare their witnesses to endure such tactics as humiliation and sarcasm during cross examination by opposing counsel. And, when cross examining a witness, Mr. Solovy reminded the attorneys to, “never ask a question to which you don’t know the answer.”

Mr. Solovy also noted that attorneys should be mindful of the judge’s role during a jury trial because the jurors often feel “protected by and protective of” him or her. He stressed the importance of being respectful and courteous in dealing with the judge, and to be aware that the jury will take into account this interaction when determining the integrity of counsel in the trial.

“Honor and ethics count for more than anything else” in the courtroom, Mr. Solovy said.

In addition, Mr. Solovy advised the attorneys to be careful when utilizing new technology for their presentations during trial because it can often become a distraction if it fails to work properly. However, he suggested that video-taped depositions can be extremely dramatic and effective in impeaching a witness, if used correctly and timed appropriately.

Mr. Solovy was joined at the discussion by Fred H. Bartlit Jr., Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP, Patricia Brown Holmes, Schiff Hardin LLP, and Vincent Connelly, Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw.

Pictured, from left: Mr. Connelly, Mr. Bartlit, Mr. Solovy, Ms. Holmes.

11-27-2006

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Jenner & Block LLP

Weissmann Elected to Board of Manhattan Legal Services
Jenner & Block Partner Andrew Weissmann was recently elected to serve on the Board of Manhattan Legal Services, a part of the Legal Services for New York City (LSNY) organization that provides pro bono legal services to low-income people throughout Manhattan.

LSNY is the largest provider of civil legal services to low-income persons in the United States. Each year, LSNY helps thousands of clients throughout New York City with a full range of their civil legal needs, including, among other things, counseling on housing, Social Security, disability, worker's rights, domestic abuse, and HIV issues.

11-27-2006

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Howrey, LLP

Howrey wins in the Eastern District of Texas
Howrey LLP obtained a final judgment in the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, in favor of its client M-I L.L.C., invalidating all asserted claims of the patent-in-suit and dismissing plaintiff Halliburton’s case one month before the scheduled start of trial.

This judgment is believed to be the first in the Eastern District of Texas in which a plaintiff-patentee lost all claims on summary judgment. M I’s lead counsel, John Keville, noted “the Court was well prepared for the Markman hearing and to address the related motion for summary judgment of invalidity. Although there is a perception that ‘Plaintiffs don’t lose in the Eastern District of Texas,’ we always believed M I would get a fair shake.”

Halliburton sued M-I for patent infringement on May 3, 2005, the day the patent issued, alleging that M I’s sale of drilling fluids infringed its patent on a “fragile gel” drilling fluid and a method for conducting drilling operations using a “fragile gel” drilling fluid. Halliburton sought to prevent all further sales of one of M-I’s premier drilling fluid products, as well as millions of dollars in damages.

The terms “fragile gel drilling fluid” and “fragile gel,” along with many other terms, were submitted to the Court for claim construction. Halliburton argued that the terms could be construed based on the “easily” and “quickly” definition in the patent; M-I argued that such terms did not provide a way to construe the terms in a manner that was not completely subjective, and that the claims had literally no metes and bounds. M I also moved for summary judgment that the asserted claims were invalid because of indefiniteness.

The summary judgment motion and claim interpretation issues were argued at a Markman hearing in May, 2006. In October, Judge Leonard Davis issued an order holding all asserted claims invalid. The order explained “[n]either the specification nor any other evidence provides an objective standard for determining the scope of these amorphous terms.” The court said that defining “fragile gel” according to Halliburton's proposed definition, “would be meaningless and not apprise the public of its bounds.” Final judgment was entered on November 20, 2006.

The Howrey legal team representing M-I was led by John Keville and Steve Cagle, along with Drew Kim, John Edmonds, Trey Mahoney, Mark Solomon, Steve Lundwall, Gary Fischman, Joan Beckner, and Shane Nelson from Howrey, and Calvin Capshaw and Elizabeth DeRieux from Brown McCarroll, LLP.

Among other services and products, M-I supplies drilling and completion fluids and additives to oil and gas companies in more than 70 countries worldwide.

11-27-2006

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