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Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan LLP

B. Davis Horne, Jr. Receives the 2006 John Huske Anderson Award from the North Carolina Medical Society
Smith Anderson partner B. Davis Horne, Jr. received the John Huske Anderson award. The award, created by the North Carolina Medical Society to honor Smith Anderson name partner John Huske Anderson (1907-1990), recognizes laypersons whose contributions positively impact the medical profession and public health as exemplified by John Anderson.

A Public and Government Affairs practitioner for over 20 years, Mr. Horne leads Smith Anderson’s Public and Government Affairs practice. He advises and counsels a wide variety of organizations on legislative advocacy, public relations and media strategies; regulatory advocacy; government contracts and procurement advice; economic development and tax incentives; grassroots strategies and activities; and campaign finance law advice. In addition, the practice provides additional services including association management.

For the past several years, the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research, Inc. has rated Mr. Horne in the top ten of over 700 lobbyists registered in the State of North Carolina.

10-28-2006

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Mayer Brown LLP

Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP Sponsors and Chairs Platts 10th Annual Mexican Energy Conference
Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw's Global Project Finance & Development Group sponsored the Platts 10th Annual Mexican Energy Conference, a two-day event bringing together leading participants in the Mexican energy sector, including government officials, company executives, investors and lenders. Barry Machlin, Partner and Co-Chair of the Global Project Finance & Development Group at Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, chaired the Conference for the fifth consecutive year.

"The high caliber of the attendees, the quality of industry information presented and the collegial atmosphere are all reasons I look forward to this event each year" said Mr. Machlin. "This Conference plays an important role in bringing together government officials and highly-experienced industry participants in the Mexican energy sector, providing them with a way to exchange ideas and discuss issues and innovations of importance to the sector."

The Conference covered topics ranging from the likely impact of the recent Mexican presidential election to opportunities for investments across the range of energy activities in Mexico, including oil, gas, pipeline, power, renewable energy and other initiatives such as Mesoamerican energy integration. The event had more than 20 keynote speakers from the public and private sectors, including the Ministry of Energy (SENER), the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), Mexico's state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).

Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw has an active and varied Global Project Finance & Development Practice that represents clients in a wide variety of sectors, including power, oil and gas, mining, telecom, roads and motorways, petrochemicals, wind, water and wastewater treatment, and industrial, manufacturing and other infrastructure facilities.

The Group has an established track-record of involvement in notable project finance transactions that have achieved "Deal of the Year" honors, including many in the energy industry. Some examples of outstanding deals throughout Latin America include:

- Bajio Power (Mexico), Latin American Merchant Power Deal of the Year
- Corredor Sur (Panama), Latin American Refinancing Deal of the Year
- San Fernando Pipeline (Mexico), Latin American Oil and Gas Deal of the Year.

10-28-2006

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Ulmer & Berne LLP

Ulmer & Berne LLP Expands with the Addition of Six New Associates
"Ulmer & Berne LLP announced today the addition of six new associates to the firm. Kari Carter, Jessica Iwler and Andrea Stone joined the firm’s Cleveland office while Christie Bryant, Lisa Miller and Chad Royer joined the firm’s Cincinnati office.

“We are pleased to be adding these talented individuals to an already well-established firm,” stated Larry Pollack, the firm’s recruiting partner."

10-27-2006

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Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP

Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP Awards Richard G. Lareau Technology Scholarship
Leading Twin Cities law firm Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly took center stage at the annual Tekne Awards last night when partner David Potter presented the Richard G. Lareau Technology Scholarship to Katherine Jensen, second-year law student at William Mitchell College of Law.

The scholarship was developed in 2002 to honor long-time partner, Dick Lareau, who began his career with Oppenheimer in the mid-1950s; and continues to actively represent and provide valued counsel to clients on a variety of corporate finance, transactional, and corporate governance matters. Over the years, Mr. Lareau helped launch and defend entrepreneurs and companies that were pursuing business plans in high-tech industries. As Mr. Potter—who practices in the Firm’s Business Litigation Practice Group—explained to last night's Tekne Awards attendees, “Dick exemplifies who Oppenheimer is among the high-tech industry.”

The $20,000 scholarship is awarded each fall to a William Mitchell College of Law student in his or her second year. To apply, the student must demonstrate both a passion for technology and a desire to build a law practice with technology as a focus. “Awarding this scholarship,” said Mr. Potter, “is one way that we can pass on what was once a hot new technology in the 1950s—the computer—and where we’ve served these past 40 years.”

This year’s recipient, “embodies the spirit of this award,” Mr. Potter continued. “Katherine is a fulltime software engineer at Oracle, Inc. and at the same time, is top among her class at William Mitchell College of Law.

10-27-2006

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Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel LLP

NEW DECISION ON HAWAII’S ARREST & COURT RECORD DISCRIMINATION LAW: WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR EMPLOYERS? by Goodsill Partner Carolyn Gugelyk
the Hawaii Supreme Court issued its very first decision on Hawaii’s law which prohibits employment discrimination based on arrest and court record, in a case against Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. (No. 27190). In this case, the employee was hired by the Company as a sales clerk four years after he was convicted for a drug offense. No background check was conducted at the time of hiring. Over a year later, the employee applied for a position as a department supervisor. At that time, the Company conducted a background investigation, found out about the employee’s conviction, and terminated his employment because of the conviction. The employee sued.

Hawaii law prohibits employment discrimination based on arrest and court record. However, there is an exception in the law which allows employers to consider convictions in the last ten years that bear a “rational relationship to the duties and responsibilities of the position.”

After appealing dismissal of his case against Home Depot to the Hawaii Supreme Court, the employee argued that (1) the Company should have conducted a background check only when he was hired, not over a year later; (2) the Company should not have fired him for a conviction that occurred before he was hired; and (3) he was rehabilitated and no “rational relationship” existed between his drug conviction six years earlier and his job duties.

On the first argument, the Court found for the Company. It held that employers are allowed to consider the conviction records of both applicants and current employees. Thus, even if an employer did not conduct a background check when an employee is hired, it can do so later when it is deciding whether to promote the employee to a different position. Note that for applicants, an employer must wait until after a conditional job offer has been made to make any inquiry into conviction record.

On the second argument, the Court also found for the Company. It held that an employer can consider both convictions that happened during the employee’s employment and convictions that happed before the employee was hired, if the conviction is within the last ten years excluding periods of incarceration.

On the third argument regarding whether a “rational relationship” existed, the Court explained that “the plain and obvious meaning of the phrase is found in the words themselves, i.e…..the relationship between the conviction and employment must be rational.” However, the Court did not provide any specific examples or extensive guidance on the meaning of phrase. The Court also did not make a final decision on whether Home Depot was justified in firing the employee. Since the parties made their arguments solely on the basis of the allegations of the Complaint without additional evidence, the case was sent back to the trial court, for both the employer and the employee to present additional evidence and arguments on whether or not a “rational relationship” existed.

In conclusion, employers need to continue to carefully apply the “rational relationship” test and to balance providing a safe workplace with providing rehabilitation and employment opportunities for people seeking to turn their lives around.

10-27-2006

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Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel LLP

Tax Incentives Spur Growth in Hawaii’s Film and TV Industries by Goodsill Partner Roy Tijoe
Billions of dollars are spent each year to produce films and television shows, and the competition for those production dollars is fierce. Realizing that beautiful scenery is no longer enough to compete with the rich incentives offered by countries such as Canada and Australia, and states like Louisiana and Rhode Island, Hawaii has come forward with its own incentives. Hawaii is starting to gain attention via the High Technology Business Investment Tax Credit (originally known as “Act 221” and now “Act 215”) and the Refundable Production Tax Credit, otherwise known as “Act 88”.

The High Technology Business Investment Tax Credit (Act 215)

Act 215 offers a 100% tax credit for investments made in a qualified high tech business (QHTB), which includes Hawaii businesses that engage in film and television production activities.

Here’s a simple example: An investment of $1,000 in a QHTB generates $1,000 of income tax credits that can be applied, dollar for dollar, to the investor’s state income tax liability (the incentive also applies to certain taxes paid by insurance companies and banks). The investment tax credit is spread out over a five year period, so the investor in our example can claim up to $350 in year 1, $250 in year 2, $200 in year 3, and $100 in each of years 4 and 5. During those five years, the business must engage in ongoing film and television production activity or receive income from such activity. Otherwise, the state won’t allow future credits and will take back a small amount of the credits previously claimed. An investor cannot claim more than $2 million in credits per project per year.

One of the most progressive features of the investment tax credit allows a mainland or foreign investor, who does not pay Hawaii taxes and therefore cannot use Hawaii tax credits, to allocate her share of credits to the Hawaii investor. As a result of this feature and negotiations between the investors, a Hawaii investor could receive, in tax credits, twice the amount of his investment while the mainland investor could receive a greater share of profits from the completed project.

If the tax credit exceeds the taxpayer’s net income in any year in which it is available, it can be carried forward indefinitely. In other words, investors who are unable to use up the credits during the five year period can still utilize the credits later until they are used up.

To give assurance to investors that a particular project qualifies for the tax credit, the production company can request that the Hawaii Department of Taxation sign “comfort rulings” to that effect.

The Motion Picture & Film Production Income Tax Credit (Act 88)

This year, the Hawaii legislature passed Act 88, which offers a 15% refundable tax credit (20% on the neighbor islands) to qualifying production companies that produce films, television shows, commercials, music videos or certain other entertainment products. This is a substantial increase in the same incentive, which was previously pegged at only 4%, and reflects the State’s desire to become competitive in attracting production dollars to Hawaii.

Among other requirements, a production company must spend more than $200,000 in qualifying expenditures in Hawaii, and none of that money can be used to generate investment tax credits. Assuming that it has no state tax liability to which the credit could be applied, a qualifying production company will receive a check from the State Tax Department for 15% (or 20%) of its qualifying expenditures, up to a maximum of $8 million.

10-27-2006

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Fasken, Martineau & Du Moulin, L.L.P.

Five Fasken Martineau lawyers featured on the prestigious "Guide to the Top 100 Industry Specialists in Canada" list published by LEXPERT
Today LEXPERT published its "Guide to the Top 100 Industry Specialists in Canada." This analysis of the top 100 best legal industry specialists in Canada revealed that five of our lawyers are included on this prestigious list:

Robert Paré - Securities and Mergers & Acquisitions
Xeno Martis - Banking & Finance
Claude Gendron - Banking & Finance and Real Estate
Richard Clare - Banking & Finance and Real Estate
Keith Spencer - Information Technology and Intellectual Property.

10-27-2006

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