Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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25383 matches |  1975-1981 displayed

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Johnson & Bell, Ltd.

Victory for Johnson & Bell client, Loon Investments, LLC
In a victory for Johnson & Bell client, Loon Investments, LLC, the First District Appellate Court reversed the decision of the circuit court. The First District Appellate Court dismissed the action finding that Illinois courts lacked personal jurisdiction over Loon Investments.

In the case of Commercial Coin Laundry Sys. vs. Loon Invs., LLC, 2007 Ill. App. Lexis 721 (1st Dist. 2007), Illinois lessor, Commercial Coin Laundry, sued Loon Investments, a Wisconsin lessee for breach of lease. However, Loon Investments moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, but the circuit court denied the motion. The appellate court reversed. On appeal, the lessor claimed that the state court could exercise jurisdiction, claiming that the prior lessee/owner took those actions, and that the first owner's/lessee's personal jurisdiction could be attributed to the second owner/lessee as personal jurisdiction "ran with the land." However, case law lent no support. Further, the owner's/lessee's own contacts with the state were insufficient to confer jurisdiction. The mere fact of entering into a contract with an Illinois resident did not subject a nonresident defendant to Illinois jurisdiction, and the owner's/lessee's passive assumption of the contract through its acquisition of the building alone was also insufficient. Moreover, the mailing of rent payments to Illinois was not enough, nor was the possession and control of the Illinois laundry machines. The only factor weighing in favor of finding jurisdiction, a choice-of-law clause, did not, by itself, confer jurisdiction.

08-07-2007

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Jackson Kelly PLLC

Ellen Cappellanti Appointed By West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin
Ellen Cappellanti, chair of the Jackson Kelly Business and Commercial Law Section, was recently appointed by West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin as a member of the West Virginia University Board of Governors. She will serve on the panel through, June 2011.

The WVU Board of Governors has general supervision and control over the academic and business affairs of the University, including West Virginia University Institute of Technology, the Community and Technical College at WVU Tech, West Virginia University at Parkersburg and Potomac State College of West Virginia University.

Cappellanti graduated from WVU in 1977, where she was the student body vice president.

Governor Joe Manchin's spokeswoman, Lara Ramsburg said, "Ellen has been a tremendous asset to the state of West Virginia and has been involved in numerous projects. We value her contribution on a variety of levels."

Ellen’s contributions to the State of West Virginia include serving as a co-chair of Advantage Valley, Inc., president of the Board of Directors of the West Virginia State Museum and the Contemporary American Theater Festival, Inc., secretary and member of the Board of Directors of the Clay Center of the Arts and Sciences and president and member of the Board of Directors of the Discover the Real West Virginia Foundation (DTRWVF). As the president of Discover the Real West Virginia, Cappellanti has been active in several trade missions, which take her to East Asia with Senator John D. Rockefeller.

08-07-2007

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Gardner, Carton & Douglas, L.L.P.

Jesse Ruiz to be a Grand Marshal for Illinois State Fair's Kickoff Parade
Chicago corporate partner Jesse Ruiz, who is chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education, will be one of five grand marshals for the Illinois State Fair's kickoff Twilight Parade on Thursday, Aug. 9. Ruiz was chosen because this year's state fair theme is "Celebrate and Educate," according to state fair officials. The fair, in Springfield, Ill., runs for more than a week and attracts hundreds of thousands from Illinois and surrounding states. Other grand marshals with Jesse in the Twilight Parade are Christopher Koch, State Superintendent of Education; Ed Geppert, president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers; Ken Swanson, president of the Illinois Education Association; and Joe Fatheree, the 2007 Illinois Teacher of the Year.

08-07-2007

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McGuireWoods LLP

Supreme Court Distinguishes Fiduciary and Settlor Roles in Plan Terminations: Beck v. PACE International Union
In a narrow decision distinguishing settlor from fiduciary functions, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Ninth Circuit and held that the sponsor of a single-employer pension plan had no fiduciary duty under ERISA to consider merger with a multiemployer plan as an alternative to termination of the single-employer plan. See Beck v. PACE International Union, __ U.S. __; 127 S. Ct. 2310 (2007).

The lawsuit arose after Crown Vantage, Inc. filed for bankruptcy and began to consider terminating certain of its employee pension plans. The plans each had sufficient assets to cover their liabilities, and some plans were significantly over-funded. The over-funding entitled Crown to receive a $5 million reversion if the plans terminated.

During Crown’s decision-making process, PACE International Union proposed that Crown merge the plans into a multiemployer pension fund sponsored by PACE and other employers. Under the merger proposal, the multiemployer fund, not Crown, would receive the $5 million excess. Crown declined to consider the merger proposal and instead terminated its plans by purchasing annuities in satisfaction of its benefit obligations under ERISA.

PACE then sued Crown in the bankruptcy court, alleging that Crown breached its fiduciary duties by failing to diligently consider the merger proposal. The bankruptcy court found for PACE but, rather than ordering Crown to cancel its annuity contracts, the court left the annuity contracts in place and ordered the $5 million reversion to be distributed for the benefit of plan participants and beneficiaries.

Crown unsuccessfully appealed the bankruptcy court decision to the District Court and then to the Ninth Circuit, where the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) and the Department of Labor (“DOL”) filed amicus briefs on behalf of Crown. The Court of Appeals acknowledged that Crown had no duty to consider the merger when making its initial termination decision, because the decision to terminate is not a fiduciary function under ERISA. However, the appeals court reasoned that fiduciary duties are implicated in “the implementation of a decision to terminate.” The Ninth Circuit held that, because ERISA does not “preclude” merger from the permissible methods of plan termination, Crown had a fiduciary duty to consider the PACE merger offer when implementing its decision to terminate the plan.

Both the PBGC and the DOL supported Crown’s appeal to the Supreme Court. Unlike the Ninth Circuit, the Supreme Court found that merger is an alternative to plan termination, not a method of terminating a plan under ERISA. Therefore, once Crown made the non-fiduciary, settlor decision to terminate its plans, Crown had no duty to consider the merger proposal. The Supreme Court agreed with Crown, PBGC, and DOL that merger with another plan would not have been a permissible method of carrying out a plan termination under ERISA.

As Justice Scalia noted in writing the Court’s opinion, the permissible methods of plan termination are delineated in ERISA § 4041(b)(3)(A). Section 4041(b)(3)(A)(i) allows a plan sponsor to terminate a plan by purchasing annuities to satisfy its liabilities. Section 4041(b)(3)(A)(ii) allows a plan to be terminated by “otherwise fully provid[ing] all benefit liabilities under the plan.” Although Justice Scalia described § 4041(b)(3)(A)(ii) as a “general residual clause” potentially encompassing methods of plan termination other than those most commonly used, the Supreme Court deferred to the PBGC’s interpretation of ERISA by finding that the residual clause does not include merger with another plan.

PACE argued that the residual clause should include any method that is the “legal equivalent” of the annuitization method described in ERISA § 4041(b)(3)(A)(i). Assuming without deciding the correctness of PACE’s “legal equivalent” framework, the Supreme Court found that merger and annuitization are not legal equivalents for at least three reasons. First, annuitization ends the application of ERISA to the plan, whereas merger continues the application of ERISA. Second, the Supreme Court recognized that the PBGC’s decision not to recognize merger as a method of termination was reasonable in light of the fact that termination is the only circumstance in which an employer may receive a reversion of surplus funds. Third, ERISA is structured so that merger and termination are addressed in separate sections of the statute. Cf. ERISA §§ 208, 4231, & 4232 (describing merger) and ERISA § 4041(b)(3)(A) (describing termination).

The Supreme Court also noted that ERISA’s general merger provision, § 208, explicitly contemplates a distinction between merger and termination. Under § 208, merger is prohibited unless each participant would “if the plan then terminated” receive a benefit immediately after the merger at least equal to that he would have received immediately before the merger “if the plan had then terminated.”

Finally, the Supreme Court addressed the different notice and other procedural requirements that apply to plan termination and plan mergers. PACE argued that, when an employer uses merger as a method of plan termination, the employer is obligated to follow both sets of procedures. Justice Scalia dismissed PACE’s contention, declaring that “[t]he confusion invited by PACE’s proposed framework is alone enough to condemn it.”

The unanimous Supreme Court ruling comports with longstanding practice and has been widely hailed as correct. As a result of the decision, employers who have diligently funded their pension plans are less likely to become, in the words of Justice Scalia, “bait” for unions seeking to claim additional assets for under-funded multiemployer plans.

08-07-2007

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Cozen O' Connor

Cozen O’Connor Ranks High on 2007 AmLaw Midlevel Associate Survey
In the recently released 2007 American Lawyer Media Midlevel Associate Survey, Cozen O’Connor has been ranked No. 32 nationally and No. 5 in Philadelphia for third-, fourth- and fifth-year associate job satisfaction. Among AmLaw 200 firms, Cozen O’Connor ranked no. 12.

“This accomplishment is the result of the hard work and efforts of everyone at the firm to create a supportive and positive environment,” said Patrick J. O’Connor, Vice Chairman of Cozen O’Connor. “We are truly thrilled that we made the list, especially because our employees’ commentaries were the determining factors in our successful placement.”

This year's survey report is based on responses from 7172 midlevel associates at 189 participating firms (164 of which returned the minimum of 10 responses needed to be included in the national rankings), representing a 44 percent response rate. All of these responses were used to calculate the overall averages. Firms are scored on the average of 11 survey questions that summarize the firm's qualities, including the interest and satisfaction levels of work; benefits and compensation; relations between associates and partners; training and guidance; openness about finances and strategies; billable hours policy; and the likelihood of the associate being at the firm in two years.

08-07-2007

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Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Greenberg Traurig Attorney Joseph Z. Fleming to Chair Course on Airline and Railroad Labor and Employment Law
Joseph Z. Fleming, a shareholder with the international law firm Greenberg Traurig, will chair the annual American Law Institute-American Bar Association’s Airline and Railroad Labor and Employment Law course set for October 11-13, 2007 in Washington, D.C.

The Airline and Railroad Labor and Employment Law program is comprised of more than 18 hours of instruction, and will examine labor relations in the airline and railroad industries, where the governing law is the Railway Labor Act (RLA) and the responsible government agency is the National Mediation Board (NMB). Fleming was also recently appointed to serve on the NMB’s Liaison Group of the ABA Railway Labor Act Committee. The Liaison Group works with the NMB and its Board members. The NMB was established in 1934 to administer the Railway Labor Act, governing labor-management relations in the railroad and airline industries.

In addition to exploring labor-management relations, the course looks at the complex relationships among individual employees, their unions and employees. Special interest will also be paid to emerging issues affecting employment in these industries, including how security concerns in the post-9/11 world affect these workplaces, the process and outcomes of reorganizations under Bankruptcy Court supervision, the extraterritorial application of the U.S. employment and safety laws, and the foreign interests in U.S. carriers and deregulation.

Fleming is an experienced litigator and labor and employment lawyer who represents a diverse group of clients in matters related to labor and employment, workplace safety, hazardous-waste regulatory and insurance, and complex international litigation involving the Railway Labor Act, National Labor Relations Act, ERISA and RICO. In addition, he has worked in the entertainment, arts and sports law areas. Fleming received his LL.M. from the New York University School of Law, his LL.B. from the University of Virginia School of Law and his B.A. from the University of Florida.

08-07-2007

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Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Seyfarth Shaw’s New York Office Moves to New Location
Seyfarth Shaw LLP, one of America’s leading full service law firms, announced the successful move of its New York office, consisting of approximately 185 employees, including both attorneys and support staff, to its new location, the New York Times Building, at 620 Eighth Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets. The office was previously located in the Radio City Music Hall at Rockefeller Center at 1270 Avenue of the Americas.

“Our New York office has more than doubled in size in the past two years, and our new home accommodates our rapid expansion with state-of-the-art technology and conferencing capabilities,” said Lorie E. Almon, co-managing partner of the New York office.

Seyfarth Shaw first opened its New York office in 1979 with seven attorneys. The firm moved over 80 attorneys into its new office space on Monday, and will accommodate over 140 lawyers in the new space. In May 2006, Seyfarth Shaw was the first tenant to sign a lease at the Renzo Piano-designed 52-story skyscraper. The firm now occupies 100,000 square feet on floors 31, 32 and 33 of the building located near the heart of bustling Times Square.

“When the firm signed its 17-year lease for our space at the New York Times Building, it was a testament on behalf of the entire firm to the importance of the continued growth and strength of our New York office to fully serve our growing client base both regionally and nationally,” added John P. Napoli, co-managing partner of the firm’s New York office.

The design of the new office space reflects the firm’s collaborative culture as part of its commitment to provide excellent client service. Each of the three floors features an open floor plan that brings in light to enhance the feeling of spaciousness in the overall layout. The architecture of the building itself is the first in the United States to incorporate a ceramic sunscreen, which creates a curtain wall that reflects and filters in light that changes color throughout the day. The space includes numerous internal and external teaming areas, including wireless, interactive conference and board rooms for client meetings.

08-07-2007

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25383 matches |  1975-1981 displayed

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