Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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25383 matches |  1989-1995 displayed

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Jenner & Block LLP

American Lawyer Magazine Recognizes Verrilli’s Pro Bono Work Before Supreme Court
The American Lawyer magazine recently profiled Jenner & Block Partner Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., and identified him as among the “top tier of High Court advocates” and as an attorney who successfully balances corporate and pro bono cases before the Court.

The article noted that Mr. Verrilli’s pro bono cases before the Court have focused primarily on issues related to effective assistance of counsel to criminal defendants, especially those facing the death penalty.

According to the article, Mr. Verrilli became interested in the area while clerking for Justice William Brennan in 1984, during a time of increased executions and death row appeals that as a clerk, Mr. Verrilli routinely reviewed.

“I was struck by how poor the representation is for these individuals,” Mr. Verrilli told American Lawyer. “I thought this is something I could do something about in my practice.”

Mr. Verrilli discussed in the article his representation of one-time Maryland Death Row inmate Kevin Wiggins and the Court’s landmark ruling in Wiggins v. Smith, which reaffirmed the importance of the right to counsel in capital cases and helped to establish meaningful standards for defense counsel’s performance. Mr. Wiggins was convicted of a 1988 murder and sentenced to death by a Baltimore County jury, but Mr. Verrilli took his case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to win him a new sentencing hearing. In 2003, the Court ruled that Mr. Wiggins had received ineffective assistance of counsel at his original trial when his attorney at the time did not reveal powerful mitigating evidence of childhood abuse that may have swayed a jury against sentencing Mr. Wiggins to death.

Partner David W. DeBruin, Co-Chair of the Firm’s Pro Bono Committee, told the magazine that Mr. Verrilli “had a huge commitment to this work from the day he started practicing here. He has a true passion for it.”

Earlier this year, the article noted, Mr. Verrilli argued before the Court in Schriro v. Landrigan, which addressed issues concerning the exclusion of mitigating evidence similar to those addressed in Wiggins. In this case, Mr. Verrilli urged the Court to help delineate those instances in which it is appropriate to hold an evidentiary hearing for a habeas petitioner whose original attorney failed to present important mitigating evidence during the sentencing phase of his death penalty trial. Among other things, Mr. Verrilli asserted that Jeffrey Landrigan, convicted of murder in 1990 and sentenced to death by an Arizona State Court, should be granted an evidentiary hearing to determine if he was deprived of his 6th Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel at trial. The case came on appeal from the Ninth Circuit, which held en banc that Mr. Landrigan had demonstrated “proper basis” for an evidentiary hearing based on the assertion that he made a “colorable” claim that he did not receive effective assistance of counsel in his sentencing.

Although the Court ruled 5-4 against Mr. Verrilli’s client in the Schriro case, Mr. Verrilli noted in the article that he remains focused on the central issue of ensuring that the accused receive effective legal assistance at trial. “The entire legitimacy of the system depends on the lawyer discharging his duty,” he concluded.

08-07-2007

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Jenner & Block LLP

Sullivan Appointed to ABA Standing Committee on Professional Discipline
Jenner & Block Partner Barry Sullivan was recently appointed by American Bar Association President-Elect William H. Neukom as a member of the ABA's Standing Committee on Professional Discipline.

The committee assists the judiciary and the bar in the development, coordination, and strengthening of disciplinary enforcement throughout the United States with an emphasis on professional regulation. The committee's Judicial Education Program also serves to enhance the Association's role in achieving the highest standards of professionalism and ethics. Through a program of discipline system consultations, the committee aims to support and improve the structure, operation, practice and procedures of the disciplinary system.

The committee's efforts to serve the public and the profession in the area of professional regulation also include securing the cooperation of courts in forwarding orders imposing public regulatory action to the National Lawyer Regulatory Data Bank and working with West Publishing to create a private regulatory file and Martindale-Hubbell to create a universal lawyer identification numbering system. It also sponsors publication of the Survey on Lawyer Disciplinary Systems, Directory of Lawyer Disciplinary Agencies, and the ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions.

Mr. Sullivan, Co-Chair of the Firm’s Appellate and Supreme Court Practice and member of the Firm’s Litigation Department and its Labor and Employment and Bankruptcy, Workout and Corporate Reorganization Practices, has been an active member of the ABA, having served as chair of the ABA coordinating committee on AIDS, as a member of the ABA standing committee on amicus curiae briefs and as a member of the council of the section of individual rights and responsibilities. He also currently serves as a member of the council of the section on legal education and as a member of the section's Accreditation Policy Task Force. He also has been chair of the section's committee on professionalism and a member of the Law School Accreditation Standards Review Committee.

08-07-2007

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Wiley, Rein & Fielding, L.L.P.

Inaugural NABPAC Scholarship to be Named for Jan Baran
"The National Association of Business Political Action Committees (NABPAC)—the sole national organization dedicated to promoting, defending and professionalizing PACs and political action professionals—has announced the establishment of “The Jan Baran Scholarship for PAC Studies,” a $3,000 scholarship to be awarded to a student in The George Washington University's PAC certificate program. Jan Baran, chair of Wiley Rein's Election Law & Government Ethics Practice, has served as counsel to the NABPAC Legal Hotline for more than 20 years. In announcing the naming of the scholarship, NABPAC commended Baran for “assisting its members and its Board of Directors and Executive Committee understand and effectively respond to the ever-changing rules governing compliance with the nation’s myriad campaign finance laws, as well as the changing needs of the business PAC community.”

Founded in 1977, NABPAC (which is not a PAC and does not contribute to candidates) has sought to advance the interests of its membership and protect the rights of millions of Americans who participate in democracy though voluntary contributions to a PAC. The George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management PAC certificate program is designed to give professional PAC managers the fundamental skills to effectively run their organization's political action committee. It is the nation’s only graduate- level program in PAC management."

08-07-2007

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Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP

International Centre For Financial And Economic Development On The Sale Of A 55% Ownership Stake To Wolters Kluwer N.V.
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is advising the International Centre for Financial and Economic Development (ICFED), a leading Moscow-based professional publisher specializing in information services for human resources, tax and accounting professionals, and its owners on the sale of a 55% ownership stake in ICFED to Wolters Kluwer N.V., a leading global information services and publishing company. Completion of the deal is subject to approval by anti-trust authorities and other customary closing conditions.

ICFED (known in the Russian language as MCFR) holds leading positions in journals, loose-leafs, books, and education and training for human resources, tax, accounting, legal, and public administration professionals throughout Russia. Over the past two years, ICFED has expanded into Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan - key members of the Commonwealth of Independent States - launching customized versions of their products and training resources for HR and tax professionals. Founded in 1991, ICFED currently has approximately 800 employees.

The Debevoise team is led out of Debevoise’s Moscow office by corporate international counsel Raymond Tillett with Evgeny Smirnov, tax associate and Alexey Yadykin, corporate associate. In Frankfurt, Friedrich Hey, tax partner and Henri Babin, corporate associate are also working on the deal.

08-07-2007

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Davies, Ward, Phillips & Vineberg, LLP

Flash: Supreme Court limits copyright law, which does not prevent parallel importation and distribution of genuine goods
The Supreme Court of Canada has recently ruled in Euro-Excellence Inc. v. Kraft Canada Inc. (“Kraft”) that owners of various brand names and logos may not be able to rely on the law of copyright to prevent the unauthorized parallel importation and distribution into Canada of genuine goods bearing those brand names and logos – so called "grey-market" goods.

In Kraft, Kraft Canada Inc. (“Kraft Canada”), the exclusive Canadian importer and distributor of Côte d'Or and Toblerone confectionery products, claimed that the importation and distribution of genuine Côte d'Or and Toblerone confectionery products into Canada by Euro-Excellence Inc. (“Euro-Excellence”) constituted a breach of copyright. It was not contested that Kraft Canada was the owner of the relevant trademarks. However, Kraft Canada did not rely on its trademark rights in this dispute.

The European manufacturers of the said products registered Canadian copyrights in the logos appearing on the packaging and product wrappers. They then granted Kraft Canada an exclusive license to use the logos in association with the manufacture, distribution or sale in Canada of the confections. By doing so, Kraft Canada sought to prevent Euro Excellence's importation and distribution of the confections by alleging that Euro-Excellence's activities violated section 27(2)(e) of the Canadian Copyright Act.

Section 27(2) of the Copyright Act prevents what are termed “secondary infringements.” Specifically, subsection (e) makes it an infringement of copyright for any person to import into Canada, for the purpose of sale or distribution, a copy of a work that the person either knows (or should have known):

1. infringes copyrights in Canada; or.
2. would infringe copyrights in Canada if the copy of the work had been made in Canada by the person who made it abroad. This latter portion is known as “hypothetical primary infringement.”

Section 27(2) of the Copyright Act thus operates to prevent the importation and commercial handling of unauthorized copies of a copyrighted work which were made outside of Canada by holding the importer secondarily liable for knowingly importing into Canada the infringing copies of a protected copyrighted work.

08-07-2007

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Chadbourne & Parke LLP

Edouard S. Markson Joins Chadbourne & Parke As Tax Partner
The international law firm of Chadbourne & Parke LLP announced today that Edouard S. Markson has joined the Firm as tax partner in the New York office.

“Ted is a great addition to Chadbourne’s highly regarded tax group and the Firm overall,” said Chadbourne Managing Partner Charles O’Neill. “His diverse background in business and the law, in this country and in Europe, will play well with the Firm’s international client base.”

Mr. Markson, 37, most recently served as a Director in the Tax Advisory group at Credit Suisse in New York. In this role, he was tax counsel for the Investment Banking, Alternative Investments and Global Structuring business units. Prior to Credit Suisse, Mr. Markson was a tax associate with Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, structured financial transactions, and general corporate tax planning. He also served a 15-month rotation in Paris. Earlier in his career, he was a portfolio manager and analyst for an investment firm.

“Ted’s experience in investment banking, private funds and global financial markets makes him an outstanding member of our team,” said William Cavanagh, head of Chadbourne’s tax practice.

Mr. Markson holds an A.B. in history from Princeton University and a J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and an editor of the Columbia Law Review. He also received the David M. Berger Memorial Prize for international law.

Chadbourne’s tax practice has played a significant role in transactions the Firm has worked on in over 90 countries. The Firm’s tax lawyers have planned, structured, negotiated and implemented numerous high-profile, tax-sensitive U.S. and cross-border M&A transactions and significant international reorganizations. Chadbourne represents numerous private equity funds and hedge funds and is actively involved in developing new financial products and state-of-the-art international debt and equity financing structures. Chadbourne tax lawyers have created and pioneered innovative, tax-enhanced private equity buyout structures. The tax group’s experience and creativity extends to a broad array of other areas, including asset based financing and securitizations, global private business and family estate planning, international investment funds, securities offerings, project financings, real estate transactions, solar energy and alternative energy structures and transactions.

08-07-2007

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Arent Fox LLP

Arent Fox Launches Health Care Group in LA
Arent Fox LLP is pleased to announce that Lowell C. Brown and Jonathon E. Cohn will join its Los Angeles, CA office as partners on August 7, 2007. The two lawyers, who were previously with the Los Angeles office of Foley & Lardner LLP, are two of the preeminent health care lawyers in California. The firm expects that it will add at least three associates to the health care group as well.

Robert O’Brien, the partner-in-charge of Arent Fox’s LA office, said, “The addition of Lowell and Jon strengthens the firm’s leading national health care and life sciences practices.” He said the incoming group “will serve as the core of a dynamic health care practice in California.”

Brown advises hospitals, health systems, long-term care facilities, medical groups, and other health care provider organizations in business, regulatory, and medico-legal matters; he has significant experience with laws relating to operational issues, including the design and implementation of compliance programs, practitioner credentialing, peer review, disciplinary hearings, Medicare certification, licensing and accreditation issues, and related policies and procedures. He is nationally recognized for his work involving the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), the federal law prohibiting improper emergency patient transfers by hospitals. Brown has extensive experience defending clients against actions by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to terminate Medicare provider agreements. His practice also encompasses operational issues, such as bioethics, medical records, and consent and confidentiality.

Cohn’s practice focuses on litigation and trial work with an emphasis on health care issues, such as long-term care, Medicare and Medicaid, fraud and abuse, and reimbursement disputes. He represents various long-term care providers in many areas, including licensing, certification, civil and criminal enforcement, reimbursement and collections, and other regulatory and administrative proceedings. Cohn also represents health care professionals in licensure and workers' compensation proceedings.

Arent Fox’s LA office has doubled in size to 20 lawyers since it opened on January 1, 2007. The firm expects to see continued growth in the office through strategic hiring to expand its core practice areas in California.

08-07-2007

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25383 matches |  1989-1995 displayed

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