Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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White & Case, LLP

WTO Still Viable Despite Suspension of Doha Trade Talks Says Noted White & Case Trade ounselor
While World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy's decision to suspend the WTO's Doha Development Round yesterday clearly was a deep blow for international trade development, some movement may still take place, says a noted trade advisor with White & Case International Trade in Geneva.

""The collapse of the Doha Round trade talks is extremely bad news. But I'm not sure you can say that the Round is dead; there will no doubt be efforts to salvage and implement some of the development commitments that countries have already agreed to, and to preserve the rest until better times,"" said David Hartridge, former director of the WTO's Trade in Services Division, and currently a senior WTO counselor with White & Case International Trade in Geneva.

On July 24, 2006, World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy announced that he was suspending the WTO's Doha Development Round after fourteen-hour negotiations between six of the WTO's major players collapsed without an agreement on modalities for agricultural and non-agricultural market access (NAMA). Although a suspension of several months at minimum is likely, WTO Members have not abandoned Doha entirely and have indicated a willingness to resume negotiations ""in the future."" Lamy has not announced when the round might resume, however, talks scheduled for July 28 and 29 were cancelled, and some Members have indicated that resumption could take ""months to years.""

Trade negotiators from the Group of Six (G6) – Australia, Brazil, the European Union, India, Japan and the United States – met in Geneva on July 23 in an attempt to reach a last-minute breakthrough in the deadlocked Doha Round negotiations. However, the talks collapsed after United States Trade Representative (USTR) Susan Schwab refused to offer further cuts to the US offer of a $22 billion ceiling on domestic supports for agriculture. Schwab had indicated that the United States would consider reducing its October 2005 offer in return for more ambitious market access offers from other WTO Members. During the July 23 negotiations, the EU reportedly offered to increase its market access offer to a 51 percent average tariff cut up from an earlier proposal of 41 percent. However, because the United States demanded a figure higher than the 54 percent offer by the Group of 20 (G20), Schwab rejected the EU proposal and refused to alter the US position on domestic supports.

""Serious negotiations likely won't start again until there is a renewal of US Trade Promotion Authority, which probably won't occur before 2009,"" added Hartridge. ""However, the WTO, though it will be damaged, will not disappear. Its function as the world trade court will remain and is likely to become more important than ever since countries which have not been able to secure through negotiation the disciplines they sought, particularly on agricultural subsidies, are likely to pursue them now through litigation, insisting on the implementation of the commitments made in the Uruguay round.""

White & Case's International Trade practice helps clients manage the risks and maximize the opportunities associated with the increasing regulation of international trade in goods and services. Centered in Washington, DC but extending throughout the globe, the Firm boasts one of the world's largest and most active practices in trade remedies, such as antidumping, countervailing duty and safeguards measures. White & Case trade lawyers also have broad experience helping companies facing national and multinational export control restrictions, particularly in high-tech, aerospace and defense areas, as well as assisting companies in defending their intellectual property rights in Section in 337 import investigations. In Geneva, White & Case International Trade provides WTO advisory and dispute resolution services for financial institutions, corporations and sovereign states. The Firm advises clients on the progress and implications of the new round of negotiations launched at Doha; implementation and compliance with the WTO agreements; WTO accession negotiations; WTO dispute settlement proceedings; and government relations.

07-25-2006

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Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP

8 Weil Gotshal Silicon Valley Attorneys Named Super Lawyers
Weil Gotshal’s prominent showing on the 2006 Super Lawyers list continued with eight attorneys from the firm’s Silicon Valley office named in the 2006 Northern California Super Lawyers List. In addition, Matt Powers was named to the Super Lawyers’ Top 100 List.

The 2006 Northern California Super Lawyers list was compiled based on a survey conducted on approximately 47,000 attorneys located in the region. Attorneys appearing on the list represent the top 5% of attorneys in Northern California in more than 60 practice areas. The Northern California Super Lawyers list will be published in the August issue of San Francisco Magazine. The list of Weil Gotshal's Silicon Valley attorneys named to the 2006 list of Northern California Super Lawyers can be found below:

Adas, Craig W.
Bobrow, Jared B.
Chaikovsky, Yar R.
Cox, Christopher J.
Kipnis, Jason D.
Powers, Matthew D.
Reines, Edward R.
Winters, Vernon M.

07-25-2006

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Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease LLP

VORYS ANNOUNCES NEW SUMMER ASSOCIATE IN COLUMBUS
The law firm of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP is pleased to announce that Deon D. Falcón has joined the Columbus office as a summer associate.

Mr. Falcón recently completed his second year at the University of Michigan Law School. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Harvard College where he graduated with honors. Mr. Falcón has been an associate at Time, Inc. in New York, as well as a project analyst in real estate development for The Community Builders in Boston. He is proficient in Spanish and has traveled extensively throughout Europe and Australia. Mr. Falcón was also a summer associate at Vorys in the summer of 2005.

Celebrating 97 years in 2006, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP has offices in Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Akron, Ohio, as well as in Washington, D.C., and Alexandria, Va. With nearly 400 attorneys, Vorys is one of the largest law firms in the United States. For more information about the firm, visit www.vssp.com.

07-25-2006

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Venable Baetjer & Howard

Venable’s Bruce Parker Becomes President of International Association of Defense Counsel for 2006-07
Venable LLP litigation partner Bruce Parker has been named president of The International Association of Defense Counsel, beginning a year-long tenure as head of the oldest and most prestigious organization for corporate litigators and outside defense counsel.

The IADC is comprised of senior defense attorneys representing many of the world's largest corporations, including most of the leading international insurance companies. Founded in 1920, the group has some 2,400 members in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Mexico and Europe. IADC attorneys, selected by invitation by their peers, come from a wide range of law firms and corporate law departments contending with class actions, product liability suits, mass torts, enforcement actions and prosecutions, and other complex litigation, criminal as well as civil.

Mr. Parker became IADC president-elect in 2005; as incoming president for the next year, he succeeds Greg M. Lederer. Mr. Parker has previously served as the director of IADC's popular Trial Academy, and has been a three-year member of IADC's Board of Directors. In stepping up to the presidency, Mr. Parker brings an ambitious set of goals for the coming year, focusing on professional and practice development, including greater training of in-house lawyers on key defense strategies.

Mr. Parker's agenda centers around a few core concepts: improving IADC's extensive training opportunities for defense counsel; expanding key practice groups; and making a determined effort to reach out to target communities.

One of IADC's signature programs is its Trial Academy, a working course on courtroom skills conducted at Stanford University. This intensive trial advocacy course has become known as a ""boot camp for trial lawyers"" by those who attend. Now in its 34th season, this year's session will be held from July 29 to August 4. Mr. Parker plans to build on the success of the Trial Academy by offering two-day satellite programs on trial advocacy in different cities. He also plans to institute workshops to develop technical, management and advocacy skills for outside counsel members and corporate members.

Mr. Parker hopes to broaden practice development in areas of increasing importance in corporate defense, including white-collar crime, intellectual property litigation, life, health and disability insurance disputes, and health care law. On other fronts, he wants to intensify IADC's diversity efforts within the corporate defense community; convene up to 20 regional meetings around the country; and increase the IADC's amicus brief efforts.

""There's only so much you can accomplish in a single year, especially in a global organization whose members lead such packed professional lives,"" Mr. Parker said. ""However, my hope is that these initiatives can advance our collective mission, which is to enhance professional excellence and best practices among corporate defense counsel, both inside and outside the corporation. We're also looking ahead to the next year as the 35th anniversary of our Trial Academy, which is the pre-eminent live refresher course on trial techniques. I'm hoping to further raise the IADC profile as we approach this milestone.""

Karl A. Racine, Venable's managing partner and himself a longtime defense lawyer who has handled large-scale class actions, is a strong supporter of Mr. Parker's vision: ""Bruce has been at the front lines of corporate defense issues and his leadership role at the IADC is a clear reflection of his dedication to the practice and the profession,"" Mr. Racine said.

""We are honored that one of our partners has stepped up to help guide the world's leading professional association of defense counsel for the coming year. I am confident that Bruce's agenda for the IADC will have a tremendous impact on the association's work internationally,"" Mr. Racine added.

Mr. Parker's own practice focuses on product liability and toxic tort litigation, with an emphasis on the pharmaceutical and health care industries, including defense of medical device liability claims.

Mr. Parker has been a member of the national trial teams in both the breast implant and latex glove litigations, and he has tried numerous cases to verdict in both litigations. He serves as national counsel in litigation involving diesel exhaust claims.

He has published frequently in a number of trial and defense journals, including the IADC's Defense Counsel Journal and has given presentations on a variety of complex issues affecting corporate defense work, such as epidemiology, immunology and statistics, as well as trial strategy and tactics.

Mr. Parker graduated first in his class from the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law in 1978 and received his B.A., with honors, from Johns Hopkins University in 1975. He is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia bars.

07-25-2006

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Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Skadden Represents Credit Suisse as Financial Advisor to Special Committee of Board of Directors of HCA in Its Leveraged Buyout
Representation of Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC as financial advisor to the special committee of the board of directors of HCA Inc., the largest hospital chain in the U.S., in its $33 billion leveraged buyout, management buyout and going private transaction by private equity firms Bain Capital, LLC, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity and Thomas F. Frist Jr. (co-founder of HCA Inc.). This is the largest leveraged buyout in history.

07-25-2006

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Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, LLP

Simpson Thacher Top Issuer Advisor for US IPOs
Thomson Financial has just released its second quarter capital markets survey. The firm was ranked as the top issuer advisor on US IPOs, working on four issues worth a combined $5.2 billion. Other rankings highlights include:

1. Global Equity Issuance by US Issuers, Issuer Legal Advisor
1. US Common Stock, Issuer Legal Advisor
1. Global IPOs by US Issuers, Issuer Legal Advisor
2. US Equity and Equity Related, Issuer Legal Advisor
2. US Straight Debt, Manager Legal Advisor
2. US High Yield Corporate Debt, Issuer Legal Advisor

07-25-2006

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Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold LLP

New York Products Liability Partner Receives Top Post on DRI Food Law Group
Sedgwick New York partner Scott L. Haworth, a products liability and complex litigation attorney, has been appointed co-chair of the Defense Research Institute (DRI) Product Liability Committee’s Food Law Specialized Litigation Group. This appointment expands Haworth’s longtime active role in DRI’s Product Liability Committee. Haworth and his co-chair, in-house counsel for a prominent consumer packaged goods manufacturer, will guide the group’s activities and its contributions to DRI’s educational programs. The food law group is one of 17 DRI Specialized Litigation Groups, each of which is headed by experts in their respective fields.

07-25-2006

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