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Collier, Shannon & Scott, P.L.L.C.

Kelley Drye Successfully Represented Firm Client, White and Weiss Family Trusts
Kelley Drye successfully represented the White and Weiss Family Trusts in litigation over commercial property owned by the Trusts. The Trusts' tenant, Walsam EMP ("Walsam") operated a shopping mall on the property. Walsam's below-market lease (the rent was $100,000.00 per year) was soon to expire, and Walsam sought to avoid arbitration concerning the rent for its renewal term by filing a declaratory judgment court in state court and, eventually, by filing for bankruptcy. Kelley Drye obtained an order from the bankruptcy court compelling Walsam to arbitrate and obtained an award from the arbitration panel setting the rent for the renewal term at a market rate: $1,350,000 per year with step ups every seven years. The total award over the renewal term is in excess of $30 million.

Walsam sought to vacate the arbitration award before the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, but the Bankruptcy Court did not rule on the motion. Kelley Drye obtained an order from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ordering the Bankruptcy Court to decide the motion to vacate in a timely fashion. After the Bankruptcy Court granted the motion to vacate, Kelley Drye appealed the decision.

In 2006, Kelley Drye obtained an order from the Southern District of New York reversing the Bankruptcy Court's decision to vacate the arbitration award and confirming the arbitration award. Kelley Drye also, on Walsam's appeal to the Second Circuit, attained a summary affirmance of the District Court's confirmation of the arbitration award.

In addition, Kelley Drye represented the Trusts in litigation filed by Walsam's leasehold mortgagee, General Electric Capital Corporation ("GECC"). GECC filed suit in New York Supreme Court claiming that the Trusts had made independent representations about the nature of the Lease between the Trusts and Walsam to GECC, which served the basis of GECC's loans to Walsam. In 2006, Kelley Drye successfully moved to dismiss all of GECC's claims against the Trusts.

As a result of Kelley Drye's representation, the Trusts were able to enter into an agreement under which Walsam and GECC surrendered their rights to the property to the Trusts. The Trusts are now managing the shopping center operating on the property directly, resulting in a further significant financial gain to the Trusts.

In sum, Kelley Drye started work on this matter in November 2002. The case proceeded in the State Supreme Court, United States Bankruptcy Court, a long and involved valuation arbitration before the American Arbitration Association, the Bankruptcy Court again, the United States District Court, the Bankruptcy Court yet again, the District Court again, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and State Supreme Court. When Kelley Drye started, the two trusts were sharing $100,000 per year and their only asset - the land - was heavily encumbered with a long term lease. The property is no longer encumbered with the long term lease and the two trusts will now share $2 Million per year, which amount will grow quickly. The long fight that Walsam and GECC, the leasehold mortgagee, put up for this property shows how valuable this property is and what a boon it is for the trusts to have been able to terminate the lease.

07-05-2007

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Clark Hill PLC

Delbert Chenault Joins Clark Hill PLC as Director of Governmental Affairs
Delbert (Del) Chenault has joined the Lansing office of Clark Hill PLC as Director of Governmental Affairs in the firm’s Government Practice Group. Chenault brings more than 15 years of experience in legislative, political and public affairs to the firm, and has worked at the highest levels of local, state, and national government.

For the past five years, Chenault has been engaged as a multi-client lobbyist working on behalf of clients in the automotive, banking, pharmaceutical, IT and gaming industries on issues such as appropriations, taxation and regulation.

Prior to that position, Chenault worked in several different capacities on Governor John Engler’s staff, including Deputy Director for Public Affairs, Executive Appointments Director, and Special Assistant to the Governor. He has also held various staff positions with Michigan Supreme Court justices, the Michigan State Senate, the Michigan State House and the United States President.

Chenault has vast political experience including managing campaigns, building PACs and grassroots coalitions. This includes creation and operation of a large state and federal PAC.

“We are very pleased to bring someone of Del’s caliber into the firm’s government practice group. We are very confident that Del’s deep range of experience and knowledge in the public sector will be a strong asset to our firm,” said John Hern, Clark Hill CEO.

Chenault is a graduate of Michigan State University with a B.A. in political science and economics.

He is a resident of East Lansing where he lives with his wife, Jennifer, and 2 children, Julia and Nicholas.

07-05-2007

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Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Former Solicitor General Kevin C. Newsom Joins Bradley Arant Rose & White LLP
Bradley Arant Rose & White LLP announced today that Kevin C. Newsom has joined the firm as a partner and as co-chair of the Appellate Practice Group. Before joining Bradley Arant, Mr. Newsom served for three and a half years as the State of Alabama’s Solicitor General. Mr. Newsom will reside in the firm’s Birmingham office.

As Alabama’s Solicitor General, Mr. Newsom directed the State’s appellate litigation in the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals, and the Alabama Supreme Court. He has personally argued three cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, has filed amicus curiae briefs in more than 20 others, and has authored numerous petitions for certiorari and briefs in opposition to certiorari. Mr. Newsom’s briefs in Gonzales v. Raich and Hill v. McDonough won “Best Brief” awards from the National Association of Attorneys General in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Outside the U.S. Supreme Court, Mr. Newsom has argued 19 cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Seventh, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits, as well as in the Alabama Supreme Court and the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. Before accepting the appointment as Alabama’s Solicitor General, Mr. Newsom was a member of the appellate litigation practice group at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Newsom, who served as a law clerk to Justice David H. Souter of the U.S. Supreme Court (2000-2001) and, before that, to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1997-98), joins three other former Supreme Court clerks already practicing at Bradley Arant. In commenting on the addition of Mr. Newsom, Mike McKibben, chair of the firm’s litigation group, remarked, “Kevin’s background and experience are top flight and a perfect fit for our practice. Few law firms in the country - let alone in this region - have this many former U.S. Supreme Court clerks. The lawyers on our appellate team have handled appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court, in every federal appellate court, and in state courts throughout the country. We think the sky is the limit for this growing practice.”

About Kevin C. Newsom
Mr. Newsom received a B.A. from Samford University; he graduated summa cum laude, first in his class, and with a 4.00 GPA. Mr. Newsom received his J.D. from Harvard Law School; he graduated magna cum laude and was an Articles Editor of the Harvard Law Review.

In January 2007, The American Lawyer magazine named Mr. Newsom one of its “Fab Fifty” – the top 50 litigators in the country under the age of 45. Mr. Newsom, who at 34 was the third-youngest attorney in the listing, was one of only seven appellate lawyers so honored. Mr. Newsom is a member of the American Law Institute and has commented on legal issues for Fox News Channel, C-SPAN, National Public Radio, Time Magazine, USA Today, Forbes Magazine, and ABA Journal.

07-05-2007

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Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, LLP

Simpson Thacher Represents Blackstone in Buyout of Hilton Hotels - Largest Hotel Acquisition
The Firm is representing The Blackstone Group in its $26 billion acquisition of Hilton Hotels Corporation (NYSE: HLT). Hilton owns, manages or franchises more than 2,800 hotels, with 480,000 rooms in 76 countries and countries. Its brands include Hilton, Conrad, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations, Homewood Suites by Hilton, and The Waldorf-Astoria Collection.

This transaction represents the largest acquisition of any hotel company in history. With this deal, Simpson Thacher has represented Blackstone in 12 acquisitions of public real estate companies during the past 3 years having an aggregate value of over $100 billion, including the $39 billion buyout of Equity Office Properties (the largest completed LBO ever, which closed earlier this year).

The Simpson Thacher team working on the transaction includes: Brian Stadler, Chris May, Ellen Rosenberg, Angela Park (M&A); Gregory Ressa, Sas Mehrara, Farhad Karim, Erik Quarfordt, Alison Ando, Caylin Navo, Ari Stavsky, Wendy Yu, Trestney Hung, Helen Kim, Bryan Gordon, Nathan Hagerman, Alison Fagen, Bryan Herzbach, Heesun Kang and Elizabeth Ferrell (Real Estate); John Lobrano and Wonsun Jung (Capital Markets); Ken Ziman (Credit); Gary Mandel, Noah Beck and Jason Vollbracht (Tax); Greg Grogan, Wonda Joseph and Robert Lakind (Employee Benefits); Joe Tringali, David Vann, Michael Naughton, Jonathan Parker, Michael Ybarra and Jennifer Rie (Antitrust); Fagie Hartman and Andrew Janis (Labor); Lori Lesser, Mindy Lok and Agnes Dunogue (Intellectual Property); Adeeb Fadil and Timothy Mulvihill (Environmental); and Davis Coen, Frank Giovinazzo and Alistair Meadows (Summer Associates).

07-05-2007

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Piper Rudnick, L.L.P.

DLA Piper advises The Starion Group on acquisition OF Wankdorf-Center Bern
DLA Piper has advised The Starion Group on the purchase of the Wankdorf-Center, the shopping centre integrated in the "Stade de Suisse" football stadium, in Berne, Switzerland.

The Wankdorf Shopping Centre is located in the basement of the Wankdorf football stadium, now called "Stade de Suisse," which is one of the venues for the upcoming Euro 2008. It has a megastore and 35 shops, including restaurants, a night club, office and conference facilities, a 3,000m² health club and a car park with approximately 800 spaces. A building of over 6,000m², currently used by two business schools and a private company, is also part of the complex, bringing the total rental area purchased by The Starion Group to over 63,000m².

The transaction was structured as an increase of the share capital of the German limited partnership holding the property. The Starion Group acquired 97% of the partnership capital through a Luxembourg-based entity. The remaining 3% of the partnership have been retained by Cologne-based Ebertz & Partner Group.

Martin Schulte, DLA Piper Corporate partner, commented: "We are pleased we were able to assist The Starion Group on yet another major transaction, after the acquisition of major commercial properties in the UK and Germany. The acquisition of the Wankdorf-Center was a fairly complex deal involving three jurisdictions and very different tax regimes. We were able as a team of lawyers, from the corporate, finance, tax and property groups based in Germany, England, Switzerland and Luxembourg, from DLA Piper and its local partners Schellenberg Wittmer and Bonn Schmitt Steichen, to provide a seamless service and a commercial approach across every jurisdiction and practice area."

The DLA Piper team advising The Starion Group was led by Corporate partner Dr Martin Schulte. It also comprised partner Martin Heinsius (Tax - Frankfurt) and associates Cornelius Frie (Corporate - Cologne) and Mario Lindner (Finance - Cologne). The Swiss aspects of the transaction were covered by Schellenberg Wittmer, in particular by tax specialist Prof Dr Madeleine Simonek. The Starion Group was advised on Luxembourg law by Laurent Lazard from Bonn Schmitt Steichen.

In London, DLA Piper Finance partner, Stephen O'Brien and associate James Kilgour advised on the financing of the transaction by the London branch of Deutsche Bank AG.

07-05-2007

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Morrison & Foerster, LLP

Morrison & Foerster Strengthens its China Legal Services with the Addition of a Seven Attorney Team to its Tokyo Office
Morrison & Foerster announced today that Shingo Hisata has joined Ito & Mitomi, Morrison & Foerster’s Registered Associated Office, as a partner in the Business Department, together with a team of six China- registered attorneys. Mr. Hisata and this team focus on China and other cross-border transactions, specifically in the areas of joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and licensing.The addition of Mr. Hisata and the team further expands Morrison & Foerster’s strong China legal services capability in Tokyo and the Asia region.

Morrison & Foerster is one of the leading global law firms in the region, with over 90 attorneys in Tokyo, and close to 150 in the region as a whole. Mr. Hisata’s team joins the strong Tokyo office with Morrison’s network of three offices in China: in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Fuyuo Mitomi, the head of Ito & Mitomi, said “The addition of Mr. Hisata and his team significantly boosts our China legal services. His established background with cross-border transactions, particularly with regard to China, will play a significant role in further developing our practice in Tokyo and the region.”

Ken Siegel, Managing Partner of the firm’s Tokyo office, said “Mr. Hisata is one of the most experienced China legal specialists in Tokyo today. With the addition of Mr. Hisata, we are the only major firm in Japan with both focused China-law specialists in Tokyo and a network of substantial offices in China’s key financial centers with US and UK law expertise. This will allow us to extend the range of services we offer to Japanese companies as they continue to expand their critical investments in China.”

Mr. Hisata received his LL.B. from the University of Tokyo in 1977, graduated from the Legal Training and Research Institute of Japan in 1986, and received his LL.M. from University of Illinois College of Law in 1991. Mr. Hisata is a Bengoshi admitted to practice in Japan, a qualified lawyer in New York, and a member of the Dai-ichi Tokyo Bar Association.

Prior to joining Ito & Mitomi, Registered Associated Offices of Morrison & Foerster, Mr. Hisata was the Chief Representative of Asahi Law Offices in the firm’s Beijing (2000-2005) and Shanghai offices (2005-2007). Mr. Hisata is currently a guest lecturer at Chuo Law School.

The team of six China-registered attorneys consist of Alisha, Gehui Gao (Foreign Special Members: Gaikokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi), Mang Deng, Yan Cong,Daokui Weng and Xiaofan Chen.

Separately, the legal professionals at Asahi Law Offices in Shanghai at the time of Mr. Hisata’s move also joined Morrison & Foerster’s Shanghai operation.

07-05-2007

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Leonard, Street and Deinard

Recruiting Manager Kari Jensen Thomas Elected President of Minnesota Women Lawyers
Kari Jensen Thomas, Leonard, Street and Deinard’s Recruiting Manager, has been elected president of Minnesota Women Lawyers (MWL). She assumed the gavel at the organization’s June 21 annual meeting.

Kari will serve a two-year term as MWL president. In this role, she will lead the 1,200-member volunteer organization, with special emphasis on:
-connecting the four generations of women attorneys in the legal workplace; -increasing the pipeline of women of color in the profession; and
-addressing the lack of female attorneys in leadership roles in Minnesota.

“Kari brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her role as president, having served in many MWL leadership positions over the past years,” said Debra Pexa, MWL’s executive director. “Her dedication and enthusiasm for MWL is inspiring. We look forward to a fabulous year under Kari’s leadership."

07-05-2007

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