Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Dickinson Wright PLLC

Dickinson Wright Attorney Joseph W. DeLave is the Notre Dame Club of Detroit's Award of the Year Recipient
Dickinson Wright Member Joseph W. DeLave has been named the recipient of the Notre Dame Club of Detroit's Award of the Year.

The award is given annually by local Notre Dame alumni clubs throughout the country in recognition of the recipient's service to the University of Notre Dame and to the community at large. DeLave is the 58th honoree of the Detroit Club. The recipient is determined by a vote of the Club's prior award recipients. The award will be presented at the annual Universal Notre Dame Night dinner of the Notre Dame Club of Detroit, scheduled for June 27 at the Southfield Marriott.

The concept of a universal meeting of all Notre Dame clubs was inaugurated in 1924 by the late John Neeson, a 1903 graduate of the University who was then president of the Alumni Association. The event was intended to call attention, in the spring of each year, to the non-athletic achievements of the University. Today, the function typically involves all local Notre Dame clubs and is held in cities from coast to coast.

DeLave, who is based in Dickinson Wright's Bloomfield Hills office, focuses his practice on commercial and business litigation and construction law. He received both his bachelor's degree and law degree from the University of Notre Dame. DeLave is a member of several legal advisory committees for both state and regional construction groups and frequently speaks and writes on a variety of construction topics. He is a past President of the Notre Dame Club of Detroit, 1997-1998, and served on the Club's Board of Directors from 1992-2003. DeLave returned to the Board in 2006 for an additional two-year term. DeLave also serves on the Board of Directors of Lourdes Nursing Home in Waterford and is an active alumnus of DeLaSalle High School in Warren.

06-14-2007

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Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP

Five Young Conaway Attorneys Certified as Mediators by Superior Court of Delaware
Young Conaway is pleased to announce that James L. Patton, Jr., Lisa B. Goodman, Richard A. DiLiberto, Jr., John T. Dorsey, and Joseph A. Malfitano have been certified by the Superior Court of Delaware to serve as mediators for the Court.

James L. Patton, Jr. is Chairman of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP and a partner in the Bankruptcy and Corporate Restructuring section of the firm. Mr. Patton is nationally recognized particularly for his representation of large troubled companies in workouts and bankruptcies and his involvement in complex asbestos bankruptcies. Mr. Patton can be reached at 302-571-6684 or via e-mail at jpatton@ycst.com.

Lisa B. Goodman is a partner in and serves as chair of Young Conaway’s Commercial Real Estate Banking and Land Use section. Ms. Goodman specializes in Land Use law. Her practices includes the representation of residential and commercial developers, local businesses, national companies, utilities, and municipalities in areas of zoning, site acquisition, sewer and traffic capacity, and code compliance. She can be reached at 302-571-6683 or via e-mail at lgoodman@ycst.com

Richard A. DiLiberto, Jr. is a partner in Young Conaway’s Personal Injury Section. Mr. DiLiberto is recognized as one of Delaware's most consistently effective and practical lawyers, having achieved justice for his clients in the form of recoveries in the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars at trial, mediation, arbitration, and negotiated settlement. He is Immediate-past President of the Delaware Trial Lawyers Association, and former Legislative Committee Chairman. For a decade he was a Delaware lawmaker serving with distinction in the Delaware House of Representatives. Mr. DiLiberto can be reached at 302-571-6657 or via e-mail at rdiliberto@ycst.com.

John T. Dorsey is a partner in the Bankruptcy and Corporate Restructuring Section and Commercial Litigation at Young Conaway. Mr. Dorsey’s practice concentrates on handling complex commercial litigation. Prior to joining the firm, he was the State Director for United States Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Mr. Dorsey is a long time member of the Board of Directors of Delaware Volunteer Legal Services, and has served for several years on the Governor's Magistrate Screening Committee. He can be reached at 302-571-6712 or via e-mail at jdorsey@ycst.com.

Joseph A. Malfitano is an associate in the Firm’s Bankruptcy and Corporate Restructuring section. Mr. Malfitano primarily represents mid to large market troubled companies in workouts and chapter 11 proceedings, with a particular emphasis on chapter 11 cases involving significant asset sales. Mr. Malfitano is also a member of the Bankruptcy Appellate Mediation Panel for the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, the Meditation Panel for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, and the Mediation Panel for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

06-14-2007

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Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz, LLP

WHAFH partner Mary Jane Fait Discusses Price Fixing Class Action Against Railroad Companies
Railroad giants find themselves in a position uncomfortably close to the major airlines, now that CSX Corp., Union Pacific Railroad Co. and three others have been hit with another class action alleging price-fixing for fuel surcharges.

Zinifex Taylor Chemicals Inc. filed a complaint Monday in the northern Illinois district court on behalf of itself and all other shippers affected by the collusion it alleges took place between CSX, Union Pacific, BNSF Railway Co., Norfolk Southern Railway Co. and Kansas City Southern Railway Co.

Closely mirroring the allegations of a similar suit filed last month, Monday's complaint said the five railways have conspired to set similar fuel surcharges since 2003, effectively overcharging customers and preempting the entry of new competitors to the market.

Those surcharges were based on shipping rates and revenue rather than on fuel costs, and the railways have admitted as much, the complaint said amid its accusations of Sherman Act and Clayton Act violations.

"Absent collusion, it is extremely unlikely that defendants would independently price their rail fuel surcharges to arrive at the identical percentage month after month, year after year, for a period of more than three years," according to the complaint.

Union Pacific vehemently denied the allegations.

"We independently and unilaterally develop our fuel surcharge program to recover the cost of diesel fuel. When this became a major cost of our operations, it began to escalate rapidly over the last several years," said company spokesman James Barnes.

"We're confident that we have complied with all laws in formulating a program that is fair, equitable and easy to administer for UP and our customers," he added.

Monday's complaint notes that the railroad industry has long been vulnerable to anticompetitive behavior, especially since, it says, the five haulers named as defendants now control over 90% of the country's rail freight traffic.

Just last month, those five railways were hit with another proposed class action over the same fuel surcharge price-fixing allegations, that time in a New Jersey district court by a company called Dust Pro Inc. which makes and distributes soil stabilizers.

Mary Jane Fait, an attorney at Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLC who is representing Zinifex, said Wednesday that a motion to consolidate those two class actions and two others is currently before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. She added that she expects the cases to get class certification after they have been consolidated.

Fait said she is not sure, however, whether many more cases will surface due to the specialized nature of unregulated railway rates.

"From my understanding, the companies that use unregulated rates are chemical companies. A lot of other industries use other transportation like trucking," she explained.

The flurry of suits comes just as several major airlines have begun to cooperate with ongoing regulatory investigations into possible fuel surcharge price-fixing in that industry as well.

In efforts to earn laxer penalties from U.S. and European authorities, several airlines—including British Airways and Lufthansa—have shelled out millions in settlement deals with regulators and with plaintiffs in the many class action suits that accompanied the probe. Still other airlines have announced their compliance but said they will not pay.

The railroads have only recently begun to address the competitive implications of their own fuel surcharges, encouraged, said Fait, by the publicity afforded by January's federal Surface Transport Board ruling.

That ruling declared that the practice of linking fuel surcharges to base shipping rates rather than actual fuel costs was "unreasonable." However, the board's jurisdiction applied only to freight that is shipped at federally regulated rates, which represents a small portion of the market; the two class action suits focus on private rail freight transport contracts.

At the time of the first class action's filing last month, Garrick Francis, a CSX spokesperson, said, "we certainly believe our fuel surcharge practices comply with all applicable laws and practices."

No spokesperson for CSX or Kansas City Southern was available for comment on the Zinifex case. When contacted on Wednesday, spokespeople for Norfolk Southern and BNSF had not yet been served the suit and declined to comment.

Melbourne, Australia-based Zinifex is one of the world's largest integrated zinc and lead companies and operates two mines and four smelters worldwide. Its U.S. operations and smelter are headquartered in Clarksville, Tenn.

06-14-2007

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Stone, Pigman, Walther & Wittmann, L.L.C.

Jay Gulotta Elected to the Louisiana Bar Foundation's Board of Directors
Last week, Jay Gulotta was elected to the Louisiana Bar Foundation's Board of Directors. He will serve a three year term. The foundation addresses the unrealized legal needs of indigent citizens, provides a basic understanding of the law and assists with improvements to the justice system.

06-14-2007

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Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP

Attorney Steven Meckler Elected to Board of Directors of Make-A-Wish-Foundation of Central and Western NC
Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP attorney, STEVEN A. MECKLER, has been elected to the Board of Directors for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central and Western North Carolina. The Foundation's mission is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy.

Mr. Meckler is a resident of the Charlotte, North Carolina office and is a member of the litigation practice group. He is licensed in North and South Carolina and practices in both the State and Federal Courts. Mr. Meckler is involved in the local and state bars and assists with two community bar programs aimed at assisting the children of Charlotte.

Mr. Meckler received his J.D., cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University and his B.A. from Kent State University.

06-14-2007

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Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell, P.C.

Herrick To Participate in NH Leadership Group
Gallagher Callahan & Gartrell attorney Jeanne Herrick has been accepted to participate as an associate of Leadership New Hampshire, an organization developed to increase civic engagement and strengthen communities through connecting and educating a diverse pool of engaged or emerging leaders throughout New Hampshire.

Through this uniquely interactive, non-partisan, educational experience, Leadership New Hampshire associates explore the issues and challenges critical to the state of New Hampshire. The program allows associates to interact with top state officials, judges, educators, prison inmates, students, artists, corporate leaders and others who receive, deliver or make decisions and policy that affect services.

"I appreciate the opportunity to participate in Leadership New Hampshire and to learn more about what makes New Hampshire a special place," says Herrick. "I look forward to gaining a broader view of the social, economic, cultural and academic issues facing the state and its communities."

Herrick represents clients in civil and employment litigation in state and federal court. Herrick's litigation practice is focused primarily on business and commercial disputes, including the enforcement of non-competition, trade secret, confidentiality agreements and other employment-related litigation. She is also involved in construction litigation and the enforcement of creditors' rights in bankruptcy. She a member of the Committee for Cooperation with the Courts.

06-14-2007

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

Best Lawyers in Canada recognizes Marek Nitoslawski
Marek Nitoslawski, from the Fasken Martineau's Montreal office, is recognized in The Best Lawyers in Canada - 2007 in the Intellectual Property Law category for the quality of his practice. Published by the National Post on a yearly basis, The Best Lawyers in Canada is a prestigious legal directory.

06-14-2007

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