Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold LLP

Sedgwick Obtains Bar on "Wrongful Adoption" Punitive Damages in New York Court of Appeals Ruling
Sedgwick New York partners David M. Covey and Caryn M. Silverman secured the New York Court of Appeals’ unanimous dismissal of a punitive damages claim in a precedent-setting "wrongful adoption" litigation.

Plaintiffs, an adoptive couple, filed suit in New York State Supreme Court alleging fraudulent "wrongful adoption," negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress for a prominent nonprofit adoption agency’s failure in 1961 to advise plaintiffs that the adopted child’s biological parents came from families with a strong history of schizophrenia. Plaintiffs sought recovery for their own emotional damage, including the depression the adoptive father suffered after being attacked by his son, which required hospitalization and electric shock therapy; the breakup of the marriage; and a multimillion-dollar loss to their earning capacity during their son’s lifetime. They sought $3 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitives.

On behalf of our client, Sedgwick asserted that withholding the child’s family medical history conformed not only to the agency’s own policies but to adoption agencies’ accepted standard of practice at the time. That standard was itself based on then-current psychiatric and scientific knowledge, which included a limited understanding of the genetic basis of mental illness. Further, in the 1960s, a prevailing nurture-over-nature theory suggested that the right family environment could overcome any tendency toward mental illness. As a result, the agency determined that advising a prospective family of such a medical history could create tensions and uncertainties contrary to the child’s and adoptive family’s best interests.

After the trial court denied our request that punitive damages be dismissed and the appellate court affirmed that decision, Sedgwick appealed to the New York State Court of Appeals. The state’s highest court sided with our client, holding that because our client’s behavior conformed to then-prevailing scientific knowledge and industry standards, it could not be held liable for punitive damages despite knowingly withholding information about the child's family history of schizophrenia. The court also dismissed plaintiffs’ claims for emotional and economic harm. The court limited plaintiffs’ recovery to unreimbursed medical expenses for the son’s treatment until he turned 21. Because plaintiffs had medical coverage, their remaining viable claim has minimal value.

The case, Ross v. Louise Wise Services, Inc., protects nonprofit adoption agencies’ survival since punitive damages are uninsurable. In addition, the case reaffirms New York’s standard that punitive damages must be based on substantial evidence of malice or wanton acts. It also protects future defendants in New York courts from costly trials on punitive damages by allowing such claims to be defeated in pretrial motions.

05-31-2007

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Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC

Greg Chabon Receives Small Business Advocate Award
Greg Chabon, a member of the Corporate & Securities practice group in Greensboro, was honored with the 2007 "Small Business Advocate of the Year" Award by the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce at its Business Awards Luncheon on Thursday, May 10, at the Special Events Center of the Greensboro Coliseum. The award is presented to individuals who provide a "distinctive level” of service and who are noted "supporters of entrepreneurial development."

Greg is very active in the Greensboro community and has demonstrated a sincere interest in helping entrepreneurs. In addition to representing entrepreneurs in start-up ventures, Greg serves on the Board of Directors for the Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurs Network and the Board of Directors of The Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship. He also chairs the Entrepreneurship Committee for the Greensboro Partnership.

05-31-2007

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Willkie, Farr & Gallagher, LLP

Firm Represents Deutsche Bank in EGL’s $2 Billion Acquisition by CEVA
On May 24, it was announced that global logistics company EGL, Inc. and CEVA Group Plc, a UK public limited company owned by affiliates of Apollo Management VI, L.P., signed a definitive merger agreement valued at approximately $2 billion. Willkie assisted Deutsche Bank, financial advisor to the Special Committee of EGL’s Board of Directors, in the transaction. In reaching the agreement, EGL has terminated its previous merger agreement with affiliates of James R. Crane, EGL's largest shareholder and CEO, together with investment funds affiliated with Centerbridge Partners, L.P. and The Woodbridge Company Limited. Partner David Boston and associate Laura Delanoy advised Deutsche Bank.

05-31-2007

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Willkie, Farr & Gallagher, LLP

Frankfurt Office Represents Sparda in the Sale of a Majority Stake in NetBank AG
It was recently announced that Landesbank Berlin AG (LBB) has acquired a majority stake of 75% minus one share of the share capital of NetBank AG from, inter alia, six Sparda banks, represented by Willkie, through an auction process. The remaining existing shareholders of NetBank AG continue to jointly hold the remaining participation in Netbank AG. The transaction is conditioned upon, among other things, the consent of the German Federal Cartel Office. NetBank AG has been conducting business in Germany since 1999 as the first all-internet bank with a full banking license. It currently serves 80,000 customers and has a balance sheet capital of over €500 million. LBB is the market leader on the German national credit card market with approximately 1.5 million credit cards, and is the largest issuer of Visa and MasterCard credit cards. The deal was handled by Andreas Hautkappe, Mario Schmidt, Patrick Meiisel, Bettina Bokeloh, Rolf Hünermann, Ingo Bednarz, and Markus Käpplinger.

05-31-2007

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Willkie, Farr & Gallagher, LLP

Executive Compensation Group Advises on $22.2 Billion REIT Acquisition
As reported widely in the press, including The Wall Street Journal, real estate investment trust Archstone-Smith announced that it has signed a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by a partnership sponsored by Tishman Speyer and Lehman Brothers in a transaction valued at approximately $22.2 billion. Willkie’s Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Department advised R. Scot Sellers, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Archstone-Smith, with respect to employment and executive compensation arrangements with the acquirers. The transaction, which was announced on May 29, represents the largest public to private merger and acquisition transaction in the multifamily REIT sector. Archstone-Smith, an S&P 500 company, is a recognized leader in apartment investment and operations with over 86,000 units in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, the New York metropolitan area, Seattle and Boston. The matter was handled by partner Stephen Lindo.

05-31-2007

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Willkie, Farr & Gallagher, LLP

Firm Advises Royal & Sun on £584 million ($1.2 billion) Tender Offer
Willkie client Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group plc through its wholly-owned subsidiary RSA Overseas Holdings B.V. announced a cash tender offer for all of the outstanding shares in Codan A/S that it does not currently own. The tender offer values the Codan minority shares at DKK 6,414 million (£584million, or $1.2 billion). Based in Denmark, Codan S/A provides insurance services for private and corporate clients, primarily in the Scandinavian insurance market, including insurance against personal injury, life insurance and pension insurance. Codan is a part of Royal & SunAlliance and operates through various subsidiaries. The US aspects of the transaction were handled by partner Gregory Astrachan; special European counsel Jon Lyman; and associate Jonathan Gatsik.

05-31-2007

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White & Case, LLP

White & Case Concludes $100 Million Convertible Bond for Leading Indian Media Company
White & Case advised leading Indian television broadcaster NDTV on the issue by its indirect subsidiary, NDTV Networks plc., of a $100 million convertible bond. The convertible was privately placed with seven undisclosed international investors. The proceeds will be used to finance NDTV Group's new entertainment channel NDTV Imagine, which will be controlled, along with four other channels, by NDTV Networks plc.

"Indian companies are continuing to become more active on the world stage and investor appetite for Indian securities is growing rapidly," commented White & Case partner Tim Jeveons. "The Indian media space has interested international private equity investors for some time as shown by the recent $275 million investment by Blackstone in Ushodaya Enterprises, which owns the ETV Network and Eenadu. This transaction continues that trend."

The White & Case team advising NDTV was led by Tim Jeveons, working alongside senior associate Carlos Perez, with support from David Eisenberg, who is co-head of the Firm's global TMT practice, Doug Peel, who heads the Firm's India practice, and India practice partner Nipun Gupta.

White & Case has extensive experience in executing complex Indian global capital markets offerings from its London and Singapore offices. Recent transactions include: advising Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan on the $102 million equity offering by Nargarjuna Construction Company Limited; advising Merrill Lynch on the first international equity offering by Indiabulls Financial Services; advising various investment banks on numerous foreign currency convertible bonds; and most recently advising DLF on its ongoing domestic equity offering. In addition White & Case has various ongoing mandates for significant Indian corporations looking to access the international equity markets.

05-31-2007

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