Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

Kenneth Berman appointed to ABA Corporate Counsel Committee
Kenneth Berman, partner in the firm’s Litigation Department, was appointed vice-chair of the American Bar Association Litigation Section’s Corporate Counsel Committee in April.

04-25-2007

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Swanson, Martin & Bell, L.L.P.

Eastern District transfers important Chapter 353 Redevelopment Condemnation ruling to Missouri Supreme Court.
City, after conducting studies for blight, declared an area blighted under R.S.Mo. Chapter 353. Affected property owners refused to sell and fought the Chapter 353 condemnation of their property. The Eastern District Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s judgment condemning the affected property owners, finding no evidence to support a conclusion that the affected redevelopment area was a social liability, and therefore qualified as blighted under the common law standard or the more recently enacted R.S.Mo. 523.261, even though evidence of economic liability because of the age, obsolescence, inadequate or outmoded design, and physical deterioration of some of the affected properties existed. The Court of Appeals immediately transferred the matter to the Missouri Supreme Court because of the general interest and importance of the issues presented. Centene Plaza Redevelopment Corp., v. Mint Properties, Inc.,

04-24-2007

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Gide, Loyrette & Nouel, PC

Gide Loyrette Nouel advises Plastic Omnium in China in setting up a joint venture company with Yanfeng Visteon
The Shanghai office of Gide Loyrette Nouel recently advised the French automotive components manufacturer Plastic Omnium in setting up a joint venture company together with the Sino-American automotive components manufacturer Yanfeng Visteon (joint venture company between Visteon Corporation and Shanghai Automotive Industrial - SAIC).

The new company, to be jointly controlled by Plastic Omnium and Yanfeng Visteon, will consolidate the exterior components businesses of the Chinese partner. It will start up operations late in first-half 2007, supplying several customers from two production facilities in Anting and Chongqing and will employ approximately 500 persons.

The Gide Loyrette Nouel Shanghai legal team was led by David Boitout, partner, assisted by Qu Yingying and Renaud Rossa.

04-24-2007

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O'Melveny & Myers, LLP

O'MELVENY & MYERS LLP REPRESENTS JER PARTNERS IN $2 BILLION ACQUISITION OF HIGHLAND HOSPITALITY CORPORATION
O'Melveny & Myers LLP is representing JER, the private equity investment arm of J.E. Robert Companies, in acquiring Highland Hospital Corporation (NYSE: HIH) in an all-cash transaction valued at $2 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter.

M&A partners Drake Tempest and Paul Scrivano in New York lead the O'Melveny team, which includes associates Jason Ment, Vipul Patel and Doron Beeri in the New York office. Partner Peter Ritter and associate Annie Jeong in the San Francisco office provided tax advice. Newport Beach partner Jeffrey Walbridge and counsel Elizabeth Kellerman Simon in the New York office worked on benefits matters. Partner Gregory Thorpe in the Los Angeles office advised on real estate matters, and counsel John Rousakis in the New York office advised on environmental matters.

JER Partners is a real estate investment management company with more than 25 years of experience in sourcing, underwriting, and managing a broad spectrum of real estate, debt products, and equity investments in North America and Europe. Most of JER's investments are in office, hospitality, retail, multi-family, and industrial properties. Other areas of investment include commercial mortgage-backed securities, health care related real estate, and mezzanine financing. Highland, a hospitality REIT, owns 27 hotel properties with an aggregate of 8,379 rooms in 14 states and the District of Columbia mainly under the Starwood, Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt flags.

Over the past 24 months, JER Partners has had an ownership position in more than 17,000 hotel rooms. Currently, JER Partners' hotel portfolio consists of more than 170 properties. These properties include those operated under the Starwood, Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt flags along with those operated by Longhouse Hospitality.

O'Melveny recently represented JER in four other M&A transactions. JER has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Genesis HealthCare Corporation, a public company that has more than 200 skilled nursing centers and assisted living residences in 13 eastern states and also supplies contract rehabilitation therapy to over 600 health care providers in 20 states and the District of Columbia. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2007.

JER also acquired Tandem Health Care, Inc., which operates 78 long-term care, assisted living, and independent living facilities in seven states, with a capacity for approximately 8,000 residents. JER also acquired Jameson Inns, Inc., a public company that owns 107 hotels in the southeastern and midwestern states operating under the Jameson Inns and Signature brands and that licenses 11 additional hotels operated by other companies. JER also invested in Aviv Healthcare Properties, which has one of the largest privately held portfolios of triple-net leased skilled nursing facilities in the United States, with a capacity of approximately 12,000 licensed beds at 126 properties, mainly concentrated in midwestern, southwestern, western, and Pacific northwestern states.

04-24-2007

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Stinson, Morrison & Hecker, L.L.P.

Two Attorneys Join Wichita Office
Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP welcomes Court T. Kennedy and Joshua A. Pollak to its Wichita office.

Kennedy joined as a Business Litigation associate. Previously he served as a research attorney for the Honorable Nancy L. Caplinger of the Kansas Court of Appeals. Kennedy earned his juris doctorate from the Washburn University in 2005 and a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Washburn in 2002. During law school, he served as the staff member and research editor for the Washburn Law Journal.

Pollak joined as an associate in the General Business Division. Previously, he practiced with another Wichita firm, focusing on real estate transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and the structure and formation of business entities. In addition, Pollak is an adjunct business law instructor in the Business Management program of Friends University and lectures on contract law and related topics. He earned his juris doctorate from the Tulane University in 2002 and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1999.

04-24-2007

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Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

New Bulletin Board Launches to Connect Sources and Users of Investment Capital
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is providing legal counsel to a new venture known as I-Bulletin Board LLC (IBB), which will link investors of institutional capital, including so-called opportunity funds and other private investment funds, with users of capital to identify promising opportunities.

The IBB is the brainchild of Pillsbury partner Brant Maller, a real estate investment lawyer and an authority on the investment policies and practices of the nation’s largest public pension funds. After years of receiving queries by operators seeking to tap into institutional relationships, Maller recognized that there was an opportunity to improve the ways in which sources and users of institutional capital communicated with each other about investment opportunities.

“The world is awash with capital, but the private marketplace has enormous informational inefficiencies. The transaction costs resulting from them can make the difference between a deal going forward or not. There are numerous interests that profit from those inefficiencies, so, to some extent, they are hardwired into the system,” said Maller. “You see those inefficiencies most acutely in so-called ‘off market’ investment opportunities in areas like commercial real estate that require a targeted audience, quick turnaround and substantial capital investment.”

While many investors visit informal chat rooms, those vehicles lack the approach of the IBB, which will list larger investment opportunities in a way that will efficiently aid investors with their “deal flow” and help operators access capital. Even if an experienced operator had already lined up its capital, it might want to use the I-Bulletin Board to see if it could get better pricing.

The IBB will be accessed through a password protected website. Participants will not be charged a fee to join, but they will probably be asked to help defray the IBB’s actual operating costs. Pillsbury is helping the operator establish the legal rules and operating guidelines for the IBB, which will likely evolve over time.

Admission to the IBB will be selective. Capital providers must be institutional investors of at least a certain size. Capital users are expected to be experienced and possess the financial wherewithal to consummate the proposed transactions. Both will be screened by a committee. Indeed, quality control in that screening process will be the single most critical factor to the success of the IBB.

Users will create their own listings and the IBB will not be permitted to edit or promote them once they are submitted. Those listings will be circulated to providers anonymously and will be archived in an online library for a set period based upon desired investment criteria. The format for listings will be promulgated by the IBB and will be refined over time based upon input from the capital providers.

“The goal is that the opportunity be described in a form that can be digested by a potential investor in a matter of minutes. Recognizing that the types of investors likely to participate in the IBB look at literally hundreds of investment opportunities per year for each one they actually make, the IBB listings must require a small amount of the investors’ time in order for them to be viewed,” said Maller.

Capital providers will be able to search by key words for opportunities based on the type of project, financing needed, industry, and other relevant criteria. Providers and users will agree to notify IBB if they actually enter into a transaction; however, the IBB will not derive any economic benefit from that transaction.

Maller says he expects IBB will be an additional resource for capital investors and users, not an alternative for how the industry completes transactions.

“The IBB does not substitute for a good broker. Good brokers work long and hard to get a deal done. They possess special relationships and knowledge that an Internet-based service cannot replicate. The IBB should just help a deal that was meant to be happen with more correct pricing. And I’m sure there’s a deal or two out there that hasn’t gotten done because the right parties haven’t found each other. Now maybe they will,” said Maller.

04-24-2007

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Mayer Brown LLP

White Collar Criminal Defense Attorney Peter Morris Joins the Los Angeles Office of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP
Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP announced today that Peter Morris, founding partner of Altman & Morris, has joined the firm's Los Angeles office as a partner. Morris is known for high-profile white collar criminal defense and civil business and tort litigation. He represents current and former officers of Broadcom in federal criminal and SEC investigations into options pricing practices, and he recently represented a former officer of Homestore in federal criminal and SEC matters.

James E. Tancula, Partner-in-Charge of Mayer, Brown's Los Angeles office, said: "The firm strongly supports the continued growth of our Los Angeles office, and is looking to bring in high quality lateral partner talent in areas of firm strengths. We are delighted to add Peter, a top white collar and civil securities litigator, who fits well within our strengths as a firm and in Los Angeles."

Michael Cypers, Office Practice Leader of Litigation in the firm's Los Angeles office said, "The competition to get Peter was strong, and we are delighted Peter selected Mayer, Brown. Peter's top quality white collar practice fits perfectly into our firm-wide white collar practice, which has more than 60 lawyers nationwide. Peter's versatility in civil trial and securities litigation provides additional depth to our strengths in these areas as a firm and in Los Angeles."

Peter Morris graduated from Harvard Law School, J.D., cum laude and was Managing Editor, Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. In addition to his white collar criminal defense and civil litigation expertise, Peter Morris was Assistant United States Attorney - Criminal Division, United States Attorney's Office in Los Angeles where he handled investigations and prosecutions of business fraud cases. As a full time faculty member at UCLA School of Law, he taught criminal trial advocacy.

"I have found the exact platform at Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw to best represent my clients. I'm delighted to be part of a dynamic, nationwide white collar crime practice that reflects my philosophy of excellent legal representation," commented Morris.

04-24-2007

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