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Law Firm News

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Foley Hoag LLP

100th Restructuring Roundtable Examines Industry Accomplishments, Challenges Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles Addresses "Massachusetts’ New Directions in Energy Policy"
A wide range of industry experts shared their views on the state of electricity restructuring in New England at the 100th Restructuring Roundtable Gala on March 30.

The sellout event attracted approximately 300 attendees representing a broad cross-section of stakeholders. A morning panel discussion examined restructuring efforts in New England over the past ten years and suggested priorities for the coming decade. An afternoon session featured a range of experts sharing their vision for the future of restructuring in the six-state region. They offered a wide range of views, with a common wish for increased investment in energy efficiency.

Massachusetts Secretary of Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles delivered the keynote address, Massachusetts’ New Directions in Energy Policy. He used the occasion to announce state environmental approval of Cape Wind’s proposed wind energy project in Nantucket Sound.

“This is an exciting time for people who care about energy – people like you and me,” said Secretary Bowles. “Massachusetts can get in at the ground floor of the clean energy future we all know is coming. Let’s embrace it and capitalize on it.”

Born out of electric industry restructuring, the Restructuring Roundtable meets six to eight times per year to discuss current topics related to revolutionary changes in the electric power industry in Massachusetts and throughout New England. Dr. Jonathan Raab, President, Raab Associates, serves as moderator and is responsible for developing the agenda, securing speakers and facilitating the meetings. The Roundtable is hosted by the law firm Foley Hoag LLP and funded by participating sponsors. This nationally unique forum has been meeting since 1995.

“We are pleased to mark this milestone in the Roundtable series, which has fostered discussion and debate on a wide range of restructuring issues,” said Dr. Raab. “We want to thank the planning committee members, keynote speakers and panelists, and attendees, who have made the series so successful.”

“The Roundtable will continue to play an important role as a forum for decision-makers and stakeholders to debate energy pricing, climate change and technology choices facing New England,” said Mary Beth Gentleman, co-chair of Foley Hoag's Energy Technology & Renewables practice.

Dr. Raab and David O’Connor, Commissioner of the Division of Energy Resources, were recognized for their continued support of the roundtable series.

Sponsors of the 100th Roundtable included Analysis Group, ConEdison Solutions, Conservation Services Group, Constellation NewEnergy, Direct Energy, Division of Energy Resources, Dominion, EnerNOC, Entergy, Foley Hoag LLP, Guy W. Nichols, ISO New England, KEMA, La Capra Associates, Levitan & Associates, Inc., Mass AREA, Massachusetts Technological Collaborative (Renewable Energy Trust), NationalGrid, Northeast Utilities System, NSTAR, Synapse Energy Economics, Inc., Unitil, and the Utility Workers Union of America (Local 369).

04-18-2007

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Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC

Baker Donelson and Kroll to Present Webinar on Immigration Compliance and Reform
The law firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, in cooperation with Kroll, the world's leading risk consulting company, will present a joint webinar to address a variety of questions about immigration compliance and reform. "Weathering the ICE Storm: Immigration Compliance and Disaster Preparedness" will focus on issues that businesses face arising from increased enforcement efforts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The webinar will be offered on two dates: Thursday, May 3, 2007, and Tuesday, May 8, 2007, from 2:00 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. EST. Formal presentations will last approximately an hour, with at least a half hour allotted for questions. Topics to be covered include:

* Employer Sanctions and Prosecution for Hiring Unlawful Workers;
* Employer Compliance Procedures: I-9 and Beyond;
* Employer Options with Paperless I-9's and Instant Right to Work Employee Verification; and
* Prospects and Aspects of Immigration Reform Legislation.

The webinar will feature two presenters with substantive experience in the areas of immigration compliance and background screening.

* Robert C. Divine, chair of Baker Donelson's Immigration Group, served by presidential appointment as the first Chief Counsel of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the world's largest immigration services agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), from July 2004 until November 2006. From July 2005 until July 2006, he served as Acting Director and then Acting Deputy Director of USCIS. He is the author of Immigration Practice (Juris Publishing, 2006-07 ed.), a 1,600-page practical treatise on all aspects of U.S. immigration law. In addition to knowledge of all types of immigration and visa status, Mr. Divine has substantial experience with employer compliance, including preparing immigration compliance programs, drafting vendor provisions, training human resources professionals, evaluating systems and defending enforcement proceedings, including criminal prosecution.
* Barry J. Nadell is the Senior Vice President of the Background Screening division of Kroll and the former President and co-founder of InfoLink Screening Services until its acquisition by Kroll in March 2006. He is a founding member and serves on the board of directors of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners, where he was co-chairman of the board in 2006. Mr. Nadell is a licensed private investigator in California and the author of the only book solely related to background screening, "Sleuthing 101: Background Checks and The Law." Mr. Nadell has spoken at numerous national and regional human resources, security and other industry-specific conventions. He is widely quoted, has had several articles published, has been featured on television including The Bloomberg Report and ABC News, and has been interviewed on more than 175 live talk radio programs.

04-18-2007

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Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Greenberg Traurig Wins Dismissal of Antitrust Claims Against Gaia Herbs
The international law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP successfully defended Gaia Herbs, Inc., in an antitrust lawsuit brought against the organic herbal products manufacturer by an Internet distributor with which Gaia Herbs declined to do business.

The plaintiff, Vitacost.com, alleged that Gaia Herbs refused to take Vitacost on as a distributor because it refused to agree to Gaia Herbs’ resale pricing policies. Vitacost charged that Gaia Herbs’ resale price maintenance violated Florida’s antitrust law.

Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida first dismissed the claims on January 26, 2007 ruling that Vitacost.com lacked “standing” to assert its contentions. Vitacost.com filed an amended complaint, and in a 10-page decision on March 27, 2007, the judge again ruled against the distributor, noting that the company had never been a customer or competitor of Gaia Herbs.

“Antitrust standing is a judicial principle that requires the plaintiff to show it has suffered injury from conduct the antitrust laws are intended to prevent,” said Greenberg Traurig Antitrust Shareholder Allan Van Fleet of the firm’s Houston office. “Because Vitacost had never been a distributor or consumer of Gaia Herbs products, its alleged injury was only to itself, not to competition in the market for herbal supplements.”

The Court confirmed that a manufacturer like Gaia Herbs “may unilaterally announce its resale prices without committing an antitrust violation,” and referred to the U.S. Supreme Court decision of U.S. v. Colgate & Co. in stating that a manufacturer “can announce its resale prices in advance and refuse to deal with those who fail to comply.”

After the second dismissal, Vitacost has elected not to file another amended complaint, and instead voluntarily dismissed its case against Gaia Herbs, which is headquartered in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

Van Fleet led Greenberg Traurig’s team which included Paul Brown, also of Houston, along with David Ross of Miami and Jim Prochnow of Denver.

“Pricing and territorial restriction issues arise every day in the natural products industry,” Prochnow said. “The Gaia Herbs case emphasizes the need for industry companies to be aware of and sensitive to the application of antitrust law.

04-18-2007

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Thompson & Knight LLP

T&K Attorney Elected to Houston Board of Texas Exes Organization
The international law firm of Thompson & Knight is pleased to congratulate Marlen D. Whitley on his election as a Board Member of the Houston Chapter of the Texas Exes, the alumni organization for The University of Texas. The Houston Texas Exes Chapter is among the largest with over 10,000 members. The Houston Board focuses on:

* Providing scholarships to outstanding Houston-area high school seniors attending The University of Texas; and
* Organizing academic support and outreach projects for Houston-area minority students.

Additionally, the Houston Texas Exes Chapter is ranked first for community service hours among chapters and is the only chapter to fund a Texas Excellence Award for outstanding high school teachers in the area.

Whitley is an associate in the Corporate and Securities Practice Group of the Firm's Houston office. He received his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law in 2001 and his B.A. in African American Studies from The University of Texas in 1998.

04-18-2007

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Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, LLP

STB Represented JPMorgan in $3.125 Billion Bond Offering and $4.445 Billion Senior Secured Credit Facility in Connection with Apollo’s Acquisition of Realogy Corporation
STB represented the initial purchasers, the arrangers and the administrative agent in connection with the financing of Apollo Management, L.P.'s acquisition of Realogy Corporation. The financing consisted of a $3.125 billion Rule 144A and Regulation S offering of Senior Fixed Rate, Senior Toggle and Senior Subordinated Notes and a $4.445 billion Senior Secured Credit Facility, consisting of a Term Loan Facility, a Revolving Credit Facility and a Synthetic Letter of Credit Facility. The Initial Purchasers were J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Barclays Capital Inc. and Calyon Securities (USA) LLC. The Senior Secured Credit Facility was arranged by J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as administrative agent and collateral agent.

Realogy Corporation is one of the preeminent and most integrated providers of real estate and relocation services in the world with brands including Century 21®, Coldwell Banker®, ERA® and Sotheby's International Realty®.

The team of STB attorneys who worked on this transaction includes: Arthur Robinson, Laura Palma, Marisa Stavenas, Thomas Terbell, Dora Jimenez and Bryan Yoon (Securities); Frank Huck, Jonathan Wry, Andrew Hecht, Helen Kim, Michael Saily and Ryan Gavin (Credit); Robert Holo and Shari Silverman (Tax); Michael Isby (Environmental); Alan Turner (Litigation); Lori Lesser and Kirstie Howard (Intellectual Property); Andrew O’Brien (Benefits); and Mark Lab (Blue Sky). Corporate paralegals Anne Dana and Anne Throdahl provided valuable assistance on this transaction.

04-18-2007

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Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood, L.L.P.

Sidley Lawyer Amelia Porges Appointed Commissioner of Japan-US Friendship Commission and US-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange
Sidley Austin LLP today announced that Amelia Porges has been appointed as a commissioner of the Japan-US Friendship Commission (JUSFC) and the US-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON). Porges, who is in Sidley’s International Trade and Dispute Resolution Practice, based in the firm’s Washington D.C. office, will serve for a three-year term.

Porges focuses her practice on World Trade Organization and U.S. trade law, assisting governments and businesses in WTO and other dispute settlement proceedings and advising governments and businesses in international negotiations. She also advises on the law of international organizations, U.S. legislation and bilateral trade agreements. She has particular experience in legal aspects of trade in services, trade in software and digitized content, and market access for manufactured goods and agricultural products. She is listed in the 2007 Chambers Global guide to the world’s leading lawyers.

Before joining Sidley, Porges served as Senior Counsel for Dispute Settlement and head of enforcement at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, where she briefed and argued WTO cases before dispute settlement panels and the Appellate Body, guided U.S. WTO litigation efforts in the first five years of the WTO, and negotiated reform of the WTO's dispute settlement rules. During the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, from 1990 to 1994, Porges served as Senior Legal Officer and Counsellor for Legal Affairs at the GATT Secretariat in Geneva, advising on trade disputes, negotiations and drafting of the WTO Agreement.

Porges, who speaks Japanese, earned her J.D. and M.P.P. from Harvard Law School and Harvard University, and received her B.A. from Cornell University. She has taught trade law at Sophia University in Tokyo and currently teaches WTO law at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. She also co-chairs the principal continuing legal education program in trade law, the ABA-sponsored annual International Trade Update program at Georgetown University.

"We cannot think of any lawyer better able to contribute to the goals of JUSFC and CULCON than Amy," said Daniel Price, chair of Sidley’s International Trade and Dispute Resolution Practice. "Her deep knowledge of global trade laws and U.S.-Japan relations will make her an invaluable asset to both."

The Japan-United States Friendship Commission (JUSFC) was established as an independent federal agency by Congress in 1975 to administer a US government trust fund derived from Japanese government payments made in return for public facilities in Okinawa it received when the Ryukyu Islands were returned to Japan, and as repayment of postwar American assistance. JUSFC makes grants from the income on the fund to promote scholarly, cultural and public affairs activities between Japan and the United States. The members of JUSFC are the US members of CULCON, which is a US-Japan committee founded in 1962 to promote cultural exchanges. For more information please visit http://www.jusfc.gov/index.asp.

Sidley’s International Trade and Dispute Resolution Practice includes more than 50 professionals in our Brussels, Geneva and Washington, D.C. offices with extensive experience assisting clients worldwide on transactional, regulatory, dispute settlement and policy matters arising under international trade and investment agreements. Sidley was recently named Global WTO Law Firm of the Year by Chambers and Partners, and Global Trade & Customs Law Firm of the Year for 2005 and 2006 by the International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.

04-18-2007

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Jones Day, P.C.

Law Student Wins Jones Day's $10,000 Swope Antitrust Writing Prize
"A University of Chicago law student won the William E. Swope Antitrust Prize for a paper analyzing conflicts of antitrust and patent law raised in the industry standard-setting process. The annual $10,000 writing prize celebrates a former Jones Day partner and his pioneering fact-intensive approach to antitrust analysis.

The Prize was awarded at ceremonies in the firm's Washington office to Justin Hurwitz, a third-year student at the University of Chicago Law School. Receiving honorable mentions were Christopher Grengs, an Attorney Advisor at the Federal Trade Commission, and Oliver Zhong, a second-year student at the University of Michigan Law School. The winners will attend the Spring Meeting of the American Bar Association's Antitrust Section this week as guests of Jones Day.

""At a time when antitrust enforcement clung to rigid rules, tests, and theories, Bill Swope insisted on focusing on the facts and how they explained how specific markets worked in the real world,"" said Phil Proger, the head of Jones Day's global antitrust practice. ""While this is now the accepted standard, Bill was one of the leaders in pushing for fewer slogans and more factual analysis.""

Only law students and recent graduates are eligible for the annual competition. The deadline for submissions for next year's prize is December 31. Complete rules are available at jonesday.com/swope/.

Jones Day's Antitrust & Competition Law Practice consists of over 120 counselors and litigators worldwide, including more than 40 in Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Milan, Munich, Paris, Shanghai, and Tokyo. The practice is frequently recognized in professional publications and rankings as one of the leading antitrust/competition practices in the world.

Jones Day is an international law firm with 30 locations in centers of business and finance throughout the world. With more than 2,200 lawyers, including more than 400 in Europe, and 175 in Asia, it ranks among the world's largest law firms."

04-18-2007

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