Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Hall & Evans, L.L.C.

Alan Epstein -- Court of Appeals, Favorable Outcome
In MDM Group Associates v. CX Reinsurance Company the trial court allowed the plaintiff, an insurance broker, to bring breach of fiduciary duty and intentional interference with business relations claims against several insurers based on the insurers' alleged bad faith in negotiating settlements with their insured ski resorts. The jury returned verdicts against the insurers for $6,750,783.

On appeal, the insurers, represented by Hall & Evans, argued that their only duties were owed to their insureds, not the plaintiff broker. The court of appeals agreed. With respect to the breach of fiduciary duty claim the court held that a fiduciary duty is owed by an agent (the broker) to its principal (the insurers), but not by the principal to its agent. The court also held that the broker's intentional interference claim failed because the business relationship at issue was between the insurers and their insureds, not between the broker and the insureds. The broker's contract was with the insurers, and a contracting party cannot be liable for interfering with its own contract.

The court of appeals therefore reversed the judgment and directed the trial court to dismiss the broker's complaint.

03-16-2007

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Alston & Bird LLP

Mergerstat Ranks Alston & Bird 11th Among the Top 50 Legal Advisors
In its March report, Mergerstat® ranked Alston & Bird 11th among the top 50 legal advisors based on the number of deals handled and 47th among the top 50 legal advisors for the value of deals handled through the end of February. Alston & Bird attorneys handled 9 deals with a total value of $3.9 billion.

03-16-2007

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Alston & Bird LLP

George Koenig Discusses Importance of Contingency Plans
George Koenig participated in a panel on continuity planning at a program, Homeland Security and the Private Sector, sponsored by the firm and the Association of Corporate Counsel. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, George discussed the corporate counsel role in the planning process, they must consider labor and employment law, insurance and contract issues and leadership has during a crisis. "Can the CEO shift corporate assets from one plant to another -- to get a [damaged] plant up and running again -- without first obtaining board approval?" he said. "If there's an influenza outbreak and people want to stay home with their families, what authority does the CEO have to require them to come to work?

03-16-2007

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Thompson & Knight LLP

T&K Attorney Appointed to UNT College of Law Founders Board
Thompson & Knight is pleased to announce that Jack Balderson Jr. has been appointed to the University of North Texas (UNT) College of Law Founders Board by UNT System Chancellor Lee Jackson and the UNT Board of Regents.

The UNT System is currently seeking approval for a new UNT College of Law in the 2007 legislative session. The UNT College of Law will be the first public law school in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, which is the largest metropolitan area in the country without a public law school. The City of Dallas is committed to the new law school and has donated the Old Municipal Building annex to house it. The school will increase the opportunity for local students to attend a regional law school without the costs associated with relocation or private institution tuition.

The UNT College of Law Founders Board members will help build public awareness of the need for a public law school in the Dallas/Fort Worth area as well as talk to and encourage support from community leaders. They will also help plan the curriculum, library, and clinical focus of the new school to address unmet needs in Texas and the North Texas region.

Balderson is a Partner in the Trial Practice Group of the Firm's Dallas office. He focuses his practice on litigation and antitrust matters. He received a J.D., cum laude, from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1999 and a B.S., cum laude, in Criminal Justice Administration from UNT in 1996.

03-16-2007

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Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, LLP

Firm Advises Blackstone in Acquisition of Mortgage Banking Operations of PHH Corporation
The Firm is advising The Blackstone Group in its announced acquisition of the mortgage banking operations of PHH Corporation. PHH has two distinct business segments: a segment through which it originates and services retail mortgage loans, and a segment through which it provides fleet management services to corporate clients and government agencies. In a novel two-step transaction, General Electric Company will acquire PHH Corporation for approximately $1.8 billion in cash and immediately sell the company’s mortgage operations to an affiliate of The Blackstone Group for an undisclosed price, with GE retaining PHH’s fleet business. PHH Corporation was spun off from Avis Budget Group, Inc. (formerly known as Cendant Corporation) in 2005 and became an independent public company.

The Simpson Thacher team working on this deal includes: Wilson Neely, Andrew Chvatal, Ellen Rosenberg and Laurie Gay (M&A); Gary Mandel, Katharine Moir and Peter Rosen (Tax); Greg Grogan and Michael Richman (Employee Benefits); Lori Lesser and Jennifer Rackoff (Intellectual Property); Pete Kazanoff and Marissa Piropato (Litigation); Marissa Wesely and Katherine Salisbury (Credit); Stephen Feder (Capital Markets); Steve Delott and Elisa Alcabes (Insurance) Aaron Rosenberg (Real Estate); Michael Isby (Environmental); Michael Naughton (Antitrust).

03-16-2007

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Piper Rudnick, L.L.P.

DLA Piper advises Landesbank Berlin AG on first German structured covered bond
DLA Piper UK LLP (DLA Piper) advised Landesbank Berlin AG (LBB) on the structuring of a structured covered bonds programme, called the Daheim Nr. 1 programme. Moody's, the ratings agency, published its presale report on this new product today.

LBB is the first German bank to develop a programme for covered bonds not relying upon the special legislation for German covered bonds - Pfandbriefgesetz - but on general German law. The Daheim Nr. 1 covered bond programme provides bonds backed by residential mortgage pools which were originated by German savings banks. The programme therefore offers specific savings banks a new opportunity to refinance their business and/or to create further fee income.

Each series of bonds under the Daheim programme is secured by a separate pool of residential mortgage loans. The relevant savings banks provide the mortgage loans to act as security for the LBB bonds, receiving a fee in return. In case the savings bank needs refinancing, LBB will grant a refinancing loan to a savings bank which again is backed by a portfolio of mortgage loans. This refinancing loan (and indirectly also the security provided) is then used to cover the bonds issued by LBB under the Daheim Nr. 1 programme. To create sufficient insolvency remoteness of the security provided, the structure uses techniques known from securitisation transactions.

The rating agency Moody’s has assigned provisional long-term ratings of (P)Aaa to this proposed issuance of bonds. LBB intends to initially issue bonds covered with a mortgage loan portfolio originated by LBB itself to introduce the new structure to investors.

LBB was advised by Nina-Luisa Siedler (partner, Finance & Projects), Petra Tesch and Rolf Kobabe (associates, Finance & Projects) from DLA Piper's Frankfurt office.

03-16-2007

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McDermott Will & Emery

McDermott Named Among Leading Patent Firms
McDermott Will & Emery's global Intellectual Property, Media & Technology Department ranked in the top 10 of Intellectual Property Today's annual survey of top patent firms, both boutique and general practice (March 2007 issue). The survey, based on the number of utility patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the previous calendar year, placed McDermott tenth among 353 firms surveyed with 1,533 patents issued in 2006.

"This recognition is a true testament to our continued commitment and growth of our patent prosecution practice, " commented Stephen Becker, head of the Firm's Patent Procurement Group.

McDermott's patent prosecution lawyers and agents represent one of the largest and most accomplished concentrations of prosecution experience worldwide. Our patent lawyers are seasoned in all aspects of prosecution, including the preparation and prosecution of patent applications, patent development and patent portfolio management.

The Firm's Intellectual Property, Media & Technology Department numbers more than 215 lawyers and patent agents. More than 150 members of our team hold technical and/or scientific degrees; 95 are registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Our lawyers engage in various aspects of counseling in intellectual property, including advertising and marketing, computer and internet law, copyrights, legislation, litigation, patents, trade dress, trademarks, trade secrets, unfair competition and antitrust.

03-16-2007

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