Law Firm News

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Jorden Burt LLP

IRS LAUNCHES ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING COMPLIANCE EXAMS IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY
Fourteen insurance companies of various sizes have been selected by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to undergo the first anti-money laundering (AML) compliance examinations in the insurance industry. The IRS is one of eight federal regulatory agencies that conduct AML compliance examinations, and is primarily responsible for the insurance industry.

The basic examination approach is likely to be similar to AML examinations in other industries, and we expect IRS examiners will test the four AML program elements required of insurance companies: internal controls, designation of an AML compliance officer, training, and independent testing. We would also expect the IRS to conduct some transaction testing, including random testing of suspicious activity report files, with an emphasis on risk-based analysis.

We understand the IRS intends to use the first wave of examinations to collect information and adjust procedures for future insurance industry AML examinations. Accordingly, insurers would be well advised to ensure their AML programs are up to date and functioning appropriately.

03-08-2007

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Dinsmore & Shohl LLP

Angelina Jackson elected to SmartMoney Board of Directors
Angelina Jackson, an attorney at the law firm of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, was named to the SmartMoney Community Services Board of Directors. The non-profit organization provides financial services and economic education to underserved individuals in Over-The-Rhine and Greater Cincinnati communities.

03-08-2007

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Chadbourne & Parke LLP

Chadbourne Represented Golden Telecom in Agreement to Acquire Majority Interest in Corbina Telecom
"Chadbourne & Parke LLP represented Golden Telecom, Inc., a leading facilities-based provider of integrated telecommunications and Internet services in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, in a share purchase and shareholders agreement with Inure Enterprises Ltd. and Rambert Management Limited. Under the terms of the deal, Golden Telecom will acquire a 51% ownership interest in ZAO Cortec together with its wholly owned subsidiaries, ZAO Investelektrosvyaz and ZAO Kabelstroy (together known as Corbina Telecom).

The deal is the third Golden Telecom transaction in recent weeks in which Chadbourne has been involved. Last month, Chadbourne completed work for Golden Telecom on its acquisition of a 65% interest in Fortland Limited. That deal and the Corbina deal are being partially financed with a $275 million syndicated loan. Chadbourne also worked on that financing.

The signing of the Corbina Telecom agreements followed the unusual step of executing a binding Term Sheet on December 15, 2006, and was an important step in Golden Telecom's pending acquisition of Corbina Telecom.

Golden Telecom is a Nasdaq-listed company.

Under the agreements, Golden Telecom will receive a 51% ownership in Corbina Telecom in exchange for 8% of Golden Telecom’s common stock on a post-acquisition basis plus $10 million in cash.

The Corbina Telecom acquisition is subject to approval by the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia. Golden Telecom expects to close the transaction in the near future. Upon the closing of the transaction, the shareholder structure of Corbina Telecom will be as follows: Golden Telecom – 51%, A&NN Group – 35%, and Renova Capital – 14%.

Working for Chadbourne on the deal were Moscow office managing partner Laura Brank, Moscow partner Konstantin Konstantinov and New York partner William Greason."

03-08-2007

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Winstead, Sechrest & Minick, P.C.

Winstead Adds Phil Freeman and Nicole Betters to San Antonio Office
Winstead PC grows by two attorneys in the San Antonio Office as former Jenkens & Gilchrest shareholder Philip D. Freeman and associate Nicole R. Betters join the firm. Freeman is a corporate attorney who advises clients on complex transactions and legal matters in a wide variety of industries including technology and health. Betters' practice focuses on civil litigation helping clients with commercial, construction and environmental matters.

"We were impressed by Winstead's strategy for growth and their genuine response to our desire to keep the team of corporate, litigation, immigration and intellectual property attorneys I work with together," said Freeman. "I believe our philosophy matches the Winstead culture—the client comes first—everything else follows." Freeman and Betters will join San Antonio Managing Shareholder M. Paul Martin, who is chair of Winstead's Public Finance practice group, and Winstead public finance associates Clay Binford and Daniel Martinez.

Freeman's clients operate in a wide spectrum of businesses and industries including high technology, medical group practice management organizations, manufacturing companies, and distribution and consulting. He advises clients on acquisitions, divestitures, financings, software and technology licensing, corporate formation and employment. A former general counsel of a NYSE company in San Antonio, Freeman brings a broad perspective of legal and business challenges.

Heavily involved in the growth of Central Texas, Freeman is the secretary, treasurer and a member of the board of Technology Advocates of San Antonio (TASA), an organization he helped found, that focuses on advancing the cause for technological competence in business, government and medicine in South Texas. He serves as director of the San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative (SATAI) Network, an organization focused on developing the region's technology-based entrepreneurial economy in San Antonio. Freeman also serves on the board of directors of Alamo Area Academies, Inc., an organization that oversees dual credit educational programs to prepare high school juniors and seniors for high-skill careers in aerospace, information technology and manufacturing technology. Freeman received his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he was an associate editor of the Duquesne Law Review and his B.A. from Pennsylvania State University.

Betters' has significant experience in construction contract disputes and litigation which will add value to Winstead's reputable construction practice group. An active member of the San Antonio community, Betters served as a member of the Community Advisory Board for the San Antonio Express-News and she is a founding member of the Arab and International Women's Association. Betters received her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and her B.A., graduating cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh. Additionally, she has a Masters in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.

03-08-2007

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Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP

Sutherland Wins Decision for Medrad, Inc. at Federal Circuit
Attorneys from Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, representing Medrad Inc. in a long-running patent dispute with Tyco Healthcare Group LP, recently convinced the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to reverse a district court ruling in the dispute that favored Tyco and to deny Tyco’s request for a rehearing. Also representing Medrad were Reed Smith LLP and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

The case originated in October 2001, when Medrad filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, alleging Tyco had infringed its reissue patent for an injection system used with MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) systems. Years earlier, Medrad had applied for the reissue patent to correct an error made during prosecution of the original patent, where required supplemental declarations were inadvertently omitted. Both companies filed motions for summary judgment in the district court, and the court found in favor of Tyco in 2005, ruling that Medrad’s patent was invalid because correcting the error of not filing supplemental reissue declarations was not a proper basis for seeking reissue under 35 U.S.C. §251.

Medrad’s attorneys, including Sutherland Intellectual Property Partner Robert J. Waltersand Associate Charles J. Hawkins, along with co-counsel from Reed Smith and Akin Gump, appealed the ruling to the federal circuit, claiming that the district court was wrong when it concluded that the statute does not extend to reissues based on defects in inventor declarations. The federal circuit agreed, and reversed the district court decision and remanded the case back to the district court. The federal circuit recently rejected a petition by Tyco for a rehearing of the ruling.

“This was an intricate, specialized case, and we are grateful for the positive outcome,” Mr. Walters said. “It is a testament to the skilled, attentive professionals we have at Sutherland and our co-counsel.”

Sutherland’s Intellectual Property Group added 11 lawyers in 2006, increasing the total of full-time attorneys in the five-year-old group to 50 – many of whom hold advanced technical degrees. The group’s experience spans the industry, featuring technical patent prosecution and counseling knowledge, coupled with broad litigation experience in a number of areas, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, biomedical devices, computers, software, chemical technology, minerals and telecommunications.

03-08-2007

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Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, LLP

Simpson Thacher Obtains Final Judgment And Attorneys’ Fees For Client The Chase Manhattan Bank in Iridium Litigation
Judge Joseph J. Farnan of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware entered an Order granting final judgment, including attorneys’ fees, to Simpson client J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“Chase”) in connection with ongoing litigation relating to the failure of satellite telecommunications company Iridium LLC.

The dispute arises from an $800 million loan which Chase and a syndicate of lenders extended to Iridium in 1998. After Iridium defaulted on the loan in 1999, Chase sought to collect on various pieces of collateral, including the Reserve Capital Call Obligations of Iridium’s members, which totaled $243 million. The parties engaged in significant discovery and trial preparation efforts before summary judgment was granted in favor of Chase in March 2004 on its breach of contract claim. Defendants took the position that certain of their affirmative defenses, as well as Chase’s entitlement to attorney’s fees, remained unresolved, thereby precluding the entry of final judgment. They also sought interlocutory appeal of the District Court’s grant of summary judgment. Chase objected and the Third Circuit rejected Defendant’s motion for certification of an interlocutory appeal. The parties thereafter engaged in significant briefing before the District Court as to what issues, if any, remained unresolved and whether those issues precluded the entry of final judgment. The Court’s February 20, 2007 Order and accompanying Memorandum Opinion rejects each of Defendants’ arguments. In addition, the Court determined that pursuant to the language of the relevant agreements, Chase is entitled to attorneys’ fees for its efforts in enforcing Defendants’ RCC Obligations.

The ruling is the latest in a string of favorable Iridium-related outcomes. Most notably, after a two-week bench trial in late-2001, a $370 million judgment was entered in favor of Chase in connection with a guarantee obligation of Motorola, which had been provided as an additional piece of collateral for the $800 million loan.

Current Simpson attorneys who were active in the Iridium Delaware litigation include Barry Ostrager, Mary Kay Vyskocil, David Woll, Linda Martin, Janet Gochman, Amanda Perez and Kate Russum.

Lawyers:
• Janet A. Gochman
• Linda H. Martin
• Barry R. Ostrager
• Amanda T. Perez
• Kate E. Russum
• Mary Kay Vyskocil
• David J. Woll

03-08-2007

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Wolf Block Schorr & Solis

Ken Fisher Named Chair of New York City Bar Association Committee on Land Use, Planning and Zoning
Kenneth K. Fisher, a partner in the Real Estate and Environmental & Land Use practice groups of WolfBlock, has been named chair of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York Committee on Land Use, Planning and Zoning.

Fisher concentrates his practice on the civic fabric of the metropolitan New York area: real estate development, zoning and land use matters; administrative and regulatory law; government contracting; and counseling clients on strategic business and legal matters including negotiations and litigation. He also represents a number of not-for-profit organizations in employment, governance and real estate matters.

Real Estate New York has cited Fisher as among the most influential real estate attorneys in the City (“Meet the Lawyers,” October 2006), and he is regularly sourced for news articles on land use and major development projects within the boroughs, as well as New York politics, by Crain's New York Business, The New York Times, the New York Post and Real Estate New York. Fisher writes often on public policy and is host of “Citywide,” a monthly public affairs television program produced by the CUNY-TV. He is a former member of the New York City Council (1990-2001), where he chaired its Land Use Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritime Uses.

03-08-2007

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