Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP

Thacher Proffitt Announces Two Partners Appointed to Leadership Positions
Thacher Proffitt announced today that Oliver J. Armas, a partner in the New York office, and Luis Enrique Graham, a partner in the Mexico City office, Thacher Proffitt & Wood, S.C., have been elected to leadership positions within Bar associations: Oliver was elected Chair of the International Law & Practice Section (the ILPS) of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), effective January 2007, and Luis Enrique was elected President of the Mexican Bar Association, effective February 2007. Both Oliver and Luis Enrique are in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Group.

Oliver was elected to Chair at the Annual Meeting of the New York State Bar Association for a one-year term. The NYSBA has shaped the development of the law, educated and informed the profession and the public for more than 100 years. With a membership of more than 70,000 lawyers, it represents every town, city and county in the state, and it is the oldest and largest voluntary state bar organization in the nation. The ILPS, one of 23 sections of the Association, is recognized as a leading body of legal thought on topics of importance to both the international legal and business communities. With chapters in 36 countries and consisting of over 2,000 private and public international law practitioners from around the world, the section provides a network of lawyers and law firms around the world and a forum for the exchange of legal developments, knowledge and experience.

Luis Enrique’s term as President is for two years, from February 2007-2009. The Mexican Bar Association is the most prominent national association of law practitioners in Mexico. Founded in 1922, the Mexican Bar collaborates with prestigious international associations such as the International Bar Association, the Inter-American Bar Association, the International Federation of Lawyers and the American Bar Association.

“Both Ollie and Luis Enrique are born leaders and have strong backgrounds and success in their field,” said Paul Tvetenstrand, managing partner of Thacher Proffitt. “We are proud of their appointments, and I know they will serve the NYSBA and the Mexican Bar Association well.

01-30-2007

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Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, LLP

Firm Handles 6th Largest NYSE-Listed IPO; Largest US Closed-End Fund Offering
The Firm is representing Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., as co-leads of an underwriting syndicate, in the initial public offering of Alpine Total Dynamic Dividend Fund (NYSE: AOD), a closed-end fund that will pursue a dividend capture strategy. The offering raised $3.52 billion ($4.04 billion, assuming full exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option). This deal marks the 6th largest NYSE-listed IPO and the largest closed-end fund offering in U.S. history.

The Simpson Thacher team working on the transaction includes: Sarah Cogan, Laura Wolff and Heloisa Griggs (Capital Markets/Public Funds), Charlie Rappaport and Sean Austin (Tax) and Mark Lab (Blue Sky).

01-30-2007

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Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Jerry Maatman Quoted in Employment Law360
Based on the availability of the Firm's Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Survey, Employment Law360 highlighted the findings in three articles on January 25:

"Class Action Settlements Reach High In 2006: Report" notes that "Class action settlements reached all-time highs in 2006, thanks to significant payments in mega-class action cases, especially in the financial services industry, according to a report published Monday by Seyfarth Shaw LLP’s employment attorneys. The firm’s Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report analyzed rulings in 407 federal and state class actions nationwide, and ranked the top 10 settlements in government- and plaintiff-initiated class actions. In the plaintiff-initiated cases, the report ranked the top ten settlements for employment discrimination class actions, ERISA class actions and wage-and-hour class actions. “The large settlements we saw in 2006 were fueled by the settlements in the financial services cases,” said Gerald Maatman, co-chair of Seyfarth Shaw LLP's complex discrimination litigation practice group and general editor of the recent report. Maatman pointed out that wage-and-hour cases started as California-based state cases, most notably in the financial services industry, and have since spread to other states including Texas, New Jersey, New York, Florida and Illinois.Maatman pointed out that all but one of the top 10 wage-and-hour settlements were reached in California cases, most often the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. “The district is very plaintiff-friendly,” Maatman said. He predicts plaintiffs’ lawyers will be filing more cases in that district in 2007. One reason for the higher settlements is the recent emergence of the nationwide “mega-class” that includes more employees and therefore demands higher payouts, according to Maatman. “Plaintiffs lawyers are bringing more nationwide claims against employers with employees in multiple states, like UPS and IBM,” Maatman said. “The size of the class is larger so the settlement is larger.” Maatman also predicted that there will be more wage-and-hour cases filed in upcoming years. “The type of class in wage-and-hour cases tends to be bigger,” Maatman said. “So settlements will be even higher in 2007.”

"Class Certifications Faced Challenges In 2006" reports "2006 was a busy year for employment litigation, but as plaintiffs’ lawyers filed more new and sophisticated class action suits, the defense bar stepped up, taking the plaintiffs’ attorneys to task and defeating more and more class certifications. Maatman said their analysis revealed that employers were very successful in getting class certifications defeated in 2006. Maatman, who is also co-chair of the firm’s complex discrimination litigation practice group, revealed that classes in employment discrimination and wage & hour cases were the most frequently decertified. CAFA offered employers’ attorneys a new strategy, Maatman said. The defense bar could now move to have class action cases brought in state courts removed to federal court, where the judge is likely to be more sophisticated and possibly more favorable to the employer’s argument. “If you’re an employer you will do better in federal court,” Maatman said. “We will see CAFA used even more in cases in 2007. If you are a class action defense lawyer you need to know CAFA inside and out to be able to best represent your clients.” Maatman pointed out that almost every district court in the country dismissed class certification claims brought in employment discrimination cases. “Federal judges are beginning to accept arguments to dismiss classes or certify smaller classes,” Maatman said. “Employers are winning these arguments.”

"Wage-And-Hour Class Actions Continue To Grow" states that "Many employment defense attorneys agree that wage-and-hour cases have taken up more and more of their time in recent years. Now, thanks to a report published by Seyfarth Shaw LLP, there is hard evidence to back up this speculation. “The volume of wage-and-hour litigation continues to increase exponentially,” the report said. These are suits brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act which can be filed in state or federal court. “FLSA collective actions pursued in federal court were reflected by more rulings on that subject in 2006 than for employment discrimination class actions,” the report said. “The most significant growth in wage-and-hour litigation, however, is at the state court level and especially in California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Texas.” The report also pointed out that many of the wage-and-hour cases that have been filed have been in the financial services industry. “Plaintiffs attorneys initiated lawsuits against many industry leaders on behalf of brokers and financial advisors,” the report said. “They alleged that while brokers and financial advisors are paid commission and fees earned toward their employer over the course of the year, they also received draws or monthly advances against commissions; further, because the draws do not qualify as a guaranteed salary and the employees act as salespeople, plaintiffs argued that they are not covered under the FLSA administrative exemption for overtime because the brokers and financial advisors were not paid on a salary basis.” The report noted that some financial services companies decided to resolve those lawsuits in 2006. This is reflected in the report’s listing of top settlements for wage-and-hour class actions in 2006: Four of the top 10 settlements were paid out by financial services companies. Maatman was quick to point out that this trend is not going away anytime soon. “Many big companies in big industries like financial services are still being sued,” Maatman said. “We’re going to see this more and more in 2007.

01-30-2007

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Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Nick Geannacopulos Quoted in California Lawyer
The article "Contested Terrain" in the "Full Disclosure" column in the January issue of California Lawyer notes that "Decisions of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rarely make scintillating reading, but its ruling last fall parsing the meaning of "supervisor" could be used for anesthesia. Chairman Robert J. Battista referred repeatedly to Webster's dictionary to define three statutory terms—"assign," "responsibility to direct," and "independent judgment"—that are used in determining who is eligible to vote in a union-representation election and to join a bargaining unit under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The majority in the board's 3—2 vote was responding to a recent U.S. Supreme Court case holding that the board erred when it permitted nurses using ordinary professional or technical judgment to join unions. (NLRB v. Kentucky River Cmty. Care, Inc., 532 U.S. 706 (2001).) In fact, the Court and the board have struggled since the Nixon administration to distinguish management prerogatives from minor supervisory duties, especially among "charge nurses." In the recent ruling, however, Battista seemed to get lost in the details—finding, for example, that "a registered nurse who makes the 'professional judgment' that a catheter needs to be changed may be performing a supervisory function when he/she responsibly directs a nursing assistant in the performance of that work." The reason all this matters from a labor law standpoint is that supervisors are exempt from NLRA protections. In two sections of the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act—2(11) and 2(12)—Congress established a "contested terrain." Section 2(11) prohibited foremen from unionizing, but also "distinguished between straw bosses, leadmen, set-up men, and other minor supervisory employees, on the one hand, and the supervisor vested with such genuine management prerogatives as the right to hire or fire, discipline, or make effective recommendations with respect to such action." (S. Rep. No. 105, 80th Cong., 1st Sess. 4—5 (1947).) But section 2(12) explicitly recognized professionals' rights to unionize under the Act. Through the decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has tried to resolve the tension between these sections, while the NLRB generally ruled according to the political ebb and flow of its appointees. "The NLRB is a very political agency," says Nick C. Geannacopulos, a partner in the San Francisco office of Seyfarth Shaw. "Stare decisis does not always apply. Because the board is so political, we'll have to wait to see how these latest words [in Oakwood] can be massaged." Geannacopulos adds, "Whether the 'lead' is a supervisor or not is always the focus of negotiations. Sometimes if leads do not want a union, the company may let them vote in a representation election. The leads could go either way-they're the people in between.

01-30-2007

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Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre, L.L.P.

Jones Walker Plays Secret Santa to 75 Children
Jones Walker attorneys and staff provided Christmas gifts for 75 needy children as part of the “Secret Santa” Project. New Orleans partner Tara Richard served as the firm's team leader for the fifth year in a row. The project, now in its eighth year, is sponsored by the Louisiana State Bar Association and the Louisiana Bar Foundation's Community Action Committee. The program provides underprivileged children in the New Orleans metropolitan area with new bikes, sacks of toys and new clothes during the holiday season. Jones Walker is proud to support the Secret Santa Project and other organizations that are making a difference in our communities.

01-30-2007

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Jones Day, P.C.

Jones Day advise on £175 million acquisition of 90 Long Acre
Jones Day acted for the DCD Group in forming its first joint venture with the New York based Witkoff Group and, subsequently, for the joint venture in relation to the acquisition of 90 Long Acre for £175 million. 90 Long Acre is a Covent Garden landmark building of approximately 200,000 sq ft. Tenants include Scottish Equitable, Eurohypo Bank, GMAC and Cable & Wireless.

The joint venture was financed by Lehman Brothers by way of a £120 million debt facility.

Andrew Gumpert advised the joint venture on the acquisition of Long Acre with Neil Ferguson, advising DCD and Witkoff on the joint venture arrangements and the syndication agreement. Andrew Barker advised on the debt facility and Blaise Marin-Curtoud on the tax- structuring.

Olswang acted for the sellers, GE Real Estate and JER partners, on the transaction and Herbert Smith acted for Lehman.

Notes:

DCD Group encompasses a broad array of businesses that span the globe. The groups core businesses are Property and Investment Management and Trade Finance and Factoring.

The Witkoff Group is a fully integrated real estate investment firm that owns a diverse portfolio of real estate in select U.S. markets.

01-30-2007

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Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP

Gibson Dunn Strengthens International Arbitration Capability in London
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce that the firm has strengthened its litigation and international arbitration capability by recruiting Cyrus Benson as a partner in its London office. Benson previously practiced with White & Case, serving as co-head of the London international arbitration group.

"Cy is a highly accomplished lawyer whose experience and expertise will enhance our ability to assist clients with their disputes in the major arbitration forums in the world," said Ken Doran, Managing Partner of Gibson Dunn. "We have one of the strongest litigation groups in the U.S., and our U.K. practice, established in 2005, has successfully extended that capability into Europe. Cy’s addition is a key step in our strategy to expand our international dispute resolution platform."

"We are delighted to welcome Cy to our team," said James Ashe-Taylor, Co-Partner-in-Charge of the London office. "Since our U.K. Litigation and International Arbitration team was established 18 months ago with the addition of Philip Rocher, it has grown to 9 lawyers. Cy will complement well our thriving practice."

"Cy is highly regarded in the market," said Philip Rocher, head of the firm's London dispute resolution practice. "At a time when companies and governments are increasingly turning to arbitration as a means to dispute resolution, Cy's arrival allows us to offer dedicated arbitration expertise to our clients located around the world."

Benson is the latest arrival in a recent surge of partner hires in the firm’s London office. U.K. corporate partners Selina Sagayam and James Barabas joined in January 2007 from, respectively, Simmons & Simmons and Freshfields. Corporate partner Dorothee Fischer-Appelt (UK/US dual qualified) joined from Allen & Overy in November 2006, while U.K. Labor and Employment partner James Cox joined from Ashurst in September 2006.

"I am looking forward to the challenge of helping to build a litigation and arbitration practice for Gibson Dunn in London that complements the firm’s pre-eminent U.S. litigation department," said Benson.

01-30-2007

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