Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Thompson & Knight LLP

T&K Attorney Publishes Article on Traps of Selling Properties "As Is"
The leading Texas Supreme Court case holding that the presence of an "as is" provision in a contract does not necessarily prevent the buyer from recovering damages for defective conditions means sellers of commercial properties should address specific issues when dealing with their buyers and drafting their "as is" provisions in contracts, according to Thompson & Knight attorney Thad Armstrong. His article, which provides tips to avoid potential liability , was published in the January 19, 2007 issue of the Houston Business Journal.

Armstrong indicates, "The question whether a particular 'as is' provision will be enforced cannot be answered in any magic language in the contract. Instead, as stated by the Texas Supreme Court, enforceability will be determined by examining 'the totality of the circumstances surrounding the agreement.

01-29-2007

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Thompson & Knight LLP

T&K Attorney to Serve on Executive Committee of U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development
The international law firm of Thompson & Knight is pleased to announce that James C. Morriss III has been selected to serve on the Executive Committee of the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD), a non-profit association of businesses whose purpose is to deliver highly focused, collaborative projects that help its members and partners demonstrate leadership in the United States on sustainable development and realize business value.

The Executive Committee (EC) of the US BCSD is comprised of the Executive Director, the Chairman, and other representatives of member businesses that have been selected by the membership. The EC oversees the US BCSD management and meets on a periodic basis to discuss operational issues.

Morriss is a Partner and Practice Leader of the Environmental Law Practice Group in the Firm's Austin office. He focuses his practice on environmental permitting, compliance counseling, legislative lobbying, and administrative and judicial litigation before local, state, and federal environmental agencies and state and federal courts.

Thompson & Knight is a member of the US BCSD, which was launched in 2002 and is a regional partner of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). The WBCSD is a global network of 180 international companies with members from 30 countries and 20 major industrial sectors.

01-29-2007

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Proskauer & Rose, LLP

Richard B. Myrus Joins Proskauer Rose as Senior Counsel in Boston-Based Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group
We're very happy to finally be able to bring Rich to the firm. We worked together with Rich when we were at Testa, Hurwitz, and we welcome him 'home' now. He is a highly-accomplished litigator with a broad and varied base of expertise and he will be a significant addition to our complex litigation practice," said Steven Bauer, head of Proskauer's Boston office and a partner in its Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group.

Proskauer's Boston-based Intellectual Property Litigation Group was ranked as one of the top IP practices in Boston by Chambers USA in both 2005 and 2006 and is fully integrated into the firm's international IP platform. Mr. Myrus' addition brings the Boston-based group to over 30 attorneys dedicated solely to handling complex technology-related matters, including disputes relating to patents, trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks and technology-based licenses. Its attorneys have a wealth and diversity of experience in litigation, patent office practice, and alternative dispute resolution procedures in courts and patent offices worldwide.

Mr. Myrus joins Proskauer from the Boston office of Goodwin Procter, where he was a litigation partner responsible for running all aspects of complex civil litigation matters including patent infringement and trade secret cases. Over the course of his career, Mr. Myrus has participated in a range of litigation matters, including patent infringement trials, licensing disputes, government investigations, securities class actions and white collar defense. Before joining Goodwin, Mr. Myrus had been elected to partnership in the Litigation Department of Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault; was a Special Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County, Massachusetts; and served as a law clerk to Judge William C. Conner in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Before beginning his legal career, Mr. Myrus was a lieutenant in the United States Navy where, as a naval aviator, he received the United Nations Humanitarian Service Medal for the rescue of Vietnamese refugees in the South China Sea and the National Defense Service Medal. He received his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, his M.A. from the University of California, San Diego, and his B.A. from Columbia University.

Mr. Myrus joins a number of other significant lateral additions who moved to Proskauer's Boston office from Boston-based firms in the last year including Ian Blumenstein (corporate finance and high-yield debt), Peter Antoszyk (finance, junior capital and bankruptcy) and Michael Harrington (private equity and corporate transactions).

01-29-2007

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Proskauer & Rose, LLP

Proskauer Rose Announces 14 Attorneys Named Southern California Super Lawyers
Southern California attorneys are selected for the list based on nominations by their peers and independent research by the editors of Law & Politics magazine. The list will appear as a special advertising section in the February issue of Los Angeles Magazine and in the February 4 Orange County and Los Angeles editions of The New York Times.

"We are excited to have such a strong showing on the list once again and I congratulate all of the attorneys named," said Bert Deixler, partner and head of Proskauer's Los Angeles office. "As our California presence continues to grow, we have been able to consistently hire the best practitioners and this list is a great affirmation of their talent and ability."

Proskauer's Southern California-based attorneys named in this year's Super Lawyers are:

Alternative Dispute Resolution
Anthony Pacheco

Banking
Neil Cummings

Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights
Martin Zohn

Business Litigation
Scott Cooper
Bert Deixler
Michael Firestein

Employment & Labor
Harold Brody
Anthony Oncidi
Arthur Silbergeld
Mark Theodore

Entertainment & Sports
Fredric Bernstein

Securities & Corporate Finance
Michael Woronoff

Tax
Mitchell Gaswirth
Raj Tanden

The Los Angeles office of Proskauer Rose delivers a full range of sophisticated legal services on matters arising in California, throughout the country and abroad. Drawing on the breadth of the Firm's expertise, the office accesses the resources of over 700 attorneys throughout the Firm's eight offices to provide the highest quality legal services to clients in the most efficient manner.

Proskauer recently announced a significant expansion of its rapidly-growing Los Angeles corporate transactional practice with the additions of Eric Remensperger, who joined as partner and head of the West Coast Real Estate Department, and Raj Tanden, who joined as a partner in the Tax Department.

01-29-2007

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Piper Rudnick, L.L.P.

DLA Piper launches global Sustainability Initiative
DLA Piper today announced the launch of its global Sustainability Initiative, a business-wide plan designed to actively reduce the impact of its operations on the environment.

The Sustainability Initiative, launched across all 62 of DLA Piper's offices in 24 countries, includes a commitment to reduce environmental impacts in four areas: energy, waste, business travel and procurement. Unlike initiatives that focus exclusively on offsetting, a key feature of DLA Piper's initiative is ensuring that its adverse impacts on the environment are reduced at the source by setting annual targets and objectives which are fully audited using an accredited system. For certain necessary business travel, emissions will be offset by purchasing carbon credits. By setting annual carbon emission reduction targets and introducing a range of conservation measures, DLA Piper aims to make all its business operations around the world more sustainable.

"The status of the planet's ecological health is a growing global concern," said Senator George J Mitchell, Chairman of DLA Piper. "The goal of this initiative is to create a culture of sustainability and environmental responsibility across all our offices. We are extending our commitment beyond basic environmental compliance in order to significantly reduce, not just offset, our negative impact on the world's ecosystems."

Managing the Environmental Impact

DLA Piper's Sustainability Initiative uses ISO 14001 as a framework for tackling its critical environmental challenges. The standard is an international set of principles that guide the development of a robust environmental management system and it will be used by DLA Piper to establish measures to achieve continual improvement across all its offices. The UK offices have been ISO 14001 certified since 2003, and DLA Piper aims to achieve certification worldwide in 2007.

DLA Piper will implement carbon neutrality with respect to part of its business travel by purchasing carbon credits to offset emissions. Simultaneously, it is implementing policies and guidelines to help reduce the adverse environmental impact of short-and-long distance travel, for example by using videoconferencing facilities more widely and encouraging efficient travel. Other measures – tailored to specific local offices – will be introduced to reduce the impact of employees' daily travel to and from the office.

The emission reduction targets set across DLA Piper's four target areas will be achieved by significantly expanding current practices, such as recycling and energy conversion, and introducing new eco-friendly procedures. Once reduction targets have been established for each office, progress will be measured and reported to the Global Board.

"All businesses have to now do what they can to tackle their impact on the environment and we have developed an Initiative which I think sets a new benchmark in the way professional services should address sustainability challenges," said Nigel Knowles, joint CEO, DLA Piper. "We have scaled up the environmental activities already in place in some offices in order to embrace a more robust, challenging plan which involves all our offices."

Creating a Culture of Sustainability

As DLA Piper announced plans to introduce its global Sustainability Initiative it is also celebrating an internal environmental awareness week designed to encourage and motivate staff to create a culture of sustainability in each office.

In line with its plans to help raise awareness about sustainability issues, DLA Piper is hosting an external climate change conference in Sheffield, UK on 7 February 2007. The conference, called 'Cooling the Planet', is one of a week-long series of events taking place in Sheffield to raise awareness about environmental issues and will feature former US Vice-President Al Gore and Senator George Mitchell as keynote speakers.

"Our global presence continues to grow and it's imperative that we expand our environmental leadership in order to hold ourselves accountable throughout each of these markets," added Francis B Burch, Jr, joint CEO, DLA Piper. "Just as important, we hope to encourage our people and other businesses to embrace similar sustainability measures."

New Pro Bono Project Focuses on Global Warming in Africa

New Perimeter, DLA Piper's international pro bono affiliate, also announced today that it has begun work on a new Global Warming Project. The project is designed to enable small groups of subsistence farmers in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to generate carbon credits through afforestation and reforestation that can be sold as credits to offset greenhouse gas emissions. The result, expected to come into fruition over several years, will be to reduce the devastating effects of deforestation, drought, and famine in these areas of extreme poverty by providing long-term revenue for the small group participants through the sale of greenhouse gas credits.

DLA Piper, through its global presence and alliances around the world, will provide a range of pro bono legal services to the small groups of subsistence farmers in coordination with the International Small Group and Tree Planting Program (TIST). DLA Piper will grapple with the complex legal issues facing the subsistence farmers including, land tenure and ownership issues, gender equality and the contractual mechanisms needed to create and protect the rights of farmers in generating and selling the carbon credits to global customers.

"This project responds to key environmental, economic and gender issues facing subsistence farmers throughout Africa," said Sheldon Krantz, a DLA Piper partner and director of New Perimeter. "Providing on-the- ground resources and legal counsel is the first step in bridging these issues."

Once a viable model is created in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, New Perimeter will consider opportunities to recreate the project model in countries all over Africa and the rest of the world

01-29-2007

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Morrison & Foerster, LLP

Technology Partner Chris Coulter Joins Morrison & Foerster London
Chris Coulter is joining the London office of Morrison & Foerster as a partner in the firm’s Technology Transactions Group.

Mr. Coulter specialises in information technology and intellectual property law. He has a particular focus on commercial transactions involving users and suppliers of technology and technology-enabled services, including outsourcing and procurement, services provision, systems development and software licensing. In addition, Mr. Coulter has advised on data protection/privacy, e-commerce and the IP/IT aspects of M&A transactions and joint ventures. He also advises on on-line data services, content licensing and electronic publishing.

Mr. Coulter joins Morrison & Foerster from Ashurst, where he was a partner.

Leading UK legal directories Chambers and Legal 500 acknowledge Mr. Coulter’s TMT expertise and he is the coordinating editor and co-author of the E-commerce volume of Butterworths Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents and the editor and co-author of the Computer Contracts section of Sweet & Maxwell's Practical Commercial Precedents.

Alistair Maughan, who leads Morrison & Foerster's Technology Group in London and also chairs the firm's Global Sourcing Group said: "Chris is an excellent lawyer and, obviously, is from a first rate firm. We are delighted to have been able to attract someone of his background to join Morrison & Foerster. Morrison & Foerster has a very strong reputation for technology work in the UK, Asia and the U.S. Chris’s arrival will further enhance this reputation."

Keith Wetmore, Chair of Morrison & Foerster, said: "Recruiting Chris further enhances our strengths in technology and outsourcing transactions. Our aim is to stay at the forefront of law firms capable of doing the most complex technology and outsourcing deals in multiple jurisdictions."

Morrison & Foerster's Technology Transactions Group advises on all matters relating to the development, purchase, sale or licensing of technology. The group offers expertise in both intellectual property and commercial law, as well as business acumen, technology savvy, and knowledge of industry best practices. The firm's multi-disciplinary Global Sourcing Group is comprised of over 60 experienced sourcing lawyers in our U.S., European and Asian offices who provide a seamless global service on all aspects of outsourcing.

The firm’s technology and outsourcing clients include HM Revenue & Customs, Skandia, Yahoo!, Novell, Amadeus, Time Warner Cable, Warner Music Group and Royal & SunAlliance.

01-29-2007

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Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, P.L.C.

Miller Canfield to Assist in Michigan Talent Pool Retention by Offering Free Legal Services to Qualified Start-Ups
Following Pfizer’s announced pull-out from Ann Arbor, the law firm of Miller Canfield anticipates a significant growth spurt in new business ventures in biotech and other emerging technologies. As former Pfizer professionals develop spin-off businesses, the firm is offering to incorporate and organize – at no cost for legal services – qualified start-up ventures seeking to commercialize their emerging technologies and grow their businesses in Michigan.

To handle the emerging venture work, Miller Canfield has expanded and reorganized its Venture and Technology Practice by adding two experienced corporate and finance partners, Michael VanHemert and Jeffrey LaBine, to its Ann Arbor office, and the firm is actively looking to add biotech and intellectual property lawyers.

“A strong legal foundation is very important to a new business’ success in accessing growth capital,” said Michael VanHemert, who has over 20 years’ experience in corporate financings, governance and securities issuances, as well as mergers and acquisitions. “Our goal is to help emerging technology companies establish that foundation while controlling their organizational stage legal costs – all in anticipation of meeting the expectations of subsequent investors, lenders and other constituencies.”

Paul Dimond, senior counsel in Miller Canfield’s Ann Arbor office and former Special Assistant to President Clinton for economic policy and former director of the National Economic Council added, “With the University of Michigan, one of the top ten research universities in the world, as our anchor, Ann Arbor is uniquely positioned to generate, attract and retain talent and new inventions. These are the two ingredients essential to thriving in the increasingly global knowledge economy. Pfizer's pull-out is a wake-up call to all of us that we need to welcome and to support entrepreneurship, starting with ex-Warner-Lambert, Park-Davis and now Pfizer researchers who want to stay in Ann Arbor and see their inventions come to fruition right here.”

The firm has good reason to remain optimistic about the prospects of new growth in Ann Arbor. It was involved in a similar situation in Kalamazoo, and biotech and venture attorneys such as Harold Decker and Phillip Torrence in the firm’s Kalamazoo office, are assisting the team in Ann Arbor. In 2003, Miller Canfield made a commitment to Southwest Michigan First Corporation’s “Stick Around” Campaign, designed to assist ex-Pharmacia workers who wanted to remain in the Kalamazoo community. This included temporary pro-bono services by local attorneys. At least partly as a result of the campaign, it is estimated by Southwest Michigan First that more than 200 scientists stayed in the Kalamazoo area; nearly 75 are running their own business or working for start-ups in Kalamazoo; and more than two dozen new businesses were launched.

In certain cases, the firm also will offer discounted or flat-rate packages for intellectual property work including prosecuting patents, copyrights and trademarks, procuring IP, as well as other fee arrangements for future rounds of external financing.

Miller Canfield represents a growing number of businesses in emerging sectors important to Michigan's economy: life sciences and biotechnology; automotive technology; alternative energy; software and I.T.; and homeland security and defense.

01-29-2007

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