Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Salans

Salans advises AEW in the sale of hotel chain Dolce Chantilly to Banimmo
International law firm Salans has advised AEW Capital Management in the sale of the hotel chain Dolce Chantilly to Banimmo, a subsidiary of the group Affine.

The transaction amount reached EURO 45 million.

Salans advised AEW on the organisation of the data room and the negotiation of the sale of the totality of Dolce Chantilly's shares.

The team was composed of:

* Henry Lazarski, Antoine Mercier and Frédéric Delaffond for Real Estate aspects
* Jean-Philippe Barbé for Tax aspects
* Katell Déniel-Allioux and Angéline Duffour for Employment law aspects

01-17-2007

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Prince Lobel Glovsky & Tye LLP

Joe Edwards teaches course at Mount Ida College
The semester long course is on Current Topics in H.R.

01-17-2007

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Venable Baetjer & Howard

Venable Expands California Office with Addition of Five-Attorney Intellectual Property Group led by JoAnna Esty
Further expanding its national intellectual property practice as well as its California office, Venable LLP has recruited a prominent group of Los Angeles IP attorneys. The group, consisting of two partners, one of counsel, and two associates serves the computer and pharmaceutical industries.

JoAnna M. Esty, who recently finished a year-long stint as chair of the California State Bar IP Section Executive Committee, along with former research scientist Dr. Stefan J. Kirchanski, join the firm as partners; also added are IP Of Counsel J. Alison Grabell and associates Jenna F. Leavitt and Jennifer V. Whiting. All five lawyers join from the Los Angeles firm of Liner Yankelevitz Sunshine & Regenstrief LLP.

Ms. Esty, Dr. Kirchanski, and their colleagues arrive six months after Venable opened its Los Angeles office with 20 attorneys integrated from two established L.A. firms, Whitwell Jacoby Emhoff and Gorry Meyer & Rudd. Venable now has more than 520 attorneys nationally, with principal offices in Washington, Baltimore, New York, Los Angeles, and Virginia.

The incoming attorneys provide a full range of intellectual property representation, including litigation, licensing, and other IP transactions, as well as patent and trademark prosecution. Most also boast science and technology backgrounds, complemented by extensive experience in industry and business. Their clients include companies in life sciences, health care, information technology, telecommunications, electronics, medical products, and environmental services.

“This is a talented group of IP lawyers, infused with a strong entrepreneurial spirit,” said Venable Managing Partner Karl A. Racine. “We’re pleased to welcome them as we continue to broaden our California practice.” He noted that Venable’s California search committee became first acquainted with the Liner firm last year but learned only recently through a recruiter that Ms. Esty, Dr. Kirchanski, and the other attorneys were looking to join a national firm.

“When we learned JoAnna Esty and Stefan Kirchanski might be available, we decided to act quickly,” Mr. Racine said. “It’s gratifying that these two experienced IP practitioners, with strong science and business backgrounds, saw the benefits of Venable’s national platform as a means of expanding their client service.”

Ms. Esty regularly litigates complex civil IP matters in federal and state courts on behalf of public and privately-held companies. She also represents clients in administrative proceedings before state, federal, and regulatory agencies. In addition, she handles arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution procedures.

Among the diverse matters Ms. Esty has handled are the litigation of patent infringement disputes in various technology areas; the acquisition of a large computer company from its parent; licensing of computer software and hardware systems; drafting of joint research and development agreements for pharmaceutical companies; and counseling businesses on e-commerce issues.

After many years of private legal practice, Ms. Esty joined the management team of Disney’s Imagineering, Research and Development Division. While she was there, this group developed leading edge technologies, focusing on virtual reality and computer graphics systems and computer innovations, robotics and electronics, materials and environmental sciences, and even ride systems for Disney’s theme parks. Ms. Esty, who, in addition to her engineering degree has an MBA and has completed significant graduate work in computer science, began her career as an engineer working on chemical manufacturing, fuel technologies, pollution control, environmental protection, and hazardous waste remediation projects.

Dr. Kirchanski, who holds a doctorate in botany, focuses his practice on patent and trademark prosecution, intellectual property opinion letters, intellectual property due diligence, licensing and development agreements, and intellectual property litigation support.

Prior to entering the law, Dr. Kirchanski served as a research and development manager for Becton Dickinson Immunocytometry Systems. He was also a research scientist for Ortho Diagnostic Systems, as well as a research fellow at Harvard University and an assistant professor at University of Texas at Austin.

Ms. Esty is currently serving as the co-editor of New Matter, the periodical published by the IP Section of the State Bar of California. She is also co-chair and a moderator for the IP Section’s upcoming program to spotlight judges and others from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, scheduled for February 20, 2007 in Marina Del Rey, California.


“We enjoyed terrific success with our prior firm and, on a personal level, are sorry to leave,” Ms. Esty said. “We recently had been looking for a firm that could support and grow our work nationally, and provide additional access to related practice groups, including business transactions, regulatory, the life sciences, and other areas.”

“After considering a number of options, Venable represented a great growth opportunity for our group,” she added. “The firm has a well-rounded, mature IP practice with national litigation and transactional capabilities, and has a number of attorneys with advanced science backgrounds that enhance a successful IP practice. Plus, the firm has a terrific client roster that covers all the industries where we have particular experience. Knowing that it had made a commitment to build a West Coast practice sealed our decision that Venable was the right fit.”

Timothy J. Gorry, partner in charge of Venable’s Los Angeles office, noted that the addition of five IP lawyers would complement well the firm’s existing business base on the West Coast.

“Bringing in a strong patent and trademark team really enhances our existing litigation work, especially given our representation of entertainment, media, and technology clients,” he said. “But JoAnna and Stefan also work on a great variety of general patent and trademark matters that will boost our ability to provide pro-active IP counsel, a critical component of a West Coast practice. And their respective backgrounds in applied science and research and development bring tremendous value-added skills in pursuing new IP work from a variety of business sectors.”

Ms. Esty received her J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law (1982) and her MBA from Pepperdine University (1994). She received her Bachelor's in Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Ms. Esty is currently doing graduate work in computer science at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Dr. Kirchanski received his J.D. from Loyola of Los Angeles (1992), and his Ph.D. in botany (1974) and B.A. (1969) from the University of California, Berkeley.

The following attorneys are also joining Venable with Ms. Esty and Dr. Kirchanski:

J. Alison Grabell (Of Counsel)

J. Alison Grabell’s practice includes U.S. and foreign trademark prosecution, copyright prosecution, IP litigation and inter partes practice before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, enforcement of trademark and domain name rights, and client counseling.

Ms. Grabell is a member of the Executive Committee of the California State Bar’s Intellectual Property Law Section and liaison to its Trademark Standing Committee. She is an Articles Editor of New Matter, the official publication of the California State Bar’s IP Section. She has served as co-chair of the Trademark Standing Committee and as co-chair of the annual “Trademark Office Comes to California” and “Copyright Office Comes to California” conferences.

She is a member of the Blue Car Committee of the Beverly Hills Bar Association, which partners with Belmont High School in Los Angeles to provide volunteers to teach inner city students about the legal process and profession. Ms. Grabell was a member of the first Beverly Hills Bar Association delegation to visit Havana, Cuba in December 2004 as part of a ground-breaking professional exchange authorized by the U.S. Department of State.

Before practicing law, Ms. Grabell served in the U.S. Foreign Service, as cultural attaché in Paris and Vienna, press attaché in Geneva and Belgrade, and Executive Assistant to the Director of the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. In 1984 she was a government affairs/protocol officer for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee.

Ms. Grabell received her J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law, her Master's in International Public Policy from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College.

Jenna F. Leavitt (Associate)

Jenna Leavitt concentrates on IP litigation, technology and Internet related matters, and entertainment law. Prior to law school, Ms. Leavitt worked at Motorola in the Space and Systems Technology Group, where she designed computer hardware and software solutions, managed and administered email systems, developed programs for proprietary software, and designed departmental web sites. She has worked in the technology industry for many years, gaining extensive experience in computer programming, software and hardware design, implementation and support, and a variety of Internet-related matters. A regional chair for the Intellectual Technology Law Association, Ms. Leavitt has written and presented extensively on technology law issues.

Ms. Leavitt received her J.D. (2000) and her B.A. (1995) from the University of Arizona.

Jennifer V. Whiting (Associate)

Jennifer V. Whiting has experience negotiating computer software and hardware license agreements, product license agreements, distribution agreements, development and manufacturing agreements, and numerous related IP agreements, including those governing Internet policies. She has also handled copyright and trademark prosecution and related IP transactional work, as well as IP related litigation. She has worked on domain name dispute resolution, trademark opposition proceedings, general IP counseling, and the discovery, motion, and pretrial stages of IP litigation. She also has experience in corporate law, entertainment licensing, and feature film production.

Ms. Whitting received her J.D. from the University of Houston School of Law (1998) and her B.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles (1995)

01-17-2007

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

R. Lee Christie and Tracy Williams Join Sidley Austin LLP as Partners
R. Lee Christie and Tracy Williams join Sidley Austin LLP as partners in the Firm’s Tax Group, resident in the Chicago office. Their practices will focus principally on insurance tax law.

Lee is a 1984 graduate of Harvard Law School and recently served as Chair of the ABA Tax Section Committee on Insurance Companies. Tracy graduated from Harvard Law School in 1994 and is a frequent speaker on insurance and other tax issues.

“The addition of Lee and Tracy is an expression of our commitment to serving our insurance industry clients,” said Thomas A. Cole, chair of the Firm’s Executive Committee.

Sharp Sorensen, Firm-wide co-head of the tax group added, “Lee and Tracy each brings a wealth of experience in the insurance tax area and will be invaluable in strengthening our ability to meet the needs of our insurance and other clients. They are terrific additions to our national tax practice.

01-17-2007

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Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Dennis Greenstein Quoted in The New York Times
The Real Estate Q/A in the January 14 New York Times addresses the issue of co-op boards of directors. A reader asks: "I have lived in a small Manhattan co-op for the last 15 years, and we have never had an election for a board of directors. Every time a board member leaves, the president appoints someone to the post without getting approval from the other board members. He has also held meetings without notifying some board members and has hired contractors without getting multiple bids or even showing the contract to the board for a vote. Should I be concerned?"

" 'What’s going on here is highly irregular,' said Dennis H. Greenstein, a Manhattan co-op and condominium lawyer. Mr. Greenstein said that the board president should not be appointing board members, scheduling meetings and approving contracts on his own. More important, he said, the state’s Business Corporation Law requires corporations to hold an annual meeting to elect directors. And under most co-op bylaws, Mr. Greenstein said, if such a meeting has not been held, shareholders holding 25 percent of the shares can demand a special meeting to elect directors. In addition, Mr. Greenstein said, if the co-op no longer has enough properly elected directors to conduct the business of the board, and there has been no election of directors one month after the date specified in the bylaws — or if no date is specified, for more than 13 months after the last annual meeting — the board must schedule an election within two weeks. If it does not, shareholders holding 10 percent of the shares can demand a meeting to elect directors. That meeting must be held within 60 to 90 days, and the co-op’s secretary must give notice of the meeting date within five business days. If the secretary does not do so, any shareholder who signed the demand can issue notice of the meeting.

01-17-2007

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Proskauer & Rose, LLP

Proskauer Rose Represents Major League Soccer in Deal to Bring International Soccer Superstar David Beckham to the Los Angeles Galaxy
We have had a long relationship with Major League Soccer and are extremely proud to be a part of this deal. David Beckham is a true global superstar and his signing with MLS should be a defining moment in the history of this great sport in the United States," said Bradley Ruskin, partner at Proskauer Rose and co-chair of the firm's sports practice.

The deal is unique in professional sports in that MLS functions as a single entity when signing new players, making them employees of the league as opposed to their individual teams. In other major sports leagues, player signings are typically negotiated and finalized by the individual team operators.

In addition to Mr. Ruskin, the Proskauer team representing MLS includes; Joseph Leccese, partner and co-chair of the firm's sports practice, who has been involved in numerous important and high-profile transactions on behalf of professional sports leagues and teams including the recent sale of Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals; Robert Batterman, partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department who serves as chief labor counsel for MLS and the National Hockey League; Howard Robbins, partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department who works with both MLS and the NHL; and Jon Oram, an associate in the Corporate Department and member of the firm's sports practice.

For more than 40 years, Proskauer has represented sports leagues and teams in all aspects of their operations. The firm's lawyers have: advised numerous purchasers and prospective purchasers of professional sports teams; handled numerous sports-related financings with respect to teams, leagues and facilities; negotiated stadium and arena leases and development agreements; advised on joint ventures between sports entities and media and technology companies; negotiated collective bargaining agreements with players, referees, umpires and other game officials; and handled litigations on the panoply of issues affecting the sports business including antitrust, ADA, intellectual property, licensing, bankruptcy, insurance coverage, construction disputes, complex commercial agreements and collective bargaining issues.

Proskauer serves as outside counsel on a broad range of matters to the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the ATP Tour, the WTA Tour, the WNBA, the New York Jets, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Florida Marlins and the New Jersey Devils as well as their respective marketing and media affiliates. The firm also represents media companies, commercial and investment banks, insurers and other financial institutions in connection with sports-related transactions. In addition, many Proskauer alumni, including NBA Commissioner David Stern and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, hold senior business and legal positions with a variety of sports leagues, sports teams and other sports-related entities.

01-17-2007

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Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

South Carolina Bar Honors Stephanie Lewis.
The South Carolina Bar will bestow a 2006 Pro Bono Award on Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough Associate Stephanie Lewis as an outstanding volunteer lawyer at its House of Delegates meeting on Thursday, January 25, during the 2007 Bar Convention at Charleston Place. The awards recognize lawyers for their significant contributions and genuine commitment to access to justice for all South Carolina citizens.

Ms. Lewis practices in the area of employment and labor law. She was instrumental in founding and developing the Crisis Ministries Legal Clinic in Charleston and organizes attorney participation and client services for residents at Crisis Ministries, the largest homeless shelter in South Carolina. Through the clinic, attorneys and law students work together to provide representation to the homeless on legal issues including social security/disability matters, landlord/tenant disputes, domestic issues, tax issues, trusts and estates, health care power of attorney forms and restraining orders.

"Stephanie's work with the Legal Clinic exemplifies the core values of pro bono service. Her extraordinary personal representation of clients and coordination of other attorneys to staff cases and counsel clients has made the Legal Clinic an unprecedented success by bettering the lives of Charleston's homeless community," said her nominators for the award, Mary Abigail Edwards of the Charleston School of Law and Jeff Yungman of Crisis Ministries.

Ms. Lewis also serves on the board of directors of Crisis Ministries and provides further hands-on service by routinely serving meals at the shelter on Saturday mornings.

In addition to her work with the homeless, Ms. Lewis serves as a mentor to students at the Charleston School of Law and develops and presents continuing legal education programs in conjunction with Crisis Ministries, Nelson Mullins, the Charleston School of Law, Pro Bono Legal Services and the S.C. Appleseed Legal Justice Center. Since joining private practice in 2004, she has provided more than 1,000 hours of pro bono service.

While attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law, Ms. Lewis helped build the foundation for the school's nationally recognized Pro Bono Program, which is nearing its celebration of 10 years of service. "The fairly unique law school model is based on Stephanie's three years of dedication and hard work. She helped create this model and the vision for the Program," said Sylvia K. Novinsky, Associate Dean for Students Affairs at UNC Chapel Hill.

01-17-2007

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