Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC

Roundtable Discussion Focuses On Supply Chain Management Issues
Supply chain management has become big business in North Carolina. The state’s numerous transportation resources – ports, multiple Interstate highways, three international airports and extensive rail lines – make transporting, distributing and storing materials and finished goods a natural business in the Tar Heel State.
Womble Carlyle and Business North Carolina magazine hosted a Dec. 5 roundtable discussion in the firm’s Greensboro office on the challenges and promises of supply chain management, featuring some of the state’s most knowledgeable leaders in the field.

Womble Carlyle attorney Greg Chabon, a leader of the firm’s Supply Chain Management Team, represented the firm in the discussion.
Also participating in the roundtable were:

* Paul Clayton, Vice President of Global Logistics for GlaxoSmithKline;
* Yom Eagar, Chief Executive Officer of the North Carolina Port Authority;
* Tim Martin, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Management for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.;
* Greg Plemmons, Vice President of Old Dominion Global.
* Arthur Murray, Senior Editor of Business North Carolina, moderated the discussion.

This is the third of four roundtable discussions held by Womble Carlyle and Business North Carolina, each focusing on a different topic of interest to the state’s business leaders. The first two roundtables dealt with Life Sciences and Economic Development respectively.
Topics of discussion at the Supply Chain Management Roundtable included:

* The trend of organizing supply chain management efforts around a single senior executive;
* The role North Carolina’s colleges and universities can play in promoting the supply chain management sector;
* What vendors and service providers need to know to be better teammates in supply chain management;
* What the state can do to help companies in these efforts.
Reprints of the article will be available following publication.

12-22-2006

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White & Case, LLP

White & Case Wins Fourth Award in a Row for Transportation Finance
White & Case has been named Road Law Firm of the Year at the 2006 Jane's Transport Finance Awards in London. The Firm was awarded the accolade for its work on the $3.8 billion Indiana Toll Road project, the largest highway privatisation to date in the US.

During this project the Firm represented ITR Concession Company LLC, owned by Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, S.A. and Macquarie Infrastructure Group, which will lease, operate, maintain and toll drivers on the Indiana Toll Road for 75 years in exchange for an upfront rent payment. The deal has created a myriad of construction jobs in Indiana and it will help pay for hundreds of state highway projects over the next ten years.

"The significance of this project is that it has served as a model for other states to follow, as they explore public-private partnerships to help fund much needed infrastructure projects," commented White & Case project finance partner Ned Neaher. "We expect to see this trend of private participation in public infrastructure to continue, and we are proud to see that our work in this area has received market recognition."

White & Case project finance partner Ned Neaher and associate Tomer Pinkusiewicz led the Firm's team, working closely with partner Linda Carlisle, counsel Maury Mechanick and associate Geoff Lanning in Washington, D.C., and counsel Paul Milmed and associates Peter Trimarchi, Joe Calascibetta, Carlos Canon, Imraan Mir and Nicolas Stein in New York.

This year's award brings up a quadruple for White & Case at the Jane's Transport Finance awards, with the Firm having been named road, rail, shipping and aviation law firm of the year in the last three years.

In 2005, White & Case was awarded the Rail Finance Law Award for advising a consortium of five major banks in the financing of a high-speed rail link between Perpignan, France and Figueras, Spain, as well as receiving the Airport Finance Law Award for advising an international consortium in connection with the development of, and financing for, the new Quito International Airport Project in Ecuador. In 2004 the Firm was named Shipping Finance Law Firm of the Year for its involvement in Norwegian vessel owner-operator Frontline's mammoth acquisition of 47 vessels. White & Case advised Nordea Bank Norge ASA and Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. as Bookrunners in relation to the provision of a US $1,058,000,000 credit facility to Ship Finance International Ltd. (SFIL), a special purpose company established by Frontline.

Jane's Transport Finance, part of Jane's Information Group in London, is a globally renowned source of transport finance information for both the debt and equity markets in the aircraft, shipping, road and rail sectors

The award was announced during the 6th Annual Jane's Transport Finance Awards, which took place in London on December 7, 2006.

12-22-2006

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Mayer Brown LLP

Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP Advises TransCanada in its Acquisition of El Paso Subsidiaries
Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw attorneys advised their client, TransCanada Corporation (TransCanada), on its plans to significantly expand its continental natural gas pipeline and storage operations by acquiring ANR Pipeline Company and ANR Storage Company (collectively, ANR) and an additional 3.55 percent interest in Great Lakes Gas Transmission Limited Partnership (Great Lakes) from El Paso Corporation. The total purchase price is US $3.4 billion, subject to certain closing adjustments, and includes US $457 million of assumed debt.

Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw partners Marc F. Sperber, D. Michael Murray, and William R. Kucera led the team working closely with associates Neill P. Jakobe and Masha Khersonskaya. Partner James R. Barry advised on Tax Transactions, Counsels Kim Leffert and George N. Polydoros advised on Labor and Real Estate respectively, and lastly associate Edward A. Pionke worked on ERISA/Employee Benefits.

12-22-2006

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Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps, LLP

Luce Forward Attorneys Linda M. Rottman and Bruce S. Ross Provide Breach of Fiduciary Trust Expertise in Prominent California Case
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Henry W. Shatford on December 9, 2006 entered an $100,386,511 judgment in damages, including $5,000,000 in punitive damages, against Neil Kadisha, a principal of Omninet Capital Group in In re: Uzyel Irrevocable Trust No.1 and In re: Uzyel Irrevocable Trust No. 2.

The case arose from Kadisha’s actions while a trustee of funds earmarked for Dafna Uzyel, the widow of Kadisha’s friend, and her young children. The trusts, which gave Kadisha effective control over Uzyel’s assets, were established at the urging of Kadisha and his personal attorney who represented both Kadisha, as trustee, and Uzyel, as beneficiary – creating a conflict of interest.
The case was conducted over more than seven years, including four in trial. “This well-supported and articulate decision by Judge Shatford marks the culmination of a highly complex four year trial and resulted from a Herculean effort to uncover Kadisha’s perjury, backdating of documents and embezzlements as a trustee for personal gain, without regard to the welfare of the beneficiaries,” said Samuel Krane of Krane & Smith in Encino, the lead trial attorney, who, along with Linda Rottman of Luce Forward, represented, Dafna Uzyel and her two children, Izzet and Joelle.

The investigation into Kadisha’s wrongdoing required Krane & Smith to spend more than 12,000 hours analyzing the personal and business records of Kadisha, Qualcomm and the Trusts, pretrial discovery and trying the case. The trial included more than 20,000 pages of trial testimony and 3,000 exhibits. Kadisha invested an estimated $5 to 7 million on his legal defense.

Deceptions uncovered by Krane & Smith and presented at trial included back-dated trial documents and promissory notes, million dollar “loans” to nonexistent individuals, and intentionally misleading accountings of millions of dollars in embezzled funds, some of which was used to buy Qualcomm stock.
The Court noted that Kadisha took advantage of the widow’s lack of financial and legal sophistication, and her limited understanding of English, to compel her to sign documents against her interests, including alleged amendments absolving Kadisha of his responsibilities as a trustee, and giving him total control of Uzyel’s assets.

Judge Shatford found that Kadisha intentionally embezzled funds from two trusts for which he served as trustee; engaged in transactions prohibited by conflict-of-interest rules for his personal benefit; and repeatedly lied to hide his activities. “Kadisha was no more than a common thief,” said Judge Shatford in his decision. “[His] defenses rest beyond denials but upon a grossly contrived conception that a thief can steal money and keep the benefits.”

”The extent of his deception, and of his perjury before the Court, is staggering and particularly disturbing given his current and ongoing involvements in the business community and various charities,” said Rottman, who provided expertise regarding the breach of fiduciary duty issues in the case. While trustee, Kadisha also was a Qualcomm director and a member of its audit committee and currently serves as a director of various private companies and charities. In 2001, he was included on Forbes magazine’s list of the 400 wealthiest people in the United States.

In addition to its award of $100,386,511 in compensatory damages, $5 million in punitive damages, the Court has indicated it will award attorneys’ fees of approximately $12,000,000.

12-22-2006

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Kelley, Drye & Warren, LLP

Kelley Drye Represents Specialty Metals Producers in Berry Amendment Challenge
Kelley Drye Collier Shannon represented American specialty metals producers in their successful bid to preserve and strengthen the specialty metals provision of the Berry Amendment.

The Berry Amendment requires the Defense Department to purchase only American-made varieties of certain foods, textiles, and metals. It is intended to protect those domestic industries vital to the U.S. military so that crucial supplies could not be cut off during war. The specialty metals provision of the Amendment recently had been challenged by the aerospace industry and other defense-supplying industries, which sought permission to use cheaper foreign-smelted metals in military equipment.

International Trade and Customs Partners Skip Hartquist and Larry Lasoff, along with Dana Wood, Director of Government Relations, argued on behalf of specialty metals producers that the protections afforded by the Berry Amendment were crucial to the continued existence of the domestic strategic metals industry, and in turn, the national security of the United States.

The final bill, which was approved by both the House and Senate on September 29th, as part of the FY 2007 Defense Authorization Act, placed specialty metals in their own subsection of the Berry Amendment, subject to a unique set of provisions that strengthened and clarified existing law. The industry has hailed the legislation as a major success.

12-22-2006

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Kelley, Drye & Warren, LLP

U.S. Government Imposes Preliminary Duties on Polyester Staple Fiber From China
The United States Department of Commerce announced the imposition of “antidumping” duties on imports of certain polyester staple fiber from China. The Commerce Department calculated preliminary antidumping margins ranging from 44.30 percent to 4.39 percent of the value of Chinese imports. Three Chinese producers were singled out in the preliminary determination: Cixi Jiangnan Chemical Fibers Company (15.30 percent), Far Eastern Industries Shanghai (10.45 percent), and Ningbo Dafa Chemical Fibers Company (4.39 percent).

Following this decision, U.S. Customs and Border Protection must now require importers to post a bond or cash deposit in the amount of the duties, pending the final determination in the investigation and announcement of final duty amounts, which is expected in May 2007.

"Today's announcement by the Commerce Department signals a return of fair pricing and competition in the marketplace," said Paul C. Rosenthal, lead counsel for the petitioners and Managing Partner of Kelley Drye Collier Shannon in Washington, D.C. Mr. Rosenthal also noted that final antidumping duty margins were expected to be even higher.

The antidumping duty investigation began in June 2006 after American producers DAK Americas LLC, Charlotte, N.C.; Nan Ya Plastics Corp. America, Lake City, S.C.; and Wellman, Inc., Shrewsbury, N.J. filed a petition with the International Trade Commission (ITC) and Department of Commerce. The petition covered the types of polyester staple fiber typically used as stuffing.

In August, ITC Commissioners voted 6-0 to allow the investigation to move forward based on their belief that there existed a reasonable indication of injury to U.S. manufacturers.

12-22-2006

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Kelley, Drye & Warren, LLP

Kelley Drye's Stainless Steel Bar Clients Score Major ITC Victory in Sunset Reviews
International trade attorneys at Kelley Drye helped domestic manufacturers of stainless steel bar achieve a significant win at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).

Commissioners reaffirmed the existing antidumping duty orders on stainless steel bar from India, Brazil, Japan, and Spain in order to prevent the likely recurrence of material injury to the U.S. industry.

Kelley Drye represented Carpenter Technology Corporation, Crucible Specialty Metals, Dunkirk Specialty Steel, LLC, Electralloy Corp., North American Stainless, Outokumpu Stainless, Inc., and Valbruna Slater Stainless, Inc. in the case.

"The antidumping orders have ensured fair trade in the industry since they were first issued in 1995," said Skip Hartquist, Kelley Drye's lead attorney in the case. "This is a crucial win and helps ensure the ongoing competitiveness of American producers."

ITC commissioners voted unanimously to continue the antidumping orders against Indian and Japanese imports and voted 4-2 to continue the orders against stainless steel bar from Brazil and Spain. The orders will remain in place for 5 years.

Skip was assisted in the case by Partners Robin Gilbert and Larry Lasoff and Associate Grace Kim. Brad Hudgens of Georgetown Economic Services served as lead economist in the case.

12-22-2006

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