Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Hancock, Rothert & Bunshoft, L.L.P.

Duane Morris Adds Two Trial Partners in Philadelphia
Duane Morris LLP is pleased to welcome James E. Brown and Kristin Werner to the firm's Philadelphia office as partners in the Trial Practice Group. Both join the firm from Cozen O'Connor.

James and Kristin both have served as lead trial and appellate counsel in matters involving insurance coverage and complex commercial disputes in many state and federal courts. They are admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In addition, James is admitted to practice in New Jersey and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Kristin is also admitted to practice in New York. They co-wrote the chapter on issue and claim preclusion under the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel in Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts (2nd ed., 2005).

James Brown focuses his practice on commercial litigation, including complex insurance coverage disputes and litigation arising out of environmental and mass tort claims. His article "Standing and Direct Review in Appellate Court" was published in the Temple Law Quarterly. James was the 1988 recipient of the J. Howard Reber Memorial Award for writing. He earned his J.D. from Temple University School of Law in 1988, where he was an editor of the Temple Law Review, after graduating with a B.A. from Franklin & Marshall College in 1985.

Kristin Werner concentrates her practice on commercial disputes including toxic tort, insurance coverage and business tort litigation. After earning her B.A. from Saint Joseph's University in 1990, she graduated with a J.D. from Villanova University School of Law in 1993, where she was a member of the Villanova Law Review.

12-20-2006

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Hancock, Rothert & Bunshoft, L.L.P.

Duane Morris Opens Baltimore Office
Duane Morris has opened a Baltimore office with the addition of three partners and one senior counsel, all formerly of DLA Piper.

The new additions will focus their work in the corporate practice group, handling venture capital and private equity work, mergers and acquisitions and securities law work.

The new partners are Jay Gordon Cohen, Keli B. Isaacson and George J. Nemphos. Wilbert H. Sirota will join as senior counsel.

The firm said Baltimore was part of a strategic expansion to broaden its services in the mid-Atlantic region.

Chairman Sheldon Bonovitz said a recruiter presented the group to him some time ago.

"My initial reaction was 'Why Baltimore?'" he said.

After taking a look at their practices, Bonovitz said he determined that transactional lawyers were difficult to come by in Washington, D.C., where the firm has a nearly 30-attorney office. He said having that type of practice in Baltimore could expand transactional work down into Washington, Reston, Va., and Columbia, Md.

"This really strengthens our private equity, venture practice and we expect them to be major contributing leaders in the firm in this area," Bonovitz said.

Sirota said the group was not looking to move, but rather a recruiter approached them on the idea and said that Duane Morris was interested. It's a "common ploy" recruiters use, Sirota joked.

He said the group handles a lot of work in the mid-Atlantic region and elsewhere. Nemphos said they were intrigued with the idea of opening an office and impressed with the capabilities of the firm.

"This is a good opportunity for Wil and his colleagues," DLA Piper Baltimore office managing partner Paul A. Tiburzi said through a spokesman. "It makes a lot of sense for them, and we look forward to continuing to collaborate from time to time."

Tiburzi said the group's practice is a better fit at Duane Morris. He said, through the spokesman, that the firm was not concerned about a financial loss from the departure because office revenues are "growing through a focus on more high value work."

Sirota said the aims and desires of his group were more closely aligned with those of Duane Morris.

Bonovitz said the firm will hire three associates to start, but the new office space has room for about 20 lawyers and additional expansion opportunities. He said he would be willing to expand the office into other practice areas besides corporate and transactional work.

Nemphos will serve as the managing partner of the Baltimore office, focusing his practice on angel and venture financing, public offerings of securities, securities law compliance, debt financing and mergers and acquisitions.

Sirota will serve as chairman of the office. He handles transactions involving venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, estate planning and general corporate and tax law.

Cohen focuses his practice on venture capital and private equity investments, domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, and start-up company financing.

Isaacson's practice concentrates on finance and corporate and securities law regarding private and public debt and equity offerings, and venture capital transactions.

Bonovitz said yesterday that the firm has acquired two new partners in its Philadelphia office as well. James E. Brown and Kristin Werner joined the firm as partners from Cozen O'Connor, where they were members of the insurance coverage group.

The additions are evidence of the firm's interest in expanding its Philadelphia office, he said.

Brown and Werner's insurance coverage practice will fit in with the work done by the Hancock Rothert & Bunshoft attorneys who joined Jan. 1, 2006, as well as with some of the firm's New York attorneys, Bonovitz said.

While there hasn't been any official announcement of office openings in either Singapore or Vietnam, as have been rumored, Bonovitz said that both are "realistic possibilities," but nothing definitive has happened yet.

12-20-2006

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Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC

Eckert Seamans Attorney Speaks at National Business Institute Program
The national law firm of Eckert Seamans Cherin and Mellott, LLC today announced that Gary A. Miller was a speaker at the National Business Institute program entitled "Advanced LLC Issues" in Philadelphia. Mr. Miller addressed both substantive and attorney ethical issues.

Gary A. Miller is a Partner in the Business Division at Eckert Seamans. He has a broad range of experience in corporate, securities and transactional matters, and he has significant experience in venture capital and other private investment transactions, as well as public and private securities offerings. His private investment experience includes the start-up of a number of hedge funds and other private investment funds. Mr. Miller assists public clients with periodic securities reporting as well as Sarbanes-Oxley and other securities compliance matters. He advises clients in the structure of new enterprises, and speaks on issues in structuring business organizations and legal issues faced by new enterprises. Mr. Miller has experience in various types of commercial transactions, concentrating in software licensing and information technology agreements. He serves as outside general counsel to numerous start-up companies and other smaller enterprises, and he also provides commercial transaction and other assistance to large public companies. His clients include companies in numerous industries, with representation in several healthcare related fields such as biotech, other pharmaceutical related industries, medical software and equipment, and health care providers. Mr. Miller also advises law firms and other professional organizations regarding organizational matters. He received his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a B.S. in Economics, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Finance and Commerce. Mr. Miller is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, and he resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

12-20-2006

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Brown, Raysman, Millstein, Felder & Steiner, L.L.P.

Pinsents' US ally Thelen Reid opens in London
Pinsent Masons' ally Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner is aiming to increase its presence in the investment banking market by opening a new office in London.

12-20-2006

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Brown, Raysman, Millstein, Felder & Steiner, L.L.P.

Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP to Open London Office
Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP announced today that it will open a London office by year's end to service the firm's investment banking clients.

The decision to open a London office was made just two weeks after the firm was created through the December 1 merger of Thelen Reid & Priest and Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner. According to firm management, the timing of the expansion was accelerated to support immediate client needs in the area of real estate finance. A London office will be the firm's first in Europe and ninth office overall.

The firm's real estate finance practice, which is headed by partner Jeffrey Steiner, is nationally recognized for its representation of Wall Street investment banks and institutional lenders in complex structured finance transactions. Over the past several years, the firm has closed in excess of $25 billion of loans for financial institutions, including investment banks, private equity funds, commercial banks, insurance companies, and pension funds.

The London office will initially be staffed by two partners from the firm's Business and Finance Department and two mid-level associates, all relocating from the United States to London.

"The decision to open in London was driven by a need to provide services to some of our most important clients," said Co-Chair Stephen V. O'Neal.

Jeffrey Steiner added that European expansion is essential to the growth of the real estate finance practice. "Entry into the European market is essential to the practice," Steiner said. "But to open an office so soon after the merger is indicative of how the merger has been perceived by our clients. We had to move quickly to keep up with demand."

The London office will be Thelen's second international office to open this year, giving the firm a footprint in the key money centers of the world, New York, London, and Shanghai. The firm received its license for a Shanghai office in August, a few months prior to the merger that created the now 630-lawyer firm, which has over 250 lawyers in New York.

12-20-2006

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Barnes & Thornburg LLP

Maley Talks Fonts in Indiana Lawyer
John Maley of the Indianapolis office was quoted in a December 20 Indiana Lawyer online article, "New rules start January 1 -- including font-type requirements," about new rules for attorneys when submitting briefs to the Indiana Supreme Court.

12-20-2006

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McGuireWoods LLP

McGuireWoods LLP Successfully Defends Ford Motor Company in Appeal
McGuireWoods LLP partner Joseph K. Reid III, along with associate Perry W. Miles IV, successfully represented Ford Motor Company in Jones v. Ford Motor Company in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. On October 27, 2006, the court affirmed the judgment of the state district court which previously had ruled in favor of Ford Motor Company.

The case arose when Mrs. Jones attempted to back up her 1991 Lincoln Town Car at a gas station. Instead, the car suddenly accelerated, causing it to crash into a light pole, which resulted in her paralysis. Jones alleged that the cruise control system malfunctioned, causing a “sudden acceleration event.”

The original lawsuit, Jones v. Ford Motor Company, was filed in October of 1999 in the Circuit Court of Fairfax County, Virginia. The jury in the state court found in favor of Ford.

Mrs. Jones then appealed to the Supreme Court of Virginia, saying the trial court was wrong to refuse to admit the so-called Updegrove Study, a database of consumer complaints catalogued and maintained by Ford, as evidence to support her claim that the cruise control malfunctioned, and for excluding testimony of four witnesses who had experienced acceleration problems similar to Mrs. Jones’ alleged experience. The Supreme Court found in favor of Ford on regarding the Updegrove Study, but ruled the trial court erred in refusing the four witnesses’ testimony and remanded for a new trial.

Following the Supreme Court remand, Jones refiled in federal court, where the Eastern District Court of Virginia in 2004 initially granted Mrs. Jones’ motion in limine to exclude the 1989 Examination of Sudden Acceleration prepared by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Ford’s motion in limine to exclude the Updegrove Study. The NHTSA study concluded that “the only plausible explanation for sudden acceleration incidents where there was no residual physical effect of vehicle malfunction was that these events were caused by the operator’s mistaken pedal application.” In other words, sudden acceleration was caused by the driver mistakenly pressing the gas pedal instead of the brake. Later the district court modified its earlier order and deemed the NHTSA report admissible at trial.

The evidence presented at the district court trial was in alignment with the evidence in the state trial and the jury for the district court returned a verdict in favor of Ford. Mrs. Jones then appealed for a new trial, arguing the Eastern District Court had erred by admitting the NHTSA report while denying the Updegrove Study.

In the decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, it upheld the district court and ruled that “the district court did not abuse its discretion either in admitting the NHTSA report into evidence or in excluding the Updegrove Study.”

Reid heads the firm’s Automotive and Recreational Products practice area. He is a trial lawyer and litigation counselor who principally represents corporate defendants in high exposure products liability, other personal injury and commercial matters on both a national and regional basis.

Miles also practices in the Automotive and Recreational Products area and, since 2002, has served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Richmond, T.C. Williams School of Law.

12-20-2006

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