Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP

Paul Hastings Attorneys Listed Among Georgia Trend Magazine's 'Legal Elite'
Twelve Paul Hastings attorneys were listed among Georgia Trend Magazine's 2006 "Legal Elite." This annual list consists of leading Georgia attorneys as selected by their peers in 11 practice areas. Paul Hastings partners recognized include Allen Maines, John Parker and Matt Martin for Business Litigation; Mark Lange and Phil Marzetti for Tax; Rick Asbill, Walter Jospin and Wayne Bradley for Corporate; Charlie Sharbaugh for Real Estate; Jesse Austin for Bankruptcy; Leslie Dent and Weyman Johnson for Labor & Employment; and Rick Asbill for Intellectual Property.

12-20-2006

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O'Melveny & Myers, LLP

OMM Secures Unanimous Verdict for The American National Theatre
An eight-person federal jury in Manhattan returned a unanimous verdict for O'Melveny & Myers pro bono client, The American National Theatre, Inc. ("A.N.T"), in a trademark infringement lawsuit brought by the 1935 federally-chartered American National Theatre and Academy ("ANTA"). The jury returned its verdict within an hour of receiving the case from Judge John G. Koeltl in the Southern District of New York.

The O'Melveny trial team, led by counsel Matthew Dineen (NY), also consisted of associates Kendall Burr (NY), Shveta Kakar (NY), Alex Fong (NY), and Melanie Bradley (NY), who worked under the supervision of partners Dale Cendali (NY) and Claudia Ray (NY). Other members of the team included legal assistants Lisa Bramwell (NY) and Matthew Bailey (NY), as well as assistants Debbie Jansen (NY), Catherine Schramm (NY), Cathy Greenfield (NY), and Sabrina Scott (NY).

The A.N.T., is a New York non-profit organization whose mission is to identify distinguished new American plays and musicals drawn from across the nation in order to present them, with their original companies and creative teams, at a theatre in New York. Because it brings productions from across America to New York, it is aptly named, "American National Theatre," a.k.a. "the A.N.T." The A.N.T. had significant support from the theatre community and received positive press in September 2003 for its proposal to situate the theatre at Ground Zero. That press, however, also brought the A.N.T. to the attention of the plaintiff, ANTA, which is now based in Denver, Colorado, the home of Donald R. Seawell, ANTA's chairman, who is also a former Broadway producer, and founder and chairman of the prestigious Denver Center for the Performing Arts. ANTA sued the A.N.T. in May 2005, claiming that the A.N.T. had violated ANTA's federal charter rights and infringed its allegedly exclusive rights in its name. ANTA also claimed the A.N.T. had broken a promise to change its name and interfered with a prospective business relationship with Theatre Communications Group ("TCG"), to which ANTA proposed to transfer its name and charter.

O'Melveny had an early victory in September 2006, when Judge Koeltl granted the A.N.T.'s motions to deny summary judgment for ANTA's charter-based claim and to dismiss ANTA's two common law claims. Judge Koeltl ruled that the 1935 charter only granted ANTA the exclusive right to use its own exact name, and did not prevent the use of other names or variants, even if they were similar.

Beginning December 11, 2006, the O'Melveny team took the remaining common law trademark infringement claim through a 5-day jury trial, emerging victorious. At trial, the O'Melveny team presented evidence that, despite an early flurry of activity in the 1940s and 1950s, ANTA's activities and public recognition had steadily declined. O'Melveny argued that ANTA gradually abandoned its congressional missions until 1992, when it essentially ceased operations but for an alleged connection to a small theatre conservatory in Denver.

In reaching its verdict, the jury agreed that ANTA owned a common law trademark in both its full name and acronym, but found that our client's use of its name was unlikely to cause confusion among the consuming public about its relation to ANTA.

A board member and treasurer of the A.N.T., Charles Geyer, described the closing statements by O'Melveny counsel Matthew Dineen as "an occasion of transcendent gratification." Opining that no party "could know a more complete sense of having had its proverbial day in court, " Geyer considers O'Melveny & Myers "as among the dearest and most important patrons of a vital and forward-looking American theatre." This great result will enable the A.N.T., a start-up non-profit organization, to freely share and execute its vision for the future of theatre in America.

12-20-2006

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Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.

Fulbright Partner Mark Baker Reappointed To Court of Arbitration for Sport
Fulbright partner Mark Baker has been reappointed to serve as a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Baker’s reappointment will last through 2010.

CAS, based in Switzerland, is an institution independent of any sports organization which provides for services in order to facilitate the settlement of sports-related disputes through arbitration or mediation by means of procedural rules adapted to the specific needs of the sports world. Created in 1984, the CAS has nearly 300 arbitrators from 87 countries, chosen for their specialist knowledge of arbitration and sports law.

Baker is co-chair of both Fulbright's international practice and its renowned arbitration practice. He has arbitrated before many of the world's arbitral bodies and has been involved in numerous alternative dispute resolution procedures. He is frequently selected to serve as an arbitrator on domestic and international arbitration panels. In every year since 1998, he has chaired at least eight significant arbitration cases. He leads the firm's $19 billion Yukos Oil arbitration. Baker is also on the board of directors of the American Arbitration Association and Court Member and arbitrator for the London Court of International Arbitration.

Baker has served as a panel arbitrator for the USA Track and Field and the American National Governing Body for Track & Field. Earlier this year, he was named one of the Most Influential Lawyers in America by the National Law Journal and one of the top 20 international arbitration experts by Practical Law Company.

12-20-2006

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Cozen O' Connor

Cozen O’Connor Attorney Justin B. Wineburgh Speaks on the Borat Controversy
Cozen O’Connor member Justin B. Wineburgh recently lectured on “Is Borat Liable: Offensive v. Inventive? Filmmakers and Attorneys Ought to Know!” at a program held at the Philadelphia office of Cozen O’Connor. Sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Film Office in partnership with Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, the lecture focused on the legal issues presented during the production of the recent movie, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, as well as a review of personal appearance releases, a study of some of the stories of the film’s participants, and a discussion of the existing claims against the filmmakers. The presentation was also featured in an article entitled, “Who’s a dupe, who’s a dope?,” which appeared on the front page of the entertainment section of The Philadelphia Inquirer on December 16, 2006.

Wineburgh practices from Cozen O’Connor’s Philadelphia office and heads the film/video unit of the firm’s entertainment law practice area. He has a broad-based practice, representing clients in the film, television, music and sports industries in complex tort, commercial, defamation, privacy, corporate, employment and intellectual property matters. Wineburgh also represents writers, distributors, retailers, managers, agents, engineers, production companies and talent in a variety of capacities, including corporate and pre-litigation counseling. He has also successfully resolved numerous matters throughout the country through the use of alternate dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation.

Wineburgh is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida, and before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Supreme Court of Florida, Supreme Court of New Jersey and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey. He has also been specially admitted to handle cases in New York, California, Illinois, Virginia, Delaware, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan and the District of Columbia, as well as before the California Labor Commission.

Wineburgh is a member of the American, Pennsylvania and Florida bar associations, young lawyers' division of the Philadelphia Bar Association, sports and entertainment law section of The Florida Bar, American Intellectual Property Law Association, American Judicature Society, Philadelphia VIP, Young America PAC and the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. He is active in numerous civic organizations, serves as a mentor to law students and newly admitted attorneys, and regularly handles pro bono matters for a variety of organizations.

Wineburgh was selected as a 2006 Pennsylvania "Lawyer on the Fast Track" by American Lawyer Media, which recognized 45 of the top lawyers and leaders of the legal community under the age of 40 in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Moreover, in 2006, he received the Widener University School of Law Alumni Spotlight Honor, a distinction which recognizes the accomplishments of only four alumni of the law school each year. Finally, in December 2006, Wineburgh was recognized as a Distinguished Alumni of Lafayette College.

Wineburgh earned his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Lafayette College (B.A., 1994) and his law degree from Widener University School of Law (J.D., 1997), where he was editor/administrative board member of the Delaware Journal of Corporate Law, a member of the Moot Court Honor Society and a member of Phi Delta Phi, Harrington Inn, Honor Chapter. He served as a judicial intern to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and as a law clerk for the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

12-20-2006

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Covington & Burling, P.C.

Ohio Supreme Court Recognizes Insurance Coverage for Manufacturer’s Successor
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled today that the present-day owner of a manufacturing operation may obtain insurance coverage under policies issued to the former owner of that operation. In a 4-3 decision, the Court rejected the insurers’ arguments that they had no obligation to any entity other than the original owner.

The case, Pilkington North America, Inc. v. Travelers Insurance Co., was closely watched, in part because only one other state supreme court has directly addressed the issue of whether a corporate successor may look to its predecessor’s insurance policies. In that case, the California Supreme Court refused to recognize the right of a corporate successor to seek coverage under policies issued to its corporate predecessor. The Ohio Supreme Court refused to follow the California decision, holding that an insured with latent liabilities covered under an “occurrence” policy could transfer those liabilities and the coverage for any judgment or settlement without the need for pre-transfer consent from the insurer. The Court did not decide whether the right to an insurer-provided defense against a claim for a covered liability would also transfer without insurer consent.

The Court also ruled that the policyholder could not, under the circumstances of the case, rely on a non-contractual theory of successorship rights. The Court’s ruling on that point proved central to the court’s decision also handed down today in a companion case involving different parties and counsel, Glidden Co. v. Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co.

The issue of coverage under a prior owner’s insurance policies has wide significance because of the volume of corporate transactions from at least the 1960s to date. (By one estimate, in the 1980s alone more than 22,000 merger and acquisition transactions were announced.) The Ohio ruling preserves the coverage rights that many Ohio businesses believed they were acquiring when they accepted historic latent liabilities as part of the acquisition of a product line, unincorporated division, or other group of assets, and the decision bolsters the argument in favor of coverage in other jurisdictions.

"Any manufacturer whose corporate history is the least bit complex should be interested in this ruling,” said Seth Tucker of Covington & Burling LLP. For a copy of the Ohio Supreme Court's opinion, please click here.

Seth Tucker, a partner of Covington & Burling LLP, argued the case on behalf of Pilkington North America; Mitchell Dolin and Ann-Kelley Kemper of Covington in Washington and Steven Smith of Connelly, Jackson & Collier LLP in Toledo also worked on the case.

12-20-2006

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Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Immigration Attorney Ellen Freeman's Addition to Firm Noted in Immigration Law Today
The recent addition of attorney Ellen Freeman as special counsel to the firm's Immigration practice group in Pittsburgh was noted by Immigration Law Today in its November/December 2006 issue.

Freeman focuses her practice on employment-based immigration such as temporary work visas and permanent residence, including PERM/labor certification applications, preference petitions and consular processing/adjustment of status.

Immigration Law Today is a bi-monthly publication of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

12-20-2006

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Baker & McKenzie, L.L.P.

New Intellectual Property Partner for Baker & McKenzie LLP in Houston
Baker & McKenzie LLP announced today that it has expanded its Intellectual Property Practice Group with the addition of Myall Hawkins as Partner in Houston. Mr. Hawkins joined the Firm from Jenkens & Gilchrist in Houston.

“With Myall, we have added another top-notch litigator to our already outstanding IP team,” said Meg Boulware, Partner in Houston, TX and lead of the Houston office Intellectual Property Practice Group. “We are thrilled to welcome him to the Houston office where his experience as a lead trial attorney will be particularly important in helping us continue to meet the IP litigation needs of our clients.”

Myall Hawkins has extensive experience representing clients in commercial litigation matters in both state and federal courts, as well as mediation and other alternative dispute forums. He also has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in IP disputes including theft of trade secrets, and other proprietary information as well as trademark, patent and copyright infringement claims. Mr. Hawkins is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

N. Susan Stone, Managing Partner of the Houston office, added, "We are delighted to welcome Myall to Baker & McKenzie's Houston office and Intellectual Property practice. We will continue to build on the strengths of our existing group and our Houston office through the talents of lateral recruits of Myall’s caliber."

Mr. Hawkins received his J.D. (with honors) from Washburn University in 1985, and his Bachelor of Science in Aviation Engineering from Western Michigan University in 1978.

12-20-2006

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