Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Davis Polk & Wardwell

The Home Depot Notes Offering
Davis Polk & Wardwell advised Lehman Brothers Inc. and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated as joint book-running managers on a $5 billion SEC-registered debt offering by The Home Depot, Inc. The offering consisted of $750 million floating-rate senior notes due December 16, 2009, $1.25 billion 5.25% senior notes due December 16, 2013 and $3 billion 5.875% senior notes due December 16, 2036.

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement retailer and the second-largest retailer in the United States, based on net sales for the fiscal year ended January 29, 2006.

The Davis Polk corporate team included partner Sarah E. Beshar and associates Shawei T. Wang, Dana L. Willis and Patricia T. Fossas (not yet admitted). Partner Michael Mollerus and associate Yakov D. Mirocznik provided tax advice. Partner Gail A. Flesher provided environmental law advice. Associate Marc M. Luftglass provided ’40 Act advice. Associate Regina Chang provided real estate advice. The NASD team included counsel Marcie A. Goldstein and legal assistant Peggy A. Petercsak. Elizabeth Rollings was the legal assistant on the transaction. All members of the Davis Polk team are based in the New York office.

12-19-2006

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Davis Polk & Wardwell

GMAC LLC Debt Offering
Davis Polk & Wardwell advised Banc of America Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., as representatives of the several underwriters, in connection with an offering by GMAC LLC of $1 billion principal amount of its 6.000% notes due 2011.

Based in Detroit, GMAC LLC is a global finance company offering financing to GM dealerships and their customers. GMAC also specializes in mortgage origination and investment, as well as insurance service contracts, commercial and personal auto insurance.

The Davis Polk corporate team included partner Richard A. Drucker, associates Jeffrey Pohlman and Patricia T. Fossas (not yet admitted). Partner Michael Mollerus and associate Jeremy A. Matz provided tax advice. Lisa Garmong was the legal assistant for the transaction. All members of the Davis Polk team are based in the New York office.

12-19-2006

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Davis Polk & Wardwell

Beckman Coulter Convertible Senior Notes Offering
Davis Polk & Wardwell advised Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated as sole book-running manager and Banc of America Securities LLC as co-lead manager of a Rule 144A offering by Beckman Coulter, Inc. of $600 million aggregate principal amount of its 2.50% convertible senior notes due 2036.

Based in Fullerton, California, Beckman Coulter is a leading manufacturer of biomedical testing instrument systems, reagents and supplies that simplify and automate laboratory processes. Spanning the biomedical testing continuum, from pioneering medical research and clinical trials to laboratory diagnostics and point-of-care testing, Beckman Coulter’s 200,000 installed systems provide essential biomedical information to enhance health care around the world.

The Davis Polk corporate team included partner Bruce K. Dallas, associates Michael Nordtvedt, Stephen Salmon (not yet admitted) and Dharini Mathur and legal assistant Karla K. Rogers, all of the Menlo Park office. The tax team included partner Rachel D. Kleinberg of the Menlo Park office and associate Craig A. Phillips (not yet admitted) of the New York office. Partner Steven S. Weiner and associate Duane Nash of the Menlo Park office provided intellectual property advice. Counsel Loyti Cheng and associate Marie-Christine Eldridge of the New York office provided environmental law advice.

12-19-2006

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Townsend, Townsend & Crew, L.L.P.

CSIRO Granted Change of Venue in Closely-Watched Patent Infringement Dispute
Decision Transfers Case Filed in Northern District of California to Eastern District of Texas

Palo Alto, CA - In another court victory for Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ("CSIRO"), a federal court in San Francisco has agreed to transfer the patent infringement action filed against CSIRO by Intel, Dell, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Netgear in California to the Eastern District of Texas.

Background:

In February, 2005, CSIRO filed suit against Buffalo Technology, a Japanese manufacturer, and Buffalo USA, its Austin, Texas-based subsidiary. The action alleged that Buffalo's 802.11a and 802.11g wireless devices infringe claims of United States Patent 5,487,069 ("the '069 patent"). The patent issued in September, 1996 and claims priority to an Australian filing in November, 1992.

Recognizing that a victory by CSIRO in the Buffalo case could have broad implications for the wireless industry as a whole, Intel, Dell, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Netgear sued CSIRO in May, 2005 in Federal District Court in San Francisco seeking a declaratory judgment that the '069 patent was invalid and not infringed.

On November 14, 2006, before a decision was reached in the California case, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Tyler Division) found CSIRO's patents to be valid and infringed by Buffalo.

Northern District Decision:

In its ruling, the California court agreed with CSIRO that the Eastern District of Texas is the proper venue to decide on the declaratory judgment case because the Texas court is already familiar with the case and has ruled on the key issues.

"We are gratified by the Northern District's decision in this case and hope that it will set the groundwork for a final ruling in favor of our client," remarked Townsend and Townsend and Crew partner Daniel Furniss. "The Eastern District has already recognized the validity of CSIRO's patents and we are confident that we can effectively argue the applicability of those patents to Intel, Dell, Microsoft and others."

According to CSIRO, the Texas court's ruling in the Buffalo case will apply to all 802.11a and g wireless devices. The amount of patent damages in the Buffalo case, based on a "reasonable royalty," will likely be decided early next year.

Additional Background Regarding the Technology at Issue:

The 802.11a and g standards were adopted by the IEEE in 1999 and 2003. Virtually all laptop computers include 802.11g capability and Buffalo, Netgear and many others have sold 802.11a and g products to the consumer market. CSIRO estimates U.S. sales of 802.11g devices at more than 200 million units over the last three years and says the market is growing.

Intel is a major supplier of 802.11a and g chipsets providing essentially all of the chips incorporated into laptop computers. Dell and Hewlett-Packard are major sellers of laptops while Netgear supplies wireless access points and network cards for consumer use. Microsoft offers wireless capability for its X-Box video games. Additionally, Microsoft's new Zune MP3 player features 802.11g wireless capability, which Microsoft touts as a major differentiator between the Zune and Apple's extremely successful iPod.

12-19-2006

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Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Prosecutors handcuffed: Justice Department calls off the dogs
Sullivan & Cromwell partner Sam Seymour was quoted in a Financial News article about the new DOJ guidelines for prosecuting corporations, entitled "Prosecutors handcuffed," in which he notes that the Justice Department is acknowledging that the tide of significant constituent opinion on companies' rights in white-collar crime investigations is changing.

12-19-2006

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Stites & Harbison PLLC

Stites & Harbison attorney admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court
Elizabeth Harris Ferguson, an associate with Stites & Harbison PLLC law firm, has been admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, joining an elite group of less than one percent of the nation's attorneys.

Ferguson represents clients in business and commercial litigation, products liability, contract disputes, trade secrets, unfair competition, insurance defense and employment law. A graduate of University of the South and the University of Tennessee College of Law, she is licensed in Tennessee and Georgia.

Ferguson and 12 other Tennessee lawyers were admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court during a ceremony held in open court and presided over by Chief Justice John Roberts.

To qualify for admission to the Supreme Court bar, an attorney must present a personal statement, proof that he has been admitted to practice before the highest court in his state for at least three years and a certificate of good standing from that court. In addition, each attorney must be sponsored by two existing members of the Supreme Court bar who can vouch for their moral and professional character. Ferguson was sponsored by Larry Wilkes, president of the Tennessee Bar Association, and fellow Stites & Harbison attorney Brad MacLean. Because of these high standards, less than one percent of the nation's attorneys are admitted to practice before the Supreme Court.

12-19-2006

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Sheehan, Phinney, Bass & Green, P.A.

ATTORNEYS FOSTER, RECALDE AND VENTOLA SELECTED AS MASSACHUSETTS SUPER LAWYERS FOR 2006
The regional law firm of Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green announced that three of its Massachusetts attorneys, Walter M. Foster, Maria E. Recalde and Mark J. Ventola, have been named Super Lawyers after an exhaustive poll of their legal peers conducted by Law and Politics, a national research organization. The results are published in the November 2006 issue of Boston Magazine, as well as a stand-alone publication, Massachusetts Super Lawyers. All three attorneys base their practices in Sheehan Phinney’s Boston office.

Foster was named to the list in the category of Employment Litigation: Defense; Recalde was named in the category of Intellectual Property; and Ventola was named in the category of Employment and Labor.

Massachusetts Super Lawyers are selected based upon ballots sent to 31,000 attorneys across the state by the publishers of Boston Magazine and Law and Politics. Lawyers are then scored and ranked based on the number and type of votes they received. Less than 5 percent of Massachusetts’ attorneys were named Super Lawyers.

Attorney Foster’s maintains an extensive practice in employment law, business litigation and municipal law, where he provides counsel to both private and public sector employers on the legal and regulatory standards that govern the modern workplace. Foster has nearly 20 years of trial and appellate experience.

Attorney Recalde’s practice concentrates on the rapidly changing areas of technology and intellectual property litigation, transactions and counseling. She provides strategic counseling on the wide range of issues facing emerging companies today. She also regularly lectures and writes on intellectual property, Internet, e-commerce, electronic communications and related topics

Attorney Ventola has a multi-faceted practice that focuses on employment and labor law, general business and civil litigation. In addition to advising clients about the many aspects of the relationship between employer and employee, he serves as general counsel to a number of small and middle-market businesses, providing advice on corporate governance and institutional concerns.

12-19-2006

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