Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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25383 matches |  13392-13398 displayed

1  1911 1912 1913 1914 1915  3627

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Hogan & Hartson LLP

Hogan & Hartson Recognized in Presumed Equal: What America’s Top Women Lawyers Really Think About Their Firms
The Washington, D.C. office of Hogan & Hartson LLP was ranked No. 5 in the 2006 survey Presumed Equal: What America’s Top Women Lawyers Really Think About Their Firms, which examines the experiences and attitudes of women lawyers at the top law firms in the United States. Overall, the firm ranked No. 11 among the 105 U.S. firms that were profiled.

Approximately 4,000 women associates and partners from 105 of the nation’s most prestigious firms responded anonymously to questions about their firms' opportunities for training, business development, work-life balance, leadership, and advancement. Since 1995, the comprehensive survey has been a valuable resource for employment candidates considering the opportunities and quality of life for women lawyers at the top U.S. law firms. In addition, the authors hope the survey will encourage law firms to address women's concerns related to these issues.

12-14-2006

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Edwards & Angell, L.L.P.

Benjamin Ferrucci Joins Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP as Partner in the Business Law Department
Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP is pleased to announce that Benjamin Ferrucci has joined the firm’s Boston office as a Partner in the Business Law Department.

Mr. Ferrucci has extensive experience counseling in matters of executive compensation and ERISA related corporate matters. He represents public and private equity and management-side clients in negotiation of compensation packages including but not limited to providing counsel on market conditions, developing strategic objectives, and advising on the advantages and disadvantages of different investment structures in relation to founders’ stock, options, and profits interests. Mr. Ferrucci advises funds, companies, boards and management teams in employee benefits and compensation matters involving retention, incentive and equity plans and negotiates employment, change in control, and non-compete agreements, all in accordance with relevant statutes and regulations, including Internal Revenue Code Sections 409A, 280G, 162(m), 83. Mr. Ferrucci also counsels clients as well as other attorneys in connection with ERISA matters and related tax, securities law, corporate governance, and accounting issues in corporate mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies and reorganizations, and ordinary course operations.

Mr. Ferrucci received a J.D. from Catholic University, an LL.M. in taxation from New York University and a B.A. from Tufts University. He is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and resides in Natick, Massachusetts.

12-14-2006

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Dykema Gossett PLLC

Two New Associates Join Dykema’s Chicago Office
Dykema announces that Sara C. Arroyo and Sarah A. Smith have recently joined the firm as associates in the Chicago office.

Ms. Arroyo’s practice focuses on general litigation matters. Ms. Arroyo previously served as a law clerk for Judges Thomas Fahey and Claudia Smith Anderson of the Vermilion County Circuit Court. While attending law school at the University of Illinois, Ms. Arroyo was nominated for an Excellence in Trial Advocacy Award and was a finalist in the College of Law ABA Client Counseling Competition. Ms. Arroyo was also active in the University of Illinois Latino/a Law Student Association and the University of Illinois Civil Litigation Clinic. A resident of Chicago, Ms. Arroyo received her B.S. and her J.D. from the University of Illinois.

Ms. Smith’s practice focuses on general litigation matters. While in law school, she served externships with Judge Ronald Guzman, of the Northern District of Illinois, Justice Patrick Quinn of the Illinois Appellate Court and with the Illinois Attorney General. Ms. Smith received CALI Awards in Legal Writing, Civil Procedure and Jurisprudence and she was Managing Editor of the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal. She was a member of the Wagner Labor and Employment Law Moot Court team. A resident of Chicago, Ms. Smith received her B.S. from the University of Illinois, her M.A. from California State University and her J.D., magna cum laude, from Loyola University in Chicago.

12-14-2006

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Dykema Gossett PLLC

Dykema’s McLellan Named Chairman Of The Council For Africa Infrastructure Development
Dykema, a premier Midwest-based law firm, today announced that Richard D. McLellan, co-director of the firm’s Government Policy Department, has been elected Chairman of the Board of the Council for Africa Infrastructure Development.

The Council is a four-year-old non-profit advocacy organization that seeks to promote opportunities that exist in infrastructure development in Africa and improve the climate for lasting and meaningful development. Its mission is to mobilize and foster increased cooperation and coordination among a broad-based coalition of American, African and international organizations and individuals committed to the progress and empowerment of Africa and African people.

McLellan is a founder and board member of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free market think tank. The Mackinac Center works with and assists a developing network of free market think tanks in Africa.

"We believe the Africa Infrastructure Coalition can provide additional important links and assistance to African think tanks," McLellan said. "As much as Africa needs physical infrastructure improvement, it needs to build an infrastructure of free markets, individual liberty and voluntary action as ends of a free and prosperous society."

McLellan has been active in West Africa for more than 30 years. He participated in the trade mission to Africa led by the late U.S. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown. In February, 1999, he acted as an observer for the Nigerian national elections with the International Republican Institute delegation headed by then-retired General Colin Powell. He also served as Michigan Host Committee Chairman for the visit of the President of Ghana to Michigan.

In 2001, he served as a leader in the Africa Business Advisory Board established by U.S. Congressman J.C. Watts, Jr. McLellan helped organize and participated in a business delegation to West Africa that served as a parallel mission to the 2001 U.S. Congressional Delegation to West Africa.

He was named a Chief for his years of working in Africa, with the title of the Obinwanne of Ogbunike, by H.R.H. John Usitadima Umenyiora, the Igwe of Ogbunike in Anambra State, Nigeria.

McLellan also represented a West African government in connection with the restructuring of the country’s energy sector.

Dykema provides advice on a wide range of issues to businesses with international operations, both foreign companies with activities in the U.S. and U.S. companies conducting business abroad. The firm regularly works with clients to assist in the implementation of global expansion and sourcing strategies and attorneys have advised companies with operations in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Mideast and North America. Dykema attorneys advise foreign-based and domestic companies and institutions on a wide variety of business issues including corporate governance, growth strategies, joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions, licensing and risk reduction, regulatory compliance, international trade, and e-commerce.

McLellan earned a B.A. from Michigan State University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan. He is a former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce

12-14-2006

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Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP

Debevoise Partner Donald Francis Donovan Honored With Mexican Government’s Order of the Aztec Eagle and Mexican Bar Association’s National Jurisprudence Prize
Donald Francis Donovan, a partner in the Litigation Department of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, has been honored with the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle, the highest award bestowed on foreigners by the Mexican government, in recognition of Mr. Donovan’s pro bono efforts on behalf of Mexican nationals on death row in the United States. He has also been honored with the Mexican Bar Association’s 2006 Premio Nacional de Jurisprudencia (National Jurisprudence Prize), presented for the first time in its 18-year history to a non-Mexican, in recognition of his achievements in international arbitration and international human rights, and especially his work on behalf of Mexican nationals on death row.

In January 2003, representing the Government of Mexico, Mr. Donovan brought Avena and other Mexican Nationals (Mexico v. United States of America) in the International Court of Justice, which ruled that in 51 of the 52 cases, the U.S. had violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which guarantees foreign nationals the right to contact with their own country’s consulate when detained. Since then, Mr. Donovan has sought to implement that decision in the U.S. In one case, Medellín v. Dretke, Mr. Donovan sought compliance with Avena at the U.S. Supreme Court, and after President Bush intervened to direct that the U.S. would comply, the Supreme Court effectively referred the case to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. That Court held recently that President Bush did not have the constitutional authority to direct that the U.S. would comply, and Mr. Donovan will shortly seek Supreme Court review of that decision.

In a ceremony at the Consulate General of Mexico in New York on November 30, Ambassador Ramón Xilotl Ramírez presented Mr. Donovan with the rank of "venera" by the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle, bestowed by then-President Vicente Fox in recognition of Mr. Donovan’s "unyielding commitment to the defense of Mexican nationals."

In a separate ceremony in Mexico City on December 7, Mexican Bar Association President Fabián Aguinaco Bravo presented Mr. Donovan with the 2006 Premio Nacional de Jurisprudencia for his dedication to fulfilling "the mission of legal and judicial service to others" and "for his excellent performance in representing Mexico."

"By reaching out beyond the members of the Mexican bar to present an American lawyer with your highest honor, you have confirmed the importance of the rule of law in the international sphere and, equally, of the importance of individual lawyers in promoting the rule of law, on behalf of the poor and powerless as well as the privileged, a commitment that crosses boundaries," Mr. Donovan said in receiving the award. "I was performing precisely the role that any lawyer, in any society committed to the rule of law, should perform," he said.

Martin Frederic Evans, the presiding partner of Debevoise & Plimpton, said "We congratulate Donald for these extraordinary acknowledgments by the Mexican Government and the Mexican Bar Association. Donald’s leadership role in what has been a long and complex course of litigation reflects his and the firm’s commitment to use the skill of our lawyers to work for justice on a pro bono basis in both domestic and international matters."

Donald Francis Donovan is a partner in the Litigation Department of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. He concentrates his practice in international disputes before courts in the U.S., international arbitration tribunals, and international courts. He has been widely recognized as one of the world’s leading international arbitration practitioners and, earlier this year, with fellow Debevoise partner David W. Rivkin, was awarded the first "Chambers Award of Excellence in International Arbitration."

Debevoise has long participated in a broad range of pro bono legal services, involving all practice areas. Consistently ranking among the top firms for its pro bono efforts, Debevoise was named a recipient of the American Bar Association’s 2006 Pro Bono Publico Award. 2006 also marked the third consecutive year in which Debevoise ranked first in The American Lawyer’s "A-List," a nationwide ranking of law firms based upon pro bono performance, associate satisfaction, revenue per lawyer and diversity.

12-14-2006

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Blank Rome LLP.

New York Summer Associates Program Ranked 2nd by Am Law
The American Lawyer magazine’s 2006 survey of summer associate* programs has put Blank Rome’s in second place in New York City, out of eighty New York law firms who qualified for the rankings. The New York office scored a near-perfect 4.98 out of a possible 5.0, with 100 percent of eligible summer associates responding to the Am Law survey. The respondents are guaranteed anonymity.

Our summer associates—second-year law students (Class of 2007)—rated the Firm’s program on nine key scoring questions, including:

* how interesting the work was
* how much “real” work was assigned
* the quality and quantity of training and guidance
* interactions with partners
* interactions with full-time associates
* how well we communicated our goals and expectations
* how accurately we portrayed ourselves during interviews
* the summer associates’ overall rating of us as a place to work
* their inclination to accept a full-time associateship with us, if offered

Other areas in which we scored highly were:

* opportunities for mentoring
* opportunities for pro bono work
* family-friendly
* making efforts toward diversity
* attorneys would be enjoyable to work with
* attorneys seem to enjoy working with each other

Our summer program is the primary vehicle through which we hire entry-level associates.

Emerging companies partner Peter Schnur and public companies partner Richard DiStefano ran this year’s program, along with financial services associate Pauline C. Edelmann and matrimonial associate Tara Jones Willecke. Besides Mr. DiStefano, the recruiting committee members were emerging companies partner Michael S. Mullman, real estate partners Martin Luskin and Stuart D. Kaplan, bankruptcy partner Andrew B. Eckstein, litigation partner Harris N. Cogan, tax partner Joseph T. Gulant, and trusts and estates partner Joann T. Palumbo.

* “Summer Associate,” as we use the term, connotes a law school student who has not yet applied for admission (other than law student admission under the rules of some jurisdictions for some kinds of matters) and has not yet been admitted to the bar of any state jurisdiction and who is therefore not yet legally qualified to practice law.

12-14-2006

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Blank Rome LLP.

Blank Rome Names Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
Blank Rome LLP announced today that it has named Judge Nathaniel R. Jones as the Firm’s inaugural Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. Based in the Blank Rome’s Cincinnati office, Judge Jones will oversee the Firm’s overall diversity initiatives.

The decision to name a Chief Diversity Officer arises out of the ongoing efforts and recommendations of Blank Rome’s Diversity Committee, as well as the Firm’s strategic growth plan to integrate diversity into all business and civic activities.

“Judge Jones is a distinguished jurist and civil rights leader and I am delighted that he has accepted this position,” said Carl M. Buchholz, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer. “The Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer will be key to enhancing Blank Rome’s ability to delivering high quality legal services in a globalized economy. I am certain that Judge Jones’ leadership will give substance and currency to Blank Rome’s commitment to diversity and propel the Firm’s success in this area.”

While still serving on the bench Judge Jones played an active role in assisting the American Bar Association and various minority Bar associations to develop strategies of diversity and inclusion. Since joining Blank Rome he has worked with the Diversity Committee to shape initiatives he will now oversee.

As Chief Diversity Officer, Judge Jones will lead and manage all aspects of Blank Rome’s diversity program, including the implementation and execution of the Firm’s diversity plan, coordination of diversity activities and events, integration of diversity into the Firm’s business plan, and communication on diversity both internally and externally. In addition, Judge Jones will identify and implement best practices in the area of recruitment and training of a diverse workforce and maintenance of an environment of inclusion.

“I am very pleased to be given this opportunity at Blank Rome,” said Judge Jones. “Diversity is a core value of the Firm and I look forward to implementing Blank Rome’s diversity vision as well as to executing that vision as a key business function of the Firm.”

At Blank Rome, Judges Jones concentrates his practice in the areas of litigation and dispute resolution. Prior to joining the Firm, Judge Jones served as a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati from 1979 to 2002. He has taught at and maintains ties with a number of law schools.

Judge Jones is the recipient of many awards and honors, the most recent of which are the Just The Beginning Foundation’s 2006 Trailblazer Award, the 2005 Metropolitan Award, presented annually to a local citizen who has made significant contributions to the unifications of the community in the business and civic worlds and the 2005 ABA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) Fellows Award, given each year to a leader in the profession. He chaired the ABA Council on Racial and Ethnic Justice. Judge Jones was also recognized as a Great Living Cincinnatian by the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce in 1997 and one of the “Fifty Most Influential Blacks in Cincinnati in the Last Half Century” by Radio Station WCIN and the Fifth Third Bank in 2003. He received the 2002 Thurgood Marshall Award from the National Bar Association’s Judicial Council and is a member of the National Bar Association’s Hall of Fame. On February 20, 2003, the United States Congress passed H.J.Res.2, officially naming the Nathaniel R. Jones Federal Building & United States Courthouse in Youngstown, Ohio.

Involved in countless professional and educational organizations, Judge Jones has made a tremendous impact on American society, particularly in civil rights matters. Judge Jones also frequently writes and lectures on civil rights issues. Actively involved in the legal community, Judge Jones recently appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which had been holding hearings on the nomination of Judge John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Judge Jones received his law degree from Youngstown State University Law School and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Youngstown State University. In addition, Judge Jones holds honorary degrees from 18 educational institutions, including Syracuse University, University of Cincinnati, Xavier University and Northeastern University School of Law.

12-14-2006

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25383 matches |  13392-13398 displayed

1  1911 1912 1913 1914 1915  3627