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White & Case, LLP

White & Case Advises in Majority Stake Acquisition of Russian Bank
White & Case acted for Nordea Bank, the leading financial services group in the Nordic and Baltic Sea Region, in its $313.7 million acquisition of 75 percent of Russian bank Orgresbank. The acquisition gives Nordea access to the corporate and retail segments of the high-growth Russian market, as well as strengthening its platform for servicing Nordic customers conducting business in Russia. The transaction, subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007.

Earlier this year White & Case also advised Nordea when it divested its 23.42 percent holding in ZAO International Moscow Bank to Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank AG, a member of the Uncredito Group, for $395 million.

"This year there has been a wave of M&A activity in the Russian financial services sector and it is particularly in the banking sector that foreign investors have been driving the market forwards," commented Peter Finlay, lead White & Case partner advising on the deal.

Nordea was formed in 2000 by a series of cross-border mergers between banks in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway and it now has almost ten million customers and more than 1,100 branch offices.

Working alongside Peter Finlay on the transaction in London were senior corporate associate Alan Burke and tax partner Peita Menon. White & Case's Moscow team was led by partners Eric Michailov and Irina Dmitrieva and senior associate Anna Krupkina. The Nordea in-house legal team was led by senior legal advisor Maria Snobohm. Ogresbank was represented by Skadden Arps. Philip Wahl led the Skadden team from London working with assistants in London and Moscow.

White & Case has a wealth of M&A experience in the Russian banking sector, which includes advising Commerzbank on its acquisition of 15.3 percent of the shares in Promsvyazbank, as well as representing Société Général in its acquisition of DeltaCredit Bank, a specialised mortgage bank, and in its multi-stage acquisition of Rosbank.

11-13-2006

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Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.

Local Governments May Owe Billions in Retiree Health Care Benefits: V&E Creates OPEB Task Force
State and local governments may be millions or even billions of dollars in debt and don't know it.

New accounting standards require that every government entity calculate and disclose all financial commitments they have made to public employees as post-retirement benefits that are not part of the pension plan. The most obvious and most expensive of the commitments, also known as Other Post-Employment Benefits or OPEB, concerns healthcare benefits.

"The unfunded financial liability facing nearly every state and local government is huge, and yet many officials may not even know this new rule exists," says former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, now a partner in the Public Policy and Public Finance Group at Vinson & Elkins LLP. "I cannot overstate the seriousness of the economic impact this will have on governmental entities both big and small. The size of the liability is going to astonish taxpayers and government officials."

To help governments address the issue, Vinson & Elkins has created an OPEB Task Force consisting of 10 lawyers who specialize in Corporate Governance, Public Finance, Public Policy, Employee Benefits and Labor Law.

Under the new rules imposed by the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB), state and local governments must start calculating the costs of their employees' long-term retirement benefits and disclose this unfunded liability in their financial reports, which could have a significant negative impact on a government's bond rating, according to Mr. Kirk, who is co-chair of V&E's OPEB Task Force. GASB requires that larger governments where annual revenue exceeds $100 million start reporting their unfunded liabilities on all financial reports starting Dec.15, 2006. The new rule applies to governments with revenue between $10 million and $100 million starting Dec.15, 2007, with the smallest government entities reporting one year later.

"Our task force works directly with state and local leaders in helping them examine the legal status of their retiree healthcare benefits and then assists in evaluating the financial obligations," says V&E Partner Paul Maco, the former Director of the Office of Municipal Securities for the Securities and Exchange Commission and now co-chair of V&E's OPEB Task Force. "Once the risk assessment has been completed, we work with local and state leaders to develop possible solutions."

Some actuarial experts have estimated that the unfunded liability for retiree healthcare benefits for all state and local governments is between $500 billion and $1.4 trillion.

A common misperception, according to Mr. Kirk, is that this is only a big city problem. "It is true that major cities, such as Dallas, Atlanta or Chicago, are likely to face liabilities that could range as high as hundreds of millions of dollars," he says. "But small suburban and rural towns who employ police and fire fighters, librarians, garbage collectors and teachers are going to be surprised at the size of their unfunded liability."

The unfunded liability is one of those out-of-sight, out-of-mind liabilities that crept up unnoticed on many government leaders, according to V&E Partner Gary Short, who specializes in employee benefits and compensation law. "Here's a typical example of how this happened: local and state governments, in an effort to attract and retain qualified police officers and firefighters, sweetened retirement benefits by allowing early retirement and promising to cover healthcare costs until the retirees are eligible for Medicare," says Mr. Short, who is part of V&E's OPEB team. "As a result, some police and firefighters will be eligible to retire when they are 50 years old. But the government has not put any money aside to cover their 15 years of healthcare costs."

Mr. Maco says that not all governments have made such legal commitments to their retirees. "Each government is different and each needs to examine its own records and bylaws to see what it has and has not promised," says Mr. Maco, who will be speaking on the subject on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at the Fifth Annual Great Lakes Public Finance Conference in Chicago.

11-13-2006

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Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Tina Tchen Participates in Federal Civil Practice Program
Chicago corporate litigation partner Tina Tchen was among the faculty members for the Practising Law Institute's "Federal Civil Practice Update 2006" program held in Chicago on November 13. The program examined the impact of anticipated changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, including important changes to e-discovery practice, as well as new developments in jurisdiction and pleading issues, ethical issues in complex litigation and more. Ms. Tchen spoke on "Privileges and the Work Product Doctrine.

11-13-2006

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Thelen, Reid, Brown, Raysman & Steiner, LLP

Law Firms Aiming for Bigger NYC Presence
The law firm consolidations continue to spread, creating a larger New York presence for a number of firms.
San Francisco-based Thelen Reid & Priest merged with Manhattan's Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner, forming a powerhouse of 615 attorneys, 255 of whom are based in Manhattan

11-13-2006

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Sills, Cummis, Epstein & Gross, P.C.

Marc S. Friedman - You Can’t Hide Those Trademarks Anymore
Marc S. Friedman, Chair of the Firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group, was interviewed by Jim McConville for an NJBIZ article titled “You Can’t Hide Those Trademarks Anymore” which appeared in the November 13, 2006 issue of the publication. This article discusses a recent New Jersey State Supreme Court ruling. According to the article, “the Supreme Court ruled that businesses could not shield intellectual property from the state’s corporate business tax by moving it under the umbrella of a Delaware holding company that then licenses it back to the New Jersey entity.” “New Jersey’s biotech companies, which are largely made up of intellectual property, are going to feel some impact from this decision,” Friedman says. He continues, “There are New Jersey biotech companies that have transferred their intellectual properties to Delaware subsidiaries. They, without a doubt, are going to be affected by this.

11-13-2006

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Schiff Hardin LLP

SCHIFF HARDIN LLP NAMES ROBERT H. RILEY CHAIRMAN
Robert H. Riley has been elected Chairman of Schiff Hardin LLP. The announcement was made by Ronald S. Safer, Schiff Hardin's Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Riley, 52, also continues as a member of the firm's Executive Committee and Leader of the firm's Product Liability Group.

Mr. Safer emphasized the importance of Mr. Riley's additional leadership role, "We are an emerging national law firm that has expanded coast-to-coast and doubled in size during the past decade. Bob's duties as Chairman include providing important strategic vision and direction as the firm continues its growth to meet the service needs of our clients. Bob succeeds Peter V. Fazio Jr. in this role, and he has big shoes to fill, but I am confident he will bring extraordinary ability and commitment to the task. We are grateful to him for his willingness to assume these additional duties."

Mr. Riley added, "Schiff Hardin has never been stronger in its 142-year history, and its future has never been more promising. We have achieved substantial growth while preserving our core values of client service and professional excellence. It is an honor to follow Peter Fazio in the role of Chairman, but, as Peter would be the first to say, the real strength of our firm is in the collective efforts of our partners.

11-13-2006

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Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell Attorneys At Law

Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell Partner Jimmy Walsh Wins Case For Conex International
Jimmy Walsh – a partner with Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell in Birmingham – and firm associate Daniel Feig recently won a defense verdict for Conex International in the Circuit Court of Tuscaloosa.

Conex, which provides project planning, management, and execution for new construction and maintenance projects primarily in oil and petroleum refineries, was sued by several Hunt Refining employees for damages sustained from a chemical blast that occurred in 2001. The plaintiffs claimed that Conex – which provided maintenance work on some of Hunt’s equipment in the weeks leading up to the explosion – failed to complete work at the plant earlier in the day, leading to inaccurate readings on monitoring equipment and, subsequently, the explosion. They sought damage for doctors’ bills, mental anguish, loss of compensation and money for future medical treatments.

Walsh argued that Conex was neither responsible for, nor touched the instruments in question. He contended that internal employees at Hunt were in charge of monitoring them. Furthermore, he asserted that each piece of equipment had a backup instrument – and if the Hunt employees had read these instruments, they would have been able to prevent the accident. Walsh concluded that the accident was due to a lack of training and poor supervision, and could have been avoided. The jury agreed and ruled in favor of the defendant.

11-13-2006

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