Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Complex Mass Torts and Insurance Litigation Partners Speak at Legal Reform Summit
Sheila Birnbaum and Russell Jackson recently spoke at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Seventh Annual Legal Reform Summit in Washington, D.C. Mr. Jackson addressed the growing use of state consumer protection laws against American businesses. Ms. Birnbaum discussed “The Vanishing Civil Trial.

10-31-2006

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Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Hank Barnette Serves as Panelist at Corporate Governance Seminar
D.C. of counsel Hank Barnette was a panel member at a recent seminar at the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. Mr. Barnette, along with Vice Chancellor Donald Parsons and other participants, discussed fiduciary duties of shareholders.

10-31-2006

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Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Laurent Cohen-Tanugi Chairs Paris Conference on Private Antitrust
Paris partner Laurent Cohen-Tanugi recently chaired a conference organized by the Antitrust Division of the French Ministry of Finance on the subject of private antitrust enforcement. This topic is currently attracting considerable attention within European business and political circles, following the publication last year of a Green Paper of the European Commission stressing the underdevelopment of private actions in Europe and in the context of controversial proposed French legislation introducing some form of class action. Among other speakers, Mr. Cohen-Tanugi invited Washington, D.C. antitrust partner John Nannes to present the U.S. private enforcement experience to an audience of some 150 executives, lawyers and regulators.

10-31-2006

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Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman to Open Shanghai Office
The international law firm of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman today announced that it has secured a license to practice law in Shanghai.

“We have been handling substantial matters in China for many years for our energy, financial services and technology clients. Our clients recently have been ramping up their China investments exponentially, so we believe now is the time to expand our on-the-ground support,” said Jim Rishwain, Chair of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. “For example, most venture-backed technology companies in the Silicon Valley have a China strategy from the outset. However, few law firms with strong Silicon Valley connections have opened offices there to serve these companies. Our Shanghai office will enable us to provide comprehensive service to these Silicon Valley clients, as well as to clients throughout the network, as they invest and expand in China.”

Steve Huttler, Executive Vice Chair of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, recently returned from a two-week visit to the firm's clients in Japan, and adds that the new Shanghai office will also enhance the firm's capabilities for its Japanese clients.

“We have represented many of our Japanese clients for over 20 years, and have assisted them in the U.S. and abroad on commercial transactions, project finance, complex litigation and intellectual property protection. Now many of these clients have expressed interest in expanding operations or making inbound investments in mainland China, so our Shanghai office will be of great benefit,” said Huttler.

Pillsbury partner Joseph Chan will head the Shanghai office. Chan, who is fluent in both Mandarin and Cantonese, has extensive experience in a variety of transactions including cross-border M&A and other strategic transactions; syndicated bank credit financings; restructurings and securitizations; capital markets transactions involving equity and debt securities offerings; and venture capital financings. Chan has counseled on a number of multi-million dollar acquisitions of Chinese and Japanese IT companies by U.S. interests, and represented large Hong Kong-based private equity and venture capital funds on their portfolio company investments.

“While the general capital markets practice is competitive in China, U.S. IPOs for China-based technology companies leverage our ties to Silicon Valley where many of these companies are launched. Many Silicon Valley-based venture capital firms also have recently raised new funds that focus on China or have designated portions of existing funds for China investment. Having a Shanghai office will enhance our ability to serve these VCs and, ultimately, the companies in which such VCs invest,” said Chan.

In addition to Chan, Pillsbury initially anticipates staffing the office with locally trained legal professionals, as well as associates from its Silicon Valley and other offices that have a unique focus and interest in China.

“It’s vital to not only understand local laws, but also China’s business culture--to know exactly what it takes to complete a deal successfully there today,” said Chan. “Being on the ground in Shanghai will also allow us to more readily assess future opportunities to grow both our clients’ and our own business.”

In conjunction with establishing an office in mainland China, the firm also made the decision to close its Taipei office, believing it can more efficiently serve its Taiwanese clients through its Shanghai, Tokyo, Washington, DC, and Silicon Valley offices.

“Our Taiwanese clients will continue receiving the highest quality service, but we felt that the best way to maximize our resources and expand our footprint in Asia was to focus on our Tokyo and Shanghai offices, as they are located in two of the world’s biggest economies.

10-31-2006

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Thelen, Reid, Brown, Raysman & Steiner, LLP

Local Law Firm Merger Activity Picks Up
A bi-coastal merger came to fruition, as San Francisco-based Thelen Reid & Priest merged with Manhattan's Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner, forming a powerhouse of 615 attorneys.

The new firm—to be called Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner—is expected to rank in the top 50 in the Am Law 100. The combined firm's New York City office will have about 255 lawyers.

Thelen Reid's strength is in construction, energy and project finance law, while Brown Raysman is known as a technology, media, intellectual property and real estate law firm. The merger gives Brown Raysman a highly-sought-after Shanghai presence, as Thelen Reid opened up an office in the Chinese financial capital in August. The combined firm will have seven offices in the U.S., and a lone international office in China.

10-31-2006

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Thelen, Reid, Brown, Raysman & Steiner, LLP

Thelen Reid to Merge with NY Law Firm
San Francisco’ Thelen Reid & Priest LLP said Monday that it will merge with New York’s Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner LLP, forming a firm with more than 615 lawyers.

The new firm, Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner, will have eight offices—seven in the United States and recently opened space in Shanghai. It will have 371 lawyers on the East Coast, including 255 in New York and 70 in Washington, and 242 attorneys in California.

The merger, to take effect Dec. 1, is the second announced this month between law firms from New York and California. Last week, New York’s Dewey Ballantine and San Francisco’s Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe said they are planning to form a 1,500-lawyer firm.

Thelen Reid Chairman Stephen O’Neal and Brown Raysman founding partner Julian Millstein will be co-chairman of the new firm. Thomas Hill, a Thelen Reid labor and employment partner in Los Angeles, will be managing partner of operations.

Thelen Reid’s clients include Lockheed Martin Corp., Bechtel Group Inc. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, while Brown Raysman’s clients include Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Ameriquest Mortgage Co.

10-31-2006

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Thelen, Reid, Brown, Raysman & Steiner, LLP

Thelen Reid Goes Bicoastal in Merger With New York Firm
Months of speculation ended Monday with San Francisco-based Thelen Reid & Priest and New York's Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner announcing they will combine to form a 600-plus-attorney firm.

The new firm will be called Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner. . . .

. . .Thelen Reid, with strengths in energy and project finance, gains a critical mass in New York. Its 78 attorneys there will consolidate in Brown Raysman's headquarters to create a 255-lawyer shop, the largest of the new firm's eight locations.

Brown Raysman, strong in real estate finance, intellectual property and technology, will combine its five-attorney Silicon Valley office with Thelen Reid's 27-lawyer shop. That office, which opened at the beginning of the year, will be supported by Thelen Reid's 138-attorney San Francisco headquarters. Consolidated Los Angeles offices will maintain 72 lawyers.

The merger is slated to take effect Dec. 1.

Thelen Reid chairman Stephen V. O'Nealsaid the marriage created "obvious opportunities to grow for both of us." Already in the nation's major markets, Thelen Reid still wanted to grow.

"The question was looking for a partner that was in some or all of those geographies," O'Neal said. "Brown Raysman was in two of those markets: New York and, to a lesser extent, Los Angeles."

Brown Raysman will gain access to Thelen Reid offices in Washington, DC, San Francisco and Shanghai and Thelen Reid will gain capabilities in Hartford, Conn.

Brown Raysman, with its technology and IP practices, will allow Thelen Reid to serve corporate clients with interests in those areas.

The new firm will have more of a capital markets profile than either firm had separately.

"We spent five months negotiating, and we find that we work together very well," said Julian S. Millstein, name partner of the 240-lawyer firm. "We could use a little of the stabilizing culture that they have. They could use a little of our entrepreneurial drive." . . .

. . .Millstein said his firm was looking for a strong West Coast presence with clients that could use the technology capabilities Brown Raysman provides. Thelen Reid's 70-attorney Washington, D.C., office, something Millstein said Brown Raysman has long considered opening for itself, and its nascent four-attorney Shanghai office, which was licensed to operate in August, were also attractive, he said.

The strength in New York numbers would prompt the firm to increase European client relationships, Millstein said.

Thelen Reid's 138-attorney San Francisco headquarters will be the firm's second largest office.

"We like the overall footprint," Millstein said. "It's simply an East Coast-West Coast firm and not a lot in the middle. We think that's a good structure for a firm that wants to do global work."

The announcement is significant based on the West Coast presence Brown Raysman gains and the vastly increased New York presence Thelen Reid gets, said industry consultant Peter Zeughauser.

"The Bay Area and New York are the two principal markets for these firms," Zeughauser said. "There's a lot to be said for that strategically."

Thelen Reid's San Francisco origins date back to 1924. The firm as it's known now came about by the 1998 merger of San Francisco-based Thelen Marin Johnson & Bridges and New York-based Reid & Priest. . . .

. . .Brown Raysman is, by comparison, newer and smaller, having been born from the 1979 startup venture of name partners Kenneth S. Brown and Richard Raysman. Millstein joined as the firm's third attorney in 1982 after a career as a computer programmer, systems analyst and information technology consultant.

The firm grew organically until the 2000 amalgamation of the then 130-attorney Brown Raysman firm and three other New York firms: Baer Marks & Upham, Corbin Silverman & Sanseverino and Greble & Finger.

The combination, which occurred over the course of three months, created a firm of 220 lawyers.

"At that point, we had been a tech practice," said Millstein of the four-way combination. "When the tech bust hit, we saw that coming and we diversified rather quickly.

10-31-2006

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