Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Saul Ewing, LLP

SAUL EWING LLP’S PRO BONO COUNSEL RECEIVES AWARD
Philadelphia's Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP) recognized Saul Ewing?s "We're All In" pro bono program this month when it gave Pro Bono Counsel Karen L. Forman its "Outstanding Service as Coordinator" citation award.

Saul Ewing participated in HAP's "Adopt-A-Shelter" Program this year by embracing HAP's Veterans Project, which helps meet the legal needs of homeless veterans. Saul Ewing attorneys helped veterans from throughout the Delaware Valley obtain veterans benefits and compensation for service related disabilities. Providing free legal services to disadvantaged veterans and senior citizens are the signature causes Saul Ewing adopted in 2005 when the Firm launched its “We’re All In” initiative.

Under the program, each of Saul Ewing?s 280 attorneys pledge to give a minimum of 25 hours of pro bono service to meet the legal needs of the elderly and veterans. “Our attorneys always step up to the plate and surpass my expectations," Ms. Forman said of the Firm's involvement with the Veterans Project. "Thanks to their dedication, we have been successful in obtaining benefits for veterans."

The Firm was acknowledged at a luncheon October 6, 2006 at the law office of Dechert LLP in Philadelphia where Caitlin M. Piccarello, an Associate in Saul Ewing’s Litigation Department, accepted the award on behalf of Ms. Forman and the Firm.

10-24-2006

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Pierce & Atwood, L.L.P.

Pierce Atwood Presents Election 2006 - Issues and Insights
What issues are Maine people most concerned about? How are the key races shaping up as we enter the final days of this year’s campaigns? Who will control the Maine Legislature and what could that mean for the rest of us?

Please join Pierce Atwood’s governmental relations team and our special guests, pollster MaryEllen FitzGerald and statehouse reporter Victoria Wallack, as we look at these questions and more in a special 2006 election preview.

What issues are Maine people most concerned about? How are the key races shaping up as we enter the final days of this year’s campaigns? Who will control the Maine Legislature and what could that mean for the rest of us?

Please join Pierce Atwood’s governmental relations team and our special guests, pollster MaryEllen FitzGerald and statehouse reporter Victoria Wallack, as we look at these questions and more in a special 2006 election preview.

Mary Ellen FitzGerald is president and founder of Critical Insights, Inc., which has become one of the largest and most respected market research firms in Northern New England since its inception in 1992. MaryEllen will present results from her latest Critical Insights on Maine statewide public opinion survey, which will be completed just in time for this briefing.

Victoria Wallack covers the Statehouse for a dozen, locally owned, weekly newspapers, and the daily Brunswick Times Record. She is a veteran reporter and editor with a lifelong interest in politics, and her outstanding reporting is seen by more than 60,000 readers every week. Victoria will offer insights into some of the key issues facing Maine and how they could be shaped by the election results.

10-24-2006

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Motley & Rice, L.L.C.

PROPOSED SETTLEMENT REACHED FOR PERSONAL INJURIES ARISING FROM 2005 NORFOLK SOUTHERN TRAIN DISASTER IN GRANITEVILLE, S.C.
Motley Rice LLC today announced that an agreement-in-principal by way of a proposed class action settlement has been reached with Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) that would provide compensation for personal injury claims associated with the railroad's January 6, 2005 derailment and chemical spill in Graniteville, S.C.

Joe Rice, the Motley Rice member who led the negotiations, stated, "We are proud that we were able to make this settlement happen. The residents of Graniteville have had their life disrupted and are entitled to compensation now and to not have to wait while their cases work their way through the judicial system."

The proposed settlement will provide varying levels of compensation to people who were injured and who received medical treatment, or were hospitalized as a result of the derailment and subsequent release of chlorine. The agreement is for claims that were not part of the prior class action settlement approved last year covering property damage, evacuation expenses and losses, and minor personal injuries. The parties expect to file the motion papers for preliminary approval by the Court in November. In addition to Motley Rice, the proposed class is represented by Richardson Patrick Westbrook & Brickman LLC, Gergel Nickles & Solomon PA, Pierce Herns Sloan & McLeod LLC, Strom Law Firm LLC and Baylen T. Moore, Attorney at Law LLC.

10-24-2006

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Le Boeuf, Lamb, Greene & McRae, L.L.P.

LeBoeuf Lamb Advises Inza on Ellis Park Deal
LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae announces that it is advising inter za. lešego (Pty) Ltd (inza), a Black Empowered company which has embarked on a momentous and ground-breaking Black Economic Empowerment deal within the sports and stadium management industries in South Africa.

Black Economic Empowerment, or BEE as it is commonly known, aims to rectify the commercial injustices which prevailed in South Africa in the past. This is achieved by setting industry quota's for Black South Africans based on ownership, management and staffing.

Inza, Golden Lions Rugby Football Union, through its properties management company Ellis Park Stadiums, and Orlando Pirates Football Club have negotiated the formation of a new BEE majority-owned company to manage the Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg Athletics Stadium and Standard Bank Arena, collectively known as the Ellis Park Precinct.

The precinct is currently owned by the City of Johannesburg and subject to a number of long-term leases with the Golden Lions Rugby Football Union and Standard Bank.

The new company enjoys rights of use and management of the Precinct, which will include the takeover of the Standard Bank Arena management contract. In return, the company will enhance the utilization of the facilities and upgrade the services within the precinct to develop a world-class sport, recreation and entertainment hub.

The R2 billion regeneration project also coincides with the goals set for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and accordingly the project is expected to reach its conclusion (as far as physical development is concerned) by mid 2009.

Greg Nott, head of the firm's Johannesburg office commented: "We are very proud to be associated with this historic project and pleased to be a part of the rewarding physical and social regeneration of Johannesburg.

10-24-2006

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Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, PC.

Lobsterman, Plans For Pipeline Collide
A local lobsterman has chosen to defy the town and keep his rights to a potentially valuable stretch of seabed off the shore of Branford that's in the path of the proposed Islander East natural gas pipeline.

Michael Torelli, who is currently in prison on a drunken driving conviction, has hired a prominent shoreline attorney to represent him in what could become a drawn-out battle with the town and state. The town mistakenly granted Torelli a section of seafloor last spring before realizing the bed was smack in the path of the proposed gas pipeline.

Worried about speculation and shell fishermen striking lucrative deals with the pipeline's wealthy backers, the town has since placed off-limits to the public all remaining shellfish beds in the path of the pipeline.

Bridgeport attorney William Bloss said his client has a legal right to the shellfish beds in the same way that a tenant with a signed lease has a right to stay in his home. "The lease is a binding contract," he said. "Nothing in the lease allows the town to terminate it."

From his prison cell in Storrs, Torelli has applied to the state Bureau of Aquaculture & Laboratory Services for permission to suspend 1,000 shellfish cages over the spot that Duke Energy and KeySpan - joint partners in Islander East - want to use as an exit point for their underground pipeline. Torelli also has asked the bureau to flag the area with buoys.

David Carey, head of the bureau, has denied the request for buoys and tried to discourage Torelli from suspending cages in an area that is set to become a construction zone if the pipeline is approved. The state is also concerned about the unprecedented size of Torelli's proposal. "A thousand cages would be the largest project we have to date in Long Island Sound," Carey said.

A federal appeals court recently returned the Islander East application to the state Department of Environmental Protection for review, finding that the state had not provided enough documentation for rejecting the project on environmental grounds. State analysts were out on the Sound last week taking samples of the sea bottom to document the oysters, clams and crabs living there.

The question of who controls the critical plot of seabed in the pipeline corridor may eventually be settled in court.

Town attorney Shelley Marcus said the town revoked Torelli's lease in September when he failed to answer a letter asking him to surrender the bed.

10-24-2006

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Hughes & Luce, L.L.P.

Hughes & Luce selected as “Go-To Law Firm” in litigation area
Hughes & Luce has been named a “Go-To Law Firm” in a recent survey conducted by Corporate Counsel magazine. The firm was nominated for the recognition by long-time client Devon Energy of Oklahoma City.

The firm will be listed in the fourth edition of In-House Law Departments at the Top 500 Companies to be published in late November 2006. To make the listing, a law firm must be nominated by a Fortune 500 general counsel.

Corporate Counsel conducts this survey every year with the general counsels at the Fortune 500 companies. General counsels are asked which outside firms they would turn to for assistance in five different practice areas. These practice areas are: Corporate Transactions, Intellectual Property, Labor and Employment, Litigation and European Union Matters. Firms named by the Fortune 500 are then listed as “Go-To Law Firms” in the in-house directory and featured in the annual “Who Represents America’s Biggest Companies” issue of Corporate Counsel magazine.

10-24-2006

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Hancock, Rothert & Bunshoft, L.L.P.

Hospitals Get Payout on Claims Against Insolvent HMO
A group of more than 75 health care systems is expecting this week the final check in their settlement of claims against an insolvent Medicaid HMO.

Local hospitals began to notice in mid-2000 that their claims to HRM-Pa., a division of Health Risk Management, weren't being paid on time, according to the attorney for the claimants, David E. Loder of Duane Morris.

When they asked the Department of Public Welfare (DPW) what they should do, they were told to continue to provide care, Loder said.

By October 2001, the plan had gone insolvent, and the group was left with more than $60 million in unpaid claims.

"Often times it's the providers that get left holding the bag," Loder said.

Roughly 150 hospitals organized by the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council looked to two places to try to collect on their claims.

The DPW, Loder said, had some responsibility to manage the HMO and monitor its stability.

The health care providers initiated suit against DPW, and by December 2003, the department agreed to a settlement of $10 million, Loder said. The settlement was later modified to pay providers who later consolidated their actions into the group's action. That modification brought with it an additional $1 million for the providers, Loder said.

Mark H. Gallant of Cozen O'Connor represented some of those providers who consolidated their cases with the health care council and served as co-counsel in the matter.

He said the government agency typically takes the position that it is not liable considering it had already paid the HMO in advance for its services.

"It's pretty unusual that the Department of Public Welfare, when pressured with litigation, agreed to settle," Gallant said. "That sort of result without a court order is virtually unprecedented."

Still nearly $50 million short of their existing claims, the group then submitted all of its unpaid claims to the liquidator of HRM, the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance. The liquidator had collected the remaining assets of HRM, which totaled $25 million, Loder said.

As is normal with a liquidation process, the liquidator would have to review every claim. By 2006, the beginning of this process had cost the estate close to $4 million, Loder said, adding that the most substantial of the group's claims had yet to have been reviewed.

Also customary when an HMO turns insolvent, Loder said, is that differing types of creditors are ranked in order of priority of payment. Auditors, adjusters and attorneys are generally the first to get paid, he said, leaving time for the estate's worth to dwindle through litigation or other expenses. The health care council was about third on the list of creditors to be paid, he said.

Loder said the group proposed a unique plan to avoid spending years and millions of dollars exhausting the resources of the estate. The group proposed to the liquidator that the department pay the more senior creditors 100 percent of what they are owed. The group would then agree to take whatever was left over in the estate without each claim having to be reviewed.

The Commonwealth Court eventually approved the settlement and the group received $18.47 million, or the remainder of the estate, Loder said.

According to Gallant, the upside for the liquidator was that the group agreed to split the money on its own among its members. The original payment was dispersed on Sept. 25. Loder said the group was told by counsel for the liquidator that the interest from the account would be coming in a separate check this week for about an additional $750,000.

Both Gallant and Loder said that the settlement maximized the recovery for the hospitals.

"It's a damn good result," Loder said.

In total, the group received a little less than half of its original claims against the insolvent HMO. The money will be divided exactly proportionate to the number of claims each health care provider had, Loder said.

William E. Mahoney Jr. of Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young represented the insurance department and said he would have to refer all requests for comment to the department.

In an e-mail statement, department spokeswoman Melissa Fox said "it was a novel settlement that was unique to the specific circumstances in the HRM liquidation proceeding and that it was done while preserving the priority distribution scheme set forth in the statute."

Andrew Wigglesworth is the president of the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council and was responsible for organizing the group of providers in this case. While the group would have preferred not to go through dealing with an insolvent insurer, the outcome of the case was "phenomenal," he said.

The settlement with DPW, he said, preserved the notion that the department had a responsibility when it comes to Medicaid HMOs. Wigglesworth said HRM was the third failed Medicaid HMO in this region. He said he was happy to see that the liquidator used its flexibility in coming up with this type of settlement.

"The associations were not chewed up in the context of extensive administrative and legal expenses by the liquidator," he said.

Some of the health care systems involved in the case included the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Crozer-Keystone Health System and Temple University Health System.

10-24-2006

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