Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, LLP

Simpson Thacher Represents Underwriters in $433 Million IPO of Security Capital Assurance Ltd
Simpson Thacher represented the underwriters in connection with the initial public offering of common shares of Security Capital Assurance Ltd, which closed on August 4, 2006. The $433 million offering was the largest U.S. initial public offering from the insurance sector in more than two years. The company’s shares are now listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SCA”.

Goldman, Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated acted as representatives of the underwriters.

Security Capital Assurance Ltd provides credit enhancement and protection products to the public finance and structured finance markets throughout the United States and internationally through the issuance of credit default swaps and financial guarantee insurance and reinsurance.

The Simpson Thacher team for this transaction included Lee Meyerson, Adam Smith, Ellen Rosenberg and Irina Petrova (Corporate); Rob Holo, Jonathan Cantor and Shari Silverman (Tax); and Steve DeLott (Insurance).

08-08-2006

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Loeb & Loeb, LLP

Three Loeb & Loeb Attorneys Named "Top Lawyers in Illinois" in Intellectual Property Law by Leading Lawyers Network
Loeb & Loeb attorneys Daniel D. Frohling, Douglas N. Masters and Edward G. Wierzbicki were recently recommended by their peers in a statewide survey to be among the ""Top Lawyers in Illinois"" in Intellectual Property Law.

Leading Lawyers Network surveyed more than 50,000 Illinois lawyers to determine the top lawyers in the state. Survey respondents could not nominate themselves or lawyers at their firm. The number of Leading Lawyers does not exceed 5% of the number of lawyers licensed to practice in Illinois.

Leading Lawyers Network is a division of Law Bulletin Publishing Company–Established in 1854.

08-08-2006

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Jenner & Block LLP

Firm Obtains Appellate Court Victory for Liberian Asylum Seeker
Jenner & Block recently obtained an appellate victory on behalf of pro bono client Theresa Banks, a Liberian refugee who is seeking asylum based on alleged persecution by the government for her ethnicity and political beliefs.

Ms. Banks is a member of the Krahn tribe, an ethnic group that opposed the Liberian government under the regime of former President Charles Taylor. She alleged that she was twice detained, beaten and tortured by paramilitary officers, and that her home was raided and destroyed during an attack on a settlement populated by ethnic Krahns.

Ms. Banks escaped to the United States and applied for asylum. However, her application was denied by both an Immigration Judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Associate Alison A. Dieterichs argued on behalf of Ms. Banks in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, demonstrating that the Immigration Judge and BIA gave deficient reasons for their rulings. As a result, a unanimous Seventh Circuit panel ruled that the Immigration Judge’s decision was “[n]ot remotely” supported by substantial evidence and remanded the case to the immigration agency for another review of Ms. Banks’s case.

In its opinion, the court highlighted expert testimony presented on behalf of Ms. Banks, noting that the agency did not offer any evidence to the contrary, and suggesting that perhaps Ms. Banks’s case is emblematic of larger problems with the U.S. asylum system. “What the immigration bureaucracy needs is a counterpart to [Ms. Banks’s expert] for each country, someone who knows local conditions at a level of detail that would permit him to opine on the question whether a given alien’s assertions are plausible,” the court wrote.

08-08-2006

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Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

HELMICK JOINS SPILMAN THOMAS & BATTLE, PLLC
The law firm of Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC is pleased to announce the following attorney has joined the firm.

Brian Helmick is a senior attorney in the firm's Charleston office. Helmick was previously Deputy Secretary and General Counsel of Commerce for the State of West Virginia. His practice will focus on business expansion, economic development, government relations and public finance.

Helmick graduated from West Virginia University in 1994 with a B.S. in Resource Management and received his J.D. in 2001, where he was Order of the Coif and Executive Editor of Articles for the Law Review.

According to Michael J. Basile, Managing Member, recruiting Helmick was a top priority. “Brian is an excellent fit for Spilman. With his entrepreneurial mindset and his enthusiasm, we knew he would be the right choice for the Spilman family.”

As one of the region’s largest law firms, Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC offers a full-service legal practice. We have West Virginia offices in Charleston, Morgantown and Wheeling and in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

08-08-2006

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Newmeyer & Dillion LLP

NEWMEYER & DILLION’S JAN GRUEN NAMED “SUPER LAWYER”
Jan A. Gruen, managing partner of the Walnut Creek office of Newmeyer & Dillion LLP, has for the third consecutive year been named a Northern California “Super Lawyer” in the peer-review survey of the top 5 percent of area attorneys, as published in the August issue of San Francisco magazine and the companion Northern California Super Lawyers. Gruen has made the list each year since its launch in 2004.

A highly successful real estate litigator specializing in the business needs of builders, Gruen was also honored recently by the East Bay Business Times as one of 14 “Outstanding East Bay Attorneys.” She is active in HBANC, currently serving as President-Elect of the Women’s Council and Chairperson of its Community Outreach Committee.

08-08-2006

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McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton Professional Association

McLane Law Firm Expands Seacoast Office
The law firm of McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton announced today that the firm is expanding its Seacoast office.

An additional 1800 square feet will allow space for additional staff, as well as library and expanded conference facilities. McLane is a tenant of 100 Market Street, a state-of-the-art property, which houses some of the city’s finest professional service firms and the 100 Club, a fine food establishment and private club. The firm also makes use of the Gallery to host its well-established quarterly art exhibit program.

“Seven of McLane’s 29 lawyers listed as “Best Lawyers in America” by Woodward/White have offices at 100 Market Street,” said Mike Quinn, managing director of the Seacoast office. He continued, “Our statewide practice offers Seacoast residents and businesses access to a wealth of expertise across legal areas, from estate planning to environmental issues to complex business litigation.

08-08-2006

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Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP

U.S. Supreme Court Creates New Standard for Bias Retaliation
U.S. Supreme Court Creates New Standard for Bias Retaliation. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously broadened the definition of retaliation under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (Title VII). The new standard for retaliation includes acts that are ""materially adverse"" to a reasonable employee, including transfers or suspensions that do not result in a loss of pay, benefits, or privileges. An employer suspended a female forklift driver for 37 days over the Christmas holiday period after she complained about being harassed by her foreman. Although the employer disciplined the foreman, it transferred the female employee to a more physically demanding job. Eventually, the employer reinstated the female employee with pay. The Court emphasized that ""material adversity"" is significant in evaluating retaliation cases because it is important to separate ""significant"" from ""trivial"" harms. Also, the Court noted that retaliation is not just limited to things that occur inside the workplace, since employers can chill dissent and the reporting of discrimination in other ways. (Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. White)

Employers Have 4 Hours to Provide OSHA Records. C.F.R. Part 1904 provides guidance to employers regarding Form 300 (Log), Form 300A (Summary), and Form 301 (Incident Report). Collectively, the forms are referred to as ""Part 1904 records."" When an OSHA investigator requests Part 1904 records from an employer, the employer has four business hours to provide the records. For more information on how to respond to an OSHA investigation, contact a GH&R Labor & Employment attorney.

WORKPLACE HEALTH & SAFETY NEWS
Join a Safety Council and Earn a Premium Discount. State fund employers who become active members of local safety councils can receive a one-time, 4-percent premium discount from the BWC. To qualify for the discount, state fund employers must: (1) enroll with a local safety council by Sept. 30, 2006; (2) attend at least 8 monthly meetings from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007; (3) send a representative to a chief executive officer event; and (4) submit semi-annual workplace accident reports for calendar year 2006. For more information, contact the BWC at 1-800-644-6292.

Injured Workers May Refuse a Light-Duty Job Based on a Doctor's Advice. The Supreme Court of Ohio recently considered whether a workers' compensation permanent total disability (PTD) claim should be barred because the injured worker refused a job offer. The Industrial Commission approved an application for PTD based on a treating psychologist's report that the injured worker was incapable of ""work of any kind, however sedentary or lacking in stress that work may be."" The employer appealed the Commission's decision because it had offered the injured worker a light-duty job that the worker never attempted. The Court upheld the Commission's decision on two grounds. First, the injured worker was entitled not to attempt the light-duty job based on his doctor's advice. Second, the Commission had properly relied on the doctor's report since it was not flawed. (State ex rel. Kroger Co. v. Paysen)

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS & EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION NEWS
IRS Correction Program. The IRS has recently updated its voluntary correction program for qualified retirement plans. The changes are effective September 1, 2006, although employers can start using them now. The new guidance addresses a number of common operational failures, such as loans, exclusion of employees, and spousal consent. The guidance also addresses the availability of correction by plan amendment. Employers who adopt a corrective amendment will have to submit the plan for a determination letter during their plan's normal filing cycle and disclose the corrective amendment. Other changes include the format of the application and lower compliance fees in certain circumstances. This may be a good time for plan sponsors to review their plans for any operational problems.

Calculation of Excise Taxes on Late Elective Deferrals. The IRS recently issued a revenue ruling addressing the calculation of excise taxes on the late deposit of employee elective deferrals into a 401(k) plan. A Department of Labor (DOL) regulation requires that elective deferrals generally be deposited as of the earliest date on which they can ""reasonably be segregated"" from the employer's general assets. The IRS has ruled that the late deposit of elective deferrals is a loan by the plan to the employer, which is a prohibited transaction. The IRS imposes a 15 percent excise tax on the ""amount involved"" between the plan and the disqualified person (in this case, the employer). The IRS further determined that for the late deposit of elective deferrals, the ""amount involved"" was the amount of interest calculated on the deferrals, not the actual amount of deferrals. Payment of the IRS excise tax does not prevent the DOL from assessing civil penalties. Therefore, an employer may also want to file under the DOL's voluntary fiduciary correction program to avoid those additional penalties.

Statutory Penalties for COBRA Violation Can be Costly. An employer assured an employee who was being laid off that his health coverage would remain in effect, and that the employer would pay for his first two months of COBRA coverage. The employee scheduled knee surgery a few days after he was laid off. After his surgery he found out that his employer had allowed his health coverage to lapse even though the premiums had been deducted from his paycheck. No COBRA notice was sent to the employee. The employee sued. The court awarded the employee $119,968.50, of which $90,860 was the maximum statutory penalty for the employer's failure to inform the employee of his COBRA rights. The court awarded the maximum penalty because it felt the employer's conduct was ""at best incompetent and at worse fraudulent."" This case serves as a reminder that significant penalties can be incurred for COBRA violations. (Shepard v. O'Quinn)

This Newsletter is a periodic publication of Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP and should not be construed as legal advice or legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances. The contents are intended for general information purposes only, and you are urged to consult your own advisor concerning your situation and any specific legal question you may have.

08-08-2006

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