Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP

Stradley Ronon Attorney Presents at Women’s Network for Entrepreneurial Training Roundtable
Frances Gauthier, chair of Stradley Ronon’s diversity group and an attorney in the firm’s Wilmington, Del., office, recently participated at the Women’s Network for Entrepreneurial Training (WNET) roundtable, “Building a Team of Entrepreneurial Resources for Your Business.” As one of three panelists, Gauthier discussed how businesses can benefit from services provided by attorneys. WNET is a mentoring program offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Gauthier represents private and public companies in corporate and commercial matters including corporate governance, alternative entity law, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate restructurings. She serves on the executive committee of the Delaware State Bar Association and is the vice chair of special events of the Association’s Multicultural Judges and Lawyers Section. Gauthier also co-chairs the American Bar Association’s Section of Business Law Fellows and Ambassadors Committee, and is co-chair of the Corporate Sponsor Committee of the National Association of Women Business Owners, Delaware Chapter.

08-01-2006

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Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan LLP

Robert Rehm Appointed to the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Museum of History Associates
The North Carolina Museum of History Associates (NCMHA) recently appointed Smith Anderson lawyer, T. Robert Rehm, Jr., to its Board of Directors. Mr. Rehm's appointment took effect on July 1, 2006, and he will serve a three-year term.

NCMHA provides funding to the North Carolina Museum of History for operational, artistic and educational purposes, including artifact acquisition, exhibits, public relations, and educational enrichment for children and adults in all 100 counties of the state.

An Intellectual Property and Technology lawyer, Mr. Rehm's diverse practice includes technology licensing and commercialization and the acquisition, licensing and protection of intellectual property rights. His experience focuses in the areas of patent, trademark, copyright and antitrust law with particular emphasis on technology licensing and commercialization; patent, trademark, and copyright litigation and licensing; trademark and copyright prosecution; and intellectual property counseling. A practicing electrical engineer for 16 years prior to beginning his legal career, Mr. Rehm brings significant practical and business experience to support clients in connection with virtually all aspects of their intellectual property. In addition to the North Carolina Museum of History, Mr. Rehm's active civic and community participation includes the North Carolina Museum of Art, the J.C. Raulston Arboretum, and the North Carolina Symphony.

08-01-2006

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Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan LLP

Smith Anderson Partner Mike Weddington Appointed Vice Chair of the Board of Legal Specialization
The North Carolina State Bar Council recently appointed Smith Anderson partner, Michael E. Weddington, as Vice Chair of the Board of Legal Specialization (the Board). Mr. Weddington has served on the Board since 2002 and will continue to serve through 2008. The Board manages the Plan of Legal Specialization adopted and administered by the State Bar.

A litigator for over 30 years, Mr. Weddington's diverse practice focuses on appellate advocacy; administrative law and litigation; commercial and construction litigation; and intellectual property law and litigation. He also serves as a neutral in alternative dispute resolution matters.

08-01-2006

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Shapiro Sher Guinot & Sandler

Baltimore SmartCEO Magazine names Franklin M. Lee in its list of Maryland's "Legal Elite" attorneys
Baltimore SmartCEO Magazine names Franklin M. Lee in its list of Maryland's "Legal Elite" attorneys. The selection acknowledges Mr. Lee's accomplishments in Minority Business Enterprise law and litigation.

08-01-2006

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Shapiro Sher Guinot & Sandler

"Economic Inclusion: Municipalities Still Mean Business"
Even as traditional government “set-aside” programs mandating minority subcontract participation have fallen out of favor in the courts and in legislatures around the country, a new movement to leverage public dollars to change corporate procurement behavior is gaining unprecedented momentum.

This new paradigm is referred to as “commercial nondiscrimination policy.” In February, the City of Baltimore became the latest municipality, after San Diego, Charlotte, and Columbia, South Carolina, to get on board this train with its enactment of a commercial nondiscrimination ordinance. With Governor Robert Ehrlich’s May 2 signing of a similar measure, Maryland has become the first state in the nation to embrace this new paradigm for economic inclusion.

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1989 decision in City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson curtailed the use of affirmative action in public contracting, state and local governments have been threatened with lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of racial “set-aside” policies. In many cases, the government response has been to undertake expensive economic “disparity” studies to determine the existence and extent of marketplace discrimination detrimental to minority business participation. Often these studies have documented not only statistical disparities in minority business participation in government contracts, but also patterns of exclusion at work in the private sector. Unequal access to capital, ‘good old boy’ networks, stereotypical attitudes by customers, price discrimination by suppliers, and unfair denials of opportunities to bid all combine to create a thicket of obstacles between qualified minority businesses and commercial success in the marketplace.

Yet barriers to private sector business have gone unaddressed by governmental set-aside programs. As a result, disparities in the commercial participation of qualified minority businesses have persisted and the cost to local economies has been enormously high.

In a recent “Bridging the Gap” study commissioned by the Greater Baltimore Committee, local economist Anirban Basu estimates that the Baltimore region has some 13,700 fewer minority-owned businesses than it should given its market demographics. Dr. Basu further concludes that these missing minority firms account for approximately 32,800 lost jobs and about $5 billion in lost sales from the region’s economy. In other words, the failure of minority businesses to fully realize their potential represents a huge drain on the economic vitality of the entire region.

In an ironic twist of fate, the blueprint for the new commercial nondiscrimination policy approach was born out of a combination of the South African anti-apartheid divestiture movement of the 1980s, and the Supreme Court’s suggestion for an alternative to affirmative action remedies. The City of Baltimore was among the leaders in adopting anti-apartheid measures in that earlier era. Divestiture policies typically precluded local governments from doing business with corporations that engaged in business in South Africa. The massive withdrawal of commercial activity that resulted caused the South African business community to pressure the government to abolish apartheid. This approach was so effective that when Nelson Mandela was released from prison he credited the divestiture movement for turning the tide against apartheid in his country.

In the landmark Croson decision, even as the Supreme Court struck down the constitutionality of Richmond’s set-aside program, the court suggested that the city could rely on the power of its purse to correct the effects of discrimination. The decision stated: “It is beyond dispute that any public entity, state, or federal, has a compelling interest in assuring that public dollars, drawn from the tax contributions of all citizens, do not serve to finance the evil of private prejudice.”

Like the anti-apartheid policies and in accordance with the Supreme Court’s suggestion in Croson, the commercial non-discrimination policies adopted by the State of Maryland and other governments seek to leverage public tax dollars to remedy the acknowledged evil of racial discrimination.

The policies provide for the filing of administrative complaints against government contractors and bidders that have allegedly discriminated in their solicitation, selection, or treatment of other businesses. Such complaints are then to be investigated by the government, and will ultimately be resolved through an administrative hearing process. Violations of the policy may result in termination of existing contracts, debarment from receiving government contracts for a period of time, or in voluntary settlements designed to remedy the discrimination and to prevent its reoccurrence. Such strong sanctions offer a significant deterrent to private sector exclusion of minority-owned businesses.

The intent behind the policies is not widespread punishment, but promotion of a healthy change in corporate mindsets. The policies will encourage companies to become more conscious of the manner in which they conduct business such that no segment of the business community is excluded and discriminated against in the solicitation, selection, or treatment of suppliers, vendors, and customers.

The self-examination that will surely result may help to break down decades of “business-as-usual” practices that have led to the unthinking exclusion of minority firms based on a reflexive “use-who-you-know” approach. Time will tell whether enforcement of such policies can finally begin to erode the persistent economic disparities that have so long plagued minority-owned businesses in the American marketplace.

08-01-2006

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Morris, James, Hitchens & Williams LLP

MORRIS JAMES ATTORNEYS NOMINATED IN DELAWARE TODAY'S TOP LAWYERS SURVEY
Morris James congratulates Mary M. Culley, Gretchen S. Knight and Francis ""Pete"" J. Jones, Jr. for their nomination in Delaware Today's ""Top Lawyers"" survey which appears in the August 2006 issue.

Mary M. Culley is a partner with Morris James' Tax, Estates and Trusts Practice Group. She often lectures to professional and community groups on estate planning and probate, planning for families with special needs children, charitable giving, Medicaid planning and planning for the elderly. Earlier this year, Ms. Culley received the 2006 Themis Award from the DuPont Women Lawyers' Network. The Themis Award, established in 2002, is given annually to recognize a member of the network who affects the business of DuPont in a positive manner by ""promoting legal excellence through the success, development and professional advancement of the women lawyers representing DuPont."" Ms. Culley also supports the next generation of women professionals and promotes issues of importance to women in the community by serving as a member of the board of directors of the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council. She is also a member of the board of trustees of Ursuline Academy.

Gretchen S. Knight is a partner with Morris James' Family Law Practice Group. She has been nominated for her work in a number of Delaware Today surveys. As a member of the Delaware State Bar Association, she currently serves on a subcommittee on the educational needs of foster children for the Child Protection Accountability Commission, and she is a member of the Preliminary Review Committee of the Board on Professional Responsibility. She is also a member of the Melson-Arsht Inn of Court.

Francis ""Pete"" J. Jones, Jr. is a partner with Morris James' Personal Injury Practice Group. He is a frequent speaker on tort and insurance issues and on trial techniques and strategies. In the area of alternative dispute resolution, he is often selected as an arbitrator and/or mediator. Mr. Jones is presently an Associate Trustee of the Delaware Supreme Court's Client Security Trust Fund. He is a member of the Board of the Delaware Law Related Education Program and Chair of the High School Mock Trial Committee. He is also a member and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the National High School Mock Trial Program. In 2005, Mr. Jones received the Distinguished Mentoring Award during the Annual Bench & Bar Conference in Dover, Delaware. The Distinguished Mentoring Award is presented to the ""Delaware lawyer or judge who, by distinguished mentoring of other Delaware lawyers (or future lawyers) over a period of many years, has served as an inspiration to and a model for those lawyers in striving for and maintaining the highest standards in their professional careers and in their community involvement.

08-01-2006

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Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, L.L.P.

Microsoft Private Antitrust Class Actions
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, is prosecuting cases against Microsoft Corporation in various state courts across the country, including Florida, New York, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

In these cases, plaintiffs allege that Microsoft engaged in anticompetitive conduct and/or violated state deceptive and unfair business practices statutes to harm competition and monopolize the markets for Intel-compatible, personal computer operating system software, as well as word processing and spreadsheet software. Several of the courts in which the Microsoft class actions are pending have certified class actions, including California, Florida and Tennessee.

New York Settlement
On August 1, 2006, the New York Supreme Court granted final approval to a $350 million settlement of an antitrust and consumer fraud class action lawsuit against Microsoft. The suit was brought on behalf of New York businesses and consumers that purchased certain Microsoft software. The settlement makes benefits available to people who used certain Microsoft software in New York during the class period, from May 18, 1994 through December 31, 2004. That software includes, but is not limited to, the Microsoft Windows operating system and Microsoft Word, Excel, and Office.

Consumers covered by the settlement can submit claims for up to five software licenses without providing proof of purchase. Businesses with many licenses can submit claims to obtain significant compensation, which may be worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in vouchers that may be redeemed for cash in connection with the purchase of eligible computer products. The deadline to submit your claim is October 18, 2006.

Through a cy pres program, half the unclaimed benefits (worth a maximum of $112.5 million) will be given to needy public schools in New York. Lieff Cabraser serves as Co-lead Counsel.

08-01-2006

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