Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Day Pitney, LLP

Frank J. Cerza Named Partner of Pitney Hardin LLP
Frank J. Cerza has been named a partner of Pitney Hardin LLP and will join the firm’s Corporate Group in its New York office. Broadening the scope of Pitney Hardin’s international presence, Mr. Cerza specializes in representing Italian and European companies, individuals, and investors in the areas of corporate, real estate, and international law.

Mr. Cerza serves as general corporate counsel and business advisor to a number of international companies doing business in the United States and assists American companies in their business endeavors in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. His expertise encompasses business planning, strategy, and joint ventures; incorporation and organization of United States companies and partnerships; negotiation of contracts for employment, sales representation, distribution, and licensing; acquisitions and sales of businesses; and leasing and sales of offices, showrooms, retail establishments, restaurants, and other commercial and residential properties.

Mr. Cerza currently serves as Director and Treasurer of the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce in New York City, the oldest bi-national chamber of commerce in the United States, and as the Honorary Representative of the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy for the State of New York. Mr. Cerza is a member of the National Italian American Foundation and is active in organizations and initiatives committed to fostering joint commercial enterprises of United States and Italian companies.

With a unique combination of fluency in Italian, strong relationships with Italian government officials and law firms, key leadership roles in a number of professional organizations, and more than 20 years of experience in representing Italian enterprises, Mr. Cerza is well-positioned at Pitney Hardin to offer representation in virtually all legal areas affecting the successful establishment and market expansion initiatives of Italian and European businesses in a variety of industries in the United States.

Pitney Hardin Managing Partner, Dennis R. LaFiura, remarks: “Frank’s skill and reputation will substantially enhance a number of our existing practice areas, including representation of retail companies. He has developed a unique practice that focuses on the legal needs in the United States of significant Italian business enterprises. We are delighted that Frank has joined us.”

“I am very pleased to be joining Pitney Hardin in their New York office,” said Mr. Cerza. “The firm has excellent attorneys and their business solution approach toward resolving client issues is a natural fit for my international business clientele.”

Mr. Cerza has particular expertise in working with high-end apparel and accessory industry leaders like Canali, Trussardi, Cerruti, Lubiam, Claudia Ciuti, Massimo Bizzocchi, Tino Cosma, Giuliana Teso Furs, Luciano Moresco, Santostefano USA, and Tucano USA. He also represents a number of furniture and home design companies, including Mascioni, Unifor, Columbo USA, and Deroma. In addition he assists specialty food and wine products companies, DeCecco Pasta, Bindi Desserts, and Berlucchi Wines in corporate matters. Among his restaurant clients are a number of fashionable New York venues including, Paper Moon Milano, Barbaluc, Teodora, and Il Corallo.

Prior to establishing his practice in New York City, Mr. Cerza resided in Milan and was associated with Studio Legale Carnelutti, of which he later became the resident partner in the firm’s New York office.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (magna cum laude) and Villanova Law School, Mr. Cerza is a member of the New York and New Jersey bars and the United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of New Jersey. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Columbian Lawyers Association, and has served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association.

About Pitney Hardin LLP
Pitney Hardin LLP is a full-service law firm that provides high-quality, cost-effective legal and business solutions. Founded in 1902, Pitney Hardin has offices in Morristown (NJ), New York City, and Brussels. Our staff of approximately 180 lawyers delivers expertise in a wide range of practice areas including bank finance, banking/ financial institutions – acquisitions and regulatory, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, capital markets, corporate, employee benefits and executive compensation, environmental, franchise law, intellectual property, labor and employment, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, tax, and trusts and estates. Pitney Hardin is New Jersey's exclusive member firm of Lex Mundi, the world’s leading association of independent law firms.

05-01-2006

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Day Pitney, LLP

David B. Newman Named Partner of Pitney Hardin LLP
David B. Newman has been named a partner of Pitney Hardin LLP, and will join the firm’s Litigation Group in its New York office. Mr. Newman is a commercial litigator with significant trial experience throughout the United States, in state and federal courts and before administrative tribunals. His broad expertise includes litigation, alternative dispute resolution, and counseling in the areas of insurance, securities, contracts, intellectual property, labor and employment, personal injury defense, and shareholder and partnership disputes.

Mr. Newman’s clients include a variety of companies in the hospitality industry such as Sandals Resorts and other all-inclusive resorts, international airlines, and companies in textile, apparel, and advertising industries.

Mr. Newman is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Lehigh University and a cum laude graduate of New York Law School, where he served on the Law Review. He is a member of the National Board of Arbitrators and the American Arbitration Association, and is a certified arbitrator in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York and a mediator in the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program of the New York State Supreme Court.

Mr. Newman is admitted to the bar of New York, the United States District Court for the Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of New York, the Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits of the United States Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

Pitney Hardin Managing Partner Dennis R. LaFiura, remarks: “We are delighted to bring on a partner with the depth of litigation experience David has, including his national trial experience. He will make a great addition to our strong New York office.”

“I am very pleased to be joining Pitney Hardin, a firm of great integrity and with an impeccable reputation,” said Mr. Newman. “The firm has the critical mass and resources to provide the highest quality of work to clients of all sizes. I look forward to working with my new partners to expand the firm's litigation practice.”

Mr. Newman’s skills and integrity have been recognized by his peers, having achieved an AV peer review rating by Martindale Hubbell, the leading authority on the legal profession worldwide. Prior to joining Pitney Hardin, Mr. Newman was a partner with Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, LLP in New York City.

About Pitney Hardin LLP
Pitney Hardin LLP is a full-service law firm that provides high-quality, cost-effective legal and business solutions. Founded in 1902, Pitney Hardin has offices in Morristown (NJ), New York City, and Brussels. Our staff of approximately 170 lawyers delivers expertise in a wide range of practice areas including bank finance, banking/ financial institutions – acquisitions and regulatory, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, capital markets, corporate, employee benefits and executive compensation, environmental, franchise law, intellectual property, labor and employment, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, tax, and trusts and estates. Pitney Hardin is New Jersey's exclusive member firm of Lex Mundi, the world’s leading association of independent law firms.

05-01-2006

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O'Melveny & Myers, LLP

GREGORY EZRING AND MONICA THURMOND JOIN O\'MELVENY & MYERS\' NEW YORK OFFICE
O'Melveny & Myers LLP announced today that Gregory Ezring and Monica Thurmond have joined the firm as partners in its Corporate Finance practice and will reside in the firm's New York office.

Ezring represents private equity funds and corporations in leveraged finance transactions. He functions as a ""one-stop financing shop"" for private equity clients making acquisitions, beginning with the negotiation of commitments for both the bank and high yield financings, through the execution of the acquisition financing. In many cases, Ezring continues to represent the portfolio companies with respect to their bank, bond and equity financing needs, through and beyond the exit of the private equity firm. He received his J.D. from New York University and his B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Thurmond practices primarily in the areas of corporate finance, securities, and corporate matters. She counsels on a variety of public and private equity and debt securities offerings for private equity firms, investment banking firms, and issuers. Thurmond also represents investment banks and companies in a variety of other engagements such as structured exchange offers, restructurings, bridge lending, and loan commitments and other financing transactions, debt tender offers, and consent solicitations. She received her J.D. from the College of William & Mary and her B.A. from the University of Virginia.

Arthur B. Culvahouse, Jr., Chair of O'Melveny & Myers, stated: ""Assembling best-in-class high-yield securities and leveraged finance talent that complements our strong private equity platform has been a priority for our transactions practice. Greg Ezring and Monica Thurmond are highly regarded capital markets high-yield and finance practitioners, who represent a number of the preeminent private equity sponsors and issuers in the world, including several current clients of our firm. We are extremely gratified that their expertise and practice leadership will be available to our clients.""

Harvey Eisenberg, Co-Chair of O'Melveny & Myers' Transactions Department, stated: ""Greg and Monica are a perfect fit for O'Melveny & Myers. Not only are they well-regarded experts in the areas of high-yield bond and senior bank financing, but over the years we have been fortunate to work for a number of the same large private equity clients. We are pleased to have them on our team.""

Ezring and Thurmond stated: ""We are delighted to be joining O'Melveny & Myers. We look forward to working with O'Melveny's great lawyers and to serving many of the world's premier companies from O'Melveny's strong platform across the United States, Asia, and London.""

Ezring and Thurmond were previously partners at Latham & Watkins.

05-01-2006

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Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP

Leading Global Outsourcing Lawyer Joins Morgan Lewis: John Funk Joins Morgan Lewis to Spearhead the Firm’s Initiative to Further Expand its International Outsourcing Capabilities
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP is pleased to announce that John A. Funk has joined the firm, as a partner in its International Outsourcing Practice. Mr. Funk, the former head of outsourcing for Jones Day, brings more than 25 years of extensive experience representing clients in complex information technology and business process outsourcing transactions to the firm's well-established practice in this area. He will be spearheading the firm’s efforts to further expand our international outsourcing capabilities.

""John adds further depth to our already highly regarded outsourcing practice,"" said David W. Pollak, Co-Leader of the firm's Business and Finance Practice. ""Clients will continue to benefit as we build a team of lawyers in this area that few firms can match,"" he continued. Mr. Funk will work closely with Morgan Lewis partners in the United States, Europe and Asia, as outsourcing continues to grow as a key corporate strategy for many clients.

Mr. Funk's practice primarily focuses on business process outsourcing and information technology outsourcing, with significant global and offshore experience. Chambers lists Mr. Funk as a leader in the business process outsourcing market and describes him as a ""seasoned veteran"" and as ""one of the premier providers on the customer side."" Mr. Funk is resident primarily in the firm's Dallas office.

Outsourcing

John Funk follows outsourcing partners Akiba Stern and Ed Hansen, who joined Morgan Lewis from Shaw Pittman’s New York office last year. The practice also includes partners Barbara Melby and Michael Pillion in the United States, as well as Richard Barratt and Florence Guthfreund-Roland in Europe.

The more than 20 lawyers in the Outsourcing Practice at Morgan Lewis have a long history of structuring and negotiating complex outsourcing and managed services agreements. Morgan Lewis' outsourcing attorneys represent clients in a wide range of transactions—ranging from global IT outsourcing agreements to business process outsourcing agreements for such processes as human resources, finance and accounting, logistics, call centers and claim processing. The firm offers experience across numerous regulated industries, with particular focus on the life sciences, energy and financial services industries. The lawyers are able to draw on their own specialized skills as well as from the resources of many key practice areas throughout the firm, including labor and employee benefits, data privacy, tax and intellectual property.

About Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

Morgan Lewis is a global law firm with more than 1,200 lawyers in 20 offices located in Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Frankfurt, Harrisburg, Irvine, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Palo Alto, Paris, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Princeton, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. For more information about Morgan Lewis, please visit www.morganlewis.com.

05-01-2006

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Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, P.L.C.

Miller Canfield Attorney Elected to Board of DIA Founders Junior Council
Jeffrey Aronoff, an associate in the Detroit office of the law firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C., has been elected to the board of directors of the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) Founders Junior Council.

The Founders Junior Council is an organization dedicated to making the Detroit Institute of Arts more accessible to more people. One of the largest auxiliaries of the DIA, it encourages young professionals’ involvement with, and support of the museum through a variety of programs and activities.

Aronoff is a member of the Public Law Group at Miller Canfield. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the American Bar Association's State and Local Government Section, and the Oakland County Bar Association.

He received his J.D. from Wayne State University Law School where he was editor-in-chief of the Wayne Law Review. He received his M.P.P. from the University of Michigan, Ford School of Public Policy and a B.A. in Social Science from Michigan State University.

He and his wife, Tracy, reside in Huntington Woods, Michigan.

The 350-attorney law firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C. was established in Detroit in 1852 and has offices in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Howell, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Monroe, Saginaw, and Troy, Michigan. Other offices are located in New York City, Naples and Pensacola, Florida, Windsor, Ontario, and in Gdynia, Warsaw, and Wroclaw, Poland.

05-01-2006

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Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Jeffrey S. Rheeling Joins Katten Muchin Rosenman as Partner in Real Estate Practice
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP today announced the addition of Jeffrey S. Rheeling as a partner in the Real Estate Practice. Mr. Rheeling will be based in the Firm’s Chicago office.
“Jeff has a great deal of experience handling a wide range of complex commercial real estate matters,” said David J. Bryant, national co-chair of Katten’s Real Estate Practice. “His proven legal skill, combined with a proven dedication to client service at the highest levels makes him an ideal addition to our ever-growing national real estate practice.”
Mr. Rheeling concentrates his practice in all areas of real estate including acquisitions, dispositions, development, leasing and finance. Prior to joining Katten, he served as counsel in the legal department of The Inland Real Estate Group Inc. in OakBrook, Ill., where he was a member of a legal team which handled large commercial property acquisitions, including shopping centers, single tenant retail buildings, office buildings and apartment complexes. Previously, he spent eight years, first as an associate and then as a partner, with Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP in Chicago.
Mr. Rheeling received both his B.S. and J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is admitted to practice in Illinois and Wisconsin.
Katten Muchin Rosenman has one of the most extensive real estate practices in the United States - comprised of more than 100 attorneys in offices in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Charlotte, and Irving, Texas. It serves domestic and international clients, including investors, syndicators, sponsors, real estate funds, owners, tenants, residential and commercial developers, construction and permanent lenders. Members of the Firm’s Real Estate Practice have provided counsel in connection with some of the largest and most sophisticated transactions in the real estate industry. It provides comprehensive services in areas including financing, fund formation and investing, capital markets, acquisitions and sales, development, leasing, and construction.
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP (www.kattenlaw.com/) is a national, full-service law firm with offices in the nation's largest centers of business, government, finance and technology and an associated entity in London. The Firm’s 600 attorneys in more than 40 practice areas provide timely and cost-effective counsel to clients in numerous industries. They serve as business advisors and advocates for a wide range of public and private companies - from entrepreneurial, emerging-growth, and middle market firms to global Fortune 100 corporations - as well as government entities, non-profits, and charitable and cultural organizations.

05-01-2006

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Jenner & Block LLP

Jenner & Block Partner Jeff J. Marwil Appointed as Receiver for the Domestic Bayou Hedge Funds
Jeff J. Marwil, a partner at Jenner & Block, was appointed on April 28, 2006 as the federal equity Receiver charged with the duty to, among other things, seek recoveries for defrauded investors who invested approximately $450 million, and otherwise administer the liquidation of the domestic Bayou hedge funds.

The appointment by U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in the Southern District of New York, vested Mr. Marwil with complete and exclusive control over all of the domestic, on-shore Bayou entities’ assets, including causes of action to recover funds for defrauded investors. His duties will include the identification of Bayou creditors, the pursuit of legal actions for the benefit of defrauded investors, the marshalling of assets, and the eventual distribution of recovered sums to those creditors, including defrauded investors.

For nearly a year, various Bayou fund principals have been suspected of systematically bilking its investors of hundreds of millions of dollars by falsifying investment performance records and improperly misdirecting assets. Since mid-2005, various state and federal agencies, as well as Bayou investors, have worked to recover lost funds and pursue damages from Bayou’s former executives. Two individuals have so far pleaded guilty to multiple federal felonies in connection with their Bayou-related activities.

Mr. Marwil in his role as Receiver expects to coordinate and cooperate with the Receiver appointed in the criminal cases of Bayou’s former executives in administering more than $100 million of forfeited assets, and the liquidators appointed in the Cayman Islands to administer affiliated Bayou foreign (off-shore) entities.

Mr. Marwil, who is currently serving as the Receiver in another investor fraud case (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Church Extension of the Church of God, Inc., United Management Services, Inc., James Perry Grubbs and Shearon Louis Jackson, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Cause No. IP 02-1118 C H/S (S.D. Indiana 2002)), stated “we will be precise and aggressive in our pursuit and recovery of funds for the benefit of defrauded investors. We hope for good results here.”

The Bayou on-shore entities, under Mr. Marwil’s leadership, will be advised by H. Jeffrey Schwartz of Dechert LLP, resident in New York, and Robert Paul of FTI Consulting.

Jeff J. Marwil is a member of Jenner & Block’s Bankruptcy, Workout and Corporate Reorganization Practice and serves on the Firm’s Management Committee. Mr. Marwil is AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer recognition for ethical standards and legal ability. He has a diverse practice with extensive experience in both the boardroom and the courtroom, and regularly advises fiduciaries in distressed situations.

05-01-2006

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