Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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

Miller Canfield Before the Bell Breakfast Forum
Area investment advisors and registered representatives are invited to join the law firm of Miller Canfield at an upcoming Before the Bell Breakfast Forum, “Report from the 2006 Securities Industry Seminar,” on Thursday, April 20, from 7:15-8:30 a.m. at Fiamma Grille in Plymouth (380 S. Main Street).

A recap of this year’s hot topics, trends and targets as heard at the Securities Industry Association (SIA) Seminar will be given by Miller Canfield securities attorneys, Michael Coakley and Todd Holleman.

Space is limited; advance registration is required. Please RSVP to 248/267-3345 or bera@millercanfield.com. There is no cost to attend; however, the event is limited to registered representatives and investment advisors.

Miller Canfield's Before the Bell Breakfast Forums are monthly, Thursday morning informational meetings that highlight securities law issues. Mark your calendar for the next future forum, “Tax Exempt Securities,” May 18.

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.

03-30-2006

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Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP

Joe Coyne Recognized as Leading Litigator in America by Lawdragon Magazine
Joe Coyne, Los Angeles-based Sheppard Mullin litigator, has been named a ""Leading Litigator in America"" by the editors of Lawdragon magazine. The magazine recognized that Coyne ""represents Northrop Grumman in a $1 billion suit against Uncle Sam over its long-delayed, then cancelled TSSAM missile line.""

Coyne specializes in complex commercial litigation with expertise in intellectual property, commercial contract disputes, antitrust litigation, products liability, government contracts, representing, in addition to Northrop Grumman Corporation, such clients as Georgia Pacific, American Bioscience and Honeywell Inc.

03-30-2006

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Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Buchanan Ingersoll Listed Among Largest Pittsburgh Private Companies
Pittsburgh, PA, March 30, 2006 — Buchanan Ingersoll was listed among the Pittsburgh region's largest privately held companies in a March 21, 2006, special section of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette titled ""Top 50 in Business: How They Rank."" The firm ranked 38th out of 50 on the list.

About the Firm

Buchanan Ingersoll PC is one of the largest law firms in the nation, and has nearly 415 attorneys and government relations professionals practicing throughout the United States, with offices in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Alexandria, New York, Buffalo, Miami, Aventura, Tampa, Wilmington, Princeton, Cleveland, San Diego and Silicon Valley.

The firm has undergone a series of acquisitions and additions during the past 12 months, including: government relations boutique Hill Solutions; a group of nine litigators from Saul Ewing; the 55 attorneys and patent professionals of Burns, Doane, Swecker & Mathis; a team of IP and business litigators in San Diego; a group of three government relations professionals in Washington, D.C.; a group of seven high-profile tax and immigration lawyers in Miami; and the litigation boutique of Slotnick, Shapiro & Crocker in New York.

Buchanan Ingersoll's attorneys have experience in industries that include entertainment and media, pharmaceuticals and biomedicine, nanotechnology, financial institutions, construction, franchise and real estate. Within these and other industries, Buchanan Ingersoll attorneys focus on more than 65 practice areas including Corporate Finance, Litigation, Intellectual Property, Tax, Government Relations and Health Care. The firm serves national and international clients that include Fortune 500 corporations, start-ups, technology companies and financial institutions.

03-30-2006

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Locke, Liddell & Sapp, L.L.P.

STEPHEN D. WILSON NAMED TO ELITE MILLION DOLLAR ADVOCATES FORUM
Stephen D. Wilson, a partner in the Dallas office of Locke Liddell & Sapp, has been selected as a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum – recognized as one of the most prestigious group of trial lawyers in the United States.

Membership in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million dollar verdicts, awards and settlements. The organization was founded in 1993 and has about 3,000 members.

Wilson’s practice focuses on litigation, intellectual property and entertainment law. He has experience resolving disputes and counseling clients in antitrust, arbitration, business torts, civil rights, class actions, construction law, consumer protection, contracts, copyrights, defamation, divorce, false advertising, fraud, insurance, interstate shipping, mediation, oil and gas law, partnership and fiduciary issues, patents, personal injury, tortious interference, trademarks, and trade secrets. A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, Wilson also received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Southern California.

Established in 1891, Locke Liddell & Sapp LLP is recognized as one of the leading law firms in Texas and throughout the nation. A full service law firm with offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans and Washington, D.C., Locke Liddell & Sapp has approximately 400 lawyers who represent a broad range of businesses and individual clients having extensive domestic and foreign business interests.

03-30-2006

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King & Spalding

Medical Device Companies Quick to Adopt Ethics Standards to Combat Fraud and Abuse, Survey Finds
Recognizing the need to bolster compliance activities in an era of increasing governmental scrutiny, the nation's largest medical device companies have proactively embraced a code of ethics with nearly universal adoption of standards to combat fraud and abuse of sales and marketing practices, according to a survey released today by PricewaterhouseCoopers, in conjunction with King & Spalding, at the Medical Device Regulatory Compliance Congress, held on the campus of Harvard University.

The survey benchmarked how large medical device companies are complying with fraud and abuse laws since introduction of the Code of Ethics on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals in 2004. The voluntary code was developed by Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), a trade group that represents more than 1100 medical technology companies. While medical device firms legitimately collaborate with healthcare professionals, such as providing expertise in how products should be designed or participating in federally required safety studies, the AdvaMed Code distinguishes legitimate interactions from potential abuses that might undermine the private healthcare system.

""We are impressed that medical device firms have embraced standards to govern the way they interact with hospitals, physicians, researchers and other health professionals,"" said John Bentivoglio, Partner and Co-Chair, FDA/Healthcare Group, King & Spalding. ""The question is whether the depth of their risk and control activities is sufficient, and whether they have considered the total relationship a medical device company has with its customer, which can be difficult across a large enterprise,"" said Bentivoglio. ""The good news is that the survey demonstrates companies are developing innovative strategies to address these challenges.""

Highlights of the survey include:

There is nearly a 100 percent adoption rate of the AdvaMed Code.
Approximately two-thirds of company presidents or CEOs have personally endorsed the AdvaMed Code in a written statement addressed to company employees and/or customers.
Nine out of 10 companies apply the AdvaMed Code to all company professionals, regardless of title or seniority.
Three quarters of companies surveyed have posted their compliance program on their company website.
Virtually all respondents have linked sales force compensation to compliance with policies and procedures in some manner.
Seven out of ten firms have put a process in place to track gifts, meals, travel, lodging, honoraria and other items of value that might be provided to healthcare professionals.
The survey was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers in conjunction with the law firm King & Spalding, and with the assistance of Nancy Singer, principal with Compliance-Alliance, which specializes in professional development for those employed in the drug and medical device industries.

""Medical device firms understand that positive public sentiment and trust are important assets they need to proactively protect,"" said Peter Claude, Partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Advisory Practice. ""It is clear that medical device firms have seized the opportunity to better integrate ethical standards into their organizations. The key will be to do this in an efficient manner and to connect their compliance obligations with broader corporate goals to improve their performance and competitive advantage.""

The survey found that most large firms have instituted controls over the engagement of healthcare professionals. These controls include clear agreements that promote ethical behaviour, and approaches for determining the fair market value of gifts, entertainment and other remuneration of services, and for ensuring that value is actually received for engagements of healthcare professionals. There continues to be varied practice on how broadly and deeply the medical device companies control these activities and the survey results will seek to present better practices for the consideration of the industry.

Survey respondents also indicated that the control model in the medical device industry around the distribution, receipt, processing and approval of grant requests is beginning to shift toward the model used by the pharmaceutical industry, whereby restrictions are placed on the involvement of the sales force related to grants. At the same time, there is growing use of grants committees for approval of educational/charitable grants and research grants.

""While practices are mixed across the industry, we hope that by creating a series of compliance benchmarks, we can share 'better practices' in hopes that they will encourage more effective implementation of compliance across the industry,"" said Brian Riewerts, Partner, Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Advisory Practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The survey was completed in March 2006 and included 20 medical device firms, including the largest medical device firms in the United States with global annual sales of greater than $1 billion.

About King & Spalding LLP
King & Spalding LLP is an international law firm with more than 800 lawyers in Atlanta, Houston, London, New York and Washington, D.C. The firm represents more than half of the Fortune 100, and in a Corporate Counsel survey in September 2005 was ranked one of the top ten firms representing Fortune 250 companies overall. For additional information, visit www.kslaw.com.

About PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Industry Group
PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Industry Group (www.pwc.com/pharma) is dedicated to delivering effective solutions to the complex business challenges facing pharmaceutical and life sciences companies. As the global leader serving the industry, the firm has extensive experience in working with its clients on strategic, operational and financial issues. The firm also provides industry-tailored regulatory compliance, risk management, and performance improvement advisory services to support clients' processes in the areas of research and development, manufacturing, and sales and marketing.

About PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.com) provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services for public and private clients. More than 120,000 people in 139 countries connect their thinking, experience and solutions to build public trust and enhance value for clients and their stakeholders.

Unless otherwise indicated, ""PricewaterhouseCoopers"" refers to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited.

03-30-2006

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Department of Fair Employment and Housing

OCC Enforcement and Compliance Director Brian McCormally To Join Arnold & Porter
international law firm of Arnold & Porter LLP announced today that Brian McCormally, Director of the Enforcement and Compliance Division at the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), is joining the firm’s Washington, D.C. office as a partner. Mr. McCormally’s experience will build on Arnold & Porter’s extensive involvement in the important and burgeoning field of anti-money laundering requirements, compliance counseling and administrative enforcement actions in the financial services industry. He will join a practice group of more than 30 lawyers, including John D. Hawke, Jr., former Comptroller of the Currency, who rejoined the firm in 2004.

“Brian brings extensive government enforcement experience in the financial services area,” said Patrick Doyle, head of Arnold & Porter’s financial services practice group. “He is an excellent lawyer with a broad array of litigation, transactional, and counseling skills. In the current active regulatory environment, we believe his skills and regulatory insights will be important additions to the resources we offer to financial institution clients in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere.”

Commenting on his arrival at Arnold & Porter, Mr. McCormally said, “I’m thrilled to be joining the firm’s distinguished financial services group because few firms can match its depth of talent in regulatory law, complex transactions, and litigation. I look forward to assisting the firm’s clients with issues in the increasingly complex area of compliance and enforcement.”

Mr. McCormally has more than 20 years of experience in senior positions at two federal banking agencies, the OCC and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). He has an extensive knowledge of bank and thrift operations, corporate structures and activities, lending and marketing practices, and corporate governance issues. He has been at the OCC since 1995, first as Assistant Director of Enforcement and for the past five years as the Director of the Enforcement and Compliance Division. Prior to joining the OCC, Mr. McCormally held a variety of legal positions at the OTS and its predecessor, the Federal Home Loan Bank, for 10 years. From 1982 to late 1985, he was in private practice in Kansas City where he represented bank clients on regulatory issues, commercial matters, and litigation. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas Law School.

Arnold & Porter’s financial services group represents a broad cross-section of U.S. and international financial services clients, including banks, thrifts, investment managers, insurance companies, securities firms, and electronic commerce businesses. The firm handles transactions of all degrees of complexity and litigates cases involving financial services and industry matters in forums from administrative hearings to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Arnold & Porter LLP is an international law firm of approximately 625 attorneys, with offices in Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, New York, Los Angeles, Denver, San Francisco, London, and Brussels. The firm, founded in 1946, maintains more than 25 practice areas spanning a broad spectrum of the law. Arnold & Porter provides its clients with a sophisticated understanding of changing environments at the intersection of business, law and public policy -- particularly for clients requiring either U.S. or cross-border regulatory, litigation or transactional services. More information on Arnold & Porter can be found at www.arnoldporter.com.

03-30-2006

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Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, LLP

Nationwide Injunction Against Asbestos Claims for Travelers Affirmed
U.S. District Judge John Koeltl on March 29, 2006, affirmed a nationwide injunction against thousands of asbestos claims brought against the firm's client, Travelers Indemnity Company and various of its affiliates. The claims against Travelers arose from its insurance relationship with Johns-Manville Corporation, the asbestos manufacturer and distributor that, in 1982, became the first major company to file for bankruptcy due to asbestos-related claims. In 1986 the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed Johns-Manville’s reorganization plan and entered orders that included provisions that protected the company’s insurers, including Travelers, against Manville-related claims in exchange for settlements those insurers entered into during the bankruptcy proceedings.

In June 2002, Simpson Thacher obtained a temporary restraining order from the Bankruptcy Court halting numerous actions filed by asbestos claimants around the country, including several class actions, since the Johns-Manville bankruptcy reorganization on the grounds that the litigants’ claims against Travelers were founded on knowledge Travelers obtained from its insurance relationship with Johns-Manville and were barred by the Court's prior orders. Under the auspices of former Governor Mario M. Cuomo, who was appointed by the Court as mediator, Travelers entered into a series of settlement agreements to create new funds for asbestos claimants. Those agreements, however, were conditioned on Travelers prevailing in its motion for an order confirming that the thousands of Manville-related asbestos claims pending against it and all future claims are barred by the Bankruptcy Court’s prior orders. On July 6, 2004, after an extensive national notice program, the Bankruptcy Court held a contested evidentiary hearing and subsequently issued a 63-page opinion and order barring the direct actions against Travelers. Multiple parties filed appeals from that order on numerous grounds. Judge Koeltl's 49-page decision adopts almost all of the arguments the firm advanced.

The appeal was spearheaded by Barry Ostrager, Andy Frankel and Rob Pfister. Earlier assistance in the bankruptcy court trial was provided by Mike Kibler, Laura Murphy, Kate Nolan, Kim Hamm and Danielle Goodacre, as well as retired partner Mike Sigal and former associate Ted Hassi.

03-30-2006

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