Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Bullivant Houser Bailey

Newly-merged law firm announces move to downtown
Bullivant Houser Bailey PC, a multi-service West Coast law firm, announced today that it will consolidate its two Sacramento-area offices into one downtown location.

The law firm’s new Sacramento office will be in Meridian Plaza, a 12-story, 299,000 square floor office tower located at 1415 L St. The Capitol Park location is adjacent to the Sacramento Convention Center, hotels, shops, and restaurants.

“We look forward to joining Sacramento’s vibrant downtown business community and serving our clients from a central location,” said Taylor Florence, shareholder in charge of Bullivant’s Sacramento office. “Our plan is to have the space completed and to move in during the second quarter of the year.”

Since October 2005, when Bullivant merged with local banking and securities boutique Bartel, Eng & Schroder, the firm has been operating from two office locations. The law firm’s locations included an office in the Gold River Office Park just southeast of downtown Sacramento as well as an office located near the Sacramento River in the Garden Highway area.

Bullivant will consolidate its operations, including 39 attorneys and staff into a 24,000 square foot space on Meridian Plaza’s ninth and tenth floors.

“After touring the downtown area, it became very clear to Bullivant’s leaders that the East End area was the fastest-growing, most dynamic part of downtown Sacramento,” said the law firm’s real estate broker, Chris Strain of C. Strain Corporate Real Estate.

03-16-2006

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Warner, Norcross & Judd, LLP

Douglas E. Wagner Named to Inforum Honorary Committee
Douglas E. Wagner, managing partner of Warner Norcross & Judd LLP, has been named to the honorary committee of Inforum, a new professional organization for women in West Michigan.
Warner Norcross joins some of Grand Rapids' most prestigious businesses as a Platinum Sponsor of Inforum, which was established in the fall of 2005. Two of its partners were instrumental in establishing the organization in West Michigan and now serve on its leadership team: Melissa N. Collar chairs the communications committee and Kathleen M. Hanenburg serves on the advisory committee.

""Warner Norcross is very pleased to support Inforum and its initiatives,"" Wagner said. ""Our Firm has a long commitment to diversity and we recognize the importance of encouraging women to participate in the business and civic life of the communities in which we work. We feel that Inforum will provide tremendous value to the West Michigan business community by offering professional development activities targeted toward women.""

Inforum started more than four decades ago in Detroit and now has more than 2,000 members in Detroit and Lansing. Inforum is designed to strengthen the local business environment by providing opportunities for a diverse group of business and professional women to connect with one another, forge personal and professional alliances, discuss vital business issues, and advance as leaders.

In addition to other quarterly networking opportunities, Inforum-West Michigan also plans to launch the Executive Leadership program, an intensive, highly personalized leadership development experience with an emphasis on personal characteristics, managerial style and organizational climate.

Wagner joined Warner Norcross in 1977 and is the past chair of the Litigation Practice Group. He teaches and lectures widely on trial techniques and advocacy issues for organizations such as the Institute of Continuing Legal Education, the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, Emory University School of Law and the Hillman Advocacy Program.

Wagner has also been elected as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He is recognized as one of The Best Lawyers in America for Business Litigation.

He is a member of the Federal Bar Association and a past president of the chapter for the Western District of Michigan. He is also a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan and the Grand Rapids Bar Association.

Wagner received his doctor of jurisprudence magna cum laude from Wayne State University Law School and holds an undergraduate degree from Albion College.

03-16-2006

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Wiley, Rein & Fielding, L.L.P.

WRF Privacy Practice Recognized as One of the Nation’s Best; Kirk J. Nahra Named as Leading Privacy Expert
Wiley Rein & Fielding’s Privacy Practice has been recognized as one of the nation’s top privacy consultancies in an informal survey of corporate privacy officers (CPOs) that also singled out practice chair Kirk J. Nahra as a “nationally recognized expert” in the field. The survey results appeared in the March 7, 2006 issue of Computerworld.

When asked to name and comment on law firms that “provide the best privacy advice,” respondents cited expertise, professionalism, government and industry ties and the presence of nationally recognized privacy experts as among the most important characteristics of a “best-of-breed firm.”

Mr. Nahra is among a handful of experts that survey respondents repeatedly mentioned by name as a leading “hired privacy gun.” A certified information privacy professional, he has an extensive practice, assisting companies in analyzing and implementing the requirements of privacy and security laws, with particular expertise in the health care and property/casualty insurance industries. Mr. Nahra also serves on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

03-16-2006

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Wiley, Rein & Fielding, L.L.P.

Wiley Rein & Fielding Partner Quoted on Excluded Evidence in Moussaoui Trial
Wiley Rein & Fielding partner Andrew G. McBride was quoted in The Washington Post on U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema's decision to exclude crucial evidence in the death penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui. After a liaison between prosecutors and aviation witnesses violated a court order by emailing trial transcripts to seven witnesses and coaching them on testimony, Brinkema barred the witnesses and all aviation security testimony from the trial. Prosecutors have filed a motion for reconsideration, saying that the ruling nullifies a major component of their case. The death penalty argument rests on two factors: first, that the information Moussaoui withheld would have allowed the FBI to prevent the hijackings and second, that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would have taken the appropriate steps at the airports.

""Without aviation, they have no chance of showing that one of those four hijacked planes could have been stopped,"" said McBride, a former federal prosecutor. ""They promised the jury two parts: The FBI gets the right information if he blows the whistle, and steps are then taken at the airports. That second piece is now gone.

03-16-2006

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Edwards & Angell, L.L.P.

St. Onge Testifies as President of the National Association of Bond Lawyers
Walter J. St. Onge III, a partner in our Public Finance Group and current President of the National Association of Bond Lawyers, testified on March 16 before the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures of the United States House Committee on Ways and Means. St. Onge highlighted NABL’s commitment to improving standards in the municipal bond market, citing the group’s purposes: to educate NABL members and others regarding state and municipal obligations, improve the state of the art in the field, and provide advice and comments with respect to legislation, regulations, rulings or proposals affecting state and municipal obligations. St. Onge stressed the importance of the municipal bond market as an element of the United States economy, in its stimulation of economic growth and job creation in a manner that promotes fiscal autonomy at both the local and state government levels. In closing, he mentioned a number of possible tax reforms that were issued last fall in the final report of the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, which St. Onge argued would have significant adverse affects on the municipal bond market and individual investors. NABL, he said, “is dedicated to assuring that the market remains confident in the value of the opinions we render.”

03-16-2006

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

David Parsigian Elected Chair of Ann Arbor Chamber Board of Directors
David N. Parsigian, a principal at the law firm of Miller Canfield, was recently elected to a one-year term as chairman of the board of directors of the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce.

Parsigian resides in the Ann Arbor office of Miller Canfield and is currently advising emerging technology-based businesses, and individuals and entities that invest in those businesses.

He has extensive experience counseling new ventures on locating sources of capital and structuring financings ranging from seed capital to initial public offerings. In 2005, he represented more than half of the awardees in the commercialization category of the MEDC’s Life Sciences and Technology Tri-Corridor funding program. His legal expertise includes general corporate and securities law, technology licensing, as well as executive compensation and employee incentive programs.

Parsigian is a member of the American Bar Association and State Bar of Michigan. He is a founder and a former member of the Executive Committee of Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest; immediate past president of the Washtenaw Community College Foundation; and board member of Nonprofit Enterprise at Work; and winner of four writing and photography awards from the International Network of Golf.

He is a lecturer on matters relating to private equity finance and venture capital at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University, and Walsh College.

He received his J.D., with honors, from the University of Texas, and a B.S.M.E (mechanical engineering), magna cum laude, from the University of 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.

03-16-2006

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Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP

Microsoft and Law Firms Contribute to Award-Winning Immigration Law Project
Corporate Pro Bono, a national outreach project cosponsored by the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Pro Bono Institute, announced today a team of attorneys from Microsoft and Seattle law firms as the recipients of its Corporate Pro Bono Partner Award. The national outreach project presented the award for the group’s innovative public service project: Volunteer Advocates for Immigrant Justice (VAIJ). Collaborating law firms include Davis Wright Tremaine LLP; Dorsey & Whitney LLP; Heller Ehrman LLP; Holland & Knight LLP; Perkins Coie LLP; Preston Gates & Ellis LLP; and Riddell Williams P.S.

The CPBO Pro Bono Partner Award recognizes unique pro bono partnerships among in-house corporate legal departments, law firms and public interest organizations. This year’s winning project, VAIJ, is a legal representation program in the Seattle area that offers free legal assistance to detained immigrants seeking asylum or other forms of relief before the immigration courts.

""VAIJ is a great example of an in-house legal department taking the lead and providing assistance to those in dire need of legal services,"" notes CPBO Director Eve Runyon. ""Immigration has a tremendous historic value in our country, and VAIJ provides a great public service by offering high-quality, professional representation to individuals seeking to improve their lives in the US.""

Susan Hackett, senior vice president and general counsel of the Association of Corporate Counsel and co-presenter of the award, added, ""Law departments are incredibly influential in their local legal communities, and Microsoft’s leadership in energizing and giving legs to this effort has created a catalyst for law firm, local bar and community mobilization around this important project. Our CPBO award recognizes that there is strength and creativity in collaboration, and that by working together, more people in need will be helped.""

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security, detains more than 200,000 immigrants and refugees each year. Many of these immigrants are fleeing persecution, civil war, ethnic conflict and religious and political persecution. A growing percentage of immigrant detainees are undocumented and unaccompanied children. Others include long-time residents of the United States who have committed immigration violations and are being held in detention while their cases proceed through the immigration courts.

Of the approximately 500 immigrants held in detention in the state of Washington at any given time, only 20 percent have legal representation. For a detainee, losing his or her case can result in separation from family and the return to a country where he or she may not have resided in many years, or where persecution — even death — awaits.

""The success rate of a detained asylum seeker who has access to legal assistance is six times that of an immigrant without legal representation,"" says Lydia Tamez, the associate general counsel at Microsoft who led the implementation of the VAIJ project. ""Microsoft saw the tremendous need for legal assistance for vulnerable immigrants and asylum seekers, and realized it could draw on the expertise of its in-house immigration team and the talents of attorneys in other legal practices to make a difference.""

Microsoft launched VAIJ in 2003, in cooperation with the American Bar Association and partner law firms, to address increasingly complex immigration issues. VAIJ works together with the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), the immigration court and the broader legal community to provide legal representation to asylum seekers and refugees — particularly unaccompanied minors — who have strong claims for relief but are unable to afford to hire private counsel. NWIRP screens and refers cases to VAIJ, which reviews each case and matches the immigrant with legal volunteers for representation. VAIJ also provides in-depth training, mentoring, resources, support and guidance throughout the duration of each case.

""The VAIJ project has become a highly effective advocate for immigrant adults and children, and has been very successful in leveraging finite community resources to better serve the immigrant community,"" said Brad Smith, general counsel at Microsoft.

Since its inception, VAIJ has recruited more than 100 volunteers, including attorneys from Microsoft’s in-house counsel department, as well as participating law firms and bar associations. Other VAIJ volunteers include paralegals, law students, physicians, translators and mental health professionals. In total, more than 70 client cases have been placed with volunteers, and VAIJ has provided individual screenings to more than 450 individuals, including 21 detained children.

About Microsoft Corporation
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq ""MSFT"") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

About Corporate Pro Bono
Corporate Pro Bono (www.cpbo.org) is a national outreach project cosponsored by the Association of Corporate Counsel (www.acca.org) and the Pro Bono Institute (www.probonoinst.org). Through online services, technical assistance to the in-house community, and educational outreach, CPBO encourages and supports the participation of in-house counsel in pro bono services.

About the Pro Bono Institute at Georgetown University Law Center
Established in 1996, PBI is a non-profit organization with a mandate: to explore and identify new approaches to — and resources for — the provision of legal services to the poor, disadvantaged, and other individuals or groups unable to secure legal assistance to address critical problems. In doing so, the Institute identified and develops innovative programs and undertakes rigorous evaluations to ensure that these new approaches are workable and effective. The Institute administers a number of projects designed to enhance access to justice, including the Law Firm Pro Bono Project, the Corporate Pro Bono Project and the Reinventing Pro Bono Project for public interest organizations.

About Association of Corporate Counsel
The Association of Corporate Counsel is the in-house bar associationSM, serving the professional needs of attorneys who practice in the legal departments of corporations and other private sector organizations worldwide. The association promotes the common interests of its members, contributes to their continuing education, seeks to improve understanding of the role of in-house attorneys, and encourages advancements in standards of corporate legal practice. Since its founding in 1982, the association has grown to more than 17,500 members in 53 countries who represent more than 7,800 organizations. For more information, go to www.acca.com.

03-16-2006

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