Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP

Gibson Dunn Latin America Group Involved in Two Innovative Brazilian Capital Markets Transactions
Gibson Dunn's Latin America Group recently was involved in two innovative Brazilian capital markets transactions. In one transaction, Kevin Kelley, Andrew Fabens, Linda Yi, Fernando Almeida and Pablo Sorj acted as U.S. counsel to JP Morgan Securities in its role as underwriter to Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) in its $1 billion International Note Offering, the largest offering ever by a Brazilian company. This transaction was featured in the March 2, 2006 issue of Latin Lawyer.

In a second transaction, Kevin Kelley, Anna Zhuravitsky, Melissa Torres and Pablo Sorj served as U.S. counsel to Companhia Sideàurgica Nacional (CSN), Brazil's second largest steel producer, and The Vicunha Group in Vicunha Group's issuance of $450 million in perpetual bonds secured by shares in CSN, a holding company in Vicunha Group. Perpetual bonds are widely employed by Latin America's corporate financial advisors, but this transaction was unique because the issuer is a non-operational holding company and bond payments will be dependent on CSN's capacity to distribute dividends. This transaction was the subject of articles in the March 2 issues of both the Latin Lawyer and Latin Counsel.

03-06-2006

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Dechert LLP

Dechert Expands Global Islamic Finance Practice with Hire of New Partner Andreas Junius
Dechert LLP today announced that Andreas Junius will be joining the firm's global Islamic finance practice. Andreas will divide his time between New York, London and Germany.

Previously a partner at Clifford Chance, Andreas specialises in private equity, acquisition finance and asset finance, focusing on both Shari'ah-compliant and conventional transactions in the Gulf region, the US, Asia, the UK and Continental Europe. His client base ranges from financial institutions to public sector service providers and technology companies. Andreas is admitted to practice in Germany and the United States.

With Andreas on board, Dechert's global Islamic finance practice now covers all of the primary areas of Shari'ah-compliant finance: private equity, securitisation, capital markets, investment funds, project finance, real estate and derivatives. Dechert intends to add additional coverage in the derivatives, project finance and insurance areas.

The practice now has English, New York, German, Australian, Luxembourg, French, and Spanish qualified lawyers amongst its ranks.

Said Michael McMillen:

""We are honored to have Andreas join a team that offers full Islamic finance services integrated with conventional financing practices throughout the world.

His expertise in both conventional and Islamic finance enables us to assist our clients achieve their objectives in the Islamic finance field and with conventional financing arrangements. Our intention is to be a global Islamic finance practice of unrivalled expertise. ""
Said Andreas:

""Strong synergies exist between my practice and Dechert's in the arena of Shari'ah-compliant finance structures and I am most enthusiastic to join firm with such a strong understand of and clear strategy for handling all areas of Islamic finance.

03-06-2006

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Dla Piper Rudnick Gray Cary Us, LLP

Cohen Named Managing Partner of DLA Piper\'s Chicago Office
(CHICAGO) - DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP has announced that Louis S. Cohen has been named managing partner of the firm's Chicago office, which is DLA Piper's largest office in the U.S.

In his new role, Cohen will guide the office's strategic growth and general management. He succeeds Allen J. Ginsburg, who will continue to focus on representing clients in the franchise, corporate, mergers and acquisitions, and lodging and timeshare areas. Cohen, a partner in DLA Piper's Real Estate practice, also chairs the firm's Chicago real estate department.

Building on Ginsburg's achievements for the office, Cohen will focus his efforts on expanding the firm's core practices in Chicago - including Real Estate, Corporate and Finance, Litigation, Intellectual Property and Franchise law - with a particular emphasis on corporate and litigation capabilities. DLA Piper's Chicago office has more than 270 attorneys.

""This is an exciting time to expand my administrative role in the Chicago office,"" said Cohen. ""The rapid expansion of our national and global presence affords the firm an unprecedented opportunity to serve our current clients in new and better ways and to attract new clients who wish to find a provider of the highest quality legal services wherever their business takes them. My goal and challenge is to better position the Chicago office to take full advantage of these new opportunities, both in our own community and throughout the world.""

""Beyond being a nationally-recognized attorney and dedicated leader of the Chicago real estate practice, Lou has many strong relationships throughout the regional business and legal community,"" said Lee I. Miller, co-chief executive of DLA Piper. ""He also has a clear vision for expanding and diversifying the office's practice mix which is a key priority for the coming year. As we continue to integrate the firm's platform globally, we're fortunate to focus Lou's management talents on the leadership of this important office.

Cohen joined the firm in 1983 and has concentrated his practice on complex transactional real estate matters throughout the country, as well as matters related to the development and use of professional sports venues and transfers of interests in sports franchises. He was born and raised in Evanston, Ill., received an undergraduate degree at Stanford University and returned to the Chicagoland area to receive a J.D. from Northwestern University.

About DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary
DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary has 3,100 lawyers and 58 offices in 22 countries throughout the U.S., U.K., Continental Europe, Middle East and Asia. It has leading practices in commercial, corporate and finance, human resources, litigation, real estate, regulatory and legislative, and technology, media and communications.

03-06-2006

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Dla Piper Rudnick Gray Cary Us, LLP

DLA Piper forms Saudi affiliation
London - DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary (""DLA Piper"") has entered into an affiliation agreement with leading Saudi Arabian lawyer, Abdulaziz H Al-Fahad, based in Riyadh. The agreement will give DLA Piper access to one of the most important markets in the world as Saudi Arabia has a rapidly developing economy fuelled by high oil prices and its recent entry into the World Trade Organisation.

The affiliation with Abdulaziz H Al-Fahad will significantly broaden DLA Piper's Middle Eastern capability and will make it one of the few international legal services organisations to have a presence in Saudi Arabia.

Abdulaziz H Al-Fahad, a Yale graduate, has practised in Saudi Arabia for over 20 years and is one of the country's leading lawyers. He advises major multinationals on investment in Saudi Arabia and is particularly known in the areas of litigation, privatisation, securities offerings and project finance. Abdulaziz H Al-Fahad is a member of the Committee for the Development of International Trade of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and until recently a member of the Advisory Commission to the Supreme Economic Council. His eight-lawyer firm represents both Saudi Arabian clients and multinationals.

In conjunction with this affiliation agreement DLA Piper has also appointed two Saudi-based lawyers, Tom Travers and Chadi Hourani. Tom is an England and Hong Kong qualified lawyer and joins DLA Piper as a partner. He has worked in the UK, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia and advises both Saudi Arabian and multinational clients on corporate finance, banking, litigation and other commercial matters. Chadi Hourani, a US-qualified lawyer, focuses on banking and securities law.

The affiliation, effective on 1 March, is the first of its kind for DLA Piper and provides a great opportunity for it to extend its reach across the Middle East following the opening of its office in Dubai. The global legal provider will also support the needs of Abdulaziz H Al-Fahad's international client base.

DLA Piper's Dubai-based International Development Partner, David Church, said: ""This is a key step in our overall strategy for the Middle East. We have a new office in Dubai but client demand and the levels of foreign investment in Saudi Arabia make our affiliation with Abdulaziz H Al-Fahad an important step. We are delighted to forge an alliance with such a distinguished Saudi lawyer and to have appointed two of our own experienced Saudi Arabian lawyers who will enable us to enhance our Middle Eastern practice.""

Abdulaziz H Al-Fahad said: ""DLA Piper has a huge breadth of experience and its focus on Middle East practice will add significantly to my firm's capability in serving the needs of multinational and domestic clients in the Kingdom.

03-06-2006

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Dla Piper Rudnick Gray Cary Us, LLP

DLA Piper Group signs third African ally
London - DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary (""DLA Piper"") has consolidated its reach across the African continent by signing an agreement with Zambian firm Chibesakunda & Co making them a member of DLA Piper Group. This will be DLA Piper's third alliance agreement with and African-based law firm following on from its tie up with DLA Matouk Bassiouny in Egypt and leading South African law firm, Cliffe Dekker.

The recently signed agreement is another significant step in DLA Piper's African strategy and marks its ongoing commitment to deliver a range of local and international services across the continent. Mwelwa Chibesakunda, a former partner and head of banking and finance with Denton Wilde Sapte's associate firm Corpus Globe, will lead the newly established firm. Mwelwa, who has over 14 years, banking, M&A and commercial experience in Zambia, is widely considered to be one of the countries most experienced banking lawyers. Prior to joining Corpus Globe, where he worked for 10 years, Mwelwa also worked for the Ministry of Justice in Zambia and was head of the international law and agreements department upon his departure.

With the additional support of two associates and two other fee earners, Chibesakunda & Co will focus on the needs of local corporate and commercial clients and also specialist services for international clients in fields such as mining and related project financings, trade, export and telecoms finance. Chibesakunda & Co's clients will also have access to DLA Piper Group's international network which stretches across Europe, the Middle East, South Africa, Asia and the US.

Grant Henderson, one of DLA Piper's Africa experts, has been seconded to Chibesakunda & Co to support the development of the firm. Grant has worked in Zambia for over 10 years and has a wide range of African transactional-related experience in the areas of M&A, restructuring, insolvency and privatisation, all of which serve to complement Mwelwa's banking and finance focus.

In 2005 DLA Piper demonstrated its interest in Africa by appointing African specialists Charles Morrison and Grant Henderson, before entering into an exclusive agreement with DLA Matouk Bassiouny in Egypt and Cliffe Dekker in South Africa. The arrival of Chibesakunda & Co will see DLA Piper developing stronger links with international clients across Africa.

Charles Morrison, said: ""Chibesakunda & Co is an exciting development in the Zambian legal market that, as mining and other finance work develops, increasingly has a need for lawyers of the highest professional calibre. I am very pleased indeed that we have been able to bring into DLA Piper a firm headed by a lawyer of the standing and professionalism that Mwelwa is widely known and respected for. Building a relationship with an established Zambian lawyer will enable us to develop the many opportunities that exist, especially those related to our existing mutual client base. In the long-term Chibesakunda & Co may become fully integrated with DLA Piper but in the meantime our agreement will serve to provide a strong link with Zambia's business and financial community.""

DLA Piper is currently working on a variety of projects and transactions across Africa, including advising the Government of Zambia on the sale of its state-owned commercial bank, major oil infrastructure projects in Ghana and Mozambique, as well as commodity trade finance deals in 12 jurisdictions across the continent for international banks.

03-06-2006

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Shearman & Sterling LLP

5th Victory in ICC Pre-arbitral Referee Proceedings-Fernando Mantilla-Serrano, Emmanuel Gaillard
We represented a European shipyard company defending against an application for interim measures filed by a North-African State entity in an ICC Pre-arbitral Referee proceeding. The dispute arose out of a contract for the construction of a ferry. On February 9, 2006, i.e. less than two months after the request was notified to our client, the referee issued an order denying the measures requested against our client.

These proceedings were brought under the ICC Rules for Pre-arbitral Referee procedure. This was the sixth pre-arbitral referee procedure in ICC history and the fifth in which Shearman & Sterling appears as counsel for one of the parties. In each of these five cases, we successully obtained or defended against the requested interim measures.

Attorneys included Partners Emmanuel Gaillard (Pa-IA) and Fernando Mantilla-Serrano (PA-IA), associates Anna Crevon (PA-IA) and Armelle Sandrin (PA-IA) as well as legal assistant Kate Miller (PA-IA). Our co-counsel on this matter was Jean-Marie Vulliemin from Froriep Renggli in Madrid.

03-06-2006

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White & Case, LLP

Media Advisory: US and Mexico To Sign Trade Pact Today
Washington, D.C., March 6, 2006 ... The US Secretary of Commerce and Mexico's Secretary of Economy will sign a historic trade agreement today, resolving a 16-year trade dispute over cement imports. Leading Mexican cement industry executives will also be present at the signing.

The agreement will resolve an antidumping dispute that involves administrative proceedings before the US International Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce and appeals to NAFTA binational panels and a World Trade Organization panel. The agreement, which becomes effective on April 3, 2006, will lower duties on imports of cement from Mexico, and is expected to eliminate the antidumping order that permits such duties on March 31, 2009.

White & Case represents the Mexican cement producer, GCC Cemento, S.A. de C.V. and its US affiliate, the importer and cement producer GCC Rio Grande, Inc. The other Mexican cement producer that has participated in the cement proceedings and is party to the agreement is CEMEX, S.A.

US Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez and Mexico's Secretary of Economy, Sergio Garcia de Alba Zepeda, will sign the trade agreement at 1:30 PM Eastern Time at the US Dept. of Commerce.

The agreement will help to alleviate severe cement shortages in the southern United States and ensure that the Gulf Coast communities have an adequate supply of cement to rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

03-06-2006

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