Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP

Robert Darwell Recognized as Entertainment Attorney of the Year by California Lawyer Magazine
Robert Darwell, Century City and New York-based Sheppard Mullin Entertainment, Media and Communications transactional chair, has been honored with a 2005 Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) Award in "Entertainment." Robert was recognized by the editors of California Lawyer magazine for leading the outside legal team that represented The Walt Disney Company in the highly publicized separation deal with Miramax Films creators Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Robert is profiled in the magazine's March issue spotlighting this year's CLAY awards.

03-03-2006

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Bracewell & Giuliani LLP

Independent Review of Santander\'s Investment in Sovereign Bancorp
Former NY Mayor Giuliani, Former U.S. Comptroller Clarke Prepare Report

New York, NY. March 3, 2006 –Bracewell & Giuliani LLP today released its independent review of Grupo Santander's compliance with the rules and regulations applicable to Santander's proposed investment in Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: SOV). The review affirmed Santander's regulatory and legal compliance in its proposed investment in Sovereign Bancorp and Sovereign's proposed acquisition of Independence Community Bank Corp. (NASDAQ: ICBC).

The review examined compliance issues before the New York Stock Exchange, the Federal Reserve System, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the New York State Banking Department.

The report was prepared by the law firm of Bracewell & Giuliani, at the direction of former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former Comptroller of the Currency of the U.S. Robert Clarke, and a team of experts at the law firm. Giuliani and Clarke are partners in the firm.

Bracewell & Giuliani found that Santander, Sovereign and Independence had fully and completely complied with all laws, rules and regulations applicable to the transactions. With respect to the NYSE's rules, Bracewell & Giuliani observed that the NYSE engaged in a deliberate and extensive process in which it considered carefully the positions of all interested persons before reaching a well-informed decision to approve Sovereign's listing application for the transaction. Bracewell & Giuliani agreed with the NYSE's decision that its existing rules do not require shareholder approval of the transactions. While the applications are still pending before the bank regulatory agencies, Bracewell & Giuliani found no issues that should cause the bank regulators to reject those applications.

The report has been distributed by Santander to the appropriate regulatory agencies.

On October 24, 2005, Santander agreed to acquire a 19.8% interest in the common stock of Sovereign for approximately $2.4 billion. Sovereign is the 18th largest banking institution in the United States.

""We were asked to review Santander's compliance with applicable laws and regulations,"" noted Mayor Giuliani. ""As a former U.S. Attorney with responsibilities for enforcing numerous financial regulations, I am satisfied that Santander was cautious in its approach and played by the rules.""

""Our team made an in-depth analysis of the corporate and financial service regulations relevant to Santander's investment in Sovereign,"" observed Clarke. ""Based on our understanding of the law and the facts in this case, we are able to give Santander a clean bill of health regarding their regulatory compliance. Other institutions can learn from Santander's cautious approach to transactions."" Clarke served as Comptroller of the Currency from December 1985 through February 1992, where the agency he headed supervised about 5,000 nationally-chartered commercial banks.

""Frankly, we never doubted that the Santander investment in Sovereign met all the laws and regulations,"" said Juan Rodríguez Inciarte, executive vice president of Santander. ""Santander is one of the largest financial institutions in the world with a well-established track record of making investments and acquisitions. Santander approaches these and other decisions in a cautious and prudent manner. Some of Sovereign's institutional shareholders raised concerns and we wanted the extra peace of mind that comes with an independent review. We are highly satisfied that the independent review shows full compliance.""

Santander is the largest bank in the Euro Zone by market capitalization and one of the largest worldwide. Founded in 1857, Santander has €809 billion in assets and €961 billion in managed funds, over 66 million customers, 129,000 employees, 10,200 offices and a presence in 40 countries.

The report was produced during February 2006 and involved the review of thousands of pages of documents, regulations, and other source materials. While Santander paid the costs of the report, Bracewell & Giuliani retained full and complete editorial control over the document and all payments were made in advance of the report's completion.

03-03-2006

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Thompson Hine LLP

Firm Continues to Grow Atlanta Office
Business Litigation Corporate Transactions & Securities Life Sciences
The firm continues its expansion in Atlanta, announcing that the following lawyers have joined the firm, effective March 1:

Cary Ichter joins as a partner in the firm's Business Litigation practice
Frank McDaniel joins as of counsel in the firm's Corporate and Life Sciences practices
S. Paul Smith joins as of counsel in the firm's Business Litigation practice
Patricia Roy joins as an associate in the firm's Business Litigation practice
All of these new lawyers will be located in the firm's Atlanta office, which recently moved to newly remodeled space in One Atlantic Center in Midtown Atlanta.

03-03-2006

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Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Profile of Buchanan Ingersoll Shareholder Wendy Newton Featured in Community Threads
Buchanan Ingersoll shareholder Wendy Newton was featured in an article in Greater Pittsburgh Community Threads that highlighted her career and community involvement in such organizations as KidsVoice, a nonprofit organization that represents abused and neglected children in the court system.

The article, titled ""The Dream,"" was included as part of an inspirational section in the publication. It included commentary from a few of Newton's colleagues about her legal acumen and passionate commitment to children and her community.

Stella Smetanka, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh Law School, called Newton ""a powerful role model, most especially for young women attorneys.

03-03-2006

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Pepper Hamilton, L.L.P.

Joseph C. Crawford, Trial Lawyer, Joins Pepper Hamilton as Partner
Senior Litigator Expands Firm’s Commercial Litigation Group

Philadelphia, Pa. – March 3, 2006 – Pepper Hamilton LLP announced that Joseph C. Crawford, a trial lawyer who handles complex commercial cases, has joined the firm as a partner in the Commercial Litigation Practice Group, resident in the Philadelphia office.

Mr. Crawford has a broad civil litigation practice. He has tried numerous cases to jury verdicts, including breach of contract and other commercial litigation cases, a securities class action case, defamation cases and product liability cases. He also has conducted numerous non-jury trials and commercial arbitration cases in many areas of the law. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

“Joe is one of the finest litigators in Philadelphia, and the talent, experience and depth he brings to the firm is exciting,” said Francis P. Devine, III, chairman of Pepper’s 90-lawyer Commercial Litigation Practice Group. “As our practice continues to grow, it is gratifying to have someone of Joe’s caliber join us to help meet our clients’ needs. We hope and expect that his arrival will help us attract additional truly accomplished trial lawyers with similar records of success.”

Mr. Crawford said, “I have had great respect for many years for the work done by Pepper’s commercial litigators, in particular, my new partners Barbara Mather, Larry Shiekman, Bob Hickok and Frank Devine.”

Ms. Mather co-chairs Pepper’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department, and Mr. Shiekman and Mr. Hickok are past chairs of the firm’s Commercial Litigation Practice Group. Mr. Devine currently chairs that practice group.

Mr. Crawford continued, “Seeing how successful and happy Frank has been since he joined Pepper two years ago piqued my interest. I made my decision to join the firm when I became absolutely certain that Pepper is the best law firm in Philadelphia for clients in complex litigation and for lawyers who enjoy trying those cases. Pepper includes a remarkable group of talented, dedicated and just plain nice people. I will miss my former colleagues at Wolf Block, but I am excited about the future here at Pepper.”

Mr. Crawford joins Pepper from Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen LLP in Philadelphia, where he was a partner and a past member of that firm’s Executive Committee. Earlier, he practiced with Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis in Philadelphia, and served for one year as deputy city solicitor for the City of Philadelphia.

Mr. Crawford is a graduate of St. Joseph’s University (B.S. 1976) and the University of Pennsylvania Law School (J.D. 1979), where he served as articles editor of the Law Review.

03-03-2006

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Jenner & Block LLP

NASALSA Panelists: Client Service is a Key to Successful Career Management
Focusing on exceptional client service was one of the career management tips offered to future attorneys at the North American South Asian Law Student Association annual conference in Chicago.

Associate Shehla F. Syed advised the aspiring attorneys that they should strive to make themselves “indispensable” to their firm and clients. “At the end of the day, people want someone they can rely on – be that person,” she said.

Ms. Syed also told the aspiring attorneys the importance of maintaining relationships with people encountered throughout one’s career. “Networking is a skill, so learn it, practice it, and use it to your advantage,” she said.

In addition to Ms. Syed, panelists included Maria Kuriakos Ciesil, Assistant Chief of the Criminal Prosecutions and Trials Assistance Bureau in the Office of the Attorney General; Shonu Verma McEchron, associate attorney at Saul Ewing LLP; Mona Thakkar, associate attorney at Foley & Lardner LLP; and Hon. Rena Van Tine, Associate Judge for the Circuit Court of Cook County.

03-03-2006

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Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Litigator Kenneth A. Murphy Joins Drinker Biddle
New Partner Strengthens National Corporate Defense Practice


PHILADELPHIA, PA (March 2, 2006) – The law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP welcomes Kenneth A. Murphy as a partner, where he will focus his practice on Product Liability and Mass Torts in the Litigation Department. Mr. Murphy joins Drinker Biddle from Saul Ewing LLP, where he was a shareholder in the Commercial Litigation practice group and co-chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee. He is resident in Drinker Biddle’s Philadelphia office.


“We’re truly excited about Ken’s arrival,” said Drinker Chairman Alfred Putnam. “Ken is a first-rate trial lawyer and we are lucky that his professional goals mesh well with our plans for expanding our litigation practice, particularly our nationally prominent products liability group.”


Mr. Murphy also mentioned the strength of Drinker’s national products liability practice as a reason for the move. “Saul Ewing is a wonderful firm,” said Mr. Murphy, “but I’m interested in doing much more products work, especially in the pharmaceutical and medical device area, and Drinker’s product liability lawyers are extremely well regarded throughout the country.”


Mr. Murphy also expects to continue building the strong base of commercial clients from within the Greater Philadelphia region and beyond, for whom he has handled a broad array of commercial and employment-related litigation. Drinker’s litigation chair, Kate Levering, noted that “Ken’s ability to handle a wide variety of cases that are vital to our clients’ strategic interests makes him an a real asset. Moreover, Ken has been at the forefront of nationwide efforts to enhance diversity in the practice of law, and we look forward to his leadership.”


Mr. Murphy received his B.A. from Duke University in 1986 and his J.D. from Duke University School of Law in 1989. An active participant in civic affairs, Ken is a past president of the Barristers’ Association of Philadelphia; a former member of the Philadelphia Bar Association Judicial Selection and Retention Commission; a trustee of the Presbytery of Philadelphia; and a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Minority Committee, the National Bar Association Commercial Law Section and the Minority Corporate Counsel Association.

Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, a national law firm established in 1849, serves its clients from offices in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Florham Park and Princeton, NJ, Berwyn, PA and Wilmington, DE.

03-03-2006

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