Law Firm News

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Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Japanese Investment Activity Turns Toward U.S. Again Say Pillsbury Lawyers
For the first time in more than a decade, Japanese companies are once again directing a significant amount of their lending and investment activities into the U.S. market, according to Bill Huss, managing partner of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman’s Tokyo office and a co-leader of the firm’s Japan Practice.

“After the so-called bubble burst in the early 1990s in Japan, Japanese companies and financial institutions largely turned inward or to Southeast Asia, and cross-border deals involving U.S. and European markets diminished significantly,” Huss said. “Now that Japanese companies’ operations and finances are healthier and have a good amount of liquidity, we are seeing a broader mix of investments and business activities both domestically and internationally. Japanese interest rates also continue to be extraordinarily low. Couple those circumstances with more aggressive lending by Japanese financial institutions, and you have Japanese companies eager to pursue strategic investments in the U.S. and elsewhere.”

As a result of this liquidity and more aggressive lending, Japanese industry leaders are predicting a new, robust round of mergers and acquisitions, venture capital activity and direct investments in homegrown companies, as well as in China, greater Asia, Europe and the U.S., according to Ed Perron, a partner in Pillsbury’s Los Angeles office who has worked with Japanese clients for more than 25 years and is currently chair of the Japan-America Society of Southern California. Favored targets have included electronics, entertainment, industrial and high-tech companies such as LCD panel makers.

“Japanese companies are not just making outright acquisitions in the U.S., but are also increasingly looking for cross-licensing deals and taking minority positions in preferred stock offerings to diversify their investment portfolios and to create synergies with their product lines,” Perron said. “This is much different than in the 1980s, when Japanese companies preferred full acquisitions and installed their own day-to-day management teams in their targets – a practice that some critics said sometimes resulted in awkward relationships with and management inefficiencies for their targets.”

Also, unlike the 1980s when Japanese investments were focused on assets like real estate, investors are now increasingly looking for opportunities that strengthen their core businesses, such as new, more efficient manufacturing plants and cutting-edge technologies and products that help to differentiate them, Perron added.

New corporate law rules in Japan applicable to mergers involving foreign companies and Japanese targets should drive even more foreign direct investment inbound to Japan as well. The rules, which went into effect on May 1, 2007, allow foreign companies to acquire Japanese companies using their shares of stock instead of cash for acquisition of shares in the Japanese target company, as required under the old rules.

“As a result, foreign investors can now do stock for stock swaps with Japanese entities via a Japanese subsidiary of the foreign party. We’re even seeing hostile takeover bids directed at Japanese companies by foreign investors and increased activity by hedge funds – both fundamentally new developments for Japan,” said Huss.

“The Japanese government created these new merger rules in order to liberalize restrictive corporate rules and increase foreign investment in Japan,” Huss said. “Indeed, the new rules will open up a lot of possibilities for companies to pursue acquisition activities that didn’t have or didn’t want to put up big cash reserves.”

In addition, Japanese companies are becoming more attractive to foreign investors simply because they are adopting various features of U.S. style of management and financial accounting practices. That management style puts more emphasis on the concerns of shareholders, as opposed to the traditional Japanese focus on just maintaining market share and nurturing the long-term relationships of the company. While some Japanese critics may not like these changes, companies that adopt them typically are more flexible and energetic and thus more likely to provide higher returns and greater accountability for the short-term decisions of corporate executives, Perron said. This is a homegrown phenomenon, but it is accelerating as outside investors push harder for change.

Pillsbury’s Japan practice draws on knowledgeable attorneys from the firm’s Tokyo, New York, and Los Angeles offices. The firm represents many of the major Japanese banks, trading firms and manufacturers in a variety of industries including electronics, appliances, heavy industry, sporting goods and materials, food products, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, semiconductors and business equipment

05-17-2007

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Pepper Hamilton, L.L.P.

Steven D. Bortnick, Tax and Private Equity Attorney, Joins Pepper Hamilton
Pepper Hamilton LLP announced that Steven D. Bortnick, a lawyer concentrating on domestic and international tax and private equity matters, has joined the firm as a partner. He will divide his time between the firm’s New York and Princeton offices.

“Steve has particular experience in structuring transactions for international private equity sponsors, and he is an authority on venture capital operating company investment rules,” said Joan C. Arnold, chair of Pepper’s Tax Practice Group. “He adds an extra dimension to our international tax practice, and his experience with private equity, fund formation, M&A and other corporate transactions will be valuable to our clients. We are excited to begin working with him.”

Mr. Bortnick joins Pepper from Dechert LLP, where he was counsel in the New York office.

Mr. Bortnick handles a broad range of cross-disciplinary transactions, including asset, stock, cross-border and domestic acquisitions, tax-free spinoffs, recapitalizations and reorganizations. He is experienced in the structuring of domestic and international private equity transactions from tax and venture capital operating company standpoints. He also has worked with pooled investment vehicles, and he counsels corporate entities on tax issues. In addition, Mr. Bortnick advises U.S. citizens and corporations in overseas investment, and he has been involved in the formation of private equity and hedge funds.

“Joining Pepper offers me a terrific opportunity to build my practice,” said Mr. Bortnick. ”With the support of the tax and corporate groups, I am looking forward to integrating my practice with Pepper’s, while helping to advise the firm’s existing clients on domestic and international tax matters.”

An active speaker and author, Mr. Bortnick has written materials for several major private equity tax conferences and has presented on such topics as private equity, venture capital, cross-border investing, venture capital operating company issues, and merger and acquisition tax issues.

Mr. Bortnick is a graduate of Glassboro State College (now Rowan University, B.S. 1985), Rutgers University School of Law – Camden (J.D. 1988) and New York University School of Law (LL.M., taxation, 1992). He is a member of the New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania bars.

05-17-2007

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Nixon Peabody LLP

Nixon Peabody LLP Expands Real Estate Practice in Boston; Christopher R. Froeb is a Real Estate Attorney, Boston College and Suffolk University School of Law Graduate
Mr. Froeb comes to Nixon Peabody from Burns & Levinson LLP in Boston. He earned his B.A. from Boston College and his J.D., cum laude, from Suffolk University School of Law. While in law school, Mr. Froeb was vice president of the Moot Court Board and a legal intern at the Superior Court of Massachusetts for the Honorable Peter Agnes, Jr.

Andrew I. Glincher, managing partner of the Boston office, said, “We are thrilled to welcome Chris Froeb to Nixon Peabody. We look forward to integrating him into our busy and growing real estate practice, and introducing him to all of the programs that make our firm one of the best to work with and work for.”

Mr. Froeb is a member of the American Bar Association, the Boston Bar Association, and the Massachusetts Real Estate Bar Association (REBA).

05-17-2007

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Latham & Watkins

Latham & Watkins Litigators Lead Monolithic Power Systems to Patent Trial Victory
Latham & Watkins litigators have won a significant victory for Monolithic Power Systems (MPS) in a patent infringement case brought by O2 Micro. A jury trial held before Judge Claudia Wilken in the Northern District Court, Oakland, California returned a unanimous verdict invalidating O2 Micro's patent and finding no literal infringement. The May 15 verdict is especially significant as it follows a string of successes by O2 against other companies involving the same patent claims. The Latham & Watkins trial team was led by litigation partners Mark Flagel and Bob Steinberg in the firm's Los Angeles office and partner Dean Dunlavey in Orange County, with associate Darryl Steensma in San Diego.

05-17-2007

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Krieg & De Vault, L.L.P.

Krieg DeVault LLP Announces Michael L. Griffin Elected To the Board of Directors of the President Benjamin Harrison Home
"The law firm of Krieg DeVault LLP, Indianapolis, Indiana, is pleased to announce that attorney Michael L. Griffin has been elected to the Board of Directors of the President Benjamin Harrison Home.

The President Benjamin Harrison Home is the former residence of President Benjamin Harrison that is now a museum dedicated to his life. The house is located at 1230 North Delaware Street, Indianapolis, Indiana. The President Benjamin Harrison Foundation, Inc., a not for profit, tax-exempt organization, is dedicated to maintaining and preserving the President Benjamin Harrison Home as a museum and memorial to the only President of the United States elected from the State of Indiana. Open to the public as an educational and historical service, the Home seeks to promote patriotism and citizenship through appropriate educational activities and by artfully exhibiting the Victorian time period as Harrison and his family might have experienced it.

Michael Griffin practices in a variety of federal and state tax areas, including tax aspects of buying and selling businesses, S corporation conversions, employee stock ownership plans, obtaining private letter rulings, and tax examinations and appeals. Mr. Griffin practices in the areas of gift, estate and inheritance taxation, trusts and estates planning and administration, and business entity formation, operation and liquidation.

Mr. Griffin is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, serving in 2004 with Third United States Army as Operational Law Attorney at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait and as Command Judge Advocate at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar. Mr. Griffin holds the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve and is assigned as an individual mobilization augmentee to the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, United States Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Mr. Griffin holds an active Indiana license as a Certified Public Accountant. He resides in Greenfield, Indiana."

05-17-2007

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Richman, Greer, Weil, Brumbaugh, Mirabito & Christensen, P.A.

Jill G. Weiss has been named the President of the Palm Beach County Chapter of FAWL
Jill G. Weiss has been named the President of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers’ (FAWL) Palm Beach County Chapter.

FAWL (www.fawl.org) was formed in 1951 in order to provide a networking forum where female professionals in the legal field could address laws and issues directly affecting women. The Palm Beach County Chapter currently consists of approximately 150 attorneys, advisors and other legal specialists.

An active member of the community, she currently serves on the Professionalism Committee and the Judicial Relations Committee of the Palm Beach County Bar Association. She is also a member of the Craig S. Barnard Inns of Court, the Florida Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Ms. Weiss maintains a civil trial practice, concentrating primarily on complex commercial and business litigation, class actions, business torts and family law.

Ms. Weiss, a resident of Palm Beach Gardens, received her Juris Doctorate, magna cum laude, from Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center in 2003. She is admitted to practice before all state and appellate courts in Florida as well as the United States District Courts for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida.

05-17-2007

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Matheson, Ormsby & Prentice, P.C.

Matheson Ormsby Prentice Named Top Graduate Law Recruiter
Matheson Ormsby Prentice was named most popular recruiter 2007 for law graduates in Ireland, at the first ever gradireland Graduate Recruiters Conference Awards in Croke Park on Tuesday 15 May 2007. The event was organised by careers publisher GTI Ireland in partnership with the Association of Graduate Careers Services in Ireland

The award winners were chosen based on feedback from 10,000 Irish students and graduates across 11 sectors, from banking to public service.

The result builds on Matheson Ormsby Prentice’s reputation as an employer of choice, previously recognised by The Great Place to Work Institute Ireland in February 2007, when it ranked Matheson Ormsby Prentice as one of the 50 Best Companies to Work for in Ireland 2007, the first and only law firm to be included in the list.

When the firm relocates to 70 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay it will move to the largest law firm offices in the country, a reflection of the dynamic growth which has characterised the firm. An absolute ‘best in class’ working environment is envisaged.

Commenting on the accolade, Lorraine Schaefer, human resources director said: “We were particularly pleased to receive this award as it confirms how successful our trainee solicitor training programme has become. The attraction and retention of the most talented graduates is key to the success of our business.

05-17-2007

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