Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Jackson Walker L.L.P.

Tom Adolph Speaks on Internet Intellectual Property Issues
JW Partner Tom Adolph will speak on intellectual property issues on the Internet, courtesy of Internet Marketing Clinics. His discussion will be on September 19 at the University of Houston Small Business Development Center. It will be from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and will be useful to all businesses that operate on the web.

In his 25 years practicing law in Houston, Mr. Adolph has developed an intellectual property practice centering on litigation, licensing, and transactional work. He has worked with large and small companies, established companies and start-ups, in areas such as oil and gas, oilfield services, software, computers, universities, utilities, energy, credit reporting, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, electronics, real estate, clothing, and medical devices. Mr. Adolph received his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from Rice University. He received his J.D. degree from Columbia University, where he was an Associate Editor of Columbia Journal of Law & Social Problems and graduated in the Top 20 percent of his class.

Internet Marketing Clinics allow parties who want to promote business and other activities over the Internet to learn the best techniques and practices to become effective. Presentations cover all aspects of internet marketing from planning an effective site, building a site, and optimizing a site for search engines to regular maintenance and enhancement of a site to maintain rankings that have been achieved.

09-11-2007

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Hagens, Berman, Sobol & Shapiro, L.L.P.

Countrywide Financial ERISA
Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) employees participating in the company's 401(k) plan today filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, its CEO and all those responsible for overseeing the employees' retirement plan, claiming the organization's illegal actions caused thousands of 401(k) plan participants to lose millions of dollars during the recent stock collapse.

Filed in Federal Court in Santa Ana California, the suit seeks to represent all Countrywide employees who lost millions of dollars in the company-matched 401(k) plan after the mortgage company's stock plummeted when the depths of the company's financial situation became clear.

The suit alleges that while CEO Angelo Mozilo and the insider-appointed benefits committee members had a fiduciary responsibility to warn employees of the company's precarious financial health, they intentionally concealed information from plan participants.

Steve Berman, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, said the actions by Countrywide's CEO and benefits committee members cost thousands of employees millions of dollars. "Most of these employees weren't risk takers, rather claims processors and line staff who go to work every morning, putting a little away every month for retirement, or to finance a child's education," Berman noted. "With Countrywide's demise, they've seen their retirement funds decimated."

Plaintiff Marc Cruz, like many Countrywide employees, deferred a portion of his salary and invested in the company 401(k) savings plan, which Countrywide augmented with a 50 percent match, up to six percent, paid entirely in company stock during calendar years 2005 and 2006.

According to the complaint, Cruz and other employees relied on information supplied by the company, its CEO and other plan fiduciaries in making the decision to contribute to the plan, and according to the complaint, the company, its CEO and the other fiduciaries misled him and other employees.

The suit claims Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo repeatedly certified financial statements he knew were misleading in an attempt to cover the high-risk loans his company was selling, all the while telling a different story to investors and ignoring analyst recommendations to compile a reserve.

According to the complaint, Countrywide offers two components in their employee 401(k) plan. The first is a participant contribution plan, where employees can make voluntary pre-tax contributions out of their base pay. The second aspect is a company match plan where Countrywide matches up to a pre-determined percentage.

For the latter portion of the plan, from October 27, 2005 until August 9, 2007, Countrywide provided the match through company stock.

In the past month, Countrywide stock has plummeted. At the end of June, after the company announced charges of $417 million and a loan-loss provision of $292.2 million, Countrywide shares dropped more than 10 percent to $30 per share, losing $1.87 billion in total market capitalization.

On August 16, 2007, after a shattering announcement that the company was using all of an $11.5 billion credit line due, the company's stock dropped 30 percent to $15 per share. Between February of 2007 and August 16, 2007, Countrywide's shares lost nearly three-quarters of their value.

The suit makes several claims of wrongdoing by Countrywide and retirement plan administrators, including: failure to prudently and loyally manage the plan's assets, failure to provide complete and accurate information to participants and beneficiaries, failure to monitor the compensation and benefit plan committees and provide them with accurate information, breach of duty to avoid conflicts of interest, and co-fiduciary liability.

Under ERISA law a plan participant can bring a civil action on behalf of a retirement plan against companies and individuals that breach any of the duties outlined for a fiduciary. According to the complaint Cruz is seeking compensation for money lost, imposition of a constructive trust on any amount by which the defendants were unjustly enriched and for the court to require defendants to appoint one or more independent fiduciaries to participate in the management of the Countrywide stock.

09-11-2007

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Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, LLP

Curtis partner, Victor L. Zimmermann participated in a panel discussion entitled "Managing Costly Cash Flow Mismatches Through Credit Facilities"
Curtis partner, Victor L. Zimmermann participated in a panel discussion entitled "Managing Costly Cash Flow Mismatches Through Credit Facilities" at the Financial Research Associates Annual Hedge Fund Business Operations Forum on September 11, 2007.

09-11-2007

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Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Two From Bradley Arant Speaking at 19th Annual Occupational Medicine Update
Bradley Arant's Tripp Haston and Moniaree Jones, RN, COHN-S, CCM, are scheduled to speak at the 19th Annual Occupational Medicine Update to be held Friday and Saturday, September 14 and 15 in San Destin, Florida. The two-day session is presented by the Deep South Center for Occupational Health & Safety and The University of Alabama School of Medicine.

Mr. Haston, a partner at Bradley Arant, will be speaking Friday, September 14 on "Pharmaceutical Litigation and Its Impact on Providing the Health Care for our Workforce." As Chair of the firm's Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Practice Group, Mr. Haston will address the impact pharmaceutical litigation has on healthcare professional's decision making process. He will also address the legal issues facing the use - and discontinued use - of pharmaceuticals.

Also on Friday, Ms. Jones will present Case Studies in Occupational Medicine. Using "stories from the trenches," Ms. Jones will participate in an interactive session that puts healthcare professionals' diagnostic and management skills to the test.

As a Legal Nurse Consultant at the firm, Ms. Jones is a recognized leader in occupational health and is presently Vice President of the Central Alabama Association of Occupational Health Nursing (CAAOHN).

09-11-2007

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Department of Fair Employment and Housing

The American Lawyer magazine named Arnold & Porter LLP to its "A-List," for 2007
The American Lawyer magazine named Arnold & Porter LLP to its "A-List," for 2007, one of the top 20 law firms in the magazine's fifth annual ranking of the nation's elite. The A-List is created through a composite ranking of four objective firm dimensions, based on data collected from The American Lawyer surveys throughout the year: revenue per lawyer, associate satisfaction, workplace diversity and pro bono. The firm has made the list on three prior occasions.

Arnold & Porter's Managing Partner Richard Alexander commented on the "A-List" ranking: "We continually strive to stay true to our own firm's values of public service, respect for diversity, and commitment to excellence and professionalism. We are extremely grateful for this recognition from The American Lawyer."

09-11-2007

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Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, LLP

Simpson Thacher Represents Kerzner International in Joint Venture to Develop Multi-Billion Dollar Las Vegas Resort
The Firm is advising Kerzner International Holdings Limited in its joint venture with MGM MIRAGE and Istithmar Hotels to develop a multi-billion dollar integrated resort property on the Las Vegas Strip. The new resort will be designed for approximately 40 of the 78 acres of land owned by MGM MIRAGE, located on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue. Kerzner International will lead the planning and conceptualization of the project.

The Simpson Thacher team working on this deal includes: Sean Rodgers, Chris May and Anthony Vernace (Corporate); Scott Kobak and Steve Stickler (Real Estate); Lori Lesser (IP); Steve Todrys and Sean Austin (Tax).

09-11-2007

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Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, LLP

Simpson Thacher Represents Underwriters in US$1.2 Billion Initial Public Offering of Cosan Limited
The Firm recently represented Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, as underwriters, in connection with the initial public offering (IPO) of 111,678,000 Class A common shares of Cosan Limited, for a total price to public of approximately US$1.2 billion. The Class A common shares, which were registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Brazilian Securities Commission, were offered in the United States and other countries outside Brazil, as well as in Brazil in the form of Brazilian Depositary Receipts (BDRs).

The Class A common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CZZ”, while the BDRs are listed on the São Paulo Stock Exchange. The transaction was the largest SEC-registered IPO of a Brazilian business since 2000.

Cosan Limited is a newly organized Bermuda holding company which owns a controlling stake in Cosan S.A. Indústria e Comércio, a Brazilian corporation. Cosan S.A. Indústria e Comércio is the largest producer of ethanol and sugar in Brazil, the second largest producer of ethanol in the world and among the three largest sugar producers in the world.

The Simpson Thacher team for the transaction included Glenn M. Reiter, Grenfel S. Calheiros and Heloisa H. Griggs; Mark Lab and Sean Cotton (NASD and Blue Sky); Jon Cantor and Sean Austin (Tax); and summer associates Brian Rosenzweig and Miles M. Jackson.

09-11-2007

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