JD Journal » corporate

Sidley Austin Adds Partner in Palo Alto Office

joshua — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 14:06:18 +0000

Pamela J. Martinson has joined Sidley Austin LLP as a partner in its Palo Alto office.

Ms. Martinson will focus her practice in the area of finance and lending.

In a press release, Tom DeFilipps, Managing Partner of Sidley’s Palo Alto office was quoted as saying: “Pam is a seasoned finance lawyer with tremendous experience in banking and commercial lending. Pam will help expand our finance capabilities on the West Coast, in particular in Palo Alto, where her practice complements our established support of venture capital and investment banking clients.”

Ms. Martinson represents major institutional and other lenders, as well as borrowers and equity sponsors. She has significant experience in complex financings of all kinds, including syndicated and single-bank lending transactions, leasing, securitizations and structured finance. She also regularly handles the debt aspects of sponsor-led acquisition transactions, as well as the financing of corporate headquarters and other significant real property, international trade finance, and lending to technology and growth companies.

Sidley established its Palo Alto office in late 2009 with veteran lawyers who understand the process of innovation. The Palo Alto office focuses on corporate, technology transactions and IP litigation matters for emerging and established companies, including companies in the information technology, digital media, life sciences and clean tech industries.

Sidley Austin LLP is one of the world’s largest full-service law firms, with approximately 1,600 lawyers practicing in 17 U.S. and international cities, including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.

Jones Walker Earns High Marks from ‘Best Lawyers’

joshua — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:05:04 +0000

Six Jones Walker attorneys based in Louisiana have been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America 2011 as “Lawyers of the Year.”

The attorneys honored with the Lawyer of the Year designations are:

William M Backstrom Jr. (tax law, New Orleans)

John C. Blackman IV (trust and estates, Baton Rouge)

Mark Cunningham (antitrust law, New Orleans)

J. Kelly Duncan (gaming law, New Orleans)

David F. Edwards (trust and estates, New Orleans)

Curtis R. Hearn (corporate law, New Orleans)

Best Lawyers designates “Lawyers of the Year” in high-profile legal practices in specific legal markets. Only a single lawyer in each recognized practice area in that specific legal market is so honored. The attorneys being honored as “Lawyers of the Year” received high ratings in the surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities.

“These rankings reflect the respect these attorneys have earned based on their legal acumen, strength of character, and depth of knowledge in their respective fields of practice,” said Jones Walker Managing Partner William H. Hines. “We are pleased as a firm to have our attorneys recognized by their peers for these achievements.”

Best Lawyers, established in 1983, is universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers ratings are based on peer-review surveys in which thousands of attorneys cast more than two million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas.

Jones Walker has more than 300 attorneys with offices in Alabama, Arizona, Washington D.C., Florida, Louisiana and Texas.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 12:56:42 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Monday, September 27th. Here’s a quick look back at Friday’s stories.

Dinsmore & Shohl Welcomes New Partner Michael DiSanto to Corporate Department…

The publisher of The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel and other legal and business titles, is consolidating its legal research functions into a single organization…

Butzel Long Shareholder was named a recipient of the 2^nd Annual International Mergers & Acquisitions Advisor Award…

London-based firm Kennedy’s opened an office in Miami…

Poll conducted earlier this week by the New York State Bar Association revealed guarded optimism about hiring trends and demand for legal services in 2011…

Dinsmore & Shohl Welcomes New Partner Michael DiSanto to Corporate Department

ashley — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 01:18:26 +0000

Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP is welcoming yet another partner to their steadily growing firm. Michael DiSanto will be will be joining Dinsmore & Shohl’s Corporate Department as a partner and will be a member of the Securities Practice Group at the firm’s office in Cincinnati, Ohio.

With more than 450 attorneys practicing all over the Midwest, Dinsmore & Shohl serves small and large businesses, government offices, and individuals from their 10 offices. They practice in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

Michael DiSanto is one of the founding partners of the Silicon Valley office of Reed Smith, LLP, one of the 15 largest law firms in the world. There he had a corporate practice where he provided council for companies as well as pro bono work for non-profit groups. Before going to Reed Smith, DiSanto had his hands full as founder, CEO and General Counsel of an Internet company that provided personal training solutions to the health and fitness industry in San Francisco. He also attended Santa Clara University School of Law and Vanderbilt University.

Chair of Dinsmore & Shohl’s Corporate Department Susan Zaunbrecher is pleased with the new hire, “We are very excited to have an attorney of Mike’s caliber join the firm. Mike brings a depth of knowledge in corporate transactions and private equity that will enhance and expand our current capabilities across all of our markets.”

Morning Roundup

joshua — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:35:44 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Friday, September 3rd. Here’s a quick look back at yesterday’s stories.

Dinsmore & Shohl added two new partners in its Columbus, Ohio office…

Grant & Eisenhofer added three attorneys to its antitrust practice…

Sidley Austin’s Thomas Cole was honored by the National Association of Corporate Directors…

Steptoe & Johnson opened an office, and acquired the energy practice group from Culbertson, Weiss, Schetroma and Schug…

Columbus Office of Dinsmore & Shohl to Add Two New Partners

ashley — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:00:08 +0000

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP welcome Charles Freiburger and Boyd Moehring to the firm’s Columbus office in the Corporate Department and Securities Practice Group. Formerly, Freiburger and Moehring were partners with Thompson Hine LLP.

Founded in 1908 in Cincinatti, Ohio, Dinsmore & Shohl is becoming more and more influential in the state. Now, with 48 lawyers, the firm is the tenth largest in Central Ohio and second largest in Dayton. With 450 attorneys overall, branches can also be found in Kentuky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia as well.

With more than 50 years experience between the two, adding Freiburger and Moehring can only be a boon to the firm. Managing partner of the Columbus office of Dinsmore & Shohl, Don Leach, says, “We are thrilled to have two such high quality and well established attorneys joining us.”

Since 1972, Freiburger has gained much experience working on environmental law, including with the Ohio EPA. He has also Conversely, Moehring has focused on business matters and real estate with clients from California, Florida, Las Vegas, New York, and others.

Leach says, “We continue to be excited about the opportunities in Columbus, and adding Chuck and Boyd is a huge step in continuing our growth here.”

Profits and Revenue Decline at Debevoise & Plimpton

sara — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:58:23 +0000

Debevoise & Plimpton report that gross revenue dropped 12% at the firm and profits per equity partner dropped even further due to poor economic conditions in 2009. Revenue dropped to $667.9 million and profits per partner dropped 16% to $1.87 million. These drops came on the heels of a decline in corporate work and the completion of large matters in its litigation practice, specifically the internal investigation of Siemens AG.

Founded in 1931, New York City based Debevoise & Plimpton is an international law firm and a leader in corporate litigation and large financial transactions. The firm has approximately 680 lawyers and additional offices in Paris, Washington, D.C., London, Hong Kong, Moscow, Frankfurt and Shanghai.

Jonathan Guest Joins McCarter & English as Partner

sara — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:05:46 +0000

Jonathan Guest has joined McCarter & English as a partner in the firm’s Boston office’s Corporate, Securities, and Financial Institutions Group. Guest was formerly a shareholder and head of the Corporate and Securities Department in Greenberg Traurig’s Boston office.

Guest specializes in corporate and securities law including debt and equity finance, corporate governance, and domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. He also advises early-stage companies in regard to entity selection, capital structure, “angel” and venture capital finance, secured loans, executive compensation, intellectual property protection and technology licensing.

Guest earned his LL.M in Taxation from Boston University School of Law. He earned his J.D. from Cornell Law School and his B.A., cum laude from Wesleyan University. Guest is a member of the Board of Directors for the Hereditary Disease Foundation.

Founded in 1844, McCarter & English is based in Newark, New Jersey and has approximately 400 lawyers. The firm has additional locations in Boston, Hartford, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia and Wilmington.

Allen & Overy Launch New Office in Qatar

sara — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:49:19 +0000

Allen & Overy will open a new office in Qatar. London real estate partner Robert Porter will head the new office. He is already in Doha and will be joined by Dubai based corporate partner Chris Thornes and a team of associates. The firm received the go ahead from the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority on Monday, authorizing them to open their office and practice both international and local law from the office.

The Qatar office will focus on high end corporate and financial matters. Porter focuses on international funds, real estate and cross-border joint ventures and M&A. Thornes specializes in M&A and private equity.

Founded in 1930, Allen & Overy is headquartered in London. The firm has approximately 2,700 attorneys and 31 offices globally. Recently the firm announced the addition of offices in Australia.

Hammonds to Cut 20 Partners

Erik Even — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:52:37 +0000

London’s Hammonds LLP is set to cut about 10% of its partnership.

The top 50 UK law firm is cutting up to 20 partners from its fixed share and equity ranks.

Some partners will also be affected by a de-equitization program in an attempt to deal with underperformance, especially at the top of the partnership.

The cuts, affecting the firm’s offices in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, will see corporate and real estate under the most scrutiny, with a number of partners having already left the firm. The rest of those affected are expected to leave before the end of the financial year.

In January, the firm had 186 partners, including 74 in the equity.

The move comes after the firm laid off 53 support staff and 24 fee earners as a result of a redundancy consultation launched in November.

Hammonds posted a drop in profits per equity partner of more than 9% for 2007-08, to £367,000 ($525,000). Revenue at the firm edged up 3.4% to £132 million ($188.9 million).

Hammonds’ overseas offices are located in Aosta, Milan, Rome, Turin, Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Madrid, Hong Kong and Beijing.

SEC’s Colby Joins Davis Polk & Wardwell

Erik Even — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:21:37 +0000

Robert Colby, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s deputy director of the division of trading & markets, will leave the agency this month after 27 years. He will join the Washington, DC office of New York’s Davis Polk & Wardwell.

Colby is credited by the SEC with having led “the development and implementation of investor protection policies, rules and interpretations governing broker-dealers, securities markets, clearance and settlement systems and transfer agents.”

Colby joined the SEC staff in 1981 as a staff attorney in the division, where he was promoted to chief counsel in 1986 and deputy director in 1993.

He graduated with a BA from Bowdoin College, and a JD from Harvard Law School.

Davis Polk & Wardwell is an international law firm that employs more than 740 attorneys, and is primarily known for its corporate, litigation and tax practices.

Dorsey & Whitney Sees Flat 2008 Revenue

Erik Even — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:32:39 +0000

Minneapolis-based Dorsey & Whitney saw flat revenues, with a small decrease in profits per partner for 2008.

Gross revenues were just over $367 million, and profits per partner were $661,000, a 1.6% decrease from the prior year.

The firm’s activity was even across practice areas with both litigation and corporate work accounting for significant chunks of revenue. Litigation accounted for approximately 35% of the firm’s revenue this year.

The firm also saw a fair amount of corporate advisory and transactional work, including a close to $1 billion bank financing for an Indian gaming project. Corporate work represented 22% of gross revenue.

Also, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a decade old case that could have cost the firm up to $4 million in malpractice verdicts.

Troutman Sanders Closes Deal on Ross Dixon Merger

Erik Even — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:37:00 +0000

Atlanta’s Troutman Sanders LLP has closed on a deal to merge with Washington, DC’s Ross, Dixon & Bell LLP.

Financial terms of the merger were not disclosed. The new firm is based in Atlanta and keeps the Troutman Sanders name. It has offices in 15 cities and on three continents, employs 750 attorneys and has a total of 1,700 employees.

Troutman said the deal combines its corporate, finance, litigation, real estate and public policy practices with Ross, Dixon & Bell’s insurance, professional liability and commercial litigation practices. The merger also doubles the size of Troutman Sanders’ presence in Washington, DC, where Ross, Dixon & Bell is now based. The combined firm will have more than 100 attorneys in the nation’s capital.

Robert W. Webb Jr. remains chairman and managing partner of the merged firm.

Founded in 1897, Troutman Sanders represents Delta Air Lines, Chick-fil-A and Wachovia Bank.

And here’s the press release.