Famed law firm Kramer, Levin, Naftalis and Frankel does not simply hire those with the best academic records, they look at all the aspects of an applicant to see if they are right for the job. One thing they look for is personality. They want lawyers that clients can easily relate to and feel good using. Another consideration is the applicants outside activities and how they relate to the job the applicant will be doing in the firm.

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Academic All-Stars Won’t Be Hired at Kramer Levin if They Aren’t Client-Worthy

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The EPA threatened nine hydraulic fracturing companies with legal action…

Former Ambassador and Associate Attorney General Joins Fulbright & Jaworski…

Kramer Levin added three partners from Baker & McKenzie to its banking and finance group…

Andrews Kurth LLP added four attorneys to its Washington D.C. Office…

White & Case expanded its white collar and litigation practice…

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Liu, who served as head of Baker &McKenzie’s banking and finance practice in New York, represents issuers, underwriters, borrowers, lenders and service providers on private and public structured finance and securitization transactions. He was also co-chair of Baker & McKenzie’s pro bono committee.

Pettit regularly advises issuers and financial advisors on structured finance transactions involving a wide range of jurisdictions and asset classes. He also represents clients in debt capital markets transactions.

Rudder represents major commercial and investment banks, issuers, investors, trustees and bond insurers in public and private financings involving esoteric assets. He has acted as deal counsel in the closing of many first-of-a-kind transactions including the first commercial mortgage loan conduit transactions.

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel is a full-service law firm with office in New York and Paris.

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• Kramer Levin Adds Two Partners to Private Equity Practice
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Electronic brokerage veteran Joseph C. Lombard joined Murphy & McGonigle as partner…

Veteran corporate governance attorney Heidi Lawson joined Chadbourne & Parke as partner…

Kramer Levin added two partners to its private equity practice…

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Mr. Moriarty represents a number of middle market private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies in a wide variety of industries and transactions, including acquisition and sale transactions, leveraged buyouts, restructurings, and management equity arrangements.

Mr. Pinilis is a tax and fund formation attorney. He has worked extensively with private equity investment funds, representing them in a wide variety of matters, including fund and transaction structuring, ensuring the tax efficiency of investments and portfolio company transactions and fund formation matters.

Prior to joining Kramer Levin, Mr. Moriarty and Mr. Pinilis were partners at O’Melveny & Myers.

According to today’s press release at PR Newswire, Paul Pearlman, the managing partner of Kramer Levin, was quoted as saying: “Russell and Jim each bring 15 years of focused transactional experience and will add an exciting dimension to Kramer Levin’s private equity practice that complements our existing representation of private equity sponsors and other participants in private equity transactions. As the state of the economy and private equity markets continue to evolve, their breadth of knowledge, especially in the mid-market sector, will be an invaluable asset to our firm.”

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP is a premier, full-service law firm with offices in New York and Paris. The firm guides Global 1000 companies and emerging growth entities across a broad range of industries to help them fully realize their business goals. For more than a decade, Kramer Levin has had one of the leading and most diverse investment fund practices in the country, with a special emphasis on complex transactions within the middle-market.

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• Willkie Farr & Gallagher Adds Two Partners to Private Equity Practice
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A team of five energy transaction lawyers left the newly formed Hogan Lovells for King & Spalding…

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo established a scholarship in Herman Mintz’s name, one of the firm’s original name partners…

Three attorneys from Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel were named to Human Resource Executive magazine’s 2010 list of Most Powerful Employment Attorneys…

Seyfarth Shaw added one partner and one of counsel to its L.A. office…

Corporate Intl Magazine Global Awards named Sadis & Goldberg LLP the 2010 Corporate Advisory Firm of the Year in New York…

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• Energy Team Bolts Hogan Lovells for King & Spalding
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Dugan, Babij & Tolley, LLC received Trial Lawyer of the Year Award…

McKool Smith client Marcel Fashion was awarded $300K in a hotly-contested trademark infringement dispute…

Kramer Levin elected new partners…

A two-year study of jury selections in eight Southern states found the exclusion of blacks and other minorities remains a widespread practice in the region…

Perkins Coie opened an office in San Diego…

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Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP is full-service law firm with offices in New York and Paris.  The firm represents Global 1000 and emerging growth companies, institutions and individuals, across a broad range of industries.

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• Freshfields Bolsters U.S. Litigation Practice

Coleman joins Freshfields from Dewey & LeBoeuf, where he was a partner in the firm’s litigation department and co-chair of the white collar criminal defense and investigations practice group. He is a former assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and he also served eight years with the U.S. Department of Justice, where he played key roles in several notable corporate fraud cases, including the investigation of Enron Corp.

Fishman is a former partner and commercial litigator at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel. He represents financial institutions in federal and state courts throughout the U.S., in arbitrations and in regulatory proceedings.

Stuart is formerly a partner at Vinson & Elkins. He focuses his practice on securities and complex financial litigation at both the state and federal level.

Freshfields has more than 2,700 lawyers practicing in 27 locations around the world.

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Steven M. Goldman joins the New York office of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel. He has resigned as New Jersey Commissioner of Banking & Insurance. He was previously a senior member and 22-year veteran of Sills Cummis & Gross. His JD is from the George Washington University School of Law.

Lisa Pitell joins Pittsburgh’s Cohen & Grigsby from the SAS Institute, as an associate in the international business practice. She handles commercial agreements. Pitell earned her JD at the Duquesne University School of Law.

Peter Lieb joins the Aon Corporation from the NCR Corporation, as executive vice president and general counsel. At NCR he was senior vice president and general counsel; previously he was with Symbol Technologies, International Paper Company, and law firm Jones Day. He served as a federal prosecutor, and clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger. His JD is from the the University of Michigan Law School.

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• News Corp. Hires Williams & Connolly Partner as Counsel
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From managing partner Paul Pearlman:

It is not surprising that the economic downturn confronting the country has touched virtually every industry, including the legal community… While our firm ‘s performance in 2008 was relatively strong and our size and practice diversity provides us with a solid platform to be successful in these difficult times, we have nevertheless felt the impact of the prevailing economic conditions… As a result, 18 attorneys and 21 staff have recently been asked to leave the firm. These decisions were based on a variety of factors, including firm, departmental and individual performance. Those affected have been informed of our decisions.

Founded in 1968, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP is a law firm with offices in New York City and Paris.

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Dozens of New York lawyers have reached into their pockets to help new President Barack Obama help defray the cost of an inauguration that many think will be, in the words of one, “for the ages.”

Barry H. Berke [of] Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel… personally donated $10,000 and collected $40,000 from others because Obama “has the potential to be a different kind of leader, a transformational leader who goes beyond ordinary politics.”

Patricia Cliff [of] Corcoran Real Estate Group, said she contributed $10,000 because it is “really important to be a part of an unbelievable first in American history.” Not just the election of the first black president but someone who is bringing “a whole new generation into government — it’s a very memorable experience for the whole country,” she said.

John P. “Sean” Coffey, a partner at Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman, said he had contributed $50,000 because he realized that individuals would have to pick up the slack resulting from Obama’s refusal to accept donations from traditional interest groups.

“I was happy to do my bit for an inauguration that will be for the ages,” he said.

Altogether Obama’s inaugural committee has collected about $42.1 million from private donors.

The New York Law Journal focused its inquiry on the 141 donors identified by Public Citizen as having donated $10,000 or more from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.

Read the story.

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Marc Dreier, founder and managing partner of New York’s Dreier LLP, was charged by federal prosecutors and the SEC with masterminding an investment fraud of more than $100 million.

Dreier is the only equity partner in Dreier, Stein, Kahan, Browne, Woods, George, which was formed in 2007 and employs several prominent Los Angeles lawyers; entertainment lawyer Larry Stein; corporate attorney Robert Kahan; and Eric George, a business litigator and the son of California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald M. George.

The California firm’s partners sent a letter to Dreier last week, saying he breached their employment contract, which guaranteed a certain compensation for three years. The partners have a multimillion dollar arbitration claim filed against Dreier.

Browne Woods George also is in negotiations to recruit up to four class action lawyers from Dreier LLP to open a New York office.

About 35 lawyers remaining at Dreier, Stein, Kahan, Browne, Woods, George, including Stein and Kahan, are in talks with several firms to merge. Among the possible merger candidates are LA’s Liner Yankelevitz Sunshine & Regenstreif; Pittsburgh’s Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney; Boston’s Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo; New York’s Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel; and Atlanta’s Troutman Sanders.

The firm’s entertainment group and most of the corporate group are looking to stay together as part of a possible merger.

Via NLJ.

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