The Interlawyer

Brons& Salas (Buenos Aires) announced that Mr. Jose Luis Galimberti was named partner of the firm.

Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill (Kuala Lumpur) is proud to announce that the inaugural publication of “People At The Peak – The Who’s Who Of Malaysia” has featured out of twenty five prominent legal practitioners, six of our partners, Dato’ Joseph K.S. Lai, Mr. Thomas Lee Mun Lung, Mr. Aznam Dato’ Mansor, Mr. Lambert Rasa-Ratnam, Mr. Iain Sedgley and Mr. D.P. Naban together with the firm’s consultant, Dato’ K.C. Vohrah as some of the more influential lawyers who have, and will hopefully continue to, shape the nation in terms of its legal standing.

“People at the Peak – The Who’s Who of Malaysia” presents an unbiased compilation of personalities who are recognised by their peers for their achievements and for their display of the best of the Malaysian can-do spirit. Not only that, it also presents a personal glimpse into the driving forces of Malaysian life, and it provides a benchmark for future Malaysians to aspire.

Pepeliaev, Goltsblat & Partners (Moscow) ranks first in legal consulting among Russian law firms and consultancies in 2004, according to the ratings published by Russia’s independent rating agency in Kommersant-Dengi magazine.

On April 20, 2005, Moscow hosted the First International Legal Forum “Legal Business in Russia” organized by Pepeliaev, Goltsblat & Partners and Vedomosti newspaper (a leading Russian business paper published together with The Wall Street Journal & Financial Times).

The first ever international legal forum in Russia was attended by representatives of big law firms operating on the Russian market, who discussed the specifics of doing legal business in Russia. The exchange of opinions between CEOs of leading law firms and heads of legal departments of major Russian and international companies was a successful attempt to understand current trends on the legal services market, how they affect the investment climate in the country and the role played by in-house counsel and outside lawyers in business development.

Andrey Goltsblat chaired the first session and also spoke on the “Key Factors for Building an Efficient Client/Lawyer Relationship” and “Interaction with a Client’s Legal Department; A Comprehensive Approach to the Provision of Legal Services”. Sergey Pepeliaev who chaired the third session spoke on the “Improvement of Legislation. Governmental Guarantees for the Independence of Legal Services”

The International Legal Forum has demonstrated that lawyers are interested in the advance of economic reform, which they see as a basis for the existence of the legal business and their professional fulfillment. For the first time ever, the forum participants managed to discuss a number of problems requiring consolidation of the Russian legal community if they are to be resolved.

Further implementation of business reforms and successful development of the legal business in general require thorough investigation of issues of concern to the entire legal community. Some of them might be resolved through amendments to the legislation. These issues include:

Guarantees of confidentiality for information received by the lawyer from the client;
Legal ethics and resolution of conflicts of interest;
Lawyers’ responsibility towards their clients;
Creation of publicly available information on law firms;
Creation of reliable ratings of law firms;
Compensation for legal fees;
Uniform standards of client servicing;
Professional control over the quality of services;
Establishment of a self-regulatory organization for exercising control over the legal business;
Licensing of legal services.

The firm sponsored “Tax Issues in Decisions Adopted by the Russian Constitutional Court in 2004” organized by the Russian Academy of Justice, the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation, the International Finance Law Association and Pepeliaev, Goltsblat & Partners. The tax cases considered by the Constitutional Court in 2004 focused on tax optimization and tax control, the two issues that became the subject of the discussion at the Conference.

The Conference was attended by foreign experts, judges of the Constitutional Court and arbitration courts, officials of the German embassy, Supreme Arbitration Court, State Duma, Federation Council, Government offices, Finance Ministry, Ministry of Justice, Federal Tax Service, Ministry for Economic Development, non-governmental associations, research institutions and higher educational establishments, representatives of major companies, leading Russian and international law firms.

According to Sergey Pepeliaev, managing partner of Pepeliaev, Goltsblat & Partners who spoke at the Conference, the success of the event testifies that Russia is shaping a tradition of holding an open professional discussion of the results of the work of the Constitutional Court on an annual basis (the first conference devoted to the 2003 findings of the Constitutional Court took place on April 22-23, 2004).

Andrey Goltsblat has written: A Guide to Land Transactions in Russia: Sale and Purchase, Lease, Privatisation, Mortgage. The book, published in Russian and English, examines the legal aspects of the regulations governing present-day land relations in Russia, in particular: land ownership, privatization of land, allocation of state or municipally-owned land for construction projects, and withdrawal of land for state and municipal needs or due to improper use. Special emphasis is given to land transactions, including those involving agricultural land. The author identifies discrepancies between land and civil laws relating to land privatization and regulation of other land relations.

Sergey Pepeliaev has published: Taxes: Reform and Practice, a collection of articles, comments and interviews of S. Pepeliaev, a famous tax attorney and researcher, is devoted to urgent tax problems that came before the Russian Constitutional Court, Supreme Arbitration Court and other courts. The book examines the key issues of tax law theory, including distinction between taxes and levies, classification of taxes, operation of tax legislation in time, field and in-office tax audits, tax dispute resolution, criminal liability for tax crimes, etc., and problems related to the enforcement of the Russian Tax Code. Back to Top

Gómez-Acebo & Pombo Abogados (Spain) The president of Gómez-Acebo & Pombo Abogados, Fernando Pombo, has received the Grand Cross for Merit in the Legal Profession. The Grand Cross is the highest distinction awarded by the CGAE and acknowledges the outstanding services of Spanish or foreign lawyers. The award was presented by Carlos Carnicer, president of the CGAE at a ceremony attended by the presidents of all the Spanish Bar Associations. Fernando Pombo has a master of law (Madrid) and has also studied philosophy and law at the Universities of Oviedo and Madrid and obtained a PhD in Geneva and Munich.

Partners of Gómez-Acebo & Pombo that currently serve on IBA and ABA boards:

Almudena Arpón de Mendívil, IBA Legal Practice Division
José María Beneyto, Vice Chair, IBA Art Law Committee
Fernando Pombo, Vice president of the IBA. This is the first time a Spaniard has held such a highly relevant position at the IBA.
Richard Silberstein co-chairs the Europe Committee of the International Law Section of the ABA.

Gómez-Acebo & Pombo Abogados has taken over AYLA Abogados, a highly reputed independent law firm in the area of Public Law, including its two partners: Carlos Vázquez Cobos and Pedro Poveda. Carlos Vázquez Cobos, a partner of Gómez-Acebo & Pombo since 1 February 2005, is a Master of Law, a Tax Inspector of the Spanish Tax Authority and an Insurance Inspector. He has been Inspector for the Coordination of Financial Institutions of the National Inspectorate Office and Secretary General of the Ministry of the Environment. Pedro Poveda is a Master of Law and a State Administration Technician on leave. He has been Deputy General Director at the Ministry of the Environment and Chairman of SIGMA ENVIRO, an environmental management consultancy firm specialising in waste and IPPC issues.

These additions help the firm consolidate its position as the Spanish firm of reference in the provision of legal services to the private sector in its relations with central, regional and local Administrations, in regulated markets subject to an intense administrative intervention and to the public sector.

Juan Alfonso Santamaría Pastor has been Chair of Administrative Law at the Law Faculty of the Madrid Complutense University since 1989. He was formerly Manager of the Legal Department of the Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Madrid, Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior, Director of the Administrative Studies Institute and Qualified Attorney to the Spanish Parlament.
Julia Téllez, Head of the Family Business practice area, a Master of Law who also holds a diploma in Business Administration. She joined the Firm in 1993, is married and has three children.
Juan Viaño, a Master of Law from Madrid's Complutense University. Following several years of practice in other law firms, in 2001 he joined the Litigation and Arbitration Department of Gómez-Acebo & Pombo.

The firm now has 170 lawyers (41 partners) as well as 110 support staff, operating in eight offices in Spain.

The firm was short-listed together with other three British firms by Thomson in the category of Best M&A Mid-Market Law Firm. The firm has also been shorlisted by Chambers and Partners as the “Iberian Law Firm of the Year”.Back to Top

England

SJ Berwin LLP (London) Head of Corporate, Jonathan Blake has just been named global Private Funds Lawyer of the Year by the International Who's Who of Business Lawyers.

Firm was named Real Estate Team of the Year, Legal Business Awards 2005. The award recognizes work on two high profile, back-to-back and complex transactions: advising Prestbury on the joint venture £400 million acquisition of 135 of Travelodge's 240 plus hotels and advising Brixton plc on the £600 million acquisition of Industrious Holdings Limited.

Sarah Bing (Media & Communications)
William Boss (Real Estate)
Nathan Briner (Banking)
Adrian Brown (Financial Services)
Duncan Field (Planning & Environment)
Simon Fraser (Banking)
Michael Halford (Corporate)
Jason Juden (Property Litigation)
Ylan Steiner (Corporate)Back to Top

Morton Fraser LLP (Edinburgh) Kudos to Morton Fraser for winning, at the Law Awards of Scotland, the:

Gold Award for Family Law Team of the Year
Gold Award for Employment Team of the Year
Silver Award for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Team of the Year
One of our legal trainee lawyers, Chris Rae, won Trainee of the Year
Elspeth Dalgleish - our HR Director and a speaker at our Regional Meeting - and her team won a major HR award, the ASA HR Excellence Award
Morton Fraser also won The Prince's Trust, Scotland, Supporter of the Year Award for Excellence - Scottish Power and Strathclyde Police were also short listed for this award.Back to Top

Akerman Senterfitt (Florida) Suzan Jo of Miami has been elected to the Board of Directors and Vice President of Membership of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association (APABA) of South Florida.Back to Top

Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP (Chicago)has grown by an unprecedented 35% since 2002, attracting lateral partners and associates from some of Chicago’s other premier law firms. The firm welcomes new lateral partner Jeffrey J. Bakker, whose practice focuses on executive compensation, ERISA, and employee benefits, and new associate Julie Sirlin Pleshivoy, whose practice focuses on estate planning. Joe Milligan also joined the firm as its Director of Marketing.

The firm also formally announced the expansion of its Insurance Coverage Group, co-chaired by Timothy W. Burns and Dan J. Hofmeister. Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg's Insurance Coverage Group advises policyholders on various coverage issues and strategies, including counseling clients, negotiating with insurers to place the most advantageous insurance policies possible and representing clients in litigation, arbitrations, mediations and settlement negotiations when coverage disputes arise. Members of NGE’s litigation group also currently represent insurers, reinsurers and policyholders in both State and Federal courts regarding complex insurance-related matters. Tim Burns and others have developed a national reputation for advising clients with regard to special challenges facing directors and officers’ liability coverage.

NGE Health Law attorneys gave five presentations at Blue Cross Blue Shield’s 39th Annual Lawyer’s Conference in Austin, Texas, May 11-13, 2005. Kathy Roe presented on Medical Welfare Employment Arrangements (MEWAs) and on The Challenges of Implement Health Savings Accounts and HDHPs; Dan Hofmeister presented on Insurance Coverage for Plan Litigation; Kevin Tessier presented on Equitable Remedies Under ERISA After Knudson; and Jack Rovner presented an Overview of Federal Fraud and Abuse Laws.

NGE recently experienced first- hand the benefits of Interlaw when it received 14 exceptional proposal supplements in response to Interlaw Director of Global Marketing, Regina McConahay’s request for help from member firms. NGE marketing consultant Linda Hazelton said, “Our response to the Request for Proposal from IES Abroad, the Institute for the International Education of Students, was greatly elevated by being able to share information about Interlaw in general and more importantly about various other Interlaw firms. Through Interlaw—NGE and fellow Interlawyers were able to demonstrate thorough geographic, cultural, and subject matter coverage. A careful reading of the submissions was a real education into the depth and caliber of Interlaw firms. NGE thanks all the partners and marketing staff at each of the responding firms.” NGE Partners Victoria L. Donati and Jed Mandel are meeting with IES Abroad representatives, armed with persuasive materials from the following Interlaw firms:

Ajumogobia & Okeke
Binchys
Boekel de Nerée
Brink Cohen le Roux
Brons & Salas
Cariola Diez Pérez-Cotapos & Cia Ltda.
e|n|w|c Rechtsanwälte
Fortune Manning
Gómez-Acebo & Pombo
Hunt & Hunt
Momo-o, Matsuo & Namba
SJ Berwin
Stevenson, Wong & Co.
Studio degli Avvocati Capurro e Michetti

Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP hosted an impromptu cocktail reception May 11, 2005, for London-based SJ Berwin partners Tim Taylor and David Goldberg. The British duo was warmly welcomed by NGE Managing Partner Jerry H. Biederman, NGE Securities & Commodities Litigation Practice Group Chair H. Nicholas Berberian and other NGE attorneys and staff members. Both firms are members of Interlaw. Back to Top

Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman LLP (New York): The Daily Bankruptcy Review, a nationally circulated publication among insolvency professionals, ran a story in its April 27, 2005 edition entitled: "Bankruptcy Bill Fails To Close Loophole On Executive Payouts", citing Kronish Lieb bankruptcy partner Ron Sussman. Mr. Sussman explained how and why the new bill actually encourages corporations to make fraudulent transfers before the Bankruptcy filing to their top corporate executives, rather than be subjected to the restrictions imposed under the provisions of the new Bankruptcy bill.

Kronish Lieb scored well in New York Law Journal's “2005 Book of Lists” “Most Satisfied Associates” and “Highest Ratings for Technology & IT Support” categories.

At its 128th annual meeting, where twenty-four directors were elected to the Legal Aid Society's Board of Directors, Kronish Lieb Managing Partner, Alan Levine, was elected its treasurer.

On February 23, 2005, eTrauma Corporation and Stryker Corporation announced that Stryker will acquire Florida-based eTrauma for $50 million in cash. eTrauma is a privately-held developer of software for Picture Archive and Communications Systems (PACS). Under the agreement, eTrauma will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stryker and will be combined with the Stryker Endoscopy imaging business. Representing eTrauma were Kronish Lieb corporate partner Alison Newman, and corporate associates Jonathan Botwinick and Alexandra Sorota.

Joanna C. Hendon joined the ranks of Kronish Lieb as a partner in the Litigation practice group on January 31, 2005. Ms. Hendon comes to Kronish Lieb having served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York where, for three years, she was a member of the Securities & Commodities Fraud Task Force. She was the lead prosecutor in numerous jury trials and complex investigations and, in 2000, received the United States Attorney General’s John Marshall Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement for the prosecution and trial of United States v. Chaim Berger, et al., 97 Cr. 410 (BSJ). Ms. Hendon’s practice focuses on white collar criminal matters, regulatory enforcement actions and complex civil litigation.

Kronish Lieb litigation partner Steven Cohen is referenced and quoted in a New York Times editorial, "When the Weight of Evidence Shifts", about the Palladium case. The case involves two men, David Lemus and Olmando Hidalgo, convicted and sentenced to long prison terms for shooting two bouncers at the Palladium club in 1990. Mr. Cohen and a former New York City detective believe in the innocence of these men. Working in concert with Mr. Cohen are litigation associates Anne Nacinovich and Shelly Friedland.Back to Top

Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. (Wisconsin) The International Department of Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. has formed the Trans-Atlantic Tax Institute which will offer "U.S. Tax Issues for European Companies" at St. Catharine's College in Cambridge, England on July 11 - July 13, 2005.

This conference is for accountants, attorneys and tax professionals in industry who do business with companies in the United States. It will provide a working knowledge of the U.S. tax rules that every European company with United States operations should understand. Topics that will be covered include:

* Planning for the repatriation of funds from the United States;
* U.S. transfer pricing planning, including documentation and advance pricing agreements;

*Advanced inbound planning, including a discussion of the U.S. check-the-box rules; and

The presenters, Robert E. Dallman and Rober J. Misey, Jr., have over 20 years of combined teaching experience at universities in the united States. Both previously worked for the IRS Chief Counsel and are graduates of the Georgetown University Law Center with advanced law degrees in taxation.

If you are interested in obtaining more information about this conference or would like to receive a brochure, please e-mail Robert Misey at rmisey@reinhartlaw.com. Alternatively, you can log onto www.reinhartlaw.com where you will find the seminar listed under "Upcoming Events." Back to Top

Galland, Kharasch, Greenberg, Fellman & Swirsky, P.C. (Washington D.C.) announces that:

Over the past two years, Ed Greenberg has worked with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in developing workable security regulations concerning the movement of ocean cargo into the United States. Mr. Greenberg was appointed by the U.S. Treasury Department to work on the Ocean Commerce Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on Customs Operations.

Keith Swirsky and Craig Weller spoke at the NBAA Annual Tax, Regulatory and Financial Risk Management Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mr. Swirsky also addressed the Deloitte & Touche Conference in Detroit, Michigan, regarding aircraft ownership and operations tax and regulatory planning.

We welcome two new associates: Christopher B. Younger and Suzanne S. Hollander. Mr. Younger is a corporate and business aircraft transaction attorney. He received his J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law in 1997 and his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University in 2003. Ms. Hollander is a corporate and real estate transaction attorney. She received her J.D. from University of Miami in 2000. Back to Top

Partners of Gómez-Acebo & Pombo that currently serve on IBA and ABA boards:

England

SJ Berwin LLP (London) Head of Corporate, Jonathan Blake has just been named global Private Funds Lawyer of the Year by the International Who's Who of Business Lawyers.