The Interlawyer news page

Latin Lawyer and Revista Apertura honored Brons & Salas by naming it a top ten leading firm of Argentina. The firm welcomed Interlawyers attending the IFA Conference in Buenos Aires this fall.

Hunt & Hunt hosted a series of seminars throughout Australia to assist Australian organisations in winning business with US government departments. Andrew Hudson presented with a leading procurement consultant from Washington Management Group in the US.

David Thompson, who practices in Workplace Relations hosted a luncheon and addressed the topic of Australian Federal Governments new program of reform in Industrial Relations.

Canada
Aird & Berlis (Toronto)
Joel Rose was recently named as the newest member of the Spara Capital Partners Inc. Strategic Advisory Board, joining a team that advises private business owners on merchant banking, business development and marketing initiatives.

A&B’s Margaret Nelligan was recently appointed by the Ontario Securities Commission to the Securities Advisory Committee. Ms. Nelligan’s term with the SAC will begin in November 2005 and run for three years.

The Law Society of Upper Canada presented A&B's Jane Pepino with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

Atoosa Mahdavian has been recognized by the Iranian Canadian Network as one of five Iranian-Canadian women who have shown leadership in their professions and are seen as an inspiration for the Iranian-Canadian community. Ms. Mahdavian is the youngest recipient of the award and the only lawyer honoured.

In DINERO (edition No. 240, October 14, 2005), one of the most prestigious economic magazines of Colombia, Cardenas & Cardenas was ranked third in the country, based on fees invoiced.

Jose Antonio Muñoz, Pedro Muñoz, Vicente Lines and Carolina Flores, all partners in the Costa Rica office have been selected by Chambers Global 2005-06 as “leaders in their field” in corporate/commercial (Jose Antonio Muñoz and Vicente Lines) and corporate/commercial, tax and real estate (Pedro Muñoz and Carolina Flores).

The firm was invited to participate at the XXIV Latin American Congress of Banking Law. On September 28, 29 and 30, the Banking Law Committee of the Latin American Federation of Banks (FELABAN), along with the Association of Banks and Financial Institutions of Chile A.G., held the XXIV Latin American Congress of Banking Law in the city of Santiago de Chile.

Mr. Vicente Lines was invited to this event as a speaker on the topic of Project Financing. Mr. Lines’ expertise areas include corporate matters, telecommunications and project financing. Mr. Rodrigo Cordero, associate counsel at F.A. Arias & Muñoz, offered support on the coordination process of the congress. Mr. Cordero is an expert in Banking Law, Real Estate, and Commercial Law.

F. Armando Arias, Lilian Zelaya Panting, and Zygmunt Brett, all partners in the El Salvador office have been selected by Chambers Global 2005-06 as “leaders in their field” in corporate/commercial.

F.A. Arias & Muñoz sponsored a CAFTA CONFERENCE organized by the Salvadoran-American Chamber of Commerce in San Salvador. The speaker was the US Commerce Secretary Mr. Carlos Gutierrez who visited all the Central American countries in October. The Conference topic was: “Social Entrepreneurial Responsability before CAFTA-DR ” . He adressed the private and public sectors of the country.

F.A. Arias & Muñoz sponsored the 4th Cumbre Financiera Centroamericana organized by LATIN FINANCE Magazine, which took place in San Salvador. It was a meeting of senior representatives of Latin American banks, financial institutions and corporations designed to foster an environment of collaboration and cooperation, to stimulate dialogue on their mutual goals, promote discussion of their challenges and to enhance strategy and thought-leadersip within the region, attracting some 250 attendees.

Mr. F.Armando Arias was invited as guest speaker in a roundtable, along with other representatives from financial institutions and energy companies, on the topic “Financing Energy Sector Development .” Mr. Arias is the firm’s managing partner and has extensive experience in corporate, project finance as well as energy projects.

The firm participated in the recent NYSBA International Law and Practice Section fall meeting in London, co- sponsored by the Law Society and Bar Council of England and Wales. The kenote speakers and panelists include experts in the areas of international business an private law. These experts are members of leading international law firms, Europe and and U.S. scholars and administrations officials of the United States and the Europeand Union and its member states.

Thomas Janssen of firm has been named the leading competition laywer in Baden-Württemberg/Southern Germany in the September edition of the business journal Econo.

Dennis Matamoros Batson has been selected by Chambers Global 2005-06 as “leader” in his field of corporate/commercial law.

The firm has expanded its corporate finance and litigation department by employing new assistant solicitors in two practice areas. There are now 23 lawyers and five trainee solicitors which confirms its position in Hong Kong as a medium sized local law firm with international connections through our network of member firms in Interlaw.

Both Ian Lo and Karin Choy joined Stevenson, Wong & Co. as assistant solicitors in the Litigation Department, handling various aspects of litigation and dispute resolution matters including employment, employee compensation, personal injuries, construction and general commercial claims. Howard Kong joined the firm as an assistant solicitor in the Corporate Finance Department, dealing with an increasing number of clients involved in mergers and acquisitions, initial public offers and matters relating to mainland China.

Our Matrimonial Department headed by Catherine Por was again a finalist for the Category of Matrimonial Law firm of the year at this year’s Asian Legal Business Awards.

Mr. Gary Cywie has joined the firm to strenghten its IP/IT Department. Mr. Cywie is personally referenced in The Legal 500 IP/IT legal practices.

Partner, David Selkirk has just completed all aspects of Auckland's Lumley Tower. He acted on the original land acquisition, construction, financing, leasing, naming rights, and sale of the fully occupied building to Deutsche Bank.

Bertha Argüello de Rizo, partner at our Nicaragua office, has been selected by Chambers Global 2005-06 as “leader” in her field of corporate/commercial law.

The sale of Fujitsu España, S.A., formerly owned by the Japanese company Fujitsu Limited, by Fujitsu Services Overseas Holdings Limited, was concluded last April. This British company was advised by Gómez-Acebo & Pombo, more specifically by Francisco Peña, head of the Business Department; Ralph Smith, of counsel, and Blanca Puyol.

Gómez-Acebo & Pombo Chairman Fernando Pombo has been awarded the Iberian Lawyer prize in acknowledgment of his 30 years of dedication to the legal profession in Spain and at the International level. The award was presented by Francis Neate, President of the International Bar Association (IBA), who stressed “Fernando’s work in promoting consensuated international standards within the world of Law”. Last year, Pombo was awarded the Grand Cross for Merit in Service to the Legal Profession, the highest honour bestowed by the Spanish Legal Profession through its General Council.

Carlos Sáiz Díaz, formerly a prosecutor at the Special Prosecution Office for the Repression of Corruption-related Economic Crimes, a role he has held since March 2003 has joined the firm’s Criminal Law Department.

Gómez-Acebo & Pombo has begun the second edition of its “Introductory course to the legal profession”. The course consists of 349 hours of training and will be held from September to June. The syllabus includes practical training in legal matters (ethics, civil, contentious, business, real estate, intellectual property, industrial property, administrative, competition, financial, tax and labour law) and non-legal issues (legal English, legal documentation, knowledge management, accounting, IT, written expression techniques, client orientation, oral expression techniques, teamwork). In addition, participants attend the lectures held throughout the academic year at the Aula de Formación Permanente (Continuous Training Lecture Programme), which have been held every Thursday since 2000.

The Guide to the World’s Leading Financial Law Firms, ranking edited by IFLR 1000 has cited Gómez-Acebo & Pombo with excellent results. Here are some of the most relevant statements: “Banking: Gómez-Acebo & Pombo has a strong reputation among its clients, mainly due to the firm’s ‘deep experience in Spain deals’ Ángel Varela and Miguel Lamo de Espinosa are particularly noted for the quality of their legal skills.”

“Capital markets: Securitizations are the firm’s specialty. In the biggest insurance initial public offering (IPO) ever completed in Spain, the firm acted for the General Electric Company on Genworth’s IPO, helping the issuer’s Spanish subsidiaries adapt their structured in the Genworth Group reorganization to simplify the structure.”

“Insolvency and restructuring: Gómez-Acebo & Pombo has been highly active this year, and its seven-member insolvency and restructuring department is well regarded by market commentators.”

“Mergers and acquisitions: Gómez-Acebo & Pombo has five partners and 41 associates dedicated to M&A work. Fernando de las Cuevas is present on most of the firm's high-value deals. The firm's private equity practice has had a successful time of late too, winning instructions on a steady number of transactions.”

“Project finance: Gómez-Acebo & Pombo is developing an excellent reputation for project finance work in Spain, and peers now consider it to be getting up there with some of the more international firms. The practice now counts six associates and three partners, and is headed by the esteemed Fernando Igartua.”

Legal Week has shortlisted the firm for Law Firm of the Year based on profitability. It is also nominated for Property Team of the Year. The World Leader’s European IP Awards have nominated Competition Partner Stephen Kon for recognition. .

SJ Berwin advised Change Capital - the private equity house set up by Luc Vandevelde, formerly of Marks & Spencer - on its acquisition of Republic, the fashion chain, for £105 million.
SJ Berwin advised the management team and the majority shareholder 3i, on the US$535 million sale of ERM, the world's leading provider of environmental consultancy services, to Bridgepoint Capital.
SJ Berwin LLP represented Pipex Communications Plc in connection with its acquisition of Freedom to Surf Plc and Freedom to Surf Consumer Services Limited ("F2S").
SJ Berwin LLP advised Rocket Pictures Limited on the financing of their feature film "It's a Boy/Girl Thing" starring Kevin Zegers and Samaire Armstrong and directed by Nick Hurran.
SJ Berwin LLP’s real estate department has advised British Land on the sale of 10, Fleet Place, London EC4 to the CIT Group for £109,120,000

JMBM is listed as one of the Top 25 California law firms by AM Law's CG California Magazine. The firm was also among those on American Lawyer's AM Law 200 list and in the magazine's ranking of pro bono work for 2004 among the AM Law 200.

JMBM partner Marc Marmaro was recognized as one of the Top 100 Attorneys in California by the Daily Journal. Fellow JMBM partner Rod Berman was among those listed in Research and Markets' IP Litigation Best Practices: Leading Lawyers on Protecting and Defending Your Company's Intellectual Property.

In the latest release (2006) of Woodward/White’s The Best Lawyers in America, forty-nine of Akerman Senterfitt's 400 attorneys -12%- appeared on the list, placing Akerman Senterfitt at #19 among the law firms on the AmLaw 100 list published by The American Lawyer magazine. While the AmLaw 100 is a financially-based ranking, The Best Lawyers in America list is compiled through a peer-review survey in which thousands of the top lawyers in the U.S. confidentially evaluate their professional peers.

Akerman Senterfitt attorneys included among The Best Lawyers in America for 2006 are from all seven of the Florida firm's offices: Fort Lauderdale (2), Jacksonville (2), Miami (22), Orlando (16), Tallahassee (2), Tampa (4) and West Palm Beach (2). CEO Tom Cardwell, based in Orlando headquarters, was voted onto the list for the 11th year in a row, and Managing Shareholders from several offices were also voted in: Drake M. Batchelder, Real Estate Law (Ft. Lauderdale); Robert Mellen III, Financial Institutions and Transactions Law and Banking Law (Orlando); Allan J. Katz, Insurance Law (Tallahassee); and Joseph W. Rugg, Health Care Law (Tampa).

A number of attorneys were recognized in multiple categories, including Steve Roddenberry, Jonathan Awner, and Teddy Kinghoffer, who were voted in for their work in Corporate Governance and Compliance Law, Corporate Law, Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law, among other areas.

Interlaw Ltd. has awarded its top honor –- 2005 Interlawyer of the Year –- to Jerry H. Biederman, the managing partner of Chicago-based law firm Neal Gerber Eisenberg llp. The formal presentation was made by Interlaw Board Chair Jim Harrowell, of Australian national law firm Hunt & Hunt, at Interlaw’s annual meeting, which was hosted this year by Interlaw member and Mexican law firm Capin, Calderón, Ramírez y Gutiérrez-Azpe.

Neal Gerber Eisenberg partner and Health Law Practice Group Chair, Jack Rovner has been appointed to the Board of the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.’s (BNA) Health Law Reporter. This board is made up of leaders in the health law industry, which works to set the agenda for examining significant trends and issues affecting this industry segment. Jack was also selected as one of the top lawyers in the U.S.A. in Health Law by The Best Lawyers in America in 2006.

Neal Gerber Eisenberg made the Top 25 of Crain's Chicago Business magazine's 2005 "Big Deals" list (as published in their Sept. 19, 2005 issue). The list details 25 significant corporate transactions announced or closed in which Chicago-area lawyers played a prominent role. In 2004, Neal Gerber Eisenberg scored the #1 spot on the annual list.

The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed Timothy Ray to the Planning and Oversight Committee for a Judicial Performance Evaluation Program.

NGE Partner Diana McKenzie, Information Technology Practice Group Chair has been selected as one of the top lawyers in the U.S.A. in Information Technology Law by The Best Lawyers in America in 2006.

Marketing Director Joe Milligan attended and presented at the 2005 Global Meeting of Interlaw Marketing Professionals held Oct. 20-22 in Boston.

Jason Kim, co-chair of the firm’s Minority Initiative, attended the 17th Annual National Asian Pacific American Bar Association annual convention in Chicago in October.

Massachusetts
Goulston & Storrs (Boston)
Deborah S. Kay has joined the firm in its Private Client and Trust group.

Ms. Kay represents individuals in a broad spectrum of trust and estate matters, including sophisticated estate planning for high net worth individuals and the administration of estates and trusts. She has expertise in international tax planning for resident aliens, non-resident aliens and U.S. beneficiaries of foreign trusts.

Keith Swirsky addressed the National Aircraft Resale Association’s Annual Spring Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida regarding the Federal Tax Update on the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. Mr. Swirsky was a panelist at the National Aircraft Finance Association’s Conference in Adventura, Florida. The topic was “Risk Mitigation Strategies of Financed Aircraft”. He also spoke at the National Business Aviation Association Federal Tax Forum in Boston, Massachusetts regarding Depreciation for Corporate Aircraft. Keith Swirsky was a presenter at the FOX Financial Executives Forum titled “Understanding the Ownership and Use of Private Aircraft” in Chicago, Illinois.

Ed Greenberg and David Monroe recently have been retained by the State of New Jersey to combat the proliferation of unlicensed waste businesses in the State. Mr. Greenberg has been retained by the State of Colorado Public Utilities Commission to assist the State in regulating the activities of intrastate bus companies.

The firm has been retained to represent the Government of Guam in its attempt to combat excessive price gouging by steamship lines that serve the territory. Steve Fellman and David Monroe recently obtained the dismissal of a national antitrust class action against a national association in connection with claims involving potentially hundreds of millions of dollars.

Steve Fellman and David Monroe co-authored the chapter on Compliance in the Fifth Edition of the Antitrust Advisor (West Group).

Craig Weller received the "Member Service Award" from the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association at its Annual Symposium in Las Vegas, NV.

Ed Greenberg has been appointed by the U.S. Treasury Department to work on the Ocean Commerce Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on Customs Operations.

Rich Bar presented at the National Organization for Competency Assurance Annual Educational Conference: NOCA 2005: The Source for Certification Solutions in Long Beach, California. Mr. Bar is currently writing a monthly column in the association newsletter, Trends.

As part of a renewed commitment to pro bono service, Foster Pepper recently announced that Joanna Plichta has joined the firm as its new Public Service Administrator and future Public Service Counsel. Her role is to promote and increase exceptional community service by supporting firm attorneys on their pro bono cases, coordinating projects, boosting marketability and regional recognition, and enhancing Foster Pepper’s presence in the community as a public service leader.

Congratulations to Brad Berg, Gordon Crim, Jack Cullen, Bob Diercks, Gary Fluhrer, Allen Israel, Dillion Jackson, Dick Keefe, Mike Kuntz, Ken Roberts, Judy Runstad, Lee Voorhees, and Tayloe Washburn. Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence in the United States. Election to this list is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which 18,000 leading attorneys throughout the country cast more than a half million votes as to the legal abilities of other lawyers in their specialties.