Gordon & Rees is pleased to announce the opening of a new office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, making it the firm’s seventh office in the eastern United States.  The office will be led by the new Pittsburgh Office Managing Partner, commercial litigator Manoj Jegasothy, who was previously with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney where he served as Co-Chair of the Litigation Group in the Pittsburgh office, and includes partners John Ebken, Marc Thirkell, and Jeffrey Wilson as well as David Morgan, William Blick and Joshua Marks.  The seven-attorney team brings to the firm a blend of complex litigation experience in areas such as commercial disputes, health care, employment, insurance, construction, antitrust, and consumer products.  The office will open on April 2, 2012.

Earlier this month, Goodwin Procter client ZOLL Medical announced that it entered into a definitive merger agreement with Asahi Kasei, under which Asahi will acquire ZOLL for approximately $2.21 billion. ZOLL is a manufacturer of resuscitation and critical care device and related software solutions. Asahi Kasei is Japan’s leading diversified chemical manufacturer with businesses in the healthcare, chemicals and fibers, homes and construction materials and electronics sectors.

Duane Morris is pleased to announce that Michael G. McManus and Rodney R. Sweetland III have joined the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group as partners in its Washington, D.C. office. Their arrival further bolsters Duane Morris’ Intellectual Property Practice Group, in particular with respect to complex patent-infringement cases before the International Trade Commission (ITC). They join Duane Morris from McKool Smith, where they were the founders of that firm’s D.C. office.

Corrs Chambers Westgarth has advised the joint book-running managers J.P. Morgan Securities; Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.; Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.; Credit Suisse Securities; Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc.; RBS Securities, Inc.; and UBS Securities on a US$2.0 billion high yield bond offering by Fortescue Metals Group (FMG).