Patton Boggs LLP has added five new partners and one senior counsel to the firm’s offices across the U.S., reinforcing its Business, Public Policy, Litigation and Intellectual Property practices. The additions include Partner Clark Kent Ervin in Washington; Partner Darren W. Collins in Dallas; Partners Mark C. Errico and Mark D. Sheridan in Newark; Partner Wendy Li and Senior Counsel Robert Rosenberg in New York.

CMS has agreed that Portuguese law firm Rui Pena, Arnaut & Associados (RPA) will become a member of CMS.  From 1 January 2012, the firm will be called CMS Rui Pena & Arnaut (CMS RPA). The CMS Executive Committee agreed the expansion last week.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST) and Adolor Corporation (NASDAQ: ADLR) today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement under which Cubist will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Adolor for $4.25 per share in cash, or approximately [$190] million on a fully-diluted basis, net of Adolor’s third quarter 2011 cash balance. In addition to the upfront cash payment, each Adolor stockholder will receive one Contingent Payment Right (CPR), entitling the holder to receive additional cash payments of up to $4.50 for each share they own if certain regulatory approvals and/or commercialization milestones of ADL5945 are achieved. The total transaction is valued at up to [$415] million, net of Adolor’s third quarter 2011 cash balance, and is expected to be accretive in 2012.

Parallel teams of Cooley litigators and business lawyers delivered a favorable outcome last week on behalf of longtime client Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc, which reached a settlement of a jury trial in a dispute with its partner, the international pharmaceutical company Bayer.  In a complex set of agreements announced at the mid-point of trial pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (under the caption Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Bayer Corporation, Bayer AG, Bayer Healthcare LLC, and Bayer Schering Pharma AG Case No. C09-2145 EMC (N.D. Cal.)), Onyx obtained a significant stake in a compound at the heart of the dispute as well as other important monetary and non-monetary benefits.

Squire Sanders Hammonds is boosting its Intellectual Property & Technology team in London with the appointment of IT and outsourcing expert, Garfield Smith.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and Pipestem Law Firm PC have advised the Osage Tribe in the largest-ever settlement of a claim made by a tribe against the United States government. The $380 million settlement was announced at a signing ceremony held today at the U.S. Department of the Interior and attended by a number of U.S. government and Osage Tribe officials.