William H. Hines, Managing Partner of the law firm of Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrère & Denègre L.L.P, and Dennis W. Miller, Chief Executive Officer of the law firm of Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis, P.A., today announced plans to combine firms. The combination, approved by the shareholders of Watkins Ludlam and the Jones Walker partnership this month, is to be effective on or before January 1, 2012. The combined firm will have more than 375 attorneys. The transaction adds 67 new attorneys, one government relations specialist, and three Mississippi offices in Jackson, Gulfport, and Olive Branch to the Jones Walker firm.

Davis Polk is defending LG Electronics in a coordinated MDL federal antitrust proceeding in San Francisco. The cases encompass over 30 nationwide class actions, all alleging a global price-fixing conspiracy in the market for optical disk drives.

Hogan Lovells announced today that it closed approximately $1 billion in project financing on behalf of NextEra Energy Resources subsidiary Genesis Solar for the development of a 250 MW utility-scale solar thermal electric generating facility.

A transatlantic team of attorneys from the international law firm McDermott Will & Emery LLP, in partnership with lawyers from Firm client Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) and the non-profit Lawyers Without Borders (LWOB) have joined together to produce a critical and comprehensive report on the land and property laws and inheritance and succession rights for disenfranchised women and children in Kenya entitled Kenya: Property, Inheritance & Succession Rights. The critical report includes strategic recommendations to help alleviate discrimination against women and expand access to justice within the court system.

Dinsmore is pleased to announce that it has expanded its presence in the Mountain State with a new office in Lewisburg, West Virginia. Partner Jason Long assumes the role of managing the office and makes the switch from the firm’s Morgantown location.

As part of the American Bar Association’s response to the massive earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, McDermott partner Anthony N. Upshaw will lead a special conference this weekend in Port-au-Prince focused on providing vitally-needed advocacy training to Haitian lawyers.