King & Spalding has announced that two trial lawyers have just joined its national product liability and toxic tort practice. Jeff Furr and Ursula Henninger are made partners. Furr joins King & Spalding from his private defense practice, and was previously a partner at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice LLP. Henninger, who joins from Womble, worked with Furr as a co-trial counsel on a few cases. The addition of these two lawyers, brings King & Spalding’s Charlotte’s office to a total to 20 lawyers,with 8 partners.
Source:http://www.earthtimes.org

The second prominent East Coast law firm to launch an office in Chicago is that of Proskauer Rose. The firm has hired Steve Gilford to lead the office. Gilford joins from Mayer Brown. The announcement of Proskauer Rose’s entry into Chicago comes weeks after the firm of Ropes & Gray announced the same.
Source: www.chicagotribune.com

Dewey & LeBoeuf has announced the addition of Michel Quéré to its Paris office. Quéré joins as partner and will head the banking and finance practice. Prior to joining Dewey, Quéré worked at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, from 2000 to 2006.
Source: www.chicagotribune.com

U.S. law firms are behind United Kingdom in terms of environmental policies. The nation’s firms are being confronted on their environmental impact and what steps they are taking to minimize their effects on this planet. For instance, are being asked to provide manufacturing recycling programs and business environmental programs. Firms are taking action by developing programs with the focus of energy saving, recycling, car-pooling, and recycled/reducing paper usage. There are a number of certifications/known programs sought such as: ABA-EPA Law Office Climate Challenge Waste Wise, Green Power Partnership, and Energy Star Programs, and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). It appears as if west coast firms are the leading firms to concentrate efforts on these major environmental issues. Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean was the first law firm in the U.S. to obtain certification as a green business. Farella Braun & Martel was the first firm to be Green Certified by the city of San Francisco and the second to track air emissions with California’s Climate Action Registry. Nixon Peabody was the first law firm to appoint a chief sustainability officer. There are even more firms making grand changes to help reduce their ecological footprints.
Source: www.law.com

This is the best year for female partner promotions. 27.5 per cent of the promotion announced this year so far, are female. This is a record year; it has finally surpassed the 25 per cent mark. At Olswang, which has 77 partners, four of the firm’s 10 promoted partners are female. A third of its new partners, six out of 18 new partners are women at the firm of Herbert Smith. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is promoting five women among its 25 new partners. At Bristol’s Burges Salmon, two out of its six new partners are female. At Forsters, all the new partners are female (2). Macfarlanes is the only firm out of the ten that have announced its promotions for the year, that has not promoted any female associates.
Source. www.thelawyer.com

Palo Alto is in the midst of celebrating Earth Month, a program beginning March 23, which entails a new weekly focus on sustainable living and a speaker series beginning Thursday. The Earth Month organizers recently acknowledged the efforts of local businesses for their endeavors to make environmentally-friendly changes. One such business was the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Assistant General Counsel Mark Parnes explained that the firm began its environmental efforts about 10 years ago. Wison Sonsini has recently beagn purchasing recycled materials, nad have launched a ride-sharing program.
Source: http://www.paloaltodailynews.com

Kilpatrick Stockton has announced that nearly 50 of the firm’s attorneys were selected as 2008 Georgia Super Lawyers. These lawyers receive this distinction because of peer recognition and professional achievement. In addition to having many of its lawyers on this notable list, Kilpatrick’s lawyers held these respectable honors; Miles Alexander, Brian Corgan and Rick Horder were named Top 100 Georgia Super Lawyers and Susan Cahoon was named one of the Top 50 Women Georgia Super Lawyers.
Source: http://atlanta.dbusinessnews.com/

Cooley Godward Kronish is announcing its launch of a Latin America real estate group. The group will work with clients planning to invest in or develop real estate in Latin America, including the Caribbean. The co-heads of this practice group are: Thomas O’Connor, the firm’s current chair for the real estate practice, and Mark W. Lipschutz, of counsel and the chief executive of the real estate company Caribbean Property Group.
Source:www.law.com

Fisher & Phillips LLP has announced that labor and employment attorney Tiffani Hiudt has joined its Atlanta office as an associate. Ms. Hiudt previously worked with Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough LLP. Hiudt graduated from Emory University receiving her Juris Doctor in 2002.
Souce: www.atlanta.dbusinessnews.com

A recent survey by American Lawyer Media, has recognized Troutman Sanders as a Go-To Law Firm for Leading Technology Companies. The survey based its outcome on two sources of information: 1) the information given by general counsel as which law firms they go to for aid, and 2) information found by researchers about the law firms located within independent data such as court dockets and securities filings, key publications and well-respected commercial databases. The surveys and research mostly centered its focus on the firm’s litigation, corporate transactions/mergers and acquisitions, labor and employment, intellectual property, securities, Canada and international practice areas.
Source: www.richmond.com