Michael Pabst has left Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw to join Jones Day’s London office as a partner. He joins the firm’s banking and finance group, headed by Ed Nalbantian. Pabst’s work focuses on acquisition, projects and emerging markets financing and restructurings in addition to structured derivatives finance in the context of tax-related asset and commodities deals.
Source: www.thelawyer.com
Baker & McKenzie announced on Wednesday that their profits per partner has reached the $1 million mark. This marks a 22% increase since last year, and a 20% increase in overall revenue. Baker & McKenzie, the world’s biggest law firm, is based out of Chicago and attributes these increases to a focus on expansion of global offices in order to attract multinational clients.
Source: www.nylj.com
President Bush signed the Foreign Investment and National Security Act on July 26, causing a scramble in New York and other major US cities for investment attorneys familiar with the new code. The new law came into being due to ever-increasing security concerns and as a response to a 2006 controversy involving DP World’s acquisition of a British port operator which owns several US ports. Attorneys familiar with the new law say it confirms the government’s changing attitude towards foreign investments in security sensitive areas.
Source: www.law.com
Neil Micklethwaite, a litigation partner at Bingham McCutchen, has left his firm to open a human rights litigation boutique with his friend and former colleague Roger Gherson. This moves raises some questions about Bingham McCutchen; what was a human rights attorney doing at a financial law firm? It seems Micklethwaite was a financial attorney at Bingham McCutchen, but his heart just wasn’t in it. A source at Bingham McCutchen didn’t seem that upset to see Micklethwaite go, and said that he’s much better off elsewhere.
Source: www.thelawyer.com
Michael Garfinkely, formerly of Rintala, Smoot, Jeanicke & Rees, has joined Venable’s Los Angeles office. Garfinkely, a litigator who specializes in entertainment and property law, represents entertainment companies such as William Morris Agency Inc. and International Creative Management Inc.. Previously, Garfinkely has worked for Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman with Douglas Emhoff, partner-in-charge of Venable’s Los Angeles office. In 2005, Garfinkely represent the author of the book upon which the film “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” was based in a suit against Walt Disney Co. concerning gross receipts.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Sutherland Asbill & Brennan has recruited top litigation partner, Rachel Giesber Clingman, for its Houston office. Formerly employed with Fulbright & Jaworski, Clingman will be the Co-Partner-in-Charge of the Houston office as well as the head of a national business litigation group. Clingman handles energy and environmental litigation, and was named as one of the five top Women in Energy by EnergyLaw360. Sutherland is dedicated in its efforts to expand its Texas energy practice; the Houston office has also added talent in other practices such as banking, real estate, and immigration. The firm has offices in Atlanta, Austin, Houston, New York, Tallahassee and Washington.
Source: www.lawfuel.com
Intellectual property attorney, Raymond Van Dyke, has left Nixon Peabody to join Winston & Strawn in its D.C. office. Van Dyke’s practice focuses on IP and technology counseling, procurement, licensing and litigation in federal courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission. His clients work in a variety of fields such as biotechnology, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, Internet and financial services. Winston & Strawn employs more than 850 lawyers in nine offices.
Source: www.bizjournals.com
In Monday’s meeting of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates, the 413,000-member organization agreed that law firms should rethink their mandatory retirement policies. These sorts of policies violate age discrimination laws in place in most every other workplace. The ABA recommends that instead of age-determined retirement policies, firms should consider senior partners’ performance levels when evaluating their future with the firm. According to a 2005 study, 57 percent of law firms with 100 or more attorneys have a mandatory retirement age, which usually ranges from 65 to 75.
Source: www.law.com
David Wigley has joined Sutherland Asbill & Brennan’s Atlanta office. The IP attorney joins as Counsel resident, and will focus his practice on securing, maintaining and enforcing intellectual property rights for domestic and foreign companies. Wigley has a Ph.D. in Chemistry, and he has done work in the life scienes, chemical, and pharmaceutical sectors. Sutherland now has 49 IP attorneys, 26 of whom are members of the Patent Bar, and 6 of whom have Ph.Ds.
Source: www.atlanta.dbusinessnews.com
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips opened a new office in San Fransisco on Monday. The new office houses 12 attorney and six professionals who previously worked for Manatt Health Solutions in Palo Alto and Los Angeles. This new office will specialize in health care, energy, land use and corporate litigation. Manatt Phelps plans to expand it’s new Bay Area office by recruiting from other local firms.
Source: bizjournals.com
