Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney announced today the addition of two highly experienced intellectual property attorneys, Shareholder Alfred W. Zaher and Counsel Shawn S. Li, Ph.D., to the firm’s Philadelphia office. The new hires expand Buchanan’s nationwide IP practice in the northeast corridor.

Zaher and Li will focus their practices on patent and trademark litigation, patent prosecution, licensing and counseling with a heavy focus on U.S. and international clients in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, chemical, electronics, software and medical device industries. Both also have extensive experience advising multinational clients on protecting IP rights in China. More >>

Montgomery McCracken is pleased to announce the addition of Peter J. Deeb and David Dormont as partners in the firm’s Litigation Department in Philadelphia. Deeb joins from Anderson Kill and Dormont joins from Coren & Ress, P.C.

Deeb concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial litigation, employment litigation and tort defense. For more than 25 years, he has served as counsel for leasing companies, banks, corporations and other business entities, including individual entrepreneurs. His experience includes representing clients in breach of contract, tortious interference with contract, unjust enrichment and fraud litigation, and in employment matters including restrictive covenants such as noncompete and nonsolicitation clauses as well as discrimination claims. He also counsels clients regarding all aspects of equipment leasing, including portfolio purchase agreements, program agreements and master lease agreements and the review and revision of employment agreements.

Deeb graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1984 and from Yale University in 1981.

Dormont has more than 20 years of experience focusing on complex commercial litigation and bankruptcy-related litigation, representing a diverse range of clients from individuals and unions to Fortune 500 companies in complex commercial disputes. He has handled more than 200 matters in federal and state courts and before arbitration panels in a variety of jurisdictions. David has tried cases, as first or second chair, before various trial courts, including in trials which resulted in two of the 10 largest verdicts reported in Pennsylvania in 2005.

Dormont graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in mathematics education. He graduated, magna cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1992.

Klehr, Harrison, Harvey & Branzburg announced today that Jonathan Krause has joined the firm’s Labor & Employment and Litigation practices as a partner, resident in Philadelphia and Cherry Hill. Mr. Krause has over ten years experience representing clients in all aspects of employment law, with a particular emphasis on trade secret/non-compete, wage and hour, discrimination, and whistleblower matters. Mr. Krause litigates complex and single-plaintiff litigation in federal and state courts across the nation on behalf of both large and start-up clients across industries, including those in health care, financial services, retail, technology, and service. Mr. Krause had previously spent his career practicing employment law at Morgan Lewis. More >>

Alexander Nemiroff has joined Gordon & Rees as a partner in the Philadelphia office. He is a member of the firm’s Employment, Commercial Litigation, and Unfair Competition practice groups. Mr. Nemiroff joins the firm from labor and employment firm Ogletree Deakins.

Mr. Nemiroff litigates a wide variety of cases before federal and state courts and administrative agencies, including employment discrimination, workplace technology law, wrongful discharge, wage and hour law, and other matters. He has extensive experience in cases involving non-compete issues, trade secrets, tortious interference, and related claims. More >>

Ballard Spahr is representing Applegate, the nation’s leading natural and organic meat company, in a $775 million transaction that would make it an independently operated, stand-alone subsidiary of Hormel Foods. An agreement between the two companies was signed on May 26 and is expected to close within 60 days.

Applegate’s selling shareholders are Stephen McDonnell and Swander Pace Capital. Under the agreement, Applegate will operate as a separate, stand-alone subsidiary, which allows it to leverage Hormel Foods’ vast resources while continuing its mission-driven focus on providing consumers nationwide with meat that is antibiotic-free, humanely raised, and organic. More >>

McGivney & Kluger, P.C. is proud to announce that Mr. Kennedy has joined the firm as a Partner in M&K’s Philadelphia, PA office.

Mr. Kennedy has extensive jury trial experience in Pennsylvania State and Federal courts, and has taken cases to verdict in multi-million dollar product liability, negligence, toxic tort, personal injury, property damage, and civil rights actions. His trial experience includes the representation of businesses in a broad range of industries, including security, transportation, hospitality, consumer products, financial services, health care, and construction. More >>

Morgan Lewis advised leading diversified chemicals manufacturer FMC Corporation in the $1.64 billion sale of its alkali chemicals division to Tronox Ltd. FMC’s alkali chemicals division is the largest global producer of natural soda ash and related products, which are used in glass manufacturing, water treatment, pulp and paper, textiles, food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. More >>

AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) and MWI Veterinary Supply, Inc. (NASDAQ:MWIV) today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement for AmerisourceBergen to acquire MWI Veterinary Supply (MWI), the leading animal health distribution company in the United States. A team from Dechert LLP is advising MWIV on this matter. Under the terms and conditions of the merger agreement, AmerisourceBergen, through a new wholly-owned subsidiary, will make an all cash tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of MWI at a price of US$190.00 per share, representing a US$2.5 billion fully diluted equity value. The full press release is available here. More >>