News

Date : 08-15-2006

K&LNG expands food and drug practice

Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham has expanded its food and drug practice with the addition of Robert G. Hibbert to its Washington, DC, office. Previously with McDermott Will & Emery, Hibbert has expertise in counseling and litigating matters involving food safety, food security, animal health, biotechnology, labeling, advertising, and new product development. The law firm will utilize his practice of federal regulation of the food and agricultural industries, with particular emphasis on issues relating to the United States Department of Agriculture.

Paul Weiss beefs up structured financed group

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison has hired former partner Robert Zochowski of Shearman & Sterling's structured finance group for its office in New York. Zochowski will focus on complex structured finance and securitization transactions, with a focus on assets. Paul Weiss lawyers concentrate in the areas of litigation and corporate law, including mergers and acquisitions, securities, public and private financing, investment funds and private equity.

Sheppard Mullin strengthens IP practice

The intellectual property practice of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton has gained strength with the addition of Daniel N. Yannuzzi to the firm's Del Mar Heights, CA, office. The firm will leverage on Yannuzzi's experience in IP law, which includes patent litigation, licensing, transactional matters, and portfolio development. He will be closely working with a team of 40 attorneys that constitute the firm's IP group. With more than 480 attorneys in nine offices located throughout California, New York, and Washington, DC, the firm offers legal expertise and counsel to U.S. and international clients in a wide range of practice areas.

Allen & Overy poised for growth

U.K.-based Allen & Overy has finally silenced critics by registering considerable growth in the U.S. LegalWeek.com recently reported that the firm's New York office has recorded a major increase in productivity and practice performance. The law firm is looking to recruit new attorneys domestically and will invest in new practice areas. Although the firm is focusing on organic growth, it is also open to the idea of a merger. The New York office, which was launched in 1985, has grown by around 40% in the last four years. It has grown from 60 U.S.-qualified lawyers and 18 partners in 2002 to 115 lawyers and 30 partners this year.

Merchant & Gould beefs up management strength

Merchant & Gould has strengthened its IP and litigation practice with the addition of six attorneys and a new Chief Operating Officer, as reported by Law.com. Robert Crowell, appointed as COO of the Minneapolis office, has experience in law firm management, including finance, technology implementation, human resources, and marketing. The newly appointed attorneys at the firm's Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Washington, DC, offices will add to the firm's commercial litigation group, which specializes in IP litigation matters including infringement actions and license disputes and patent portfolio management. Currently, the firm has 105 practicing attorneys with expertise in IP law, which includes patent, trademark, copyright, unfair competition, trade secret, advertising, Internet, and computer law. The firm represents a broad spectrum of clients, including individual inventors, emerging companies, Fortune 500 corporations, governmental bodies, and academic institutions.

DLA Piper boosts corporate and technology practice in Asia

Former President and Asia Pacific General Counsel of Motorola, Singapore, Jeffery Tam will join DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary as a partner in the firm's Singapore office. Tam has been involved in several corporate transactions pertaining to infrastructure, corporate finance, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, and general corporate matters and is expected to strengthen the firm's corporate and technology practice in Asia. DLA Piper is optimistic about the South Asian legal market and is expecting the government to open up several key sectors—including financial services, telecommunications, power generation, and retailing sectors—to foreign service providers. As a result, a surge in demand from corporations and financial institutions for specialists in these sectors is anticipated.


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