|
|
|
Linda Grant Williams joins Dreier LLP
Law Firm News |
2007/12/10 08:43
|
Dreier LLP announced today that Linda
Grant Williams has joined the firm as a partner in the Corporate &
Securities Department. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Grant was of counsel
to Greenberg Traurig LLP in New York, and was previously a partner at
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.
"We are delighted and very fortunate to have Linda Grant Williams join
Dreier LLP," stated Marc S. Dreier, founder and managing partner of Dreier
LLP. "Her expertise in advising public-private partnerships complements our
current capabilities representing capital providers in the construction and
financing of major real estate holdings."
Ms. Grant Williams will continue her practice in representing banks,
pension funds and other capital providers in the construction and permanent
financing of hotels, shopping centers, office buildings, industrial
complexes, multifamily projects, cogeneration and other energy projects.
Some of her notable real estate and construction projects include the
financing of The Forum at Caesar's Palace, Two Rodeo Drive and One Colorado
Shopping Centers in Southern California and the Greenwich Office Park in
Greenwich, Connecticut.
"Joining Dreier LLP enables me to provide clients with the litigation
expertise, relationships and wide-ranging capabilities of a full service
law firm," Ms. Grant Williams stated. "I also share Marc Dreier's vision of
a cutting edge, entrepreneurial firm that applies creative thinking to
client issues."
Ms. Grant Williams was instrumental in structuring financings for the
Oakland Raiders, Golden State Warriors, and in the renovation of the Rose
Bowl in Pasadena, California. She was recognized by Sports Business Journal
as one of the country's leading sports executives and credited with the
creation of sports securitization, utilized at both the Pepsi Center in
Denver, Colorado and The Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Most
recently, Ms. Grant Williams created a groundbreaking method for a more
cost effective method of financing U.S. airports, resulting in greater
bankruptcy protection for bondholders and dramatically lowering financing
costs for airlines. This patent-pending business method innovation has been
generally approved for use at the tri-state area airports by The Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Ms. Grant Williams received a B.S. in Political Science with high
distinction from the University of Arizona in 1974 and a J.D., cum laude,
from Loyola Law School in 1979, where she was a member of the Loyola Law
Review and received the American Jurisprudence Constitutional Law Award.
Ms. Grant Williams is a member of the Bar of the States of New York and
California and was recently appointed to the Association of the Bar of the
City of New York Structured Finance Committee.
Background on Dreier LLP
Dreier LLP was founded in 1996 by Marc Dreier as a more responsive and
innovative alternative to traditional "large-firm" lawyering. Dreier LLP
represents a wide range of institutional, entrepreneurial and individual
clients in diverse sectors of financial, industrial and service-oriented
markets. The firm's principal practices are commercial litigation, real
estate, bankruptcy and corporate reorganization, employment, corporate and
securities, entertainment, intellectual property, matrimonial and tax.
Dreier LLP's Los Angeles affiliate, Dreier Stein & Kahan LLP, has its
principal practice in entertainment and commercial litigation and corporate
transactions. The firm's affiliate Schlesinger Gannon & Lazetera LLP has an
extensive practice in the area of trusts and estates law. Pitta & Dreier
LLP is an affiliate which specializes in labor law, and Pitta, Bishop, Del
Giorno & Dreier LLP specializes in government relations. In the 10 years
since its founding, Dreier LLP, with its affiliate members, has grown to
more than 200 attorneys, with its principal office at 499 Park Avenue in
Manhattan, and additional offices in Los Angeles; Santa Monica, California;
Albany, New York; and Stamford, Connecticut. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Douglas V. Bartman Joins McDonald Hopkins
Attorneys in the News |
2007/12/10 08:24
|
Douglas V. Bartman has joined
Cleveland-based McDonald Hopkins LLC as a Member in the firm's Litigation
Department. A practicing attorney for more than 14 years, Bartman focuses
his practice on employment, construction and commercial litigation.
Bartman counsels owners, developers, and contractors concerning
construction contracts, disputes during construction, and the litigation
and arbitration of construction claims after project completion. He defends
employers in state and federal courts and administrative agencies against
claims of federal and state labor law violations, including age, race,
disability, and sexual discrimination and harassment. In addition, Bartman
litigates other civil matters at the trial and appellate levels in both
state and federal courts. Beyond construction, Bartman represents clients
in a wide range of industries, such as manufacturing, healthcare, venture
capital, and retail.
"We are very pleased to have Doug Bartman join McDonald Hopkins," said
William J. O'Neill, managing member of the Litigation Department. "Doug's
experience in construction, employment and commercial litigation is an
excellent fit for our clients." A frequent speaker on employment issues to
employers across the country, Bartman is licensed in Ohio, Illinois and
California, and is a member of the American, California, Ohio, and
Cleveland Bar Associations. A 1989 graduate of the University of Michigan,
Bartman received his J.D. from the Hastings College of Law at the
University of California in 1993.
Douglas V. Bartman can be reached at 216.348.5839 or
dbartman@mcdonaldhopkins.com .
About McDonald Hopkins
With more than 130 attorneys in Cleveland, Chicago, Columbus, Detroit,
and West Palm Beach, McDonald Hopkins is a full-service firm focused on
business law, litigation, restructuring, and estate planning. The president
of McDonald Hopkins is Carl J. Grassi, who was elected in 2007. More
information about McDonald Hopkins can be found at http://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bank Robber Blames Gambling and Loan Sharks
Court Watch |
2007/12/07 10:13
|
Self-described gambling addict Scott A. Hasenjaeger was hedging his bets when he robbed a Marseilles bank in January -- he said in court this week he was partly hoping to get caught and partly hoping to get away.
Either way, a federal judge called in his marker Tuesday.
The 34-year-old Hasenjaeger was sentenced to one year and one day in prison. However, the former insurance agent and part-time post office letter carrier from Minooka will be able to spend the holidays with his wife and three small children -- he doesn't have to report to prison until January.
Wearing a ski mask, Hasenjaeger entered Twin Oaks Savings Bank in Marseilles Jan. 24 and pointed at tellers a BB handgun that resembled a semi-automatic pistol. He made off with about $35,277, some of which he dropped as he left the bank. State police arrested Hasenjaeger about 45 minutes later in Minooka with a portion of the loot. As part of his deal to plead guilty, he agreed to pay back the rest of the money.
In seeking mercy, Hasenjaeger told the judge he grew up the son of an "emotionally-detached alcoholic father," catching the betting bug around age 8, when he blew $100 on a cruise ship slot machine.
Picking up his story in college, Hasenjaeger said he was the leading scorer for the 1993-1994 Central Connecticut State University basketball squad. The night before the "biggest game of the season," Hasenjaeger said he used $3,000 in credit card money to gamble at a casino, which he built into $12,000, before losing it all. With empty pockets, he duped a cab driver into taking him back to campus, promising to pay the fare once there. However, after he was dropped off, he fled without paying and was arrested by campus police. He played miserably the next night and was booted from the team the next year.
After his failed college career, he was hired and rose to become a district manager with American General Finance in Minooka, but continued to lose thousands of dollars through gambling.
At the time of the bank robbery, Hasenjaeger said loan sharks were circling him, he was on the verge of losing his job, and his house -- mortgaged twice to get money to pay gambling debts -- was in foreclosure. He said he partly wanted to get caught, because then he figured he would be forced to quit gambling.
After his arrest, he declared bankruptcy and his family now is about to be evicted.
Hasenjaeger joined Gamblers Anonymous, and in 1995 and 2000 was hospitalized at Proctor Hospital in Peoria for what doctors termed a "severe gambling disorder." For brief periods after each hospitalization, Hasenjaeger said he refrained from wagering.
Hasenjaeger's court-appointed attorney, Robert G. Clarke, wrote of his client:
"Virtually all of his family, many of whom he has hurt quite severely, and some of his friends, some of whom have been betrayed by earlier promises of reformation, attest to his good will and his persuasive efforts to reform since his arrest."
In 1995, Hasenjaeger was convicted of criminal damage to property.
Until he reports to prison, Hasenjaeger is under electronic monitoring and has to remain home from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily. He also is prohibited from gambling. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kirkland & Ellis Host Literacy Event in D.C. Office
Law Firm News |
2007/12/07 09:44
|
Last night at Kirkland & Ellis’ D.C. office, law firms engaged in a battle of who knows the most about nothing much in the first annual Lawyers for Literacy Trivia Night. The event, which raised funds for the children’s literacy program Everybody Wins! D.C., pitted nine firms against each other for five rounds of general interest trivia, with a heavy emphasis on, appropriately enough, children’s literature.
The nine firms—Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal; Morrison & Foerster; Sidley Austin; Steptoe & Johnson; White & Case; Nordhaus Law Firm; Shook, Hardy & Bacon; Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; and Kirkland & Ellis—donated $1,500 to the literacy program for each six-person team.
Mark Young, a partner with Kirkland who knows a fair bit about Winnie the Pooh, Monopoly, and Warren Harding, has been reading to children in the Everybody Wins! D.C. Power Lunch Program for 11 years. Twelve firms around town participate in the program, and he says reading to an elementary school child for an hour once a week is easy to fit into a lawyer’s hectic schedule. “People that have become lawyers have done an awful lot of reading, and they appreciate the value of reading as a skill,” says Young.
The trivia questions ranged from popular movies and music to history. For example, what did Scout dress up as for her school pageant in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird? Answer, a ham. And what country has outlawed resurrecting the dead? Answer, Haiti.
Occasionally the crowd got a little rowdy, forcing quiz master, Neal Racioppo, to lay down the law, so to speak. “I just assumed you all were used to the judge being right,” said Racioppo, when one of the Steptoe teams objected to his answer.
Though White & Case had an early lead followed closely by Kirkland & Ellis’ appellate team, the fourth round was especially brutal, knocking out the frontrunners. The Shook Hardy team, called Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner, played a steady game and came in to win in the last round with 51 points.
The team, which scored an impressive looking trophy for their efforts, said their secret to winning was trusting their instincts. Christopher Appel, a staff attorney at the firm, described their strategy with a quote from “The Simpsons.” “God gave us the atom. It’s up to us to make it dance,” he said.
Racioppo enjoyed the crowd, but added that in the seven years he’s been quizzing folks around Washington he’s never seen a more competitive lot. “They weren’t all about finding the answer to the question,” said Racioppo. Instead, “they looked for the loopholes around the questions.” |
|
|
|
|
|
|
NY Law Firm Subpoenaed Over Questionable Hiring
Law Firm News |
2007/12/07 09:39
|
As legislative leaders seek to award New York's thoroughbred racing franchise that's due to expire Dec. 31, a state committee has subpoenaed a firm that recently won a no-bid contract with the New York Racing Association, which holds the current franchise.
The law firm of Getnick & Getnick of Manhattan has been subpoenaed to testify before the state Commission of Investigation, Neil V. Getnick said Thursday, just as NYRA fights to keep the franchise it's held since 1955.
The subpoena apparently stems from a recent hearing by the state Senate's racing committee, in which the no-bid contract to Getnick & Getnick as integrity counsel was criticized. The contract is worth $125,000 a month.
Senators and NYRA's competitors have questioned the hiring of the law firm. The firm was appointed by a court in 2005 to oversee NYRA's finances and was instrumental in helping NYRA avoid a federal indictment for mismanagement.
"I regret that I was not afforded the opportunity to appear before the state Senate racing committee when it held its NYRA related hearing earlier this fall," Getnick said. "I would welcome the opportunity to testify before the state investigation commission. The facts are straightforward and should be heard by the public."
"We stand in full support of Neil and his firm," said Charles Hayward of NYRA. "We're thrilled to be associated with them."
Asked if he thought the subpoena was timed to hurt NYRA's chances at renewing its franchise, Hayward said: "I think the investigation is not fact based."
In 2005, Getnick & Getnick's report found that after years of mismanagement and corruption, NYRA had reformed itself enough to avoid a federal indictment and be in the running to retain its lucrative franchise. The U.S. Attorney's Office investigating NYRA then moved to dismiss the indictment against NYRA. Getnick & Getnick was paid more than $4 million for that study, funded by NYRA.
Now NYRA is competing against Empire Racing, Capital Play and Excelsior Racing Associates for what is expected to be a 30-year franchise to operate Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga race tracks.
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno called for public negotiations with Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to form a consensus. The various options discussed in closed-door sessions include awarding the racing franchise to NYRA _ favored by Spitzer and supported initially by Silver. Bruno said he opposes Spitzer's plan, but is open to discussing various combinations that could include NYRA.
Under Spitzer's plan, a separate franchise would be awarded _ with NYRA's input _ to one of the gaming partners with the racing groups that would run video slot machines at Aqueduct and potentially at Belmont.
The Senate is scheduled to be in session next week to consider only racing, Bruno said. The Assembly will commit only if there is agreement by the leaders, spokesmen said.
The closed-door negotiations, however, have grown to include several other measures including a pay raise from lawmakers and state judges, a senior citizen tax break, and a $900 million capital budget that would be directed to projects back in lawmakers' districts as a kind of pork-barrel spending. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bengal's Founder's Kids Lose 4 Year Battle
Court Watch |
2007/12/06 10:18
|
Two children of one of the founders of the Cincinnati Bengals have lost their four-year court battle over his estate, which includes about 30 percent of the shares in a team that Forbes estimated is worth $912 million this year.
A Hamilton County Probate Court jury on Tuesday rejected their claims that Austin E. "Dutch" Knowlton's will was a forgery. They sued after Knowlton died in 2003, at age 93, and they discovered they were left out of his will, which was dated February 1996 and left the bulk of his estate to the Austin E. Knowlton Foundation.
Knowlton, who owned a construction company, founded the Bengals in 1967 with Paul Brown and other investors. Two of his three children, Peter Knowlton and P. Valerie Knowlton, challenged the will.
Peter Knowlton has since died, but his claim remains. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
New Online Law Firm Offers Affordable Services
Law Firm News |
2007/12/06 10:04
|
The name of Greenwich resident Patricia A. DeWitt's business says it all: lawyersforless.net.
In such a litigious society where attorney fees can cost as much as $1,000 per-hour and many individuals and families are feeling strapped by the rising cost of living, DeWitt is convinced that her "E" law firm will be the wave of the future with Web surfers - and anyone in need of an effective attorney at an economical price.
"The time is right for an Internet law firm," DeWitt said. "People can save a lot of money shopping on the Internet, so why not save a lot of money on the services of an attorney?"
While she has numerous reasons for launching a Web-based law firm, paramount among them is the desire to spend time with her 11-year-old daughter, Annie, a student at Glenville School. "I have my daughter's interests in mind," DeWitt said. "She's very excited. She's my biggest helper. She's my biggest fan."
A single mother, DeWitt enjoys working out of the home because it provides her more time to be with her daughter, who is adopted. With that background, part of DeWitt's focus is on assisting those interested in adoption through the legal process.
"Once I adopted, as an attorney I became extremely interested in the resources that are available to people who seek to adopt," she said. "I am dedicated to advising and assisting persons interested in adopting or having their infant adopted."
She also handles product liability, medical malpractice and negligent matters. Those type of cases, though, can take years to resolve, so they are taken only after agreeing on a contingent retainer. DeWitt does not handle criminal law.
"A small contractor knows it costs the customer more money to hire an attorney than the customer could get back in small claims court," DeWitt said. "Affordable legal representation might help those who don't want the hassle of personally appearing, but want the satisfaction of getting back whatever was rightfully theirs, up to the $5,000 limit of small claims courts."
With word quickly spreading about lawyersforless.net through articles published in local newspapers, DeWitt has cases coming her way. Some are simply small business owners who want to craft a better contract, others involved motor vehicle accidents. The common denominator, though, is that her clients are "savvy professionals" with little spare time on their hands.
"I'm really very impressed with the clients," she said.
Perhaps the most widely followed set of rates for attorney fees is what is called the Laffey Matrix, which is available from the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, and is updated each year. The hourly rates are shown by years of experience. For June 1, 2006 to May 31, 2007 the rates are as follows: 20+ years of experience, $425 per hour; 11-19 years, $375; 8-10 years, $305; 4-7 years, $245; 1-3 years, $205; and paralegals/law clerks $120.
Hourly rates are increasing almost every year and some lawyers charge substantially higher than the rates shown by the Laffey Matrix. Consider, the first attorney in the U.S. to regularly charge a four-digit hourly fee ($1,000 and higher) was Benjamin Civiletti in late 2005.
With a resume that dates her professional law career back two decades, including serving as an enforcement attorney for the New York Stock Exchange before beginning her general practice in 1993, DeWitt can certainly charge more per hour. Yet she has decided quality of life and time with her daughter is more important to her than making a killing. Some attorneys have called her nuts, she said.
DeWitt's hourly rates were initially $70 per hour, yet after reevaluating her expenses and the amount of time she puts into cases (hours of research), she decided on an hourly rate of $140.
"In this day and age it's just really interesting to see that even with doubling my rates, I'm going to still be half of some of the lowest rates."
Further, there is the matter of combating a widely held societal belief: "Primarily, people think they get what they pay for."
DeWitt, certified to practice law in both New York and Connecticut, wants to focus on clients in Westchester and Fairfield counties because they are close to home and she is familiar with the courts in these jurisdictions. But with the lack of geographical boundaries on the Internet, lawyersforless.net could grow into something much larger than a single-mother's humble practice. "We could create a network," she said when asked about the potential for growth. "I suppose something can be done about it."
"There is life after the law firm," she reminds aging attorneys.
For information, visit www.lawyersforless.net or call DeWitt at 532-4120. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet. |
Law Firm Directory
|
|
Legal News RSS Feed
