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Reed Smith Enhances Tax Legal Practice
Law Firm News |
2007/11/21 09:49
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The US Law Firm Newswire - Reed Smith, one of the 15 largest law firms in the world, today announced the addition of Michael J. Wynne as a partner in the firm’s State Tax Practice in the Chicago office, effective November 19.
“Michael’s arrival at Reed Smith will greatly enhance our tax capabilities in Chicago and firmwide,” said Michael A. LoVallo, the firm’s Chicago Managing Partner. His many years of experience especially in Illinois tax practice will broaden our expertise in state tax litigation matters.”
Mr. Wynne brings 23 years of experience in state and local tax litigation, planning, policy and regulatory matters. His private practice background includes service as a partner in the law firms of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, and Baker & McKenzie LLP, in each instance leading that firm’s state and local tax practice. Mr. Wynne also served as partner in charge of the Midwest state and local tax services group for the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche LLP.
According to Lee A. Zoeller, firmwide chair of Reed Smith’s State Tax Practice, “Our State Tax Practice is already among the top five in the country. The addition of Michael moves us closer to our objective of building a state tax practice which provides our clients with the best legal representation in all major jurisdictions. Mike is one of the best state tax lawyers in Illinois and we are looking forward to having him on our team. With over 20 lawyers from coast to coast we can provide state tax representation wherever it is needed.”
A significant part of Mr. Wynne’s experience was gained in government service. He served as General Counsel to the Illinois Department of Revenue, leading the Department’s regulatory, legislative support, and adjudicative functions. He also served as Acting Chief, and previously Deputy Chief, of the Illinois Attorney General’s Revenue Litigation Division, where he participated as, and supervised, trial and appellate counsel for the State in all tax and revenue-related matters.
“A successful multistate tax controversy practice applies intimate knowledge of a particular jurisdiction’s law and its tax administration to the client’s issues, and does so with consistent high quality throughout the country.” said Mr. Wynne. “Reed Smith is building a State Tax Practice that makes that possible and is therefore capable of delivering outstanding results for its clients. I am delighted that I will get to work with other Reed Smith partners who have experiences similar to mine in other major states. I will continue to work in other states, but obviously the greatest contribution to the Reed Smith State Tax Practice will come from building on my long experience and significant work in Illinois.”
Mr. Wynne is a 1984 graduate of the John Marshall Law School and a 1981 graduate of Southern Illinois University. He has served on the Advisory Committee of the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois, the Tax Committee of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, and the State and Local Tax Section Council of the Illinois State Bar Association. He is also a former Chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s State and Local Tax Committee and a frequent national speaker and author on tax policy matters.
Since the merger of Reed Smith with Sachnoff & Weaver this past March, 19 lawyers have joined in the Chicago office. The Chicago office is well known for its litigation capabilities, especially in the areas of IP, Financial Services and Insurance Recovery. The office has one of the most sophisticated policyholder practices in the country particularly especially in the area of D&O liability issues. On the corporate side, in Chicago, the firm has a strong private equity practice, lending and real estate practice, and bankruptcy capabilities.
About Reed Smith
Reed Smith is one of the 15 largest law firms in the world, with more than 1,500 lawyers in 21 offices throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East. Founded in 1877, the firm represents leading international businesses from Fortune 100 corporations to mid-market and emerging enterprises. Its attorneys provide litigation services in multi-jurisdictional matters and other high stake disputes, deliver regulatory counsel, and execute the full range of strategic domestic and cross-border transactions. Reed Smith is a preeminent advisor to industries including financial services, life sciences, health care, advertising and media, shipping, international trade and commodities, real estate, manufacturing, and education. For more information, visit reedsmith.com
U.S.: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Princeton, Northern Virginia, Wilmington, Century City, Richmond
Europe: London, Paris, Munich, Birmingham, Greece
Middle East: Abu Dhabi, Dubai |
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Skadden Beefs up Security with Endpoint
Law Firm News |
2007/11/21 09:24
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Endpoint security has given one of the world's largest law firms the ironclad network security it needs to enforce its strict policies while also ensuring that the network and the computers connected to it are safe from attack.
It wasn't always that way at Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom LLP. When the network was put in place in 1992, policies were relatively relaxed. Drives were open to allow end users to write and save to floppy disks and other media. It took only about a week for a virus to get out onto the network.
According to Nancy Lundergan, manager of security and process at Skadden, that one incident led to a re-evaluation of network security.
"We can't have that," she said, adding that by nature the law firm's network is a portal to massive amounts of confidential data, such as case files and other necessary legal information.
But with nearly 5,000 endpoints deployed throughout the network, Lundergan said, Skadden's options for locking things down were somewhat limited. The firm wanted an agentless monitoring and remediation tool to support layered internal security management.
Lundergan said the agentless portion was a must because, with the number of endpoints in use, it would be nearly impossible for Skadden's IT staff to install a client-based software solution on each and every machine.
As it stands, Skadden allows only desktop PCs to access the network. Laptops and notebooks are a no-no. Most of the firm's applications are on Citrix servers, so there are not many applications saved on the actual desktops themselves.
Originally, Skadden looked to network access control (NAC) solutions to make sure that desktops accessing the network were approved and to push devices that were not up to snuff into an Internet-only environment. Lundergan said NAC is currently being implemented in some of Skadden's 22 physical offices and could be in use in many by early next year. But along with NAC, Lundergan wanted an additional layer of endpoint security.
Skadden went with Promisec's Spectator Professional for its clientless endpoint security needs.
"We don't have to worry about deploying it on the machines," Lundergan said. "We can centrally run it. We didn't even look at agent-based solutions."
And with Skadden's "strict" security policy that bars file sharing, Skype, music players and most other types of downloads, being able to scan and monitor the applications that computers are running is a necessity, Lundergan said.
"We want to make sure people aren't using their work machines as jukeboxes," she said. "This is the desktop we have out there, and we make sure machines are doing what they're supposed to do."
Lundergan said she frequently scans the network to see the applications loaded on desktops and what processes they have gone through. She said she can search through registries and follow digital footprints to ensure that security and use policies are followed.
"If I find something, I can isolate it and do a deeper scan," she said.
It's imperative that Skadden be able to identify and fix deviations from its policy without creating a negative impact on the network's performance or integrity, Lundergan added. She can monitor who is on the network and when, ensuring that all software and hardware being used is approved while also making sure that there are no hidden threats inside the network.
Also, she said, since Promisec's solution installs on one server, it offers that agentless, single point of management that the firm's network of Windows-based machines requires.
"It's very important for us to be able to know that our endpoints are secure across the entire enterprise," Lundergan said. |
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Winston & Strawn Settles Claim with GE Rainmaker
Law Firm News |
2007/11/21 09:15
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Winston & Strawn has settled on the eve of trial a lawsuit brought against it by a New York partner who claimed the firm broke a deal to exempt him from "decompression," a policy sharply reducing partners' pay after age 65, writes the New York Law Journal.
Throughout the 1990s, Anthony LoFrisco, 74, was one of the law firm's highest-paid partners, based largely on his close relationship with former General Electric (GE) chairman John "Jack" Welch. According to a 1994 agreement with Chicago-based Winston, LoFrisco was to be paid an amount equal to at least 13% of the firm's GE billings.
That arrangement expired in 2001 but LoFrisco claimed in his 2003 lawsuit that the firm agreed that year to extend the deal and exempt him from decompression. He accused the firm of reneging the following year, with decompression reducing his pay from $2.3m (£1.1m) in 2002 to $350,000 (£170,000) in 2004.
Trial in the matter was scheduled to begin Monday before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Helen Freedman. But the parties said in a joint statement yesterday (20 November) that they reached an “amicable settlement” of the dispute on 10 November. The terms of the settlement are confidential.
As a result of the settlement, the parties stated: "LoFrisco's lawsuit will be dismissed and he will resign from the firm on 26 November, 2007."
Both Winston's lawyer, Philip Forlenza of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, and LoFrisco's lawyer, Elkan Abramowitz of Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason Anello & Bohrer, declined to comment further.
The settlement ends an unusual suit that had drawn much attention to the issue of how firms handle aging rainmakers, many more of whom are now challenging firm policies that envision retirement at age 65 or earlier. In recent years, many firms have shown greater willingness to waive decompression, mandatory retirement or similar policies for older partners still responsible for large amounts of business.
The sensitive issue of how to manage aging partnerships was thrust into the spotlight last month after Sidley Austin agree to pay $27.5m (£13.1m) to settle an age discrimination claim with 32-former partners who were forced to give up equity partner status in 1999. |
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CPDC President Pleads Guilty to Obstruction of Audit
Court Watch |
2007/11/19 11:43
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The president of the Los Angeles-based Community Partnership Development Corporation (CPDC) pleaded guilty this morning to charges of obstructing an audit conducted by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, which was looking into the expenditure of nearly $3.2 million of federal money on "engineering and construction management supervision fees."
Frank DeSantis, 49, of Santa Clarita, pleaded guilty to the felony obstruction charge before United States District Judge John F. Walter. DeSantis pleaded guilty to a one-count indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury in June and accused him of overstating work hours in relation to grant money that HUD had provided to the CPDC.
HUD provides funding, through the Low-Income Housing Preservation and Resident Homeownership Act of 1991 -- commonly called the Preservation Program -- to support the development and operation of privately owned rental properties for low-income families. The Preservation Program provides financial assistance in the form of grants to private owners for the purchase and rehabilitation of properties. In 1996 and 1997, DeSantis received Preservation Program grants, which he used to purchase three properties -- the New Brittany Housing Foundation Development, the L.A. Garden Community Association Development, and the Casa Community Association Development. In June 2002, HUD’s Office of Inspector General conducted an audit of the grant fund expenditures for the three developments. In order to explain the expenditure of $3,198,245, DeSantis submitted time sheets for CPDC employees. However, the time sheets proved to be false for three reasons: they were created long after the purported work took place, they showed more hours than the employees actually worked on the Preservation Program grant, and the time sheets failed to disclose that a significant number of hours were spent working on non-Preservation Program projects.
“Financial crimes aimed at multifamily housing undermine the economic viability of what is home to dozens and sometimes hundreds of families,” said Kenneth M Donohue, Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. “To the extent that we can stop these destructive practices, the HUD Office of Inspector General will be a deterrent to these pernicious activities and a defender of the notion that people should be able to enjoy a safe and affordable home.”
DeSantis is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Walter on February 4. At that time, DeSantis faces a statutory maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. As part of his plea agreement, DeSantis has agreed to pay $400,000 to reimburse HUD for some of the money provided in Preservation Program grants.
This case is the result of an investigation by HUD's Office of Inspector General. |
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Health Care Co. Owner Sentenced to 66 Months
Health Care |
2007/11/19 10:59
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The owner and operator of a Florida health care company has been sentenced to 66 months incarceration for Medicare fraud, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of the Southern District of Florida announced today.
Marianela Smith was sentenced on Friday, Nov. 9, 2007, by U.S. District Court Judge Joan A. Lenard at the federal court in Miami. Judge Lenard also ordered Smith to pay approximately $363,000 in restitution for submitting approximately $800,000 worth of fraudulent claims to the Medicare program.
Smith owned and operated Smith Medical Equipment, a Miami medical equipment company, from approximately 2000-2003. She was convicted on five charges following a seven-day trial in August 2007. At trial, the government established that Smith had been paying kickbacks to Medicare beneficiaries throughout Miami-Dade County to gain access to their Medicare information. After gaining access to their Medicare cards, Smith billed Medicare for unnecessary services on behalf of these patients, including oxygen concentrators and nebulizers. One of these patients testified that Smith paid him in cash and that he did not need the treatments or medication that Smith was billing to Medicare. Further, he testified that he threw away the medication that was paid for by Medicare. According to trial testimony, Smith paid $150 per month if the patients agreed to accept unneeded aerosol medications, such as Albuterol, and related respiratory equipment such as oxygen concentrators.
Smith obtained the compounded aerosol medications from previously convicted pharmacy owners in Miami. From 2000 to 2003, these pharmacies billed the Medicare program for over $17 million.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant Chief John Kelly and Trial Attorney Hank Bond Walther from the Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., with the investigative assistance of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General; the FBI; and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit from the State of Florida. This case was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force initiative created in March 2007, led by the Fraud Section in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida. The Strike Force operates out of the federal Health Care Fraud Facility in Miramar, Florida, and has brought over 74 cases involving 120 defendants since March 1, 2007.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls . Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on . |
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Freshfields Bruckhaus Advises HP in Acquisition
Mergers & Acquisitions |
2007/11/19 10:21
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Leading international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised HP on its acquisition of Atos Origin Middle East group, ('AOME'), one of the Middle East's leading systems integrators, to broaden its consulting and integration capacity in the region. The transaction closed on Monday 5 November.
The acquisition is expected to deliver three key strategic assets to HP: enhancement of the company’s SAP capabilities in the Middle East; reinforcement of HP’s expertise in two key market segments – the public sector and oil and gas; and the extension of HP’s geographic presence into Libya and Qatar.
Bruce Embley, the corporate partner in Dubai who led the team said, 'We are delighted to have assisted HP on this important acquisition in the Middle East.'
The Freshfields team included associates Jan Hards, Zoe Blakemore and Fares Al-Hejailan. HP's internal legal team on the deal was led by Sergio Letelier. |
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United Rentals Takes Cerberus to Court
Court Watch |
2007/11/19 10:08
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United Rentals filed a lawsuit against Cerberus Capital Management seeking to force the private-equity firm to follow through with its buyout of the rental-equipment company.
The suit comes after Cerberus said last week that it wanted to pay a $100 million break-up fee to end the deal, partly because of volatility in the credit markets. United Rentals has contended that there are no financing obstacles to the $7 billion buyout, nor any significant changes in its business.
United Rentals said Monday that RAM Holdings and RAM Acquisition, two acquisition vehicles formed by Cerberus, are violating the merger agreement and do not have the right to simply pay the break-fee and walk away from the deal.
The company called Cerberus' action a "naked ploy" to extract a lower price for the buyout. Cerberus said last week it was willing to negotiate a revised deal.
Through the lawsuit, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, United Rentals is seeking to consummate the merger agreement in accordance with its original terms.
With the suit, United Rentals joins Sallie Mae in launching a legal battle with its potential acquirers to force a buyout. Other companies, such as Harman and Acxiom, have seen their deals fall apart as turmoil in the credit markets affects private-equity firms' ability to raise financing.
Shares of United Rentals recently were down 37 cents, or 1.6%, to $23. The buyout had called for Cerberus to pay $34.50 a share for the company. |
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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. |
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