The O'Reilly Law Firm is very pleased to announce the return of James P. Collins to the noted trial law firm headquartered in San Mateo, effective immediately. The name of the firm is now O'Reilly II Collins. 

Collins was a founding member of the firm in 1987, originally known as O'Reilly & Collins.  In 2002, Collins left the firm in order to teach algebra and coach football and rugby at Menlo Atherton High School, a public school located in Atherton, California. 

A graduate of UC Berkeley and University of San Francisco Law School, Collins first worked as an Assistant District Attorney in San Francisco, then with Gerry Sterns's trial law firm before joining O'Reilly to form their own firm.

O'Reilly & Collins soon became pre-eminent in the field of aviation law,winning many air disaster cases for plaintiffs with scores of multi-million judgments and settlements.  The firm also won major product liability cases that received national media attention.  Collins investigated, prosecuted and won many landmark cases involving tires and improper tire replacements which led to loss of control by cars on wet roads, resulting in many deaths and serious injuries to consumers.  Collins's thorough investigations of the causes of these accidents led to important changes in the tire replacement industry that resulted in many lives being saved.

O'Reilly said, "Obviously, I am extremely happy to welcome Jim back in the fold.  He is a great friend and a great trial lawyer.  It is also a reunion of my old teammate, for we both played for the Old Blues Rugby Club of Berkeley, one of the great rugby clubs in the United States, and national champions." Collins lives in San Carlos.

In 2008, the firm set a record for judgments and settlements of air disaster with $300 million in awards for its plaintiffs.   www.oreillylaw.com

WKP partner Gary M. Paul will be installed as vice-president of the American Association for Justice during the AAJ’s annual convention in San Francisco. Mr. Paul currently serves as an officer of the AAJ as secretary. He will begin a one-year term as vice-president on July 29.


Mr. Paul is among the Southern California bar’s most distinguished and well-recognized plaintiff attorneys. He was named “Trial Lawyer of the Year”  by the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA)  in both 1981 and 2008; received the Edward I. Pollock Award in 1996 for “dedication, efforts, and effectiveness” in consumer matters; and has been named four times to the Southern California Super Lawyers® list. He has served as president of both CAALA, CAOC, and Pound Civil Justice Institute, and is an elected fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.  He is also a respected lecturer and author.

Since joining Waters & Kraus in 2006, Mr. Paul has been instrumental in several of the firm’s most noteworthy asbestos-mesothelioma cases. This includes Cundiff v. Alfa Laval, a recent  post-Taylor verdict that resulted in an award of $12.0 million to a retired U.S. Navy machinist. After the official swearing in of the 2009-2010 officers on the floor of the AAJ convention, Mr. Paul and the newly elected president, Anthony Tarricone, will be feted at a by-invitation-only event for members of AAJ’s Leaders Forum and Endowment. This exclusive dinner reception will be held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), which is currently featuring a special exhibit of works by Georgia O’Keefe and Ansel Adams.


About the American Association for Justice (AAJ)

The American Association for Justice promotes a fair and effective justice system and supports the work of attorneys to ensure that any person who is injured by the misconduct or negligence of others can obtain justice in America’s courtrooms, even when taking on the most powerful interests. Formerly known as the American Trial Lawyers Association (ATLA), AAJ was founded in 1946, and today represents the world’s largest trial bar as a broad-based, international coalition of attorneys, law professors, paralegals, and law students.

About Waters Kraus & Paul

Waters Kraus & Paul is the West Coast practice of Waters & Kraus, LLP — a nationally recognized plaintiffs’ firm concentrating on complex product liability and personal injury/wrongful death cases, particularly asbestos-mesothelioma. In addition to toxic tort litigation, the firm’s diverse practice includes pharmaceutical product liability, negligence, elder financial abuse, and consumer product liability, as well as qui tam (whistleblower) and commercial litigation. With offices in California, Texas, and Maryland, Waters & Kraus has litigated cases in jurisdictions across the United States on behalf of individuals from all 50 states, as well as foreign governments. 

Orion G. Callison, III has opened The Callison Law Firm P.A. in Miami, Florida. The firm's practice will primarily focus on commercial litigation, labor and employment law, and education law. Mr. Callison is a 1988 graduate of Columbia University School of Law, where he was a member of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1985, with highest honors. The firm has a website at www.callisonlawfirm.com.

Herzfeld & Rubin P.C. is relocating its headquarters to 125 Broad St. in New York's Financial District, after a 50-year stint at 40 Wall St.

Mack-Cali, which owns roughly 40 percent of the 40-story office tower, signed the global law firm to a 20-year, 56,322-square-foot lease. The new deal brings the REIT's 525,000-square-foot portion of the 1.3 million-square-foot high-rise to full occupancy. Mark Shapses, Joseph Messina and Jason Schwartzenberg with Studley represented Herzfeld & Rubin.

The law firm joins prominent tenants such as Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), both of which own their space. Herzfeld & Rubin's 64,736-square-foot lease at 40 Wall St., which encompasses floors 50 through 56, is up at the end of this year. The new space offers comparable size, but on less than two floors.

The new deal brings a nearly four-year search to an end. "We were hired in 2005 to find a more cost-effective, efficient occupancy solution for the firm, and periodically went out into the market looking for space," said Shapses. "The market went through extraordinary price and availability changes in that period. The right situation with the right economics hadn’t surfaced until now."

Schwartzenberg noted that the space hadn't even hit the market yet. "We knew it would soon be vacated so we moved quickly to secure it."

Mack-Cali will cover 100 percent of the modifications Herzfeld & Rubin requires. The concession package also includes free rent and furnishings.

Continuing its string of long-term deals, Mack-Cali also signed Global Aerospace to a 12-year lease in Parsippany, NJ. The aerospace insurer took 47,891 square feet at One Sylvan Way at the Mack-Cali Business Campus. Kenneth Flynn of Jones Lang LaSalle represented Global Aerospace.

Global Aerospace is relocating its U.S. headquarters from 22 Sylvan Way, also part of the Mack-Cali Business Campus. Wyndham Worldwide Operations leased the entire 250,000-square-foot office building for 15 years in January, according to CoStar information.

Ken Solomon and Don V. Kelly, registered patent attorneys at the law firm Gallop, Johnson & Neuman (www.gjn-ip.com), have been approved by the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, as certified neutrals in the Court's alternative dispute resolution (ADR) program. Their names are included on an exclusive roster of neutrals from which parties before the U.S. District Court may chose when a law suit is referred to alternative dispute resolution by judicial order.

Mr. Kelly and Mr. Solomon are among a small handful of patent attorneys in Missouri who qualify as mediators under Missouri Supreme Court Rule 17. They each were certified after completing formal mediation training at the Saint Louis University School of Law.

"A growing number of businesses are looking to alternative dispute resolution and its cost-effective benefits and its flexible, speedy, business-oriented options for resolving disputes as the alternative to traditional litigation and its limited means for relief.  As certified neutrals, we are able to offer clients and litigants mediation and arbitration expertise to help resolve disputes in areas of patent and trademark  infringement, licensing and other matters to achieve quick, creative, certain, and business-driven resolution, while at the same time avoiding costly litigation processes," Mr. Solomon and Mr. Kelly said in a statement.

Mr. Solomon and Mr. Kelly are both partners of the firm and members of the Intellectual Property Law Practice at Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C., one of the largest full-service law firms in St. Louis.

Mr. Solomon, chair of the IP Law Practice, has substantial oversight and management experience gained over more than 25 years of preparing and prosecuting hundreds of patents and trademark applications, maintaining such rights and protecting such rights through client counseling, policing, licensing, negotiating, defending against claims asserted by others, and through litigation. The May 2009 edition of Intellectual Property Today magazine features an article by Mr. Solomon entitled “Arbitration & Mediation: A More Effective Way to Protect Valuable Intellectual Property” explaining how ADR can short-circuit expensive litigation to achieve better results.

Mr. Solomon’s practice over the past 15 years has been primarily focused on managing large client patent and trademark portfolios in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and, also, international patent and trademark offices. His expertise includes drafting and prosecuting diverse intellectual property agreements and preparing patentability, validity and infringement opinions on behalf of clients. He has substantial experience in many industry sectors and technologies involving chemical and mechanical arts, pharmaceutical products and processes, among many others. He earned a J.D. from the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law, currently ranked among the five top law schools in the country for intellectual property law by U.S. News & World Report, and a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Mr. Kelly represents clients in litigation and intellectual property matters. He concentrates his practice in the areas of patent infringement, trademark infringement, trade secret litigation, non-compete agreements and business disputes. He has handled numerous multi-million dollar trade secret, franchise, contract and intellectual property cases. He has drafted and prosecuted patent applications for engine components, industrial tools, computer equipment, fuel systems, optical coatings and food industry apparatus, among many other technologies. He also counsels clients regarding trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, technology license agreements and infringement analyses.

Mr. Kelly is featured in a recent article in Midwest CEO discussing indemnity rights. He has served extensively as lead counsel in state and federal jury and non-jury trials. His experience includes handling medical malpractice, toxic tort, pharmaceutical, medical device and products liability litigation. Mr. Kelly earned a J.D. degree from Washington University School of Law and a B.S. in physics from Duke University.

Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C., a full service law firm of 80 attorneys, has provided legal services to clients in all industries since its founding in 1976. The firm received an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau in its January 2009 ratings of Missouri law firms. The firm is located at 101 South Hanley Road, Suite 1700, in Clayton, Missouri. For more information, visit www.gjn.com. For information about the firm’s Intellectual Property Law Practice, contact Ken Solomon or Don Kelly at 314.615.6000.

For more information, contact Lois LaDriere, Director of Marketing, at 314.615.6103

The law firm of Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C. (www.gjn.com) served as counsel to Stratus Building Solutions, an industry-leading provider of integrated facilities maintenance services for retail, commercial, industrial, professional and multi-family buildings and real estate property, in connection with  expansion of the company's successful licensed building services and building maintenance operations into Canada.


The transaction, which was effective May 4, 2009, allows Stratus Building Solutions of Canada, a newly formed entity based in Toronto, Ontario, to use Stratus Building Solutions' trade secrets, copyrighted materials and branding in Canada.  The new entity will offer building services and maintenance licenses under the Stratus Building Solutions brand in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan.

Robert D. Cantwell, a partner at Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C., served as lead counsel for Stratus Building Solutions.  Mr. Cantwell’s legal practice focuses on business, corporate and governmental law with an emphasis on complex mergers and acquisitions, gaming and franchising.

St. Louis-based Stratus Building Solutions (www.stratusclean.com) offers 16 different building service and maintenance plans providing “environmentally green” cleaning systems, products, services and marketing support. These include the “Stratus GreenClean” program which uses environmentally-friendly products and services to help sustain healthier, more productive facilities. Also, the firm offers a program called “Stratus Sani-Proof” that kills Influenza Type A and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), and other bacteria often found in offices, schools, daycare centers, health clubs, medical facilities and industrial buildings.

Stratus Building Solutions of Canada will operate under an agreement established with Stratus Building Solutions. Jeffrey B. Aibel and Kenneth Casseri will own and manage the new Canadian operation.  

Dennis Jarrett, chief executive officer, and Pete Frese, president, founded Stratus Building Solutions in 2004 after each worked for more than a decade as senior executives in building services and maintenance industries.

Gallop, Johnson & Neuman has served clients around the world since 1976 from its offices in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the largest law firms in St. Louis. The firm serves entrepreneurs, privately-held companies and start-up firms; public corporations; private equity funds; individuals and families; trustees and trust beneficiaries; charities; and non-profit entities. Offices are located at 101 South Hanley Road, Suite 1700, Clayton, Missouri, 63105.  

Stratus Building Solutions currently has U.S. operations in Connecticut, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, with plans for further international expansion.  

For information about Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, please contact Lois A. LaDreier at 314.615.6000 or visit the website www.gjn.com. For information about Stratus Building Solutions, see the website www.stratusclean.com 

or call  314.731.2000 or toll-free at 877.731.2020. Media contact: Jeff Dunlap at 314.993.6925.