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Reed Smith considering merger with Texas firm
Industry News |
2010/10/04 09:19
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pPittsburgh-based Reed Smith, which has 150 lawyers in Philadelphia, is in early merger discussions with Dallas-based law firm Thompson amp; Knight, both firms confirmed Friday to the Pittsburgh Business Times./ppWe are in preliminary merger discussions with Texas-based Thompson amp; Knight, said Reed Smith Managing Partner Greg Jordan in an e-mail. “The discussions are preliminary and no final agreement or partner vote has been reached or taken.”/ppReed Smith has more than 1,500 lawyers, while Thompson amp; Knight has about 350 lawyers with a focus on the energy industry, including oil and gas, Jordan said./ppBecky Jackson, chief client services officer at Thompson amp; Knight, offered the following statement in an e-mail:/pp“In today’s legal environment, Thompson amp; Knight’s historical presence in Texas and our outstanding energy expertise are sought after by firms. For several years, we have regularly received inquiries regarding possible mergers. We have had preliminary conversations with Reed Smith, and they are obviously a great firm, but it is premature to characterize these discussions in any detail.”/ppUnder Jordan’s decade-long tenure, Reed Smith has grown from a Pittsburgh-centric 500-lawyer firm to an international firm three times the size through a series of major mergers and acquisitions. In 2001, the firm acquired 60-lawyer Warner Cranston of London. In January 2003, it acquired California’s 220-lawyer Crosby Heafey Roach amp; May. In 2007, the firm merged London’s 250-lawyer Richards Butler and 140-lawyer Sachnoff amp; Weaver of Chicago. And in January 2008, Reed Smith acquired 110-lawyer Richards Butler Hong Kong and 55 lawyers from New York’s Anderson Kill amp; Olick.
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Grand jury not targeting Deal, his lawyer says
Industry News |
2010/09/07 09:23
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| pNo federal grand jury is investigating former Congressman Nathan Deal, contrary to published reports and numerous ads by his opponents, the lawyer for the Republican gubernatorial candidate says./ppThere is no grand jury. That's just not true, said Randy Evans, who also has represented Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin and other notable Republicans facing ethics charges./ppFirst GOP primary foe Karen Handel and now Democrat Roy Barnes have used talk of such a probe as a battering ram./ppBarnes is airing TV ads claiming that - if elected - Deal could be distracted from his duties by a grand jury probe and argues that such ethical questions should disqualify him from being governor./ppThe speculation stems from claims then-Congressman Deal lobbied Georgia officials about his company's lucrative business arrangement with the state./p |
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Mass. court to hear appeal in sex harassment case
Industry News |
2010/09/06 23:27
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| pThe highest court in Massachusetts is set to hear an appeal of a $1.85 million award in a sexual harassment and discrimination suit filed by a former Somerset highway department employee./ppDuring her 2007 trial, Kim Pelletier said she was touched inappropriately on the job and subjected to viewing pornographic pictures and movies at the Highway Department’s building./ppShe said her numerous complaints were ignored./ppThe $1.85 million jury award was reduced to $300,000 by a judge, then increased to $600,000./ppPelletier notified the court she would accept the $600,000, but the town later appealed and Pelletier withdrew her acceptance. She’s now seeking the original jury award./ppThe Supreme Judicial Court will hear arguments in the case Wednesday./p |
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Choice of clerks highlights Supreme Court's polarization
Industry News |
2010/09/06 23:17
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| Each year, 36 young lawyers obtain the most coveted credential in U.S. law: a Supreme Court clerkship. Clerking for a justice is a glittering capstone on a resume that almost always includes outstanding grades at a top law school, service on a law review and a prestigious clerkship with a federal appeals court judge.pJustice Clarence Thomas apparently has one additional requirement. Without exception, the 84 clerks he has chosen over his two decades on the court all first trained with an appeals court judge appointed by a Republican president./ppThat unbroken ideological commitment is just the most extreme example of a recent and seldom examined form of political polarization on the Supreme Court. These days the more conservative justices are much more likely than were their predecessors to hire clerks who worked for judges appointed by Republicans. And the more liberal justices are more likely than in the past to hire from judges appointed by Democrats./ppEach justice typically hires four clerks a year. Since Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joined the court in 2005, Justice Antonin Scalia has not hired any clerks who had worked for a judge appointed by a Democratic president, and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. has hired only two. At the other end of the ideological spectrum, only four of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's clerks on the Roberts court came from judges appointed by Republicans. The early data on President Barack Obama's two appointees, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, show a similar pattern./ppBy contrast, Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, a conservative appointed by President Richard M. Nixon who led the court from 1969 to 1986, hired roughly even numbers of clerks who had worked for judges appointed by Democrats and Republicans. Judge Richard A. Posner, a generally conservative judge appointed to the bench by President Ronald Reagan, clerked for Justice William J. Brennan Jr., a liberal./p |
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