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Law firm mergers down 24 percent in 2009
Legal Network | 2010/01/06 20:53

Last year, law firms chose to buckle down and manage their expenses instead of expanding their businesses with mergers and acquisitions, according to recently released data.

In 2009 there were 53 new law firm mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. That was down 24 percent over 2008’s total, according to a report from legal research firm Altman Weil MergerLine.

About 79 percent of 2009’s deals involved the acquisition of small law firms with 20 or fewer lawyers, per the report.

“This reflects law firms’ cautious approach last year, as most firms spent 2009 focused on internal issues of cost cutting, layoffs, and compensation adjustments in response to the Great Recession,” said Altman Weil principal Ward Bower, in a statement. “But we expect to see an uptick in 2010 as deals currently on hold pending 2009 year-end results are finalized.”

One of the big exceptions to that, which was cited in the report, involved Boston-based Bingham McCutchen, which acquired McKee Nelson, a 120-attorney firm, in August. Another big deal saw K&L Gates, which has a large presence in Boston, acquire Bell Boyd and Lloyd in January.

The biggest deal, per the report, was the merger of the U.K.’s Lovells LLP with Washington, D.C.-based Hogan & Hartson. When that deal is ultimately finalized in May of 2010, it will be the second largest law firm merger ever accomplished, forming a 2,500-lawyer firm, according to Altman Weil.



Judge orders new trial in Chicago patronage case
Legal Network | 2009/12/24 05:00
A federal judge threw out the fraud conviction of Chicago's former streets and sanitation commissioner Tuesday and granted him a new trial on charges of illegally rewarding political campaign workers with city jobs.

Al Sanchez was convicted at the high profile trial based on testimony from a key witness whose arrest record and gang affiliations should have been disclosed beforehand to defense attorneys but were not, Judge Robert W. Gettleman said.

FBI agents based in Indiana also should have told prosecutors in Chicago that the witness, Brian Gabriel, was under investigation in a gang war between the Spanish Vice Lords and Latin Kings at the time of the trial, Gettleman said.

And the prosecutors could have learned of that investigation if they had performed a records search, Gettleman said in his 22-page opinion.

"Based on these findings, this court has lost confidence in the integrity of the verdict convicting these defendants," Gettleman said in his 22-page opinion.

Gettleman also ordered a new trial for a youthful former aide to Sanchez, Aaron Delvalle, who was convicted of one count of perjury at the March trial.

The trial attracted the spotlight because as streets and sanitation commissioner Sanchez headed a department that for decades was a major pool of patronage jobs for the once mighty Chicago Democratic Machine. That spotlight was intensified because in recent years the U.S. attorney's office has conducted a major investigation of hiring fraud at City Hall.



Lyondell settles lawsuit brought by unsecured creditors
Legal Network | 2009/12/07 19:16
Lyondell Chemical Co. settled a lawsuit brought by its unsecured creditors against bank lenders to help the chemical company reorganize in bankruptcy. The creditors don't support the agreement.

The settlement, which still needs court approval, resolves a lawsuit brought by the creditors on behalf of Lyondell against the company's bank lenders related a 2007 buyout, Lyondell spokesman David Harpole said in a phone interview.

Creditors' lawyer Steven Pohl said while his clients don't support the deal, under bankruptcy law Lyondell owns the creditors' claims and has the right to settle.

“Its especially unusual on the eve of a trial for the debtor to come in and settle when the parties have spent four months getting ready for trial,” said Pohl in a phone interview.

The proposed settlement would give the creditors a cash payment of $300 million when Lyondell exits bankruptcy, and establish a litigation trust to fund lawsuits against third parties. The accord was reached after a mediator, whose appointment was announced Nov. 9, failed to resolve the dispute, Harpole said.

“This clears the path for us to move forward with filing an amended disclosure statement and exiting bankruptcy,” Harpole said.

Lyondell's creditors and lenders accepted the appointment of mediator Myron Trepper “for the purpose of facilitating settlement discussions,” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber said in court papers filed Nov. 9. The lawsuit, filed July 22, sought a trial to determine damages.

The lawsuit claimed Lyondell's 2007 buyout, financed with $22 billion in borrowings, left the company with too much debt and caused it to fail a year later. The suit names Lyondell's parent, Netherlands-based LyondellBasell Industries AF, and banks including ABN Amro Bank NV, Citibank NA, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and UBS AG.


Pension drops lawsuit against ACS over Xerox buy
Legal Network | 2009/11/23 18:03

NORWALK, Conn. — Xerox Corp. said Monday that a pension fund hasdropped a lawsuit over provisions in the copier company's purchase ofAffiliated Computer Services Inc. that would have made it tough for abetter buyout offer to succeed.

Xerox said the plaintiffs, Cityof St. Clair Shores Police and Fire Retirement System in Michigan,ended the litigation after the copier company agreed to removeroadblocks to a superior offer for ACS.

Xerox agreed that if theACS board receives a better offer to its $5.6 billion cash-and-stockbid for ACS, the copier company will not require ACS Chairman DarwinDeason to vote his shares in favor of Xerox.

The previousagreement would have forced Deason to give half of his votes to supportthe Xerox bid. He controls a 44 percent of the votes at ACS.

Xerox also won't force ACS to hold a shareholders meeting to vote on the Xerox bid but instead end the merger if requested.

The lawsuit was filed in October in Dallas County, Texas. A separate shareholder class action lawsuit is pending in Delaware.



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