White & Case Adds London Partner to Executive Committee
White & Case yesterday shook up its executive committee as a New York intellectual property partner stepped down to be replaced by the head of the firm's London office. The firm said Dimitrios Drivas would step down "to devote himself full time to serving clients and further developing" the firm's IP practice, which he heads globally. Mr. Drivas will be replaced by Oliver Brettle, the managing partner in London.
White & Case chairman Hugh Verrier said in a statement he was "grateful" for Mr. Drivas's contributions to the firm's management. The firm is "fortunate to have him return his full attention to the service of his clients and practice," Mr. Verrier said. Mr. Drivas was preparing a witness for trial and was unavailable for comment.
White & Case revamped its management structure in 2007 following Mr. Verrier's election to chairman. The firm created an executive committee with members chosen by Mr. Verrier and a partnership committee whose members were elected. From its creation, London has lacked representation on the executive committee, which is principally in charge of decision making at the firm. With Mr. Drivas's departure, the four-member committee will see New York representation drop from three partners to two: Mr. Verrier and corporate partner Anthony Kahn.
A spokesman for White & Case said Mr. Drivas's departure should not be interpreted as a de-emphasis on intellectual property. There have been departures, namely three IP litigators in Silicon Valley who left White & Case last month to join Cooley Godward & Kronish. And New York IP partner Jonathan Moskin left in August to join Foley & Lardner. But the spokesman said White & Case's IP practice, which has 200 lawyers worldwide, "is very, very busy" and "we want to make it even bigger." - Nate Raymond
Paul Weiss Adds Partner to Bolster Investment Group
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison yesterday brought on a former Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett partner in an effort to bolster its investment management transactional practice. Robert Goldbaum will focus on mergers and acquisitions in the investment management industry. Mr. Goldbaum practiced at Simpson until 2006 and was most recently a principal at HighView Investment Group, an investment management firm started by BlackRock co-founder Ralph Schlosstein that closed in April.
For Paul Weiss, the addition will allow the firm to strengthen its offerings in investment management. "The current financial crisis has caused a lot of movement in the asset management space," said Paul Ginsberg, co-head of Paul Weiss' M&A practice. "There's just a lot of activity…and I think it will continue."
Earlier this year, Paul Weiss advised the managers of Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking Partners in a spin-off of the private equity arm from its fallen parent's bankruptcy estate. Paul Weiss also represented JPMorgan Chase & Co. in spinning-off fund assets owned by The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. Mr. Goldbaum will be focused on advising clients in similar transactions as the firm expects further deal work in the area. "There's a lot of disruption happening in the industry," he said.
Mr. Goldbaum joined Simpson Thacher in 1993 and made partner in 2000, focusing on transactions involving the asset management industry. In 2006, he left Simpson Thacher to join one of his largest clients, Affiliated Managers Group Inc., as a senior vice president. As the financial landscape began to change, a mutual friend of Mr. Schlosstein called at the end of 2007 to see if he would be interested in joining HighView as one of its first principals. They spent most of last year fundraising, but following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the financial crisis that followed, the principals concluded in light of market conditions to close HighView in April. Mr. Schlosstein in May became president of Evercore Partners, one of Mr. Goldbaum's clients before he left Simpson. - Nate Raymond
Panel Hears Appeal in Judicial Pay Suit
A lawyer representing the state Legislature yesterday asked the Appellate Division, First Department, to overturn its June decision in another case upholding, on separation of powers grounds, an order requiring that the state's 1,300 judges receive a cost-of-living raise. The earlier order should be withdrawn, Richard Dolan of Schlam Stone & Dolan told the five-judge panel, because two laws passed by the Senate in 2007 undermined the court's ruling that lawmakers and the governor had violated the separation of powers doctrine by linking the raise to extraneous issues. Both bills, Mr. Dolan said, contained no linkage provision.
But Bernard Nussbaum of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, who represented the court system, countered that Manhattan Justice Edward H. Lehner (See Profile) had correctly found linkage because it was well known that the governor and both houses were deadlocked on a raise because they had demanded passage of bills, which they could not agree on, as a precondition. Yesterday's arguments were heard by Presiding Justice Luis A. Gonzalez (See Profile) and Justices Peter Tom (See Profile), Karla Moskowitz (See Profile), Eugene Nardelli (See Profile) and Dianne T. Renwick (See Profile).
Justice Lehner had found impermissible linkage in both appeals: the judiciary's lawsuit, Chief Judge v. Governor, 400763/08, which was argued yesterday, and the earlier case, Larabee v. Governor, 2009 WL 1652845, which was brought by four individual judges.
Meanwhile, because the Court of Appeals has agreed to hear arguments in Larabee and a second case, Maron v. Silver, 58 AD3d 102, which the Third Department dismissed (NYLJ, Nov. 14, 2008), the linkage issue is already before the Court. In November, the Court is expected to hear oral arguments on both appeals. - Daniel Wise
Judge Finds Seinfeld Book Does Not Violate Trademark
A federal judge has tossed out a cookbook author's claim that the wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld was a culinary copycat when she came out with a cookbook of her own. Southern District Judge Laura Taylor Swain yesterday threw out a lawsuit brought against the Seinfeld couple by author Missy Chase Lapine. The judge said in Lapine v. Seinfeld, 08-cv-00128, there were many significant differences between Ms. Lapine's book and a book written by Jessica Seinfeld. Both books were best sellers. The judge said the marketplace impressions of each book were unlikely to create consumer confusion. Ms. Lapine's book is titled "The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals." Ms. Seinfeld's cookbook is titled "Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food." - Associated Press
Personal Notes on Lawyers
• Matthew K. Kerfoot has joined Dechert as a counsel in the financial services group. He was senior vice president on HSBC's Global Structured Fund Products desk.
• Wiggin and Dana has expanded its public securities and emerging companies practices with the addition of Scott L. Kaufman as a partner. He was a partner at Cooley Godward Kronish.
