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DLA Piper is pleased to announce the appointment of Stéphane Lemarchand as the new Intellectual Property & Technology (IP&T) International Group Head. Stéphane's appointment follows the restructuring of DLA Piper's Executive which saw the appointment of Simon Levine, previous International Group Head of IP&T, to the position of joint Managing Director for Group and Sectors. In his new role, Stéphane will take responsibility for the further development of the IP&T Group in Europe, the Middle-East and Asia-Pacific, and for sharing the management of this practice worldwide with John Allcock, Head of IP&T in the United-States. Stephane will notably have to keep on implementing the IP&T strategic plan, this with a priority focus on the region Asia-Pacific. The Intellectual Property & Technology group counts over 400 expert lawyers covering Europe, Middle-East, and Asia-Pacific, and over 200 in the United-States. Stéphane is a renowned specialist, both in France and further afield, in IT Law. He joined DLA Piper in November 2010 as Head of the IP&T team in Paris where he has been integral in the building of one of France's only full-service IP&T team in the legal market. Stéphane is the first partner of the Paris office being appointed as International Group Head. Commenting on his appointment, Stéphane said: "I am delighted with the opportunity to lead DLA Piper's IP&T Group on an international level. It is an incredibly important practice for the firm; we have some extraordinary talent and are doing some great work."
In growing numbers, people find themselves exposed to identity theft on Twitter and Facebook. This article briefly explores how to take action against fake social media accounts. It will firstly describe Twitter’s and Facebook’s Own Policies, followed by the recent developments in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. Then will be discussed how these fake accounts can be tackled. This article concludes with expectations about future developments.Read the full article
DLA Piper's Tax practice was awarded as "European Energy Tax Firm of the Year 2012" at the European International Tax Review Awards 2012. Recently the team has been ranked for the first time in the European-wide category in the Chambers legal directory . Every year, the British magazine International Tax Review awards special service firms for their outstanding consultancy services. In 2011 DLA Piper acted on some multi-jurisdictional tax projects for prominent clients from the Energy & Water sector, among them Valero Energy Corporation and Ralos New Energies AG. The Tax Team has specifically grown in France, Germany, Austria and Luxemburg and due to its international focus it is regularly appointed to act in multi-jurisdictional tax matters. Apart from companies from the energy sector, the firm also advises technology and insurance companies as well as banking institutions. "I am very pleased about our international team's double success. It shows that our broad expertise as well as the high quality of our work are recognized and appreciated throughout Europe.", says Franz Althuber, Partner and Head of the Tax group at DLA Piper Vienna.
DLA Piper's Corporate and Real Estate teams have advised Vue Entertainment on the acquisition of Apollo Cinemas Limited.
The acquisition which was led by a team of DLA Piper lawyers including Elia Montorio, Ciaran Stone and Phebe Cassidy from Corporate, and Anita Weightman and Vanessa Rickard from Real Estate, will see Vue Entertainment add a further 14 cinemas to its growing portfolio.
One of the fastest growing cinema chains, Vue's state-of-the-art circuit now boasts 85 multiplexes and 800 screens across the UK, Ireland, Portugal and Taiwan, and will add new locations such as Altrincham, Barrow in Furness, Morecambe, Rhyl and Stafford to its footprint.
Anita Weightman, DLA Piper's head of real estate and client relationship partner for Vue said: "We were thrilled to have been able to provide advice to Vue on this transaction. The combination of UK locations and high quality cinema provisions makes Apollo's circuit of cinemas a perfect fit for Vue Entertainment as its grows its footprint across the UK.
"Our Corporate and Real Estates teams are both well regarded and this transaction demonstrates our ability to handle large scale projects both within the region and also the wider national and international markets."
DLA Piper is delighted to have collected the European Energy Tax Firm of the Year 2012 at the International Tax Review Awards 2012. Roderik Bouwman, DLA Piper's International Head of Tax, said: "This past year has been very strong for the Tax Group in the Energy Sector, that saw us act, alongside many of our interdependency groups, on some fantastic multi-jurisdictional tax projects. We had the opportunity to work for some very high calibre clients such as Valero Energy Corporation and Ralos New Energies AG. "This is further evidence of the great recognition we, as a team, are gaining within the tax community and further strengthens DLA Piper's offering in the Energy Sector. I would like to personally congratulate and thank, amongst others, Maricla Pennesi, Svitlana Musienko, Mark Burgess, Marcin Matyka and Mike Lebovitz who worked on the deals and the compelling submission that ultimately won us this award."
DLA Piper has won the award for Turkish law firm of the year, through its affiliation with YükselKarkınKüçük Attorney Partnership ("YKK"), at the Chambers Europe Awards for Excellence 2012 held in Amsterdam on 10 May.
This award has been presented for the first time in 2012 in recognition of the growing legal market in Turkey. DLA Piper established an office in Istanbul in 2010, having obtained the necessary approval from the Istanbul Bar, to provide advice on international and foreign law. At that time six Turkish partners from YKK became members of DLA Piper International LLP with permission from the Istanbul Bar.
Chambers awards honour outstanding law firms and legal professionals; the awards reflect both pre-eminence in key practice areas and achievements over the last 12 months, including notable work, strategic growth, excellence in client service, and contribution to the legal profession.
Murat Karkın, co-managing partner of the Istanbul office, commented: "it is a great honour to win the Chambers Europe Award. We have had a tremendous year. Providing our clients with outstanding service is our top priority and it is very pleasing to be given an award in recognition of the high quality of our work."
In response to the award, Cüneyt Yüksel, co-managing partner of the Istanbul office, said: "we are delighted to have been named Turkish law firm of the year by Chambers Europe. This award is well-deserved acknowledgment of the firm's efforts to grow into one of the leading practices in Turkey."
DLA Piper today announced that it has represented Appleton Papers in a US$675 million business combination with Hicks Acquisition Company II. Appleton is a leading manufacturer of specialty high value-added coated paper products and a provider of proprietary encapsulation applications. Hicks Acquisition Company II is a special purpose acquisition company founded and headed by Thomas O. Hicks with US$149.3 million of cash in trust. Under the terms of the proposed business combination, Hicks Acquisition Company II will invest the cash held in trust to acquire an equity interest in Appleton. Proceeds from the transaction will be used by Appleton to reduce outstanding debt, invest in the company, buy back warrants or for other general corporate purposes. The DLA Piper team was led by Neal Aizenstein (Chicago) with assistance from Andrew Weil (Chicago), Christopher Paci (New York) and Richard Ashley (Chicago).
DLA Piper today announces that a group of lawyers led by partners Joyce Chan and Heng Loong Cheong will join the firm's Hong Kong office from Dewey & LeBoeuf. Joyce Chan is the Principal of Joyce Sze Ho Chan & Co, Dewey & LeBoeuf’s Hong Kong associated firm. Joyce specialises in insurance and has over a decade of experience in the insurance industry advising on a broad range of regulatory and corporate insurance matters. Previously, she has led the legal teams at AXA China Region Insurance Company Limited and New York Life Insurance Worldwide Limited in Hong Kong. Heng Loong Cheong is a corporate lawyer whose practice comprises public and private mergers and acquisitions, complex corporate reorganisations and equity and debt capital markets transactions. He has extensive experience advising companies in the insurance, natural resources and renewable energy sectors. Prior to joining Dewey & LeBoeuf, Heng Loong spent six years at Clifford Chance London as a general corporate finance lawyer. Joyce and Heng Loong follow a number of significant additions to DLA Piper’s insurance practice including most recently Paul Chen, former managing partner of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s Hong Kong office, who has joined DLA Piper’s office in Silicon Valley. In February 2012, Bill Marcoux, who leads the firm’s Global Insurance Transactions and Regulation Group, joined the firm in New York and PK Paran, Roger Loo and Melanie James were appointed to DLA Piper’s London office and Peter Rice to the Boston office, in April 2012. Bob Charlton, Managing Director of DLA Piper Asia-Pacific, commented: “Joyce and Heng Loong are very high caliber lawyers with impressive reputations advising insurance companies on complex transactions. We will be delighted to welcome both Joyce and Heng Loong to our Hong Kong office where they will not only significantly boost our corporate offering locally but across our global platform too.” “Our insurance and reinsurance capabilities are growing at a phenomenal rate,” said Bill Marcoux, head of DLA Piper’s Insurance Sector Transactions and Regulation practice. “The appointments of Joyce and Heng Loong in Hong Kong, combined with the hire of Paul Chen to work across Silicon Valley and New York, will put us in an extremely strong and unique position to meet the growing demand for insurance-related transactional activity in Asia." "The critical mass we are achieving in the insurance arena will be crucial to the success of our clients around the world, particularly in Asia, which is quickly emerging as one of the most active transactional and regulatory markets in this important sector," said Michael P. Murphy, Global Head of DLA Piper's Insurance and Reinsurance Sector Group. "Joyce, Heng Loong and their group will be extremely important players in the market who will enhance what is already one of the leading, multi-dimensional practices of its kind."
DLA Piper has advised CAE, a global leader in modelling, simulation and training for civil aviation and defence, on its acquisition of Oxford Aviation Academy (OAA) in a deal worth C$314 million. CAE offers civil aviation, military, and helicopter training services in more than 45 locations worldwide and trains approximately 100,000 crewmembers yearly. It employs around 8,000 people at more than 100 sites and training locations in approximately 30 countries. In addition, the CAE Oxford Aviation Academy offers training to aspiring pilot cadets in 12 CAE-operated flight schools. OAA offers seven type-rating training facilities in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, equipped with 40 full-flight simulators and 27 cabin crew trainers. The academy runs approved flight crew, cabin crew and aircraft maintenance training on a range of aircraft types including Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, BAE Systems, Embraer and Saab. OAA also offers four ab-initio flight academies in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Hong Kong, equipped with 88 airplanes which have trained 26,000 pilots during the past 50 years. The acquisition strengthens CAE's global reach and leadership in civil aviation training by increasing its training centre footprint, growing its Ab-Initio flight training network and extending its portfolio by adding OAA’s Parc Aviation, the global leader in pilot and maintenance crew sourcing for airlines and leasing companies. The DLA Piper team in London was led by partner and Head of M&A (EMEA) Bob Bishop with corporate partner Jon Kenworthy and associate David Beech. They were assisted by partners Alexandra Kamerling (competition) and John Connor (banking). The multi-jurisdictional transaction involved the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Australia, Hong Kong, US, Canada, Ireland and Malta. Bob Bishop said: "we are delighted to have advised CAE on its acquisition of Oxford Aviation Academy which has contributed considerably to CAE's already strong position in the civil aviation training market. The deal marks another complex cross border transaction involving more than ten jurisdictions and is representative of the type of work DLA Piper was created to do." Hartland Paterson, General Counsel at CAE, commented: "CAE has collaborated with DLA Piper since the '90s and today works with the firm in some 15 countries. The Oxford training business is an important and complex transaction for CAE. We were superbly advised and ably supported by the DLA Piper team led by Bob Bishop and comprising key members Jon Kenworthy and David Beech, as well as others advising on antitrust, tax and other concerns. CAE would not hesitate to use the DLA Piper team again for any major M&A transaction."
DLA Piper partner Prof Dr Patrick van Eecke participated in the FOSI (Family Online Safety Institute) Brussels Forum 'Safety and Privacy in a Digital Europe - An International Perspective' at the European Parliament on 15 May 2012. Together with Lambert van Nistelrooij, Member of the European Parliament, and John Carr, Senior Expert Adviser to the United Nations (International Telecommunication Union), he has been speaking in the panel 'An International Perspective: The Current Worldwide Regulatory Landscape'. Prof. Van Eecke set the scene by putting the European online regulatory landscape in a global context. The discussion was focusing on several key topics, including parliamentary attitudes to online safety and privacy, the balance between regulation and self-regulation, and specific industry and technology solutions to online safety and their implications for privacy. During his speech he developed the notion of a dual legal framework in Europe: offline versus online and he also commented on the implications of data protection in a global perspective.
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