ALUMNI UPDATE

Announcing Our New Connection to Brazil

Kenyan Law Firm JOINS OUR Exclusive Alliance

RECENT HIGH-PROFILE MATTERS

• AsiaInfo Holdings, Inc.’s acquisition of Linkage Technologies International Holdings Limited, a leading provider of software solutions and IT services for the telecommunications industry in China, in a deal valued at US$733 million
• The Ryland Group, Inc.'s victory in a putative class action spanning three years, dismissing all five counts of unfair competition, false advertising, fraud, negligent misrepresentation and breach of implied covenant
• Sun Life Financial’s acquisition of long-term stadium naming rights, sponsorship and promotional benefits for Dolphins Stadium, renamed the Sun Life Stadium
• Broadcom Corporation's directors’ class and derivative litigations involving a several billion dollar restatement and settlement of all claims
• The Chubb Corporation’s victory in two coordinated putative class actions pending in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York
• MOL Global’s acquisition of Friendster, Inc., a major social networking site based in Mountain View, California
• Initiate Systems’ sale to IBM
• E*TRADE Financial Corporation and E*TRADE Securities LLC’s victory resulting in a dismissal of a securities class action
• Equity Residential’s US$475 million acquisition of three luxury apartment buildings in Manhattan
• Reddy Ice Holdings, Inc. and Reddy Ice Corporation's approximately US$450 million complex recapitalization transaction to refinance all of its outstanding indebtedness 
• The former CEO of KLA-Tencor Corporation’s victory in shareholder derivative litigation, shareholder class actions and employment litigation against his former company
• Palm, Inc.'s victory in a "bet the company" two-patent investigation that settled on extremely favorable terms
• JDS Uniphase Corporation’s agreement to acquire certain assets from Agilent Technologies, Inc. for US$165 million
• Harrison Street Real Estate Capital’s formation of a joint venture with Extra Space Storage to acquire 19 self-storage facilities for US$132.5 million
• Brookfield Real Estate Opportunity Fund's acquisition of a 16-property, 2.9-million square-foot office portfolio
• Mistral Equity Partners and Shearer's Foods, Inc.'s (a Mistral portfolio company) acquisition of 100 percent of the stock of Snack Alliance, Inc. and Nalley's Canada Limited, including the refinancing of the existing debt of Shearer's and the target companies
• Porsche Cars’ victory over a putative class action complaint in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
• Japan Cash Machine Co. Ltd.'s cross-border dispute over a patent infringement matter that resulted in a damages award of US$11.4 million
• Icahn Capital LP's and certain of its affiliates' tender offer for additional shares of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp

Celebrating Women’s History Month

DLA Piper and our Leadership Alliance for Women (LAW) celebrated Women’s History Month throughout March to recognize the many contributions of women to the practice of law. Our month-long program included a series of events in our offices nationwide – all designed to strengthen our relationships with our clients, promote our commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace and celebrate women in the law. For nearly 30 years, Women’s History Month has been observed in communities, libraries and schools to honor the extraordinary achievements of American women.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Teaming Up with Pfizer on Pro Bono Projects

We are pleased to announce that DLA Piper has joined forces with Pfizer for a new pro bono initiative, Pro Bono Alliance for Health, to provide legal assistance in the form of advance directives including medical powers of attorney, health care proxies and simple wills as well as guardianship proceedings. Our lawyers will staff a clinic at the NYU Cancer Institute to meet with clients and provide assistance. We are honored that Pfizer approached us to take part in this alliance. Learn more about our pro bono program.

$300,000 Raised for Haiti

DLA Piper lawyers and staff were saddened by the devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti. Eager to make a difference, we conducted a firmwide campaign to raise funds to provide relief for survivors. In total, we raised $300,000 for relief organizations CHF International, Yéle Haiti, UNICEF and other humanitarian agencies. Our contribution helped provide critical supplies and restore shelter for Haitian citizens.

NEWS FROM THE PARTNERSHIP

• We were pleased to admit 41 lawyers from around the world to the partnership on January 1, 2010. These lawyers will play an important role in growing our business and achieving our vision to be the world’s leading business law firm. Learn more here >>
• A 10-person health care group joined DLA Piper from Sacramento firm McDonough Holland & Allen. The group – along with the addition of Senator Tom Daschle – significantly expands our ability to represent health care providers, which is a major area of potential growth for the firm. Partners Stephen Goff, Marcia Augsburger, Daniela Almeida, John Barnes, Brian Taylor and five other lawyers are joining our Sacramento office.
• Peter Darrow (New York) joined our Finance practice as a partner. He comes to DLA Piper from Mayer Brown, where he was a partner in its Banking and Finance group for 25 years. A recognized leader in corporate finance, Peter will help us develop an even stronger client base among leading banks, investment banks and other financial institutions. Peter’s addition is the latest step in our strategic expansion of the New York Corporate and Finance practice as well as our cross-border practice in emerging markets, including Latin America.
• Anastasia Kelly (Washington, DC) joined us as Of Counsel in the Corporate and Securities/Public Company and Corporate Governance practice. Stasia comes to DLA Piper from American International Group (AIG), where she served as Vice Chairman in charge of Legal, Compliance, Regulatory, Human Resources, Communications, Government Relations and Public Relations. Stasia is perhaps one of the country's most experienced lawyers for complex corporate governance and board crisis work.
• Curtis L. Mo (Silicon Valley) joined our Corporate and Securities practice as a partner. One of the most respected lawyers in Silicon Valley and in venture capital circles, Curtis most recently was founding partner of the Palo Alto office for Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP. He is the founder and co-chair of PLI’s Venture Capital conferences, served as co-chair of the Annual Institute on Securities Regulation from 2001-2006 and has been a member of the advisory board for the Annual Securities Regulation Institute in San Diego.
• Frank Pepler (San Francisco) strengthens our West Coast Restructuring practice and adds significant capabilities in Northern California. He joins us from Pepler Mastromonaco LLP, a boutique firm he co-founded in San Francisco five years ago with Pete Mastromonaco.
• Roger Rosendahl (Los Angeles) advances our strategy to expand our corporate and finance capabilities across the country and globally. He comes to DLA Piper from Kaye Scholer, LLP, to focus on corporate, finance and securities transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, project and structured finance and restructuring, energy, commercial and international arbitration and mediation as well as general corporate counseling.
• George B. South III (New York) is a major strategic addition to our Bankruptcy and Restructuring practice, bringing extra depth to the practice. Prior to joining us, he was a partner at King & Spalding LLP and also Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson. George's practice includes both in- and out-of-court restructurings, the rehabilitation of financially distressed businesses and municipalities and the representation of corporate debtors, creditors' committees, bondholders' committees, bond insurers, debtor-in-possession lenders and other parties with interests in financially troubled entities.
• Shale D. Stiller (Baltimore), former CEO of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, has re-joined DLA Piper. Shale is experienced in business, tax and estate planning matters and has also been chief counsel in major constitutional, commercial and divorce litigation. One of Baltimore's best known and well respected lawyers and a fixture in Baltimore's legal and civic circles for decades, Shale headed the $2-billion Weinberg Foundation for five years, is a long-time trustee of The Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Medicine and chairs Johns Hopkins Medicine’s compensation committee.

Congratulations to our Retirees

• With us for 46 years, Joe Finnerty (Baltimore) joined Piper & Marbury as an associate in 1963, where he rose through the ranks to become a partner in 1972 and then head of the Litigation practice for many years. He left Baltimore in the early 1990s to open our New York office and serve as its managing partner and was integral in leading that office before returning to Baltimore in 2006. Joe has been recognized as one of the finest trial lawyers in Maryland, focusing his practice on dispute resolution, professional liability, arbitrations, mediation, financial transactions and product liability. His son, Joe Finnerty III, heads DLA Piper’s East Coast Litigation practice.
• John Kratz (Baltimore) joined Piper & Marbury in 1969 as a law clerk, becoming an associate in 1970 and a partner in 1978. He has almost 40 years of experience in employee benefits planning. He designed and drafted all types of employee benefit programs, advised benefit plan fiduciaries on prohibited transaction and fiduciary responsibility questions under ERISA and dealt with benefit issues in mergers and acquisitions.
• Ned Martin (Northern Virginia/London) came to Piper & Marbury in early 1993 to head our Emerging Growth and Venture Capital practice. Focusing on high tech, telecommunications and dot.com enterprises, Ned steered the Emerging Growth and Venture Capital practice through the tremendous growth of the technology sector and through its subsequent restructurings. He was actively involved in negotiating the merger between Piper & Marbury and Rudnick & Wolfe in 1999, the merger with Verner Liipfert in 2002 and the 2005 merger with DLA. In 2005, Ned, along with Nancy Spangler, became the first lawyers from the US to work from the London office.
• Nancy Spangler (Northern Virginia/London) joined Piper & Marbury in early 1993. She became a partner in 1998 and was instrumental in building the Emerging Growth and Venture Capital practice through the growth of the region’s technology sector. In 2005, Nancy, along with Ned Martin, became the first lawyers from the US to work from the London office.

In Memorium
Since our last alumni update, we have been saddened by the loss of our colleague and friend Randy Tucker, a founding member of our Litigation group in Boston, where his practice included energy law, telecommunications, title insurance, real estate matters, gaming and bankruptcy. Randy passed away on February 17 after a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. His contributions to our firm, the legal profession and the community will long be remembered.

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