Eighty-three Jackson Walker attorneys were selected for inclusion in the 2016 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become widely regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer–review survey in which more than 52,000 leading attorneys cast almost 5.5 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

Jackson Walker lawyers listed Best Lawyers in America:

AUSTIN
Michael Adams (Litigation – Intellectual Property; Litigation – Patent, Patent Law, Trademark Law)
Jim Alsup (Real Estate Law)
Chuck Campbell (Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law)
Wade Cooper [10 Years] (Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights Law / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Litigation – Bankruptcy)
JoAnn Dalrymple (Litigation – Health Care)
Raman Dewan (Patent Law)
Leonard Dougal [10 Years] (Environmental Law; Litigation – Environmental; Water Law)
Matt Dow (Commercial Litigation)
Sam Hildebrand [10 Years] (Litigation – Trusts and Estates; Trusts and Estates)
Brandon Janes (Corporate Law)
Steven Martens [10 Years] (Real Estate Law)
Dudley McCalla * [10 Years] (Administrative/Regulatory Law; Insurance Law)
Steven Moore (Insurance Law)
Christopher Mugica (Commercial Litigation)
Mike Nasi [10 Years] (Environmental Law)
Robert Neblett [10 Years] (Commercial Litigation; Construction Law; Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law; Litigation – Construction)
James Pledger [10 Years] (Banking and Finance Law; Financial Services Regulation Law)
Thomas Rogers [10 Years] (Bet–the–Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Insurance Law; Litigation – Regulatory Enforcement)
Edward Small [10 Years] (Energy Law; Government Relations Practice; Litigation – Environmental)
Tim Taylor [10 Years] (Real Estate Law)
Jerry Webberman(Real Estate Law)

DALLAS
Bryan Birkeland [10 Years] (Real Estate Law)
Robert Cohan [10 Years] (Antitrust Law; Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Antitrust)
Patrick Cowlishaw [10 Years] (Litigation – Environmental)
William Dahlstrom * [10 Years] (Land Use & Zoning Law; Litigation – Land Use & Zoning; Real Estate Law)
Brian Dethrow (Tax Law)
Byron Egan [20 Years] (Corporate Compliance Law; Corporate Governance Law; Corporate Law; Mergers & Acquisitions Law)
Gary Fowler [10 Years] (Employment Law – Management; Labor Law – Management)
James Griffin [10 Years] (Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law)
Michael Haggerty [10 Years] (Banking and Finance Law; Real Estate Law)
Colter Harris (Real Estate Law)
Michael Held (Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Litigation – Bankruptcy)
John Holden [10 Years] (Energy Law; Oil and Gas Law)
William Hornberger [10 Years] (Tax Law)
John Jansonius [20 Years] (Employment Law – Management; Labor Law – Management)
Steve Jenkins [10 Years] (Real Estate Law)
Mark Josephs [10 Years] (Bet–the–Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants; Litigation – Mergers & Acquisitions; Litigation – Securities; Litigation – Trusts and Estates)
Michael Kaufman (Trusts and Estates)
Suzan Kedron (Real Estate Law)
Ronald Kerridge [10 Years] (Litigation & Controversy – Tax; Tax Law)
Michael Knapek (Litigation – Insurance)
Robert Latham [10 Years] (Commercial Litigation; First Amendment Law; Litigation – First Amendment; Litigation – Intellectual Property; Litigation – Patent; Sports Law)
Kathleen LaValle [10 Years] (Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Antitrust; Litigation – Regulatory Enforcement)
Frank McEachern (Energy Law)
Scott McElhaney (Commercial Litigation; Litigation – ERISA; Litigation – Labor & Employment)
Susan Mead [10 Years] (Land Use & Zoning Law; Litigation – Land Use & Zoning; Real Estate Law)
Retta Miller (Commercial Litigation)
David Moran (Aviation; Commercial Litigation)
Michael Moran (Construction Law)
Robert Ruckman * [10 Years] (Commercial Litigation; Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants; Transportation Law)
James Ryan (Corporate Law; Mergers & Acquisitions Law)
Gordon Shapiro [10 Years] (Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Banking & Finance; Litigation – Environmental; Litigation – Securities)
Jeffrey Sone (Corporate Law)
Peter Wahl (Environmental Law)
Paul Watler [20 Years] (Bet–the–Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; First Amendment Law; Litigation – First Amendment)

FORT WORTH
Albon Head [10 Years] (Bet–the–Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Construction; Railroad Law)
Gary Ingram [10 Years] (Employment Law – Management; Labor Law – Management; Litigation – Labor & Employment)
Jay Rutherford (Employment Law – Management; Labor Law – Management)
Paul Vrana [10 Years] (Derivatives and Futures Law; Energy Law; Natural Resources Law)

HOUSTON
Chip Babcock [25 years] (Bet–the–Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; First Amendment Law; Litigation – First Amendment; Litigation – Intellectual Property)
Barron Bogatto [10 Years] (Health Care Law)
Glen Boudreaux (Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Banking & Finance)
David Dunlap [10 Years] (Natural Resources Law; Oil & Gas Law)
Richard Griffin [10 Years] (Commercial Litigation)
Nancy Hamilton [10 Years] (Litigation – First Amendment)
Jeffrey Harder [10 Years] (Corporate Governance Law; Private Funds/Hedge Funds Law; Venture Capital Law)
Daniel Hayes (Health Care Law)
Michael Kuhn (Real Estate Law)
Scott McLaughlin (Employment Law – Management; Labor Law – Management; Litigation – Labor & Employment)
Alfie Meyerson [10 Years] (Real Estate Law)
Kurt Nondorf [10 Years] (Real Estate Law)
Michael Pearson [10 Years] (Natural Resources Law; Oil & Gas Law)
Vytas Petrulis (Real Estate Law)
James Prappas (Immigration Law)
John Ransom [10 Years] (Tax Law)
David Robins (Real Estate Law)
Bruce Ruzinsky (Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights Law / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Litigation – Bankruptcy)
Lionel Schooler (Arbitration; Labor Law – Management)
Darrell Taylor (Corporate Law)

SAN ANGELO
Donald Griffis [10 Years] (Arbitration; Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Labor & Employment; Mediation)

SAN ANTONIO
Edgar Morrison [10 Years] (Health Care Law)
Scott Rose * (Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights Law / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Litigation – Bankruptcy)
Patrick Tobin [10 Years] (Corporate Law)

* 2016 Lawyer of the Year

Term sheets and commitment letters are documents frequently used by lenders to outline the terms of a potential financing. However, these two documents differ with respect to what is required of, and whether the terms are binding on, the parties, write Paul M. Fogleman and Brian F. Corbett of Poyner Spruill LLP.

“A commitment letter differs from a term sheet in that it creates a binding agreement on the part of a lender to make a loan on the stated terms.” they write. “In addition, a commitment letter generally requires that a borrower reimburse a lender for out-of-pocket expenses and possibly pay a break-up fee if the loan transaction does not close, whereas there is generally no obligation for the borrower to pay these costs and fees in a term sheet.”

They offer some points to consider in drafting commitment letters and term sheets.

Read the article.

A thoughtful entrepreneur knows it is a better use of their time and money to hire someone to draft a contract at the beginning of a project than to try to do it themselves and have to hire a lawyer later to clean up the mess they created for themselves, writes Ruth Carter of Carter Law Firm in Phoenix.

She writes that she’s been seeing multiple situations where problems could have been prevented if the people involved had fully thought the situation through, called a lawyer to help them record their agreement in writing (and had the provisions they didn’t think about in advance), and signed their contract.

“Well written contracts are business gold,” she writes. “They put everyone on the same page from the beginning of the relationship and they outline how the parties will deal with problems when they occur.”

Read the article.

Traveling Coaches has announced the launch of their newest product – Springboard, a suite of consulting and talent development services designed to help law firm training managers and trainers transform their firms’ learning programs and develop new individual professional skills.

In a release, the company says Springboard brings best-in-class standards and award-winning expertise to law firms looking to elevate their internal training departments to work more effectively while delivering increased value to firm partners and employees. “Springboard provides a multi-tiered offering for boosting law firms’ training competencies at the program, leadership, team and individual trainer levels,” said Mike Sweeney, Senior Learning Consultant with Traveling Coaches.

The Traveling Coaches release continues:

Based on 20 years of successful projects with over 1,000 law firms and corporate legal departments and delivered by an award-winning team of consultants, Springboard is the distillation of a broad spectrum of research on effective adult education and efficient training delivery.

The foundation of the program is the Traveling Coaches Legal Trainer Certification Program.  This one-of-a-kind, six-week blended learning experience is legal-specific and designed to help law firm trainers develop skills to match current best-in-class standards for adult learning in a law firm environment.

At the other end of the spectrum is a comprehensive program review and recommendations to elevate a firm’s learning program to 21^st century standards.  The Springboard learning maturity scorecard uses a measurement-based approach to identify areas for program improvement based on your firm strategy and our best-in-class standards for efficiency and effectiveness.

Depending on the size of the learning organization, there are also Springboard coaching programs for law firm training managers who are looking for guidance as they plan new learning initiatives or shore up gaps in their current programs. Springboard training team development services are available to training departments who would benefit from improved alignment, consistency and collaboration across the team.

“Springboard is the culmination of months of hard work and collaboration between our consultants and a group of very gifted and forward-thinking learning, human resources and professional development professionals from firms all over the country”, added Gina Buser, Chief Executive Officer of Traveling Coaches. “Without exception, everyone to whom we have spoken has enthusiastically endorsed Springboard.”

Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP announces that 65 of the firm’s attorneys have been selected for inclusion in the 2016 edition of The Best Lawyers in America^©, including a Dallas partner who earned a “Lawyer of the Year” distinction. 

“The number of Gardere attorneys included on the Best Lawyers 2016 list is a prime example of the Firm’s dedication to providing the highest level of legal service to our clients,” says Gardere ChairHolland N. O’Neil. “We are extremely honored to have so many of our attorneys recognized in this year’s edition.”

For a second time, firm partner Scott D. Deatherage has earned recognition as the Best Lawyers^® Dallas Environmental Law “Lawyer of the Year.” Deatherage represents clients throughout Texas and other states before local, state and federal environmental agencies, as well as state and federal courts. For nearly 30 years, he has earned praise from clients and colleagues for handling environmental law matters affecting a variety of industry sectors.

Gardere attorneys named to the 2016 edition of The Best Lawyers in America list include: 

Austin:

Edward D. Burbach, Administrative/Regulatory Law

Mark Vane, Government Relations Practice

Catherine J. Webking, Energy Law

Kimberly A. Yelkin, Insurance Law

Dallas:

Val J. Albright, Tax Litigation and Controversy, Tax Law

David G. Cabrales, Commercial Litigation

Steven S. Camp, Banking and Finance Law

Chris Converse, Corporate Law

Scott L. Davis, Commercial Litigation

Scott D. Deatherage, Environmental Law

Marshall J. Doke, Jr., Commercial Litigation

Michael J. Donohue, Tax Litigation and Controversy, Tax Law

Michael W. Dubner, Intellectual Property Litigation

Robert Dyer, Jr., Real Estate Law

Mark Edwards, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law

Craig B. Florence, Commercial Litigation

Dwight M. Francis, Commercial Litigation

Jeffrey M. Gaba, Environmental Law

Kenneth R. Glaser, Intellectual Property Litigation, Patent Law

Lawrence E. Glasgow, Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law

Beverly B. Godbey, Commercial Litigation, Insurance Law

Lawrence B. Goldstein, Corporate Law

Stephen D. Good, Tax Law

Randy D. Gordon, Antitrust Law

Douglas D. Haloftis, Employment Law Management, Labor Law Management

Douglas A. Harrison, Family Law

Jack W. Hawkins, Trusts and Estates

Michael S. Haynes, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law

Marcus Helt, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law

Carrie B. Hoffman, Employment Law Management, Labor and Employment Litigation

Kevin L. Kelley, Leisure and Hospitality Law, Real Estate Law

Stephen A. McCartin, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Bankruptcy Litigation

Cynthia Nelson, Leisure and Hospitality Law, Real Estate Law

Keith V. Novick, Trusts and Estates

Holland N. O’Neil, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Bankruptcy Litigation

Alan J. Perkins, Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law

Frances E. Phillips, Environmental Law, Environmental Litigation

Clifford J. Risman, Leisure and Hospitality Law, Real Estate Law

Deirdre B. Ruckman, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Bankruptcy Litigation

Robert Sarfatis, Corporate Law

Larry Schoenbrun, Corporate Compliance Law, Corporate Governance Law, Corporate Law, Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Securities/Capital Markets Law

Paul V. Storm, Intellectual Property Litigation

Andre M. Szuwalski, Intellectual Property Litigation

David H. Timmins, Insurance Law

Richard A. Tulli, Corporate Law

Peter S. Vogel, Information Technology Law, Technology Law

Richard L. Waggoner, Corporate Law

Houston:

Michael A. Abbott, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law

Eric A. Blumrosen, Corporate Law

Geoffrey H. Bracken, Commercial Litigation, Oil and Gas Law

Robert W. Bramlette, Real Estate Law

Daniel L. Cohen, Mergers and Acquisitions Law

James Cooper, Insurance Law

Allen B. Craig III, Corporate Law, Tax Law

Jeffrey S. Davis, Product Liability Litigation Defense

Douglas K. Eyberg, Corporate Law, Energy Law

Thomas A. Hagemann, White-Collar Criminal Defense, Antitrust Litigation, Securities Litigation

James Howard, Tax Law

John P. Melko, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Bankruptcy Litigation

Chris P. Perque, Technology Law

Lawrence J. Pirtle, Trusts and Estates

Frank M. Putman, Corporate Law

L. Stevens III, Corporate Law

Hoang Quan Vu, Banking and Finance Law

Michael Wall, Commercial Litigation
Since its first publication in 1983, Best Lawyers has become known as the definitive guide to legal excellence. More than 79,000 leading attorneys globally are eligible to vote, and over 12 million votes have been received to date on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world. For the 2016 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America, 6.7 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in the inclusion of more than 55,000 leading lawyers in the new edition. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed so that inclusion in Best Lawyers continues to be considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, an Am Law 200 firm founded in 1909 and one of the Southwest’s largest full-service law firms, has offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston and Mexico City. Gardere provides legal services to private and public companies and individuals in the areas of corporate, energy, environmental, financial restructuring and reorganization, financial services, government affairs, hospitality, insurance, intellectual property, international, labor and employment, litigation, private equity, real estate and tax.

The national law firm of Quarles & Brady LLP  announced that 13 of its attorneys have been selected by their peers as “Lawyers of the Year” in The Best Lawyers in America®.

Each year, Best Lawyers compiles its list of “Lawyers of the Year.” Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is so honored. Lawyers with this designation are chosen based on peer-review assessments conducted with thousands of leading lawyers each year. Receiving this honor reflects the respect a lawyer has acquired among other leading lawyers in the same practice areas throughout the same communities.

The following Quarles & Brady attorneys were named in their respective practice areas designated by Best Lawyers:

Chicago, Ill.
• Janice E. Rodgers—Non-Profit/Charities Law

MILWAUKEE, Wis.
• David B. Bartel—Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants
• David R. Cross—Litigation – Patent
• James D. Friedman—Litigation – Banking and Finance
• Brian G. Lanser—Public Finance Law
• Thomas P. McElligott—Natural Resources Law
• Thomas J. Phillips—Tax Law
• Robert D. Rothacker—Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law

PHOENIX, Ariz.
• Don P. Martin—Litigation – Real Estate
• Matthew Mehr—Banking and Finance Law

TAMPA, Fla.
• William F. Hamilton—Litigation – Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy)

TUCSON, Ariz.
• Susan G. Boswell—Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law
• James F. Morrow—Banking and Finance Law

About Best Lawyers
Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 36,000 leading attorneys cast almost 4.4 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

About Quarles & Brady LLP
Quarles & Brady is a full-service AmLaw 200 law firm with more than 475 attorneys offering an array of legal services to corporate and individual clients that range from small entrepreneurial businesses to Fortune 100 companies, with practice focuses in health care and life sciences, business law, data privacy and security, and complex litigation. The firm has offices in Chicago; Indianapolis; Madison; Milwaukee; Naples, Florida; Phoenix; Scottsdale; Tampa; Tucson; and Washington, D.C. Additional information can be found online at quarles.com, as well as on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Foley & Lardner LLP announced that James Matthews and Katy Koski have joined the firm’s Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice and Life Sciences Industry Team as partners in the Boston office.

Matthews and Koski focus their practices on litigating complex business disputes, specializing in the life sciences industry. For nearly a decade, they have represented a wide range of pharmaceutical industry clients in novel civil enforcement actions challenging a wide variety of business conduct. This work includes representing manufacturers in novel claims challenging the development, promotion and sale of prescription pain medications and testosterone replacement therapies.

For many years, Matthews has been lead national counsel for one of the world’s largest drug manufacturers, coordinating the defense of more than 50 separate lawsuits challenging industry-wide pricing practices pending in state and federal courts around the country, including a qui tam action under the federal False Claims Act (FCA) and numerous civil enforcement actions brought by state attorneys general alleging violations of a variety of state statutes, including state false claims acts.

“James and Katy have an impressive track record defending pharmaceutical companies from major government investigations and other litigation matters. They will help deepen our experience in handling multi-jurisdictional cases and other complex cases throughout the country,” said Foley Litigation Department chair Michael Tuteur.

Matthews has substantial experience representing life sciences and technology companies in commercial disputes pending in courts and before arbitrators throughout the country. His practice extends to antitrust actions, including Walker Process and Pay-for-Delay claims, contract disputes and civil enforcement actions.

Koski’s practice also involves complex commercial contract disputes, business torts and intellectual property matters. She has previous experience defending large law firms and individual practitioners against legal malpractice claims.

“Our Boston office has established a strong litigation presence and life sciences practice. James and Katy bring a winning combination of expertise in both areas that will benefit our clients locally and nationally,” said Susan Pravda, managing partner of Foley’s Boston office.

Prior to joining Foley, Matthews and Koski were partners at K&L Gates.

About Foley & Lardner LLP
Foley & Lardner LLP is a corporate law firm that provides legal and related services for complex issues facing companies today. With approximately 900 attorneys in 20 offices, Foley combines international reach with a local focus across a full range of legal services in various industries, including technology, health care, sports and manufacturing. Foley has been recognized by clients and the legal industry for its strong commitment to client service excellence and innovation. Learn more at Foley.com.

Ellucian, TPG Capital and Leonard Green Partners have announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which TPG and Leonard Green will acquire a majority interest in Ellucian, the leading global provider for higher education software and services. As detailed in the company-issued press release below, the transaction is expected to close before the end of 2015, subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals.

Latham & Watkins LLP represents Leonard Green in the transaction with a corporate deal team led by New York partners Howard Sobel and Paul Kukish, with associate Spencer Ricks. Advice also was provided on finance matters by Washington, D.C. partner Jennifer Van Driesen; on tax matters by Chicago partner Joseph Kronsnoble; on antitrust matters by Brussels partner Héctor Armengod; and on benefits and compensation matters by New York associate Austin Ozawa.

From the release:

FAIRFAX, Va. & SAN FRANCISCO & LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ellucian, the leading global provider for higher education software and services, today announced that TPG Capital (“TPG”) and Leonard Green Partners (“Leonard Green”) have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority interest in Ellucian from Hellman & Friedman (“H&F”) and co-investor JMI Equity.

“We are delighted to welcome TPG and Leonard Green to the Ellucian team,” said Jeff Ray, chief executive officer of Ellucian, who will continue to lead the organization. “Their investment validates and enhances our growth strategy and underscores our commitment to our customers and the success of their students. We believe TPG and Leonard Green will be tremendous partners as we work to accelerate our cloud offering, enhance our student information systems, and broaden our product portfolio. We also would like to thank H&F for supporting our company’s growth over the past six years. We have enjoyed a strong partnership and look forward to building on our success for years to come.”

“Ellucian’s industry leadership, global reach, management depth, and deep vertical focus on enabling higher education institutions to leverage technology to improve student outcomes position the company well for continued success and growth,” said Bryan Taylor, partner at TPG. “TPG has been focused on software designed for specific end-market verticals for a number of years, and we’ve been impressed with the breadth and depth of Ellucian’s products. We are excited to leverage our experience and global resources to invest in and partner with this team to help them continue to grow their platform for their customers.”

“Ellucian has established itself as a leader in helping institutions support student success in the rapidly-evolving higher education landscape,” said John Danhakl, managing partner of Leonard Green. “We look forward to supporting this mission in the coming years.”

“Jeff and the Ellucian team have guided the company through a period of impressive growth and extensive investment in the product portfolio,” said Anupam Mishra, managing director of H&F. “We are excited about the meaningful impact Ellucian will continue to make on improving higher education globally. The company is truly unparalleled in its ability to do so.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals, and is expected to close before the end of 2015.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal counsel for Ellucian and Hellman & Friedman. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, BofA Merrill Lynch, BMO Capital Markets Corp., and Barclays served as financial advisors to TPG and Leonard Green. Credit Suisse and Goldman, Sachs & Co. served as financial advisors to Ellucian. Ropes & Gray served as legal counsel for TPG and Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal counsel for Leonard Green.

About Ellucian
Ellucian is the world’s leading provider of software and services institutions need to help students succeed. More than 2,400 institutions in 40 countries rely on Ellucian to help enable the mission of higher education. Ellucian provides student information systems (SIS), finance and HR, recruiting, retention, analytics and advancement software solutions. With more than 1,500 institutions subscribing to Ellucian’s cloud services and SaaS offerings, the company is one of the largest providers of cloud-based solutions. Ellucian also supports the higher education community with a range of professional services, such as application software implementation, training, education, and management consulting. Visit Ellucian atwww.ellucian.com.

About TPG Capital
TPG is a leading global private investment firm founded in 1992, with over $74 billion of assets under management and offices in San Francisco, Fort Worth, Austin, Dallas, Houston, New York, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Moscow, Mumbai, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. TPG has extensive experience with global public and private investments executed through leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, spinouts, growth investments, joint ventures and restructurings. The firm’s investments span a variety of industries including healthcare, energy, industrials, consumer/ retail, technology, media & communications, software, financial services, travel, entertainment and real estate. For more information visit www.tpg.com.

About Leonard Green
Leonard Green is one of the nation’s preeminent private equity firms with over $15 billion of private equity capital raised since inception. Founded in 1989, the firm has invested in 76 companies in the form of traditional buyouts, going-private transactions, recapitalizations, growth capital investments, corporate carve-outs and selective public equity and debt positions. Based in Los Angeles, CA, Leonard Green invests in established companies that are leaders in their markets. For more information, please visit www.leonardgreen.com.

About Hellman & Friedman
Hellman & Friedman is a leading private equity investment firm with offices in San Francisco, New York, and London. Since its founding in 1984, H&F has raised over $35 billion of committed capital. The firm focuses on investing in superior business franchises and serving as a value-added partner to management in select industries including software, internet & media, financial services, business & information services, healthcare, energy & industrials and retail & consumer. For more information on Hellman & Friedman, please visit www.hf.com.

About JMI Equity
JMI Equity is a growth equity firm focused on investing in leading software and services companies. Founded in 1992, JMI has invested in over 120 businesses in its target markets and has raised more than $3 billion of committed capital. Combining domain expertise and active partnership, JMI works with management teams to build market-leading businesses and create long-term shareholder value. Realized investments from JMI funds include Axeda, BigMachines, Compusearch, Eloqua, Gemcom, PowerPlan and ServiceNow. For more information on JMI, visit www.jmi.com.

Best Lawyers in America® has recognized 14 Beck Redden LLP attorneys in its 2016 ranking of the nation’s top legal talent.

Best Lawyers in America® is an annual referral guide that lists outstanding attorneys throughout the United States.  Lawyers are selected based on detailed peer-review evaluations of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.

The following Beck Redden attorneys were named 2016 Best Lawyers in America®:

Austin

• Eric J.R. Nichols:  Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Criminal Defense:  White Collar

Houston

• Fields Alexander:  Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
• David J. Beck:  Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants, Litigation – Antitrust, Litigation – Environmental, Litigation – Intellectual Property, Litigation – Patent, Natural Resources Law
• Alistair B. Dawson:  Commercial Litigation
• Kathleen A. Gallagher:  Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
• Thomas E. Ganucheau:  Litigation – Labor and Employment
• Jeffrey Golub:  Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
• David M. Gunn:  Appellate Practice, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation
• David W. Jones:  Insurance Law
• Connie Pfeiffer:  Appellate Practice
• Russell S. Post:  Appellate Practice
• Joe W. Redden, Jr.:  Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
• J. Todd Shields: Commercial Litigation
• W. Curt Webb: Product Liability Litigation – Defendants, Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs

Houston-based Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing, also known as AZA, has received recognition from three organizations, including being cited as one of the nation’s “most feared law firms.”

Legal research group BTI Consulting, which conducts a comprehensive survey of corporate counsel at major U.S. companies, included AZA on its “most feared” list on the basis of extensive interviews with 300 general counsel and in-house litigation counsel at top-spending companies and organizations.

And AZA was listed as one of only 10 boutique firms nationally recognized by the legal news publication Law360 for successfully challenging the nation’s biggest law firms. Law360 says the 2015 list includes firms that are on par with the biggest firms but less expensive and more accessible to clients.

The firm also earned selection as a Litigation Department of the Year for 2015 by the publishers of Texas Lawyer newspaper.

Read details on the honors.

One of the more common forms of business disputes is a dispute over the failure to perform certain obligations set forth in a contract, and many businesses and individuals often wonder what is or what constitutes a “breach of contract,” writes Robert Fojo of Fojo Dell’Orfano of New Hampshire.

“If you entered into a contract, performed your obligations under that contract, and you are experiencing issues with getting the other party to perform its own obligations, you may have a situation where that party has not fulfilled its end of the bargain,” he writes.

“What do you do next? This is a question that haunts many businesses and individuals. How do you know what is a breach of contract? Are there any specific steps that need to be taken to make that determination? Should you go back and read the actual contract? How long do you have to do this? Should you talk to an attorney?”

Read the article.

Letters of intent can be minefields, writes Jeffrey Brown of Thompson Coburn.

“On the one hand, business people want to use them to tie up a deal. On the other, they don’t want to be bound by them if they want to walk away,” he explains in the article published on JDSupra.com. “As one court explained, ‘It is a common commercial practice for two negotiating parties to sign a letter of intent or an agreement in principle, signaling that they have come to a tentative agreement on the general outlines of a deal without having nailed down all of the details. Not infrequently, the negotiations that follow the execution of this document break down, prompting the disappointed party to sue on the theory that the preliminary document is binding.’ ”

He writes that parties must be careful in drafting LOIs if they want to avoid having a judge later hold that instead of a precursor to an agreement, the LOI became an enforceable agreement.

Read the article.

Industrial Safety & Hygiene News has posted a complimentary on-demand webinar on the challenging demands of maintaining safety in the oil and gas industry as it involves operators or lease owners, drillers and oil-field service companies.

“It is inherently difficult to manage,” ISHN says on its website. “As a result, implementing safety across all three functions is equally challenging. This webinar will address the activities that occur under each and how to seamlessly implement these practices to ensure worker safety.”

The presenter is Mark Hansen, a past president and a Fellow of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and a subject matter expert on oil and gas industry safety.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

National law firm Wilson Elser announces that Joseph J. Ceccarelli has joined the firm’s New York City office as a partner. Ceccarelli was a founding and managing partner of Ceccarelli Weprin PLLC, specializing in business and commercial real estate litigation and transactional work. He also served as treasurer for now State Assemblyman David I. Weprin during four consecutive successful election campaigns for Finance Committee Chair of the New York City Council from 2002 through 2009.

“Joe is a welcome addition to our New York City office and our national commercial services team,” said Partner Thomas Manisero, chair of the firm’s Commercial Services practice. “His experience handling complex commercial transactional and litigation matters will benefit our clients across all industries. His particular specialty in commercial real estate enables us to bolster our capabilities in one of the city’s thriving business sectors.”

In a release, the firm said:

With a career spanning more than 25 years, Ceccarelli has developed a practice focused on commercial and real estate litigation in federal and state courts. His strengths and roots lie in New York City, representing high-stakes business interests on Wall Street and owners, developers and managers in the city’s real estate market.

Among the many services Ceccarelli provides his clients are leasing in office and retail space asset classes; drafting and negotiating service and construction contracts and other building-related agreements; and strategic counsel related to government and regulatory investigations, national and cross-border portfolio acquisitions, and distressed real estate and related asset management.

He has also gained a reputation as a trusted and valued advisor in supporting the cross-practice corporate and litigation needs of growing enterprise software, music and film production, recording artist and digital advertising businesses.

Among Ceccarelli’s civic contributions is his successful pro bono prosecution of the New York test case regarding grandparents’ rights to raise grandchildren in the event of abandonment by or death of the parents. He also served as president and board member of New York City’s Future Condominium from 1995 through 2003, a prominent example of late modernist architecture for international high-rise buildings.

Ceccarelli earned his J.D. degree from Fordham University School of Law and graduated magna cum laude from Fordham University with his B.A. degree in economics.

About Wilson Elser

Wilson Elser, a full-service and leading defense litigation law firm (www.wilsonelser.com), serves its clients with nearly 800 attorneys in 27 offices in the United States and one in London and through a network of affiliates in key regions globally. Founded in 1978, it ranks among the top 200 law firms identified by The American Lawyer and is included in the top 50 of The National Law Journal’s survey of the nation’s largest law firms.

The iManage leadership team has announced that it has completed a buyout from Hewlett-Packard (HP) for the purchase of the complete iManage business, including its brand, products and services. iManage co-founder and current General Manager Neil Araujo is the CEO of the management-owned company, now one of the largest independent software companies focused on work product management solutions for professional services firms and their clients. Rafiq Mohammadi, also a co-founder and former CTO of iManage, is returning to the company as Chief Scientist.

“With this buyout now complete, the iManage team has rededicated itself to our customer and partner community around the world,” said Araujo. “They have trusted us with their most important assets, and we are proud to begin a new era of innovation and ultimate market leadership in partnership with them.”

The newly independent iManage is led by the founding executives responsible for making iManage the market leader relied upon by nearly 3,000 of the most prestigious professional organizations worldwide. iManage helps legal, accounting and financial services firms and the corporate departments they serve streamline the creation, sharing, governance and security of their work product to improve productivity and client service.

With a 20-year innovation track record and support from an existing global network of integration partners, the newly independent iManage is a well-established and profitable business. Today, 80 percent of the largest law firms in the U.S., a majority of the largest firms in Europe and more than 400 corporate legal departments rely on iManage. In addition to WorkSite (document and email management), the HP products in this transaction include LinkSite (secure file sharing), Universal Search (enterprise search and analytics) and WorkSite Records Manager (records and information governance.)

iManage will continue utilizing HP cloud services for its private and hybrid cloud offerings. The company will also resell relevant HP products, including TeleForm and HP Process Automation, and will have ongoing access to other relevant technology, including HP IDOL. In addition, iManage will maintain its partnership with HP Managed Print Services for document process automation solutions based on integrating HP multifunction devices with WorkSite.

“For us, iManage is much more than a product; it’s a community that spans our people, partners, customer organizations and nearly one million users, many of whom have been with us for a decade or more,” said Araujo. “This buyout allows us to serve the community we care about with a culture based on listening and working with customers, developing innovative products and providing best-in-class services and support.”

Industry Response

“It’s rare in enterprise software to see a management team with 18 years continuous experience in a market space make the decision to recommit and go deeper. It says a lot about the company’s belief in its opportunity, and its confidence in its product direction and the loyalty of its customers,” said Melissa Webster, Program Vice President, Content and Digital Media Technologies at IDC. “iManage’s unwavering focus on customer needs around managing professional work products, together with insights gained from extensive interviews with end users, should enable the company to innovate with fresh approaches – both for productivity and for security and governance.”

“This is very exciting news,” said Andy Jurczyk, CIO at Seyfarth Shaw. “At Seyfarth we constantly look for better ways to serve our clients, and iManage is key to our business as it helps our attorneys manage client work product. We believe an independent iManage will gain industry focus, scale and agility to drive the innovation we need to deliver legal services more efficiently, more effectively and more transparently.”

“We rely on iManage as a best-of-breed solution for electronic matter management,” said Richard Harris, CIO of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP. “As the provider of one of our business-critical applications, it is vital that we also have a close relationship with the iManage team, and we have always found them exceptional in this regard. We are delighted to see iManage take this next step in their evolution and look forward to the renewed focus this will bring to developing the best possible tools for legal communities.”

“It’s been a pleasure working with such an experienced and cohesive team that is passionate about client productivity. Given iManage’s loyal customer base and proven financial performance, the company is well positioned to drive growth and innovation within Enterprise Content Management Software,” said John Smart, Managing Director, BMO Harris Bank. “We are excited to be the financial partner of choice for what we believe will be a dynamic Chicago based technology company, one that is changing how professionals work.”

Key Facts

• The management team owns the controlling interest in the newly independent iManage. HP has no financial interest.
• iManage counts among its global customers 1,800 law firms, including 80 percent of the top 100, and more than 400 corporate legal departments, 120 government agencies and 250 financial services firms.
• iManage continues to grow; in its last full fiscal year under HP, iManage added one new customer on average of every two business days.
• The company is profitable and well capitalized through a financial partnership with Bank of Montreal.
• iManage will be headquartered in Chicago, with offices in Silicon Valley, London and Bangalore.

About iManage

iManage is the leading provider of work product management solutions for legal, accounting and financial services firms and the corporate departments they serve worldwide. Every day iManage helps professionals streamline the creation, sharing, governance and security of their work product. Nearly 3,000 organizations around the world—including more than 1,800 law firms—rely on iManage to help them deliver great client work. Headquartered in Chicago, Ill., iManage is a management-owned company.

LexisNexis Software Solutions will present a complimentary webinar on enterprise legal management (ELM) using a case study that shows how a system resent enhanced PepsiCo’s ebilling efficiency.

The event will be Tuesday, August 18, at 1 p.m. EDT.

Implemented in 2008, the LexisNexis CounselLink enterprise legal management system was originally configured to align with the PepsiCo law department’s business unit- based operations structure. After numerous complaints by internal staff relating to the processing of invoices, PepsiCo’s Director of Business Operations, Jerome Walters, recognized that the company’s CounselLink system needed to be realigned to reflect the changes that had occurred in the food and beverage giant’s organizational structure since the CounselLink implementation.

Register for the webinar.

The former general counsel of TCP International Holdings of Aurora, Ohio, has reached a settlement with the company in her lawsuit alleging the company’s former CEO of physically assaulting her, of threatening and bullying her, of damaging the value of the company for stockholders, and of unethical and reckless business practices.

TCP, one of the country’s leading LED light bulb manufacturers, settled the suit brought by Laura Hauser, for $3.9 million, according to SEC documents filed this week, according to Cleveland.com.

“Hauser, the company’s general counsel since 2013, sued her boss, former CEO Ellis Yan, in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in February,” the website reported.

Read the article.

A Texas state court jury handed down a $19.9 million verdict against Canadian stock promoter Robert Kubbernus based upon findings of fraud and violations of the Texas Securities Act, according to a report on PRWeb. The verdict included actual and punitive damages, and after pre-judgment interest and attorney’s fees and expenses are added, the total judgment could exceed $25 million. The case, JoAnn Schermerhorn, et al. v. CenturyLink, Inc. and Robert Kubbernus, et al., was tried before Judge Michael Landrum of the Harris County District Court in Cause No. 2010-09675.

New York City-based Samuel Goldman & Associates was retained by more than 60 investors and shareholders in SkyComm Technologies Corp., to pursue their claims against Kubbernus and CenturyLink, the company that turned control of SkyComm over to him in 2006. SG&A worked with local trial counsel, Eric Fryar and Christina Richardson, of Houston’s Fryar Law Firm, and Harold Obstfeld, a New York securities litigator, in securing the verdict after five and a half years of litigation and a three week trial.

Read the story.

Matthew J. DeVries of Burr & Forman offers a few items to think about when drafting contracts, relying on a book titled “Courses on Drafting Contracts.” 

He quotes author and business attorney Peter Siviglia when he writes, “the contract will help define: (1) a transaction, such as the purchase of real estate; (2) a relationship, such as a partnership, or (3) a combination of both, such as a partnership to purchase and develop real estate.”

Other subjects include “A contract is a set of instructions,” and “A contract should include standard provisions.”

Read the article in Lexology.

After a trial court and intermediate appellate court had ruled that an arbitration clause in a consumer contract was unconscionable, the California Supreme Court reversed in a recent ruling, finding the clause was enforceable in Sanchez v. Valencia Holding Co., LLC, reports Liz Kramer in Stinson Leonard Street’s Arbitration Nation.

She wrote: “[T]he court found that because the buyer could not negotiate the provisions of the sales contract, he had established ‘some degree of procedural unconscionability.’ (The buyer did not have to prove he tried to negotiate the arbitration clause.)  The court could then address the buyer’s claims of substantive unconscionability.”

“This decision puts California squarely in the mainstream on the unconscionability of arbitration agreements,” she continued. “It also offers very useful guidance for California courts (or those applying California contract law) facing future arguments about the unconscionability of arbitration clauses.”

Read the article.