Tuesday, January 28, 2003
Colleagues say W. Scott O’Connell is a man who makes a difference in life
Gil Bliss -- Union Leader Correspondent -- 1/29/03
Amherst - W. Scott O’Connell was nominated for The Union Leader’s “40 Under Forty” listing by not one, but two of his legal colleagues.
Using the standard of young people “who make a difference to our quality of life,” both a colleague in his law firm of Nixon Peabody LLP and a second Manchester law firm felt O’Connell deserved that designation.
Mary Elizabeth Tenn of Tenn & Tenn cited O’Connell’s “generosity of spirit, which also is the hallmark of Scott’s commitment to New Hampshire. Beyond his involvement in the law, Scott is a community leader,” she wrote.
Nixon Peabody partner James Hood [no relation to our own Bobby Hood] said O’Connell serves both clients and causes with “boundless energy, enthusiasm, creativity and initiative.”
O’Connell “has distinguished himself as a top-notch litigation attorney with a New Hampshire, New England and nationally-based practice and as a committed leader who gives tirelessly of himself for the betterment of our statewide community,” wrote Hood.
A former partner with the Boston firm of Hale & Dorr, O’Connell, wife Susan and their children have been “working our way north.” He currently serves as his firm’s team leader for its financial services and securities litigation practice.
A native of New Jersey, O’Connell met his wife, a Vermont native, when both were students at St. Lawrence University, where he graduated cum laude with a degree in government.
In addition to being a top attorney, O’Connell’s community life is rich and varied. He is vice-chairman for the Farnum Center for Substance Abuse, which is an inpatient drug and alcohol recovery program that is open to all state residents, regardless of their ability to pay.
He also volunteers for the New Hampshire Food Bank, a branch of Catholic Charities and is past president of the New Hampshire Task Force to Prevent Child Abuse. During lunchtime, he can be found teaching an aerobics class at the Manchester YMCA.
O’Connell said the Farnum Center is his major community challenge, as the group is building a new facility. It’s a challenge, he said, because of “the lack of a giving culture here. People have good hearts, but they’re less giving. You have to convince your audience that you’re worthy.”
As his wife runs her own consultant’s firm, finding time to spend with the kids (Brandon, 9, and Catherine, 6) is a priority, so “we split the
day,” O’Connell said, with his wife handling the afternoons and he the mornings.
His job requires him to travel to various Nixon Peabody offices and that makes family time even more precious.
Weekends are paramount for family time, and the quartet tries their best to “escape to Bristol, to Newfound Lake.” he said. They are active outdoors types, enjoying skiing and snowmobiling in the winter and boating in the summer.
One of his other relaxation activities is usually performed by himself.
“I sing while playing six or 12-string acoustic guitar, usually after everyone else in the house has gone to bed - by their demand,” O’Connell said.
Profile of Scott O'Connell:
Age: 38
Hometown: Amherst
Birthplace: Harrington Park, N.J.
Family: Wife, Susan Jacobs O’Connell; son, Brandon Tyler O’Connell, 9; and daughter, Catherine Emily O’Connell, 6
High School: Northern Valley Regional High School - Old Tappan, class of 1983.
College/Postgrad degree: St. Lawrence University, B.A. in government; minor in theater arts, 1987; Cornell Law School, J.D. with specialization in advocacy, 1991.
Current job: Partner, Nixon Peabody LLP; team leader of the firm’s national Financial Services and Securities Litigation Practice (manage 14 partners).
Key past positions held: Former partner, Hale and Dorr, Boston, Mass.; past president, New Hampshire Task Force to Prevent Child Abuse.
Volunteer activities: Vice chairman, Farnum Center for Substance Abuse; steering committee on the New Hampshire Bar Foundation Capital Campaign; director, New Hampshire Food Bank; Leadership New Hampshire class of 2002; aerobics instructor at the Greater Manchester YMCA.
Talk to Scott:
Tell Scott how much you enjoyed reading this article.
Other Breaking News:
Ball Park Renovations Oust High School Teams ;-)
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
Halleland's Tom Sipkins and Don Lewis chosen in Minnesota's Top 40
Halleland's Tom Sipkins and Don Lewis have been chosen among the top employment lawyers in Minnesota in a lawyer's poll in Law and Politics magazine.
Thursday, January 16, 2003
Asbestos ruling will cost car makers billions
The Straits Times -- 1/16/03 (from USA Today, Reuters)
DETROIT - The US Supreme Court on Monday ruled against US car makers in an asbestos case decision that could cost them US$100 billion.
In a separate development, Citigroup spin-off Travelers Property Casualty said on Tuesday that it would take an after-tax charge of US$1.3 billion to boost reserves for ballooning asbestos-related claims against corporate clients.
Tuesday, January 14, 2003
Who Let The Dogs Out? -- Hrmph, hrmph, hrmpf!
or
Where's Spud When You Need Him?
Seattle magazine (Jan. 2003 issue) reports:
Kelly Corr, 54, wasn't surprised when the rock group Nirvana's L.A. lawyer approached him late last year about representing the group in its high-profile lawsuit against Courtney Love, widow of the band's late leader, Kurt Cobain.
After all, Corr had scored a legal win for another Seattle band, Heart, in the mid-'80s when its old record company sued the band for switching labels. Corr treasures the gold and platinum Heart albums in his office, gifts from the grateful band. As for Nirvana, Corr helped broker a settlement in fall of 2002 between Love and the remaining band members, which allowed the release of the last song the band recorded before Cobain's 1994 suicide.
You might not expect life to be so glamorous for a business litigator, and it isn't all the time. But Corr says it's always interesting. He proudly notes that nearly have the winners in Seattle Magazine's business-litigation category in 2001 (the last time we published at "Top Lawyers" list) came from his now-4-year-old firm.
What's been the high point of your career? "Maybe becoming a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, which is limited to the top 1 percent of all trial lawyers. But maybe a part of me likes to think the high point is yet to come." [Editor's Note: My how quickly we forget. Kelly has a lot of explaining to do to his Network colleagues for whom he served as Chair in 1995-96.]
What's been your biggest letdown? "Sadly, I think it is getting to be a bit dog-eat-dog, whether it's the number of lawyers out there, the economy, or the anonymity of the big city."
What's your philosophy? " It's nice to agree, but when you can't agree, you don't have to be disagreeable."
[Editor's Note: Mr. Corr wishes to announce that in addition to his playmate-like fold-out in this month's Seattle magazine, once again 40% of Seattle's "Best Lawyers" identified in that issue in the business litigation category are at Corr Cronin.]
Senior Med Mal Trial Lawyer, Kevin Williams, joins Network Firm Weinberg, Wheeler in Atlanta
Kevin Williams, a senior medical malpractice trial attorney with 22 years of experience and more than 125 trials under his belt, has joined our Atlanta-based member firm, WWHGD. Kevin represents physicians and hospitals in complex medical malpractice cases and has served as lead counsel in a several direct action bad faith cases against national insurers.
Skip Hudgins, the firm's managing partner, said that "Kevin is a key addition as we continue to build a national trial practice handling our clients’ complex litigation needs.”
Friday, January 10, 2003
Marty Beirne is One of Only Three Top Drawer Litigators on CLT's List of "Go To" Lawyers
When All Hell Breaks Loose or When the "Shit Hits the Fan" (they said it, not us) Who You Gonna Call?
Corporate Legal Times has compiled a very "short list" of "great people to call when the shit hits the fan." CLT, Jan. 2003, p. 40, col. 2.
CLT says of Marty, "can handle a mess in Texas."
CLT came up with 7 deadly scenarios (company killers) and then set out to find the best lawyers for the crisis. CLT talked to in-house counsel, academics and industry experts. And, most importantly, CLT spoke with dozens of the best lawyers in the U.S. and asked them, if their firm was conflicted out, to whom would they send their best client in a time of dire need?
CLT selected 28 "Go To" lawyers for 7 crisis categories. In the "Top Drawer Litigators" category CLT identified only 3 lawyers, one of whom is our own Marty Beirne of Network member firm Beirne Maynard & Parsons
And Marty seems like such a nice guy, too. Go figure.
Monday, January 06, 2003
More Work from Existing Clients
A Large Law Firm's Plans to reach $1.3M PPP and $1B in Billings by 2005
Plan to triple some clients' billings and de-equitize some partners. Is this a trend?
Saturday, January 04, 2003
Merger Mania Continued During 2002
The following is a summary of events reported in Hildebrandt Headlines from various sources during 2002. It is not intended to be a complete listing of events, but rather a retrospective look at developments in the legal industry for the year.
Mergers and Acquisitions
More than 80 law firm mergers and acquisitions worldwide were reported in Hildebrandt Headlines in 2002. Some of the notable unions are listed below.
DOMESTIC (mergers of firms from within the same country)
Canada
-- Borden Ladner Gervais, Calgary acquired 16-lawyer Armstrong Perkins Hudson, the largest securities law boutique in Western Canada
Italy.
-- The former Italian member firm of Andersen Legal, Andersen Legal-Studio di Consulenza, merged with Ernst & Young's local firm, Studio Legale Tributario, creating Italy's largest firm with more than 300 lawyers.
Japan
-- Asahi Law Offices and Komatsu Koma & Nishikawa merged to create a 100-lawyer firm, the country's third largest
UK
-- Stephenson Harwood acquired Sinclair Roche & Temperley, creating a firm of over 100 partners
US
-- Reed Smith announced plans to merge with California firm Crosby Heafey Roach & May, creating a firm of nearly 1,000 lawyers, effective January 1, 2003.
-- Boston's Bingham Dana and San Francisco s McCutchen Doyle Brown & Enersen merged to create Bingham McCutchen, a firm of over 800 lawyers.
-- St. Louis firm Bryan Cave merged with New York s 170-attorney Robinson Silverman Pearce Aronsohn & Berman, creating a firm of more than 800 attorneys.
– Chicago firm Katten Muchin Zavis merged with New York firm Rosenman & Colin, forming KMZ Rosenman, a firm of over 600 attorneys.
-- Hogan & Hartson merged with New York s Squadron Ellenoff Plesent & Sheinfeld, adding over 100 attorneys to its ranks.
-- Los Angeles-based O Melveny & Myers acquired New York private equity specialists O'Sullivan, adding nearly 100 attorneys to its New York office.
-- Washington, DC s McKenna & Cuneo merged with Atlanta s Long Aldridge & Norman, creating McKenna Long & Aldridge, a 376-lawyer firm.
-- Piper Rudnick acquired 85-lawyer Verner Liipfert Bernhard McPherson and Hand.
-- Adams and Reese announced that it will merge with Lange Simpson Robinson & Somerville, with 300 attorneys it will be the largest law firm in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, effective January 1, 2003.
-- Holland & Knight merged with 85-lawyer Chicago firm McBride Baker & Coles, giving it 160 lawyers in the Chicago area.
-- Chicago-based Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal merged with 55-lawyer New York firm RubinBaum.
-- Boston s Brown Rudnick Freed & Gesmer acquired 35-lawyer New York bankruptcy boutique Berlack Israels & Liberman.
In addition, larger rivals acquired five IP boutiques:
-- Dorsey & Whitney acquired San Francisco s 37-lawyer Flehr Hohbach Test Albritton & Herbert.
-- The Chicago office of Greenberg Traurig acquired 10-lawyer Dick & Harris New Jersey firm Gibbons Del Deo Dolan Griffinger & Vecchione acquired 8-lawyer Manhattan firm Corbin & Gittes.
-- Akron, Ohio firm Brouse McDowell acquired 7-lawyer Emerson & Skeriotis
-- Cleveland firm Fay Sharpe Fagan Minnich & McKee acquired 5-lawyer local firm Vickers Daniels & Young.
OPENINGS
Also, firm opened approximately twenty-five new branch offices in 2002.
The US city with the most new offices was San Francisco:
-- Kirkland & Ellis
-- Howrey Simon Arnold & White
-- Altheimer & Gray
-- Holme Roberts & Owen
-- Clifford Chance
Three firms opened offices in Washington, DC:
-- Merchant & Gould
-- Fish & Neave
-- Blackwell Sanders
Two firms opened offices in Houston:
-- Chadbourne & Parke
-- Sutherland Asbill
CLOSINGS
At least eight firms closed branch offices in 2002:
-- Skjerven Morrill, Newport Beach and Austin
-- Venture Law Group, San Francisco
-- Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, Seattle
-- Buchanan Ingersoll, Reston, VA
-- Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, Atlanta
-- Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, Gaithersburg, MD
-- Brown & Bain, Tucson
-- Perkins Coie, Spokane, WA
