Sidley Austin

1. The Latest In Secondary Actor Liability

Friday, Mar 19, 2010

Two recent developments — the First Circuit en banc ruling in SEC v. Tambone, and the removal of language from the pending Restoring American Financial Stability Act — mark significant setbacks to expanding liability under the securities laws for professionals working with issuers of securities, say Hille R. Sheppard and Brian D. Rubens of Sidley Austin LLP.

2. Trustee Blasts Bankrupt Tribune's Bonus Scheme

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010

The U.S. trustee for the bankrupt Tribune Co. is continuing her opposition to compensation plans put forward by the company, calling them excessive and criticizing Tribune's move to have bonuses paid as administrative expenses rather than as incentive plans.

3. Obtaining Advance Waivers In PE Transactions

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010

Despite the push for broad, advance waivers of "corporate opportunity" by private equity firms, it is not unusual for the management of the target portfolio company and/or co-investors to resist waivers. But there are some alternatives, say Chris E. Abbinante and Jessica B. Fairchild of Sidley Austin LLP.

4. MDCO Gets 2nd Shot At Angiomax Patent Extension

Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010

The Medicines Co. has prevailed in its attempt to have the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reconsider extending a patent for blood-thinning drug Angiomax.

5. Inventor Tafas Seeks Fees In Suit Over USPTO Rules

Tuesday, Mar 16, 2010

Triantafyllos Tafas, the inventor whose challenge to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s proposed rules for patent applicants prompted a prolonged lawsuit and the rescission of the rules last fall, has moved to recover all of his attorneys' fees and expenses for the case.

6. Law Debenture, JPMorgan Spar Over Tribune LBO Fees

Tuesday, Mar 16, 2010

A trustee for Tribune Co. bondholders has asked a court to bar Tribune's nondebtor subsidiaries from continuing to pay millions in bank fees related to a highly contentious 2007 leveraged buyout, saying lenders, including JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, concealed the payments to avoid court oversight.

7. Sidley Grabs 2 Pinsent Masons Insurance Attys

Tuesday, Mar 16, 2010

Sidley Austin LLP has snagged two leading insurance industry practitioners from Pinsent Masons LLP as part of an ongoing expansion of the firm's London insurance team.

8. Conseco Wants Union's Securities Class Suit Tossed

Monday, Mar 15, 2010

Conseco Inc. has asked a judge to throw out a union pension fund's proposed securities class action over a restatement of several years' financial results, saying the restatement had barely any effect on the company's stock price.

9. ADM, Cargill OK'd To Join Citric Acid Duty Suit

Monday, Mar 15, 2010

A judge has allowed Archer Daniels Midland Co., Cargill Inc. and Tate & Lyle Americas Inc. to intervene on behalf of the U.S. International Trade Commission in a suit filed by several Chinese companies challenging duties on imports of citric acid and citrate salts from Canada and China.

10. Proskauer Nabs Sidley Austin Employment Litigator

Friday, Mar 12, 2010

Proskauer Rose LLP has added former Sidley Austin LLP litigator Nigel Telman as a partner in its employment practice, the firm's latest move in its ongoing expansion in Chicago.

11. Sessions Tests Left Leanings In District Court Nominees

Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., probed three new nominees to the federal bench for ideological leanings Wednesday, focusing on the death penalty, federal sentencing guidelines and the definition of progressive values.

12. Smurfit Judge Orders Hearing On $4.3M Bond Payment

Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010

A bankruptcy judge has expressed dissatisfaction with the evidence presented in a dispute between bankrupt Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. and U.S. Bank NA over $4.3 million in utility contract payments, denying the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment and ordering an evidentiary hearing.

13. Willkie Farr Atty Named To NY Bankruptcy Bench

Monday, Mar 08, 2010

Shelley C. Chapman has left the business reorganization and restructuring department at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP to assume a post as one of the 10 judges overseeing the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

14. Norfolk Southern To Pay EPA $4M Over Chlorine Spill

Monday, Mar 08, 2010

Norfolk Southern Railway Co. has agreed to pay the federal government $4 million to resolve Clean Water Act violations stemming from a 2005 train derailment and chlorine spill in South Carolina.

15. High Court Lets Closure Of Air Pollution Loophole Stand

Monday, Mar 08, 2010

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a federal appeals court ruling applauded by green groups for closing a “gaping” air pollution loophole, dismissing arguments by trade organizations that the regulatory fight should have first gone through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

16. Bondholder Group Sues Banks Over Tribune Buyout

Friday, Mar 05, 2010

A group of Tribune Co. bondholders has filed an adversary case against Citigroup Inc. and other banking giants over their role in a 2007 leveraged buyout that left the news giant saddled with about $9 billion in new debt.

17. US Ball Bearing Maker Seeks To Sink ITC Duty Order

Friday, Mar 05, 2010

In an angry response to a U.S. International Trade Commission determination, U.S. producer and importer NSK Corp. has asked a judge to instruct the ITC to revoke an anti-dumping duty order on ball bearings imported from the U.K.

18. Pfizer Patent Adjustment Fight Remanded To USPTO

Thursday, Mar 04, 2010

A federal judge has agreed to send Pfizer Inc.'s challenge of a term adjustment for a patent related to a swine disease back to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for recalculation in light of the recent appeals court ruling in Wyeth v. Kappos.

19. 8th Circ. Upholds Another Dismissal In Baycol MDL

Thursday, Mar 04, 2010

A federal appeals court has affirmed the dismissal of a suit in the multidistrict product liability litigation over Bayer Corp.'s cholesterol-lowering drug Baycol.

20. Boston Scientific Cross-Appeals Stent Patent Ruling

Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010

Weeks after Johnson & Johnson Inc. appealed a federal court's ruling that four of its patents for drug-eluting stents are invalid, Boston Scientific Corp. has notified the court that it will also appeal parts of that case.