http://www.law360.com/ Latest articles for organization: Cleary Gottlieb Copyright 2009 Portfolio Media, Inc. en-US http://www.law360.com/images/headings/logo.gif http://www.law360.com/ http://www.law360.com/articles/135381 Spanish banking giant Banco Santander SA has asked a federal judge in Florida to toss a class action alleging that it was negligent in investing over $3 billion in Bernard L. Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme, saying that the bank monitored the fraudster as closely as anyone. http://www.law360.com/articles/135381 http://www.law360.com/articles/135384 Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP has released this year’s associate bonus structure, which reportedly mirrors the model adopted by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP and pays junior associates less than half what they earned in 2008. http://www.law360.com/articles/135384 http://www.law360.com/articles/134923 BP America Inc., ConocoPhillips Co., Shell Exploration & Production Co. and other energy companies have told a federal judge that there is no reason for them to be targeted in a putative class action brought by employment drug screening firms alleging that DrugTest Inc. snuffed out competition for oil and gas industry clients. http://www.law360.com/articles/134923 http://www.law360.com/articles/134581 French retail giant PPR, the owner of Gucci Group, has begun an initial public offering for African subsidiary CFAO that will raise up to €1 billion ($1.5 billion), according to the company. http://www.law360.com/articles/134581 http://www.law360.com/articles/134482 A recent copyright infringement case filed by Sursen Electronic Technology Co. Ltd. in the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court suggests that private actions in the Chinese courts may play a greater role in the development of Chinese antitrust law than in some European jurisdictions, where private antitrust litigation is relatively uncommon, say James R. Modrall, Matthew I. Bachrack and Cunzhen Huang of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. http://www.law360.com/articles/134482 http://www.law360.com/articles/133933 Nortel Networks Corp., on the eve of finalizing an $1.13 billion sale of certain wireless assets to Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, won bankruptcy court approval on Thursday to have the funds held in an escrow account with JPMorgan Chase Bank NA. http://www.law360.com/articles/133933 http://www.law360.com/articles/133781 A federal judge has sent a lawsuit brought by the California Public Employees Retirement System back to state court, saying the suit against three major credit rating agencies should be tried there because the public pension fund is an arm of the state of California. http://www.law360.com/articles/133781 http://www.law360.com/articles/133847 The European Union's top court has upheld the more than €66 million ($98 million) in fines that the European Commission imposed on France's Le Carbone Lorraine SA and Germany's SGL Carbon AG in late 2003 for their alleged role in a graphite electrode cartel that spanned a decade. http://www.law360.com/articles/133847 http://www.law360.com/articles/133760 Hewlett-Packard Co. has agreed to acquire networking and security services provider 3Com Corp. for $2.7 billion, in a move that will expand HP's business in China and integrate the technology giant's networking and security services, the companies announced Wednesday. http://www.law360.com/articles/133760 http://www.law360.com/articles/133694 Telecommunications company Avaya Inc. said Wednesday that it had received antitrust approval from the Federal Trade Commission and the Canadian Competition Bureau for its proposed $915 million purchase of bankrupt Nortel Networks Corp.'s enterprise solutions business. http://www.law360.com/articles/133694 http://www.law360.com/articles/131439 The recession has prompted some large firms to be more conservative about promoting associates to partner in 2009, and that emerging trend may be one of the long-term impacts of the downturn, according to legal industry observers. http://www.law360.com/articles/131439 http://www.law360.com/articles/133646 Plaintiffs who sued Internet phone provider Vonage Holdings Corp. over alleged misstatements and omissions leading up to Vonage's 2006 initial public offering have asked a federal judge for final approval of a $3.6 million class action settlement. http://www.law360.com/articles/133646 http://www.law360.com/articles/133516 Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP partner Robert Cook will join the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as director of the Division of Trading and Markets. http://www.law360.com/articles/133516 http://www.law360.com/articles/133045 Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP has decided to mimic Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP's recently announced associate bonus structure model and pay junior associates less than half of what they earned in 2008. http://www.law360.com/articles/133045 http://www.law360.com/articles/133078 Lev Dassin, a former acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, is joining the litigation practice of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. http://www.law360.com/articles/133078 http://www.law360.com/articles/132793 Plaintiffs’ counsel in shareholder derivative litigation over alleged misrepresentations associated with Bank of America Corp.’s purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. have won permission to subpoena deal adviser Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, the bank’s defense counsel Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and former Merrill CEO John A. Thain. http://www.law360.com/articles/132793 http://www.law360.com/articles/132908 A wholly owned investment subsidiary of China Investment Corp. has entered a $1.58 billion stock purchase agreement with global power company AES Corp., acquiring a roughly 15 percent equity interest in the company, the parties announced Friday. http://www.law360.com/articles/132908 http://www.law360.com/articles/132886 Citigroup Inc.'s life insurance subsidiary Primerica Inc. will make an initial public offering of 100 million shares of its stock, as part of the banking giant's continued efforts at selling units outside its primary business. http://www.law360.com/articles/132886 http://www.law360.com/articles/132662 Ethics scandals such as the arrest of a Ropes & Gray LLP associate for alleged insider trading and claims that a Troutman Sanders LLP partner scored kickbacks don't necessarily signify a BigLaw culture of corruption, even in an industry that also spawned the infamous Marc S. Dreier, but firms still need to act quickly to control the damage wrought by unscrupulous lawyers, experts said. http://www.law360.com/articles/132662 http://www.law360.com/articles/117476 Between Sarbanes-Oxley, the executive compensation disclosure rules, shareholder proxy access and so on, it is hard to imagine where further reform is needed at the moment, and it would be good for everyone to step back and evaluate what changes have actually improved investor protection, says Robert C. Juelke, vice chair of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP's corporate and securities group. http://www.law360.com/articles/117476