News

Perkins Coie announced that it has presented its $20,000 "Award for Discovery" to Michael A. Laflamme, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pathology in the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Perkins Coie has announced that it moved its Los Angeles office to Century City.

Hartmann Young has been appointed 2009-2010 Vice-Chair of the Aerospace and Defense Industries Committee of the ABA Section of International Law. 

Washington, D.C. Partner Bob Bauer, who served as general counsel to the Obama campaign, recently co-authored an op-ed piece with his counterpart for the McCain campaign, Trevor Potter.

The National Association of Corporate Directors today announced that J. Shan Mullin, partner with Perkins Coie LLP in Seattle, is named as NACD's 2009 Nonprofit Director of the Year for his decades of dedicated leadership of major nonprofit organizations in the Pacific Northwest.

Perkins Coie today announced that the Holocaust Survivors Justice Network (HSJN), a legal assistance effort in which the organization’s staff volunteers locally, is a recipient of the 2009 American Bar Association Pro Bono Publico Award, the profession’s highest recognition for pro bono legal work.  Organized by Los Angeles-based nonprofit law firm Bet Tzedek Legal Services, the HSJN is an international initiative established to assist Holocaust survivors in obtaining reparation payments under a program established by the German government.

Perkins Coie is pleased to announce it has been recommended in the 2009 edition of The Legal 500 United States for its product liability litigation, media and technology, and mergers and acquisitions practices.

Perkins Coie Partner Sherilyn Peterson received the President’s Award recognizing her outstanding service to the criminal defense bar for her work in a pro bono case to stop the execution of Darold Stenson by challenging the constitutionality of how lethal injection is carried out in Washington. Peterson is the lead for the Perkins Coie team which has put in over 3000 pro bono hours and, as stated by a colleague on the case, whose commitment has been “phenomenal” and spirit “admirable.”

Perkins Coie has announced that it has moved its Boise office to the Boise Plaza. With this move, the firm will now be located in central downtown Boise, bringing additional conveniences and services to its clients.

Perkins Coie proudly announces that once again it has been ranked by Chambers & Partners, publishers of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, as a top law firm in the United States.  Perkins Coie was recognized in the annual directory as a leader, having obtained Band 1 placement in 14 practice areas with top rankings in eight key markets across the country, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Oregon and Washington.

Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that it has been named a recipient of the "2008 CSC® Trademark Insider ® Award." The award, issued annually by Trademark Insider ® magazine, recognizes the outstanding achievements of law firms in the trademark industry. The top law firms are recognized on a national and regional basis. Perkins Coie ranked #12 nationally and #1 in the Seattle market.

Partner Barry Reingold and associate Ryan Mrazik, members of the Privacy and Security practice group, co-authored "Cloud Computing: The Intersection of Massive Scalability, Data Security and Privacy" published in this month's edition of Cyberspace Lawyer. The article is the first in a three-part series examining the market and legal perspectives on cloud computing and its technological and business capabilities, privacy and data security concerns, legal issues, and recent developments.

Perkins Coie Hotels & Leisure Partner David Neff weighed in on the acquisition of the Greenbrier hotel in a recent post by a HotelNewsNow.com blogger. The Greenbrier Hotel Corporation planned to sell their historical West Virginia property to Marriott when a local businessman, James Justice, swooped in and bought the asset. The deal left many wondering how a bidder, with no experience in the industry, was able to sidestep an established hotel giant and bypass normal bankruptcy proceedings. Justice skirted Marriott’s agreement and the usual bankruptcy proceedings by purchasing stock from the holding company that owns the Greenbrier Hotel Corporation. ”I thought Justice’s strategy to go straight to the owner of the equity was a very smart strategy—one that doesn’t occur frequently,” Neff was quoted as saying.

Patrick Collins commented on allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in the case of former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens in a recent InsideCounsel article.  Stevens, who had served 40 years in the Senate, lost his seat after a jury found him guilty of corruption charges last fall.  In April, a federal judge threw out Stevens' conviction and dismissed all charges against the Alaska Republican because the government failed to provide certain evidence to his defense team.  A special prosecutor is investigating the Stevens prosecution team for its handling of evidence during the trial.

A commentary titled "Privacy Challenges to Smart Grid" by Perkins Coie Of Counsel Susan Lyon has been published in Sustainable Industries magazine.  The article describes potential privacy concerns posed by developing smart grid energy systems and smart meters that collect energy-use data and by emerging smart appliances with the ability to transmit information across the Internet. 

A recent triumph for Perkins Coie lawyers Leota Bates, Joseph Cutler, David Chiappetta and Jim McCullagh was highlighted in an article published by the Bureau of National Affairs in its Electronic Commerce & Law Report.

The FTC is working to update its "Guide Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising," which would encompass various forms of electronic and viral marketing, such as blogs and message boards, and impose new expectations for marketing in traditional media as well. Under the proposed revisions, the FTC prods advertisers to disclose material connections between themselves and their endorser.

Stewart Landefeld was recently interviewed on his experience serving as Interim Chief Legal Officer for Washington Mutual. Landefeld was recruited by WaMu, a long-time client of Perkins Coie, in December of 2007 to help with the search for a permanent CLO, manage a 200-person law department, and advise the Board and senior management on developing financial institution issues. “I was excited about the possibility of helping a leading U.S. retail financial institution at a critical time,” said Landefeld.

Susan Lyon presented on the topic of "Smart Grid Technology" at the International Technology Law Association’s Annual Meeting and World Conference, held in Seattle on May 14th and 15th. Lyon presented an introduction to Smart Grid and on Smart Grid's emerging social, legal and regulatory issues relating to fair availability of energy, intellectual property hurdles relating patents and contractual rights, federal and state regulatory hurdles, and security and privacy.

Tom Bell and Susan Lyon were panelists at the first ever Perkins Madrona Twitter Conference, The Role of Twitter in Your Business. The event gathered a group of lawyers, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to discuss new ideas and the business issues facing companies in an age of instant communication and feedback. Susan covered privacy and data security issues and Tom spoke about other legal risks that arise when a company participates in social media.

Perkins Coie Partner Harry Schneider has been selected to receive the American Inns of Court's 2009 Professionalism Award for the Ninth Circuit. The award is presented to honor a senior practicing judge or lawyer whose life and practice display sterling character and unquestioned integrity, coupled with ongoing dedication to the highest standards of the legal profession.

Perkins Coie is pleased to announce Sue J. Stott has joined the firm’s Labor & Employment practice as a partner.  She will be based in the firm’s San Francisco office.

Perkins Coie Partner David Neff is featured on HotelNewsNow.com in a video interview conducted at the "Distressed Hotel Symposium." In the interview, Neff discusses what hotel owners need to know before approaching lenders, and what proactive steps they can take during these tough economic times.

Associate Ryan Mrazik, a member of the Privacy and Security practice group and current Internet Law Fellow, has written the Canadian Privacy Law Review article "Canadian Privacy Commissioner Invites Responses to Report Concluding That Privacy Law Covers Second Life." The article originally appeared on Digestible Law, the firm's Internet Law blog, and examines privacy concerns raised by Second Life and other online games.

Perkins Coie has launched its newest blog, www.patentlawinsights.com. The blog is dedicated to sharing the latest news and developments in patent law for the computer software and hardware industries.

Perkins Coie has launched its newest blog, www.financialserviceslitigationmonitor.com, which is dedicated to providing clients and other financial service companies with updates about the latest litigation and government enforcement developments impacting the industry. Contributors to the blog include attorneys from the firm's Financial Services Litigation & Investigations group.

Perkins Coie lawyers Carol Smoots, Glenn Benson, and Nidhi Thakar scored a major victory on May 6 in a complex and hard-fought case before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) involving whether entities engaged solely in financial trading of electric energy should be made responsible for costs associated with ensuring there is an adequate supply of power on the electric grid in the Midwest at all times.

In big and small screen thrillers law enforcement is able to track you via your cell phone signal in seconds flat. But how real is that capability and what privacy safeguards are in place when everyone’s got a cell phone? In an interview featured on the NPR program On The Media, Perkins Coie Privacy Partner Al Gidari explains how your cell phone signal may know you better then you know yourself.

A bankruptcy-remote entity is a legal entity (usually a limited liability company) that only owns one property, has a board of directors that includes at least one member who’s entirely independent of the owners and has bylaws that require unanimous consent to file or consent to a bankruptcy petition, explains Chicago Partner David Neff in the HotelNewsNow.com article “Bankrupting the Bankruptcy-Remote Entity." Since the mid-1990s, many lenders have required hotel owners establish so-called bankruptcy-remote entities to hold legal title to their hotels as a condition of obtaining loans.

As Founder and Chairman of The Council of Goodness, Perkins Coie Associate Brian Hennessy works tirelessly to provide a better life for underprivileged and at-risk youth throughout the Bay Area. It was during Hennessy’s fight with cancer that he decided to found two non-profit corporations; successfully raising hundreds of thousands of dollars both by fundraising and giving his own personal money. He also spends thousands of hours personally mentoring his at-risk and underprivileged mentees. Hennessy’s extraordinary efforts were recognized in a recent article entitled "Attorney fights the odd to fight for others." "They say that when a desire in a person reaches a certain point, their soul guides them to find out who they are," Hennessy was quoted saying in the The Daily Journal article. "I found that my life was going to be a life of sacrifice."

In a recent press release, Oregon Women Lawyers ("OWLS") announced its new officers and board members for 2009-2010. Perkins Coie Associate, Gwyn McAlpine, will be sharing the role of president with Heather Van Meter, attorney at Williams Kastner. McAlpine previously served as co-vice president and treasurer of OWLS. Van Meter previously served as co-vice president and secretary. With over 1300 members around the state, Oregon Women Lawyers' mission is to transform the practice of law and ensure justice and equality by advancing women and minorities in the legal profession. OWLS is the third largest bar organization in the state of Oregon.

Recently the popular online advertising site, Craigslist was in the spotlight after a medical student was accused of killing a Boston masseuse who advertised on the site. Law.com bloggers and co-hosts Bob Ambrogi and J. Craig Williams interviewed Perkins Coie Partner Ed Wes, Outside Counsel for Craigslist, and David Ardia, fellow at the Berkman Center and director of the Citizen Media Law Project, to talk about regulations on online advertising sites and what is being done to monitor illegal activity on these sites.

Perkins Coie is proud to announce it has been named one of the Best Places to Work in the San Francisco Bay Area 2009 by the San Francisco Business Times.

The Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune backed the Illinois Reform Commission's call for swift and comprehensive reform. Both editorials called upon the General Assembly and the State's citizens to take action, underscoring the 100-Day Report's warning that apathy and cynicism is a silent endorsement of corruption.

As venture capital investment declines, California is trying to access some of the $83 billion for clean-tech businesses provided by the American Recovery Act. Clean-tech companies are anxious to find out how money from the stimulus package will impact their industries, but it is not clear yet how funds will be distributed, especially for early-stage companies said Partner Buddy Arnheim in a recent California Real Estate Journal article. "It's really exciting that the [Obama] administration has come out with a stronger focus on increasing our clean-tech investments," Arnheim said.

Perkins Coie is pleased to announce Scott Joachim has joined the firm’s Private Equity practice as a partner. He will be based in the firm’s Menlo Park office.

Perkins Coie has launched its newest blog, Chiplawblog.com, which is dedicated to providing clients and other semiconductor companies the latest developments in intellectual property law and patent litigation as well as other issues impacting the industry. The blog is aimed particularly at engineers and start-up companies. Contributors to the blog include attorneys from the firm's Semiconductor industry group. 

Jeff Miller, of counsel in Seattle, was interviewed for a recent Inside Counsel article, "Tough Calls: Drawing the line on ethical decisions can be tricky for in-house counsel."

Some of the biggest allegations leading to former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s criminal charges stemmed from the strategic use of a wiretap. Investigations & White Collar Defense Partner, Patrick Collins,  published an article in White Collar Crime Report, discussing the possible implications of using a wiretap in high-profile cases; a practice that aggressive prosecutors are likely to use with greater frequency.

Proposed legislation that would mandate storage of IP address and other information by ISPs may aid law enforcement but would open up ISPs to more civil discovery demands by those seeking to enforce intellectual property rights like the music industry or even in divorce cases when a spouse seeks to show the viewing habits of the other spouse.  ISPs also have their own interest in using the data for advertising and network monitoring purposes.  Gidari discussed the history of the laws that give ISPs broad rights to use the data, and the privacy risks associated with those uses.

Perkins Coie is proud to announce it has been ranked among the top 10 "Best Places to Work in Idaho" by the nationally recognized marketing research firm POPULUS, in conjunction with The Idaho Business Review.

Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that David Black and Craig M.J. Allely have joined its Denver office as Partners in its national Product Liability practice.

Patrick Collins offered legal commentary on the recent indictment of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on federal corruption charges. Patrick was a featured guest during segments on local television networks and was quoted by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Daily Herald, New York Times and Wall Street Journal.