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CLEVELAND, April 11, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Rachel K. Mathoslah has joined the Cleveland, Ohio office of McDonald Hopkins LLC as an Associate in the firm's Business Department.
Mathoslah specializes in real estate law. She has represented commercial real estate developers and tenants on a national level in negotiating and drafting development agreements and commercial leases. In the area of commercial lending, Mathoslah has represented both lenders and borrowers in a variety of transactions. Her experience also includes drafting and negotiating documents related to the acquisition and disposition of industrial, commercial and office properties. Mathoslah graduated from Boston University in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and received her J.D. in 2004 from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Rachel Mathoslah can be reached at 216-348-5442 or rmathoslah@mcdonaldhopkins.com.
About McDonald Hopkins
With more than 130 attorneys in Cleveland, Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, and West Palm Beach, McDonald Hopkins is a full-service firm focused on business law, litigation, restructuring, and estate planning. More information about McDonald Hopkins can be found at www.mcdonaldhopkins.com.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Judge Sides with Law Firm
Jackson law firm is entitled to fees and perhaps punitive damages because opposing attorneys in a lawsuit conspired to bribe the judge in the case, a judge ruled Wednesday.
How much the Scruggs Katrina Group will have to pay the Jackson law firm of Jones, Funderburg, Sessums, Peterson and Lee has not been determined. Attorneys will return to court Nov. 12 in Oxford to begin process.
The judge, Henry Lackey, cooperated with federal authorities and received $40,000 to rule favorably for Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and his law firm in a lawsuit about the division of $26.5 million in legal fees from Hurricane Katrina insurance case settlements.
The Jones firm claimed it was owed a larger share of the fees. This also was the lawsuit on which Lackey was presiding in Lafayette County when he was approached by then-New Albany attorney Timothy Balducci for the favor.
On Wednesday, Special Circuit Judge William Coleman, who took over in the case after Lackey stepped aside, agreed the Jones firm had been harmed by the bribery scandal and were owed reasonable attorneys fees and expenses they incurred in the lawsuit.
"This is exactly what we wanted," said Jones attorney Roy Percy after the hearing.
The conspirators' action "strikes at the heart of the judicial system," Coleman said.
Scruggs attorney Cal Mayo of Oxford, who said he had not yet talked with his client about Coleman's order, said an appeal is possible.
"Any attorney for any client should be concerned about punitive damages," Mayo said.
Richard Scruggs, his lawyer son Zach, their legal associate Sidney Backstrom, Balducci and his associate, former state Auditor Steven Patterson has each has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to bribe Lackey. They await sentencing.
How much the Scruggs Katrina Group will have to pay the Jackson law firm of Jones, Funderburg, Sessums, Peterson and Lee has not been determined. Attorneys will return to court Nov. 12 in Oxford to begin process.
The judge, Henry Lackey, cooperated with federal authorities and received $40,000 to rule favorably for Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and his law firm in a lawsuit about the division of $26.5 million in legal fees from Hurricane Katrina insurance case settlements.
The Jones firm claimed it was owed a larger share of the fees. This also was the lawsuit on which Lackey was presiding in Lafayette County when he was approached by then-New Albany attorney Timothy Balducci for the favor.
On Wednesday, Special Circuit Judge William Coleman, who took over in the case after Lackey stepped aside, agreed the Jones firm had been harmed by the bribery scandal and were owed reasonable attorneys fees and expenses they incurred in the lawsuit.
"This is exactly what we wanted," said Jones attorney Roy Percy after the hearing.
The conspirators' action "strikes at the heart of the judicial system," Coleman said.
Scruggs attorney Cal Mayo of Oxford, who said he had not yet talked with his client about Coleman's order, said an appeal is possible.
"Any attorney for any client should be concerned about punitive damages," Mayo said.
Richard Scruggs, his lawyer son Zach, their legal associate Sidney Backstrom, Balducci and his associate, former state Auditor Steven Patterson has each has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to bribe Lackey. They await sentencing.
Blackstone Sued in Investor law suit
An investor in Blackstone Group (BX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) sued the private equity and real estate firm on Tuesday, contending it violated federal securities laws through statements made in its initial public offering documents, according to the law firm that brought the case.
Law firm Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins said the lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of plaintiff Landmen Partners Inc.
The lawsuit accuses Blackstone of failing to disclose in an IPO document that certain of its portfolio companies were not performing well and that as a result, the company would not generate anticipated performance fees on those investments, according to a copy of the complaint provided to Reuters by the law firm.
Blackstone is subject to a "claw back" provision that requires it to return performance fees that have already been paid if the investments it makes for its limited partners perform poorly, the lawsuit said.
The suit contends that at its IPO, Blackstone knew that its large investment in Financial Guaranty Insurance Co (FGIC), a bond insurer, was "materially impaired" after FGIC switched its focus from conservative municipal bonds to collateralized debt obligations backed by subprime mortgages.
The company's investment in Freescale Semiconductor was also in trouble but its registration statement contained no disclosure about this or the FGIC problems, the lawsuit said.
Named as defendants are Blackstone's co-founder and chief executive, Stephen Schwarzman, and Chief Financial Officer Michael Puglisi.
A Blackstone representative had no comment on the lawsuit.
Blackstone went public in June 2007 at a price of $31 a share, coming on the back of a boom for private equity that has now been stalled by the persisting credit crunch.
In the buyout boom that peaked in 2007, private equity firms broke records for the size of leveraged buyouts inked.
But as the credit markets contracted and the economy hit a downturn, some of the portfolio companies that buyout firms loaded with debt to take private have been having problems.
Home goods retailer Linens 'n Things said on Tuesday it is in talks with creditors on a capital restructuring, after a source had told Reuters on Friday that bankruptcy was among options being considered. Apollo Global Management led a $1.3 billion of the chain in 2006.
In March, Blackstone posted a worse-than-expected 86 percent decline in earnings, partly citing a write-down of its investment in bond insurer FGIC.
The company's shares closed at $17.33 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, up 14 cents on the day.
Law firm Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins said the lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of plaintiff Landmen Partners Inc.
The lawsuit accuses Blackstone of failing to disclose in an IPO document that certain of its portfolio companies were not performing well and that as a result, the company would not generate anticipated performance fees on those investments, according to a copy of the complaint provided to Reuters by the law firm.
Blackstone is subject to a "claw back" provision that requires it to return performance fees that have already been paid if the investments it makes for its limited partners perform poorly, the lawsuit said.
The suit contends that at its IPO, Blackstone knew that its large investment in Financial Guaranty Insurance Co (FGIC), a bond insurer, was "materially impaired" after FGIC switched its focus from conservative municipal bonds to collateralized debt obligations backed by subprime mortgages.
The company's investment in Freescale Semiconductor was also in trouble but its registration statement contained no disclosure about this or the FGIC problems, the lawsuit said.
Named as defendants are Blackstone's co-founder and chief executive, Stephen Schwarzman, and Chief Financial Officer Michael Puglisi.
A Blackstone representative had no comment on the lawsuit.
Blackstone went public in June 2007 at a price of $31 a share, coming on the back of a boom for private equity that has now been stalled by the persisting credit crunch.
In the buyout boom that peaked in 2007, private equity firms broke records for the size of leveraged buyouts inked.
But as the credit markets contracted and the economy hit a downturn, some of the portfolio companies that buyout firms loaded with debt to take private have been having problems.
Home goods retailer Linens 'n Things said on Tuesday it is in talks with creditors on a capital restructuring, after a source had told Reuters on Friday that bankruptcy was among options being considered. Apollo Global Management led a $1.3 billion of the chain in 2006.
In March, Blackstone posted a worse-than-expected 86 percent decline in earnings, partly citing a write-down of its investment in bond insurer FGIC.
The company's shares closed at $17.33 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, up 14 cents on the day.
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