Richard B. Thomas, a long-time patent engineer with Armstrong Teasdale LLP, has become an associate in the law firm’s Intellectual Property practice group. With Thomas’ promotion, the firm expands its Intellectual Property group to 70 people.

Much of Thomas’ practice involves advising emerging and mature businesses on the development and leveraging of technology. His main focus is on the preparation and prosecution of U.S. and foreign patent applications.

“Even in challenging economic times, businesses continue to actively acquire intellectual property and protect their intellectual property rights,” said Armstrong Teasdale Intellectual Property Practice Group Leader Patrick W. Rasche. “Rich’s background and experience in the field align with our goals for the group. We look forward to his continued contributions and remain excited about the prospects for continued growth over the coming years.”

Thomas received his J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law, his M.B.A. from Lindenwood University, and his B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of New York. He is licensed to practice in Missouri and is a member of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and the American Bar Association.

About Armstrong Teasdale: Armstrong Teasdale LLP, with nearly 250 lawyers in offices across the U.S. and China, has a demonstrable track record of delivering sophisticated legal advice and exceptional service to a dynamic client base. Whether an issue is local or global, practice area specific or industry related, Armstrong Teasdale provides each client with an invaluable combination of legal resources and practical advice in nearly every area of law. For more information, please visit www.armstrongteasdale.com.

Four attorneys at law firm of Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C., have been selected as “Super Lawyers®” and one has been named a “Rising Star” in a peer nomination and research process conducted by “Super Lawyers,” a publication of Thompson Reuters. (www.superlawyers.com).

Gallop, Johnson & Neuman attorneys identified as “Super Lawyers” in the poll of active attorneys in Missouri and Kansas for 2010 practice in diverse areas of law. They include:

- Glenn E. Davis - Antitrust litigation, business litigation, securities litigation

- Robert H. Epstein - Real estate, business/corporate, environmental

- Thomas H. Mug - Employee benefits/ERISA, estate planning/probate, tax

- Robert A. Stockenberg - Construction/surety

Gallop attorney Nichole Y. Wren has been named a “Super Lawyers” Rising Star in estate planning/probate and non-profit categories.

Thomas J. Campbell, managing partner at Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, said, “We are honored when attorneys at our firm are recognized as ‘Super Lawyers’ by their peers in the legal profession in Missouri and Kansas because it reflects our commitment to render high quality legal services in all of our practice areas.”

The “Super Lawyers” list is designed to identify attorneys who have attained a high degree of professional achievement and peer recognition. One goal of the annual “Super Lawyers” list is to identify the top five percent of attorneys in more than 70 practice areas. 

Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C., a full service law firm of 80 attorneys, has provided legal services to clients in diverse industries since its founding in 1976 and is one of the largest law firms in St. Louis. The firm also has offices in Washington, D.C. The firm serves public corporations; privately-held companies; entrepreneurs and start-up enterprises; individuals and families; trustees and trust beneficiaries; charities; and non-profit entities. Offices are located at 101 South Hanley Road, Suite 1700, in Clayton, Missouri, and at 1350 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 850, in Washington D.C. 

For more information about Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, please contact Lois A. LaDriere at 314.615.6000 or visit the website http://www.gjn.com.   Media contact: Jeff Dunlap at 314.993.6925.

The Jones Day law firm said today it will open an office in Brazil, one of the world's fastest-growing economies.

The office will be Jones Day's 33rd and its second in Latin America after Mexico City.

The Sao Paulo office will support global clients investing in Brazil and other Latin American countries, as well as providing counsel to Brazilian companies in their international operations. It will concentrate on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, private equity, banking and finance and project finance/infrastructure transactions, as well as energy and capital markets.

The office will launch as a foreign legal consultancy, as required by the Brazilian Bar Association, and open once obtaining regulatory clearance. It will be a standalone Jones Day office, with no association or alliance with any local Brazilian firms.

"Brazil is a dynamic, expanding economy, and one of the world's key emerging markets," Stephen Brogan, managing partner of Jones Day, said in a statement today.

"It is a significant commodity producer, a world leader in energy, and home to some of the most important worldwide infrastructure projects undertaken in recent years."

Brogan also said Brazil has Latin America's largest and deepest stock market, massive inbound investment and soon-to-be-massive outbound investment.

The big law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has seen its share of merger discussions fizzle out in recent years. Add its talks with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to the list.

Less than a week after confirming that they were in preliminary discussions to merge, Orrick and Akin Gump released a joint statement Monday morning announcing that their brief flirtation has already petered out.  The decision to end their talks was described as a mutual one.

“The firms appreciated the opportunity to have the discussions, which confirmed their mutual respect for one another,” the statement said. “However, the firms have determined not to proceed.”

Last week, consultants who specialize in law-firm mergers described the fit between Orrick and Akin Gump as a good one, considering they did not overlap much in terms of offices or strong practice areas.  Together, the firms would have employed nearly 1,900 lawyers with combined revenues in excess of $1.5 billion.

But the breakdown in talks is not particularly surprising, given how delicate merger discussions between big law firms tend to be. As The American Lawyer has pointed out, Orrick is something of a model for aborted merger talks, with its unsuccessful deal with what was then Dewey Ballantine in 2007 standing out as the most notable example.

Pittsburgh-based Reed Smith, which has 150 lawyers in Philadelphia, is in early merger discussions with Dallas-based law firm Thompson & Knight, both firms confirmed Friday to the Pittsburgh Business Times.

"We are in preliminary merger discussions with Texas-based Thompson & Knight," said Reed Smith Managing Partner Greg Jordan in an e-mail. “The discussions are preliminary and no final agreement or partner vote has been reached or taken.”

Reed Smith has more than 1,500 lawyers, while Thompson & Knight has about 350 lawyers with a focus on the energy industry, including oil and gas, Jordan said.

Becky Jackson, chief client services officer at Thompson & Knight, offered the following statement in an e-mail:

“In today’s legal environment, Thompson & Knight’s historical presence in Texas and our outstanding energy expertise are sought after by firms. For several years, we have regularly received inquiries regarding possible mergers. We have had preliminary conversations with Reed Smith, and they are obviously a great firm, but it is premature to characterize these discussions in any detail.”

Under Jordan’s decade-long tenure, Reed Smith has grown from a Pittsburgh-centric 500-lawyer firm to an international firm three times the size through a series of major mergers and acquisitions. In 2001, the firm acquired 60-lawyer Warner Cranston of London. In January 2003, it acquired California’s 220-lawyer Crosby Heafey Roach & May. In 2007, the firm merged London’s 250-lawyer Richards Butler and 140-lawyer Sachnoff & Weaver of Chicago. And in January 2008, Reed Smith acquired 110-lawyer Richards Butler Hong Kong and 55 lawyers from New York’s Anderson Kill & Olick.

Armstrong Teasdale LLP is supporting the development of new renewable energy sources by purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) through AmerenUE’s Pure Power program.

Armstrong Teasdale’s commitment to this voluntary program will help prevent approximately 132,996 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2), a leading greenhouse gas, from entering the atmosphere each year. This is equal to the CO2 reduction provided by taking 12 cars off the road for a year.

Pure Power is UE’s voluntary renewable energy program and the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2008 New Green Power Program of the Year Award Winner. It gives residential customers the option to add an extra 1.5 cents/kilowatthour to their monthly bills, offsetting up to 100 percent of their energy usage with clean, renewable energy. Commercial and industrial customers, like Armstrong Teasdale, participate by buying “blocks” of Pure Power, paying an additional $15 a month for every 1,000 kilowatt-hours used.

Pure Power funds are then used to purchase Renewable Energy Certificates from Green-e Energy-certified wind farms and other types of renewable energy projects. In 2009, 100 percent of the RECs purchased for the Pure Power program came from Missouri wind farms. This is projected to be true again in 2010.

Armstrong Teasdale’s level of participation makes it a UE Pure Power Leader--a designation reserved for companies, governments or other large users of electricity who agree to offset at least 3 percent of their energy usage through Pure Power purchases. This purchase also counts toward the City of Clayton’s effort to become the first EPA Green Power Community in the state of Missouri.

About Armstrong Teasdale LLP: Armstrong Teasdale LLP, with nearly 250 lawyers in offices across the U.S. and China, has a demonstrable track record of delivering sophisticated legal advice and exceptional service to a dynamic client base. Whether an issue is local or global, practice area specific or industry related, Armstrong Teasdale provides each client with an invaluable combination of legal resources and practical advice in nearly every area of law. For more information, please visit www.armstrongteasdale.com.