Jason Dearen

February 13, 2003 | Law.com

Health care industry titan Johnson & Johnson has agreed to purchase Sunnyvale-based Scios, a biopharmaceutical company, for approximately $2.4 billion. Lawyers in the Menlo Park and San Francisco offices of Latham & Watkins represented Scios on the transaction. New York's Cravath, Swaine & Moore represented Johnson & Johnson. Also, Hoffman-La Roche's $70 million agreement with Sunnyvale-based Affymetrix.

By Jason Dearen

3 minute read

December 23, 2002 | Law.com

The Bar Association of San Francisco's new president is passionate about legal services for children. Jeffrey Bleich, 41, a partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson, says that he wants to strengthen the bar's existing youth outreach efforts and welfare-to-work programs for poor parents. While no one expects it to be easy, especially in the down economy, Bleich's experience and dedication will help him to start these new programs and carry on the work BASF has already started.

By Jason Dearen

4 minute read

March 06, 2003 | Law.com

Attorneys in the Redwood Shores office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges close a $1.4 billion high-yield debt offering for satellite television provider DirecTV. Also, lawyers in the Palo Alto office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati represents Overture Services Inc. in acquiring AltaVista.

By Jason Dearen

3 minute read

March 10, 2003 | Law.com

Two Bay Area attorneys have emerged as central players in a battle over asbestos litigation reform that is also pitting two of the nation's largest bar associations against each other. On one side is Steven Kazan, a member of the ABA's commission on asbestos litigation. On the other side is Mary Alexander, president of the ATLA. At the heart of their dispute is Senate Bill 413, which would allow only those who meet certain medical criteria to be eligible to file suit over exposure to asbestos.

By Jason Dearen

8 minute read

March 13, 2003 | Law.com

Two San Francisco Superior Court judges have thrown out libel lawsuits filed by former San Francisco city attorney candidate Stephen Williams against SF Weekly and The Examiner. In separate rulings, Judge Ronald Quidachay, who presided over the SF Weekly case, and Judge David Garcia, ruling in the Examiner suit, agreed that Williams' cases could be stricken under the state's anti-SLAPP statute.

By Jason Dearen

3 minute read

January 07, 2003 | Law.com

San Francisco-based Townsend and Townsend and Crew has elevated eight attorneys to partner -- the largest incoming class in firm history -- bringing the total to 64 partners in five offices. The new partners work out of its California offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto and Walnut Creek, as well as in the Denver outpost. The firm's fifth office is located in Seattle.

By Jason Dearen

3 minute read

August 16, 2002 | Law.com

Ten days after the Commission on Judicial Performance's 9-to-1 decision removing San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Michael Platt from the bench, the lone dissenting member issued a statement. Ramona Ripston believes public censure is appropriate for the judge, rather than the commission's most severe punishment.

By Jason Dearen

3 minute read

September 26, 2002 | Law.com

Working hard -- very hard -- seems to be the key theme these days at San Francisco-based Gordon & Rees. An anomaly in an economic climate characterized by downsizing and canceled summer associate programs, the firm seems to be surviving, and according to partners, thriving. All this for a firm that has specialized in one of the lowest-margin, least attractive practice areas of the past 10 years: insurance defense.

By Jason Dearen

9 minute read

December 24, 2002 | Law.com

Clifford Gardner is reluctant to accept praise for the pro bono work he does. He insists he's simply a for-profit criminal defense attorney, not someone who provides free legal counsel to death row inmates out of some overarching philanthropic mission. But working pro bono comes with the territory when representing post-conviction criminal clients. While there's a need for a steady stream of paying clients, money cannot be a prerequisite when working with people on death row, he says.

By Jason Dearen

5 minute read

October 24, 2002 | Law.com

Microsoft Corp. has acquired Sunnyvale-based Vicinity Corp., a mapping software maker, in an all-cash transaction worth $96 million. Attorneys in the Palo Alto office of Fenwick & West represented Vicinity in the deal, which is still subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. Redmond, Wash., based Microsoft will pay a purchase price of $3.33 a share, a 49 percent premium.

By Jason Dearen

3 minute read