Around the water cooler: Q & A with Joseph Seliga

Joseph Seliga is a partner at Mayer Brown. He has been practicing for nearly nine years, and is a member of Mayer Brown’s government and global trade practice group and the firm’s global infrastructure specialized practice area.

What do you find the most interesting about your practice?

My practice constantly presents new and interesting issues. I work extensively in United States infrastructure matters, particularly in structuring transactions involving private investment in infrastructure.

I was integrally involved in representing the City of Chicago on the privatization of the Chicago Skyway, the first transaction of its kind in the United States. Since then, I have worked on road, port, parking, airport, and lottery transactions around the country.

I enjoy helping clients think through the novel and challenging issues related to these transactions, whether it is a government client that has never undertaken this kind of a deal or a private client that is understanding the unique issues involved in contracting with a government. I also enjoy working on these transactions in different parts of the country and analyzing the unique state and local issues that affect each deal.  In addition to my infrastructure work, I practice in all areas of state and local government law, including government ethics, election law, economic development incentives, government contracting, state and local taxes, and licensing and a range of other issues.  I thrive on the variety.

What makes a good lawyer?

Enthusiasm — the best lawyers are the ones who enjoy what they do.  Hard work — you have to be willing to put in the extra effort to produce outstanding work product. Strong analytical skills — knowing not only how to think, but how to think creatively.

Excellent writing skills — conveying complicated ideas clearly in ways that both lawyers and non-lawyers can understand. Confidence in your legal advice — if you are not confident in your advice, your client will not be confident in you. Exceptional listening skills — listening to others before you speak and understanding what they are saying — by far the most important skill and probably the most difficult for lawyers!

What is the biggest legal news right now, and what is its impact?

In the infrastructure sector, it is continued thinking about new and different ways to meet the country’s infrastructure needs.  The federal stimulus bill, which provided funding for only a small portion of the country’s infrastructure needs, has focused increased attention on infrastructure and how the federal government and state and local governments address the massive challenge of funding infrastructure.

There are various innovative transaction structures that are being undertaken to promote private investment in infrastructure and to address the unfunded infrastructure needs of the country, which are in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Lawyers are playing an important role in shaping these issues and will continue to do so as governments focus less on traditional methods of funding, such as gas taxes, and look for other ways of funding infrastructure.

Around the water cooler: Hinshaw lawyer appointed as vice chairman

Hinshaw & Culbertson recently announced that partner Kevin Joseph Burke has been appointed as vice chairman of the firm.

As the firm’s first-ever vice chairman, Burke will work closely with Donald L. Mrozek, Hinshaw’s chairman and managing partner, to implement firm-wide strategies and initiatives. Burke has been active in firm management as a member of the firm’s management committee since 2003, and also serves on the firm’s executive committee.

Burke, who joined the firm in 1984, will continue his current legal practice while in his role as vice chairman. His legal experience has included representation and trials involving drug and medical lawsuits, commercial and business disputes, construction litigation, employment, and governmental civil rights actions.

Burke said he will help strengthen the direction of the firm, and encourage people to work towards the larger firm goals. He said he plans to help find ways to bring people into those goals, whether it be, for example, getting them involved in the business development path, or in working more with current or future clients’ needs.

The firm wants to make sure its reputation is based on its performance and its results. It must always make sure it has the clients’ best interests in mind, he said.

“It is really a dynamic time with everything happening,” he said. “We want to manage the circumstances and get in front of it, and come out ahead of it.”

He said Mrozek is a very good, active, hands-on leader, and Burke wants to support the goals he’s started.

“We have a great group of people here,” Burke said. “They are all excited about making the firm better and everybody wants to be part of that. I get calls every day about some initiative someone is starting and how they are donating their time.”

Around the water cooler: John Marshall community hosts bike drive

The John Marshall Law School Alumni Association and the school’s Student Bar Association are hosting a bicycle drive in support of the Global Alliance for Africa and the people the organization helps.

Wheels for Hope encourages students, alumni and the legal community to donate new, used or worn-out bikes, which will be packed up and shipped to Tanzania, where those bikes that need it will be repaired by local people and sold for use in the communities.

Judge Cheryl Cesario, president of the alumni association, said she got to know the Global Alliance for Africa through a CLE trip to Tanzania. The alliance partners with local African non-governmental organizations, religious institutions, and community-based organizations to design and implement innovative economic strengthening programs with the goal of enabling communities and households to provide sustainable care and support for orphans and other vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS.

The roads in Tanzania are very rural, and bikes can be an affordable method of transportation for many of the local people, especially since using public transportation and cars are often not easy or affordable to use, Cesario said.

When she became president of the alumni association she wanted to figure out a way for the association to do more charitable work, she said. At the same time she wanted to work with other groups in the law school. This project touches on both of those goals, she said.

“It seemed like a small piece we can do easily to help other human beings,” she said.

“It makes me feel proud to be able to bring others together to help this organization and help people in another country where there is really a need …,” Cesario said. “The association, my executive board and all the members are 100 percent behind this.

“The real point is anybody with any kind of leadership or participation level in an organization can come up with a similar idea and do something like this.”

Bring your donated bicycles to The John Marshall Law School, 315 S. Plymouth Court, downtown Chicago from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 18. Old or new, dusty or rusty, in tip-top shape or missing parts - your bike will make a difference. If you have questions or to arrange possible pick-up: email sba@jmls.edu or call (312) 427-2737, Ext. 579.

Around the water cooler: Q & A with Dean Parker

Dean Parker, a partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson, is in his 30th year of practice. He serves as a co-regional director of over 50 business lawyers in the firm’s banking, real estate, health care, labor, and school law groups in the greater Chicago area.

What do you find the most interesting about your practice?

I find the clients I serve the most interesting facet of my practice. I have had the good fortune to work with a wide variety of entrepreneurial, corporate and institutional clients.

Keeping them satisfied requires that we be able to play a number of different roles, as their personal styles and organizational needs can be so different. Serving these clients well, and making them feel well-served, is a challenge I find immensely satisfying.

What makes a good lawyer?

A good lawyer is technically sound, of course. An attorney who combines proficiency with an expansive view of the circumstances can make a valued counselor.  A lawyer who is able to see several moves down the line in the process of handling a transaction or resolving a dispute, or who is able to anticipate the likely legal impacts of current economic and political events, can provide significant benefits to clients.

What is the biggest legal news right now, and what is its impact?

I think the currently unfolding details of the term asset-backed securities loan facility (TALF) established by the federal government is likely to have a major short-term impact on the financial system. It will also have significant indirect effect as to whether and how consumers, small business, and real estate investors may obtain credit over the near term.

The type and extent of regulation that needs to accompany such an extensive investment by the taxpayer bears watching, as those controls will guide our financial system and the economy as a whole over the next decade.  I hope the administration creates a system that gradually tilts the emphasis away from Wall Street and back towards the community and commercial banking sector, as I believe that will ultimately lead to a more diffused and stable financial system.

Around the water cooler: Grippo & Elden lawyers represent Cubs

Gary M. Miller and John McCambridge, principals at Grippo & Elden, handled a 2003 lawsuit filed on behalf of the Cubs against rooftop owners outside Wrigley Field on such claims as trademark infringement, copyright violations, and common law misappropriation.

The case settled in 2004 and the Cubs entered agreements with each rooftop that it could sell tickets to Cubs games, in exchange for paying an annual fee. This annual fee also allowed the rooftops to use the Cubs logo, and the Cubs agreed to not block the rooftop views and to allow the rooftops to be marketed on the Cubs website.

Fast-forward to New Years Day 2009 when the Cubs hosted the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. As part of the arrangement, the NHL wanted to put up video scoreboard Jumbotrons.

The Lakeview Baseball Club, which sold out its rooftop, later complained that one of the Jumbotrons partially blocked its view, and claimed that allowing the screen was a breach of contract on the part of the Cubs, and refused to pay royalties for the 2008 season, Miller said.

The Cubs viewed the club response as unfair because they shouldn’t be able to take a product for free, he said. The Cubs terminated its agreement with the club and filed a suit in March against the club for its 2008 royalties and for trademark infringement.

McCambridge and Miller said because the Cubs no longer had an agreement with the Lakeview Baseball Club it planned to block the rooftop’s view for 2009 baseball season.

The club then filed an answer to the Cubs suit, and filed a counterclaim requesting a declaratory judgment that the Cubs had breached the agreement by putting up the Jumbotrons and didn’t have a right to terminate the agreement. The club also claimed that the agreement was still in place, as well as the obligation to not block the view, Miller said.

Judge John W. Darrah ruled March 18 in the Cubs’ favor on every issue, and the court eventually found that the club was unlikely to succeed on its claims, they said.

The parties reached a settlement where the club must pay annual royalties like the other rooftops, and the club acknowledged in an agreement that the video scoreboard used in the Winter Classic was not a violation of the 2004 contract. The club also needed to reimburse the Cubs for its attorney fees and court costs, Miller said.

“The agreement is good for the Cubs, good for the Lakeview Baseball Club, and good for the fans who will be able to have the experience of going to a game on a rooftop,” Miller said. “Given the settlement we are now in a positive position for both [Lakeview Baseball Club] and the Cubs.”

They said it was challenging getting the case on file quickly and bringing it to resolution promptly by convincing the court that none of the club’s arguments had any merit.

“We were not interested in lengthy litigation if we could avoid it,” McCambridge said. “We were interested in enforcing the agreements we did have with Lakeview and all the other rooftops.”

Associate Ian Wilbur also worked on the recent case.

Around the water cooler: Reed Smith lawyer heads historic alliance

Reed Smith Energy and Project Finance Team Leader Jim Greenberger, a Chicago-based lawyer, is heading up a landmark alliance of leading U.S. tech and energy companies to encourage government funding for the research and development and U.S. manufacture of cutting-edge battery technologies.

The National Alliance for Advanced Transportation Batteries (NAATB) is an industry consortium, co-founded and led by Greenberger, that is seeking $1 billion in federal money to fund battery development and a collaborative manufacturing center.

The goal is to make the U.S. a leader in the development and manufacturing of Lithium-ion and other high-performance battery technology, which has long been dominated by Asian companies. The money would come from $2.4 billion set aside in the federal economic stimulus law to be granted by the DOE to speed development of technology for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

The group, formed in December, following a June 2008 seminar at Reed Smith in Chicago, now has members from major companies to startups, including 3M Co., East Penn Manufacturing Co., Kemet Corp., and Exide Technologies.

Key elements of the plan are: Build or occupy three buildings that total 1.5 million square feet; employ 2,500 or more people over five years; and develop and make cells for lithium-ion batteries for hybrid electric vehicles.

The consortium is currently asking seven states to submit competing bids for the project, offering: Free or very cheap land for a plant site; the completion of permits and other approvals by April 30; waivers or rebates on sales and property taxes; loan guarantees; low-interest, long-term loans for equipment purchases; preferential electric rates; and political support in Washington.

Greenberger said he’s been co-head of the firm’s clean tech group for the last several years and has been working on all elements of clean tech for awhile. He started thinking about which areas of clean tech will come to commercial fruition the soonest, and which will likely make the biggest impact — and that was Lithium-ion batteries and their use in automobiles, he said.

Nobody in the United States is making these batteries in any quantity, Greenberger said. But Japanese, South Korean and Chinese businesses are. But building these batteries and creating the cars that would use them could help slow down global warming and break the reliance on petroleum, he said.

The Energy Department’s request for bids for the stimulus money was released in March with an expected deadline of mid-May. The department has pledged to move quickly to select grant winners once the applications are in.

If the consortium wins federal backing, it will move rapidly to set up a headquarters and battery cell engineering and development center. The completion of a factory might take another two years, according to Reed Smith. The race for federal money is highly competitive, and the consortium is asking for a quick response from competing states, so that it can move rapidly to submit its application to the DOE.

This work, he said, “gets me out of bed in the morning and, really, I’m just having the best time I’ve ever had in my professional career in the last several months working with this and turning it into something. Trying to promote the acceptance and the technology to power electric vehicles and hybrids is certainly a cause and a force greater than any individual as it has powerful long-term ramifications.”

Around the Water Cooler: Q & A with Robert H. Resis

Robert H. Resis is a principal shareholder, and has been practicing intellectual property litigation, counseling, and prosecution for over 22 years, all at the same firm, Banner & Witcoff.

What do you find the most interesting about your practice?

I think the most interesting part of the practice of intellectual property law is learning from a client how they made an invention. My job is to express in easy-to-understand language why their invention is worthy of a strong and enforceable patent, or, if they have already received a patent, why they are entitled to their just reward through negotiation with and/or litigation against others.  A strong patent system protects and promotes human creativity, and it is fun to be a part of it.

What makes a good lawyer?

A good lawyer is someone who cares for and works well with others. A good lawyer is highly ethical, and can determine what is fair and legally correct after looking at both sides of an issue.  A good lawyer is the lawyer who will make the tough decisions, and will tell a client when the client is wrong or is overreaching.

What is the biggest legal news going on right now, and what is its impact?

In the practice of intellectual property law, the biggest legal news right now is how lower courts and the U.S. Patent Office are applying the Supreme Court’s decision in KSR v. Teleflex, decided in April 2007.

In KSR, the Supreme Court rejected the “rigid approach” of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of an “expansive and flexible approach” on whether a patent claim was obvious in view of prior art.

Prior to KSR, the lower courts focused on whether there was a teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art itself that would have led a person of ordinary skill in the art to make the claimed invention. In KSR, the Supreme Court held that fact-finders must consider whether a reason existed at the time of invention that would have prompted a person of ordinary skill in the art in the relevant field to combine known elements in the way the claimed invention does. The Supreme Court also held that the reason to combine can come from the prior art, the background knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art, the nature of the problem to be solved, market demand, or common sense.

Prior to KSR, the U.S. Patent Office granted patents on about 75 percent of patent applications.  Post-KSR, the success rate has now dropped to about 50 percent. A similar drop-off of issued patent claims being found to be non-obvious has occurred in lower court holdings since KSR.

I believe that the long-term impact of KSR will be a good one. People will strive to make more dramatic inventions that provide differences in kind, rather than differences in degree. Patents that issue post-KSR will be more valuable.

Around the water cooler: Freeborn & Peters chairman

Freeborn & Peters recently announced that William N. Howard has been named chairman of the firm’s executive committee, which is responsible for the strategic planning for the firm.

Howard is a partner in the firm’s litigation practice group, and his practice includes the representation of a diverse array of clients from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 corporations. He has experience in all aspects of complex commercial, business, shareholder, trademark, trade secret, non-compete, and product liability litigation including pre-litigation planning and strategy, litigation avoidance strategies, auditing of business practices, arbitration, mediation, administrative hearings, TRO and preliminary injunction hearings, and bench and jury trials.

He also has general counsel experience, having served as outside general counsel for various companies, including an international manufacturer of infant care and feeding products doing business in over 75 countries.

When asked about his goals for the new position, he said, “To follow the example and build on the momentum that was created by a number of our strong current and past leaders of the firm. Clearly in today’s environment one of our goals has to be to try to come out stronger and more competitive once things normalize in the market. And, more importantly, to help our clients do the same.

“In a way, in this economic turmoil we have a tremendous opportunity for a firm of our structure and makeup. Historically, the structure of our firm has allowed us to focus on being  ‘value driven.’ Part of being value driven is that we are able to provide our clients with the same quality and caliber of legal services that they would receive in a significantly larger firm … but at a greater value with more efficiencies and, really, with more passion to serve our clients’ ends. We believe that our focus on and our practice of being efficient and value driven gives us, and more importantly, our clients, an advantage in the current economic market.”

He said the firm’s goal is to position the clients, and thereby itself in such a way that they not only survive in this economy, but also come out stronger and better positioned moving forward.

“I think it’s really important in these times to continue our participatory democratic approach to the partnership,” he said. “We have always welcomed and encouraged the sharing and exchanging of diverse ideas, backgrounds and perspectives and experiences and I think one of our strengths as an organization is we truly believe that no one, regardless of age or tenure or background, has a monopoly on good ideas.”

Around the water cooler: Phi Alpha Delta chapter remains active

Phi Alpha Delta is an international professional law fraternity advancing integrity, compassion, and courage through service to the student, the school, the profession, and the community. The Chicago Alumni Chapter will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2011, said Michele Jochner, justice of the Chicago Alumni Chapter.

Jochner said the chapter has had a tremendous kick-off to what it plans to be an exciting year.

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne M. Burke, a member of the chapter, installed in February the 2009-2010 Chapter officers. During that same ceremony, the Chicago Chapter initiated Illinois Attorney General Lisa M. Madigan as an honorary member.

The honorary initiation of Attorney General Madigan set the stage for the Chapter’s Judges’ Night, with over 200 members of the judiciary, lawyers, and law students in attendance, Jochner said. At Judge’s Night, Chicago attorney John K. Norris, chair of the event, presented to Attorney General Madigan with the Chapter’s Meritorious Legal Achievement Award, honoring her for her efforts in safeguarding Illinois citizens.

Jochner said she often gets the same questions about the fraternity - What is it? Who belongs there? Where do I fit in if I want to join?

She said the mission of the fraternity is to advance the core values of compassion and service, and to form a strong bond that unites students, teachers of law, and members of the bar and the bench in the pursuit of liberty and equal justice.

In terms of who belongs, she said “judges, lawyers, professors and students who strongly believe in the core values and who want to work together to promote those values and to advance the ideals of justice. And also liberty is an important concept too.

“If they are not a member we would love to have them join their ranks. There is definitely a place for them. … This organization is unique because it builds a bridge all the way from when students become interested in pursuing the law in college, and then through law school, and when they become lawyers.  It makes it very fulfilling to see many members who joined in law school and 40 years later they see their friends, their colleagues at events. It’s wonderful to hear the stories.”

A misconception exists that they must have joined in law school to be members, Jochner said. That is not true. The organization welcomes members of the legal profession.

“The Chicago alumni chapter is so fortunate to have a number of dedicated officers who have been involved for several years in promoting the ideals,” she said. “They’ve done an incredible amount of hard work. They inspire me. It’s a team effort.”

Around the water cooler: Q & A with Todd R. Southwell

Todd R. Southwell, a partner at Freeborn & Peters, is in the mergers & acquisition, private equity and company representation practice, and has practiced for 10 years.

What do you find the most interesting about your practice?

I find it interesting that virtually every transaction I work on presents a varying array of challenging legal issues across all areas of the law. Because my mergers & acquisitions and private equity practice is largely transactional and negotiation driven, the issues that I tackle on transactions, from the smallest private transaction to the largest public transaction, are always different and often change on a daily and sometimes hourly basis.  The changing issues continually require me to retool my analysis, drafting, and responses.

What makes a good lawyer?

The ability to listen.  Lawyers often refuse or forget to listen to others.  The best lawyers thoughtfully listen to their clients, co-counsel, opposing counsel, and each person working with them.  Nobody practices law in a vacuum, and the lawyer that is able to listen to what others say will be able to process information, formulate or reformulate their thoughts, and provide well-reasoned and analyzed points, arguments, responses, or follow-up questions — all geared toward accomplishing their and their client’s combined goals.

What is the biggest legal news right now, and what is its impact?

Currently, there are many big legal news stories, from potentially new laws relating to various segments of corporate America, layoffs, personnel changes and instability of some law firms, to the prosecution of individuals involved in financial fraud and schemes.

One of the biggest legal news stories that impacts my mergers & acquisitions and private equity practice and the economy in general, however, is the challenging credit markets.  Due to the difficulty that some businesses are having borrowing funds, these businesses are finding it more difficult to cover expenses and make acquisitions or divestitures.

At the same time, tight credit markets are causing businesses to think strategically, consult their lawyers sooner, and enter into interesting calculated partnerships and relationships with other businesses (including joint ventures, mergers, and partial/option-based transactions) that they would not have otherwise considered, but will enable them to maximize value, market share, and profitability.

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