The Week at Ropes & Gray: Fighting for a Pro Bono Client’s Freedom; Recognized for Pro Bono Excellence; New Privacy Legislation in New York; a PE Podcast Series; Supporting Legal Access to Justice in Chicago

In The News
June 7, 2019

Below are weekly highlights of what’s happening at Ropes & Gray:

  • Ropes & Gray launched The PEP Talk, a podcast series that focuses on legal issues in private equity. In the inaugural episode, asset management partners Peter Laybourn and Debra Lussier welcome Keith Higgins, chair of the firm’s securities and governance practice, to discuss general solicitation by private equity funds under 506 (c).
  • Our clients announced three transactions:
    • Genstar Capital, a leading private equity firm, announced an agreement to acquire Advarra from Linden Capital Partners. Ropes & Gray is representing Genstar in the transaction.
    • Gauge Capital announced a partnership with and recapitalization of irth Solutions, a leading provider of 811 ticket and field service management software. Ropes & Gray represented Gauge Capital.
    • Travel Management Company (TMC), the largest wholesale-focused light jet operator in the U.S., announced its acquisition by private aviation company Wheels Up. Ropes & Gray advised TMC in the transaction. 
  • We’re proud to have been awarded “Pro Bono Program of the Year” by Chambers & Partners. The award is given to one firm each year that offers outstanding pro bono support to its local or global community. Illustrating our commitment to pro bono work, Ropes & Gray, working with the New England Innocence Project, sought a new trial this week for a man wrongfully convicted of murder in 1979 based on new DNA evidence.  
  • In Chicago, the firm, led by Chicago litigation & enforcement partner Jeff Bushofsky and Chicago litigation & enforcement associate Charlie Zagnoli, participated in The Chicago Bar Foundation’s 13th Annual Investing in Justice Campaign. The initiative supports the provision of legal access to those in need.
  • Meanwhile, Ropes & Gray lawyers weighed in on new legal developments that will have an impact on business:
    • The Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services released a request for applications for the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced model. Health care attorneys Michael Lampert, Devin Cohen, Josef Weimholt and Evander Williams examined the implications of the proposed amendment. 
    • IP litigation partners Kevin Post and Steven Pepe and IP litigation counsel Samuel Brenner analyzed what to expect from an appeal of FTC v. Qualcomm, a district court decision that ruled Qualcomm has been illegally negotiating standard-essential patent licenses covering smartphone technology. The authors discussed issues related to the scope of the court injunction and antitrust.
  • Our 350-lawyer New York office continues to grow with the addition of Alex Simkin as litigation & enforcement counsel. Alex brings to the firm a wealth of experience representing financial institutions and other corporate clients through all stages of complex commercial litigation. 
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