Subject: Fw: CountUp: May 4, 2011
From: "Vidal, Orlando" <[email-masked]>
To: "Vidal, Orlando" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 5 May 2011 07:17:34 +0400

In case you're wondering what I'm up to in Dubai, read article below. Hope you're well!

Orlando

From: SNR Denton [mailto:[email-masked]] 
Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 08:51 PM
To: Vidal, Orlando 
Subject: CountUp: May 4, 2011 

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CountUp 

May 4, 2011

Information contained in this email is intended for internal purposes only.

*	Cross-Selling at its Best: SNR Denton Advises Insituform Technologies 
*	SNR Denton Competes with Transport Heavyweights 
*	Short Hills Litigation Team Wins—Twice! 
*	Midwest Tour of 'Doing Business in Russia' a Success 
*	SNR Denton Wins for Citibank 
*	New Business for Kuwait City 
*	Summary Judgment Win for Client 
*	RFP Win for Insurance Team 
*	Firm Assists with US$957 Million Deal for Lehman Brothers Bankhaus 
*	Q&A with Orlando Vidal on the Law, Dubai, Cervantes and French Fries 
*	Did You Spot Trevor Brignall at the Royal Wedding? 

Cross-Selling at its Best: SNR Denton Advises Insituform Technologies 

SNR Denton has been engaged to advise Insituform Technologies, Inc., a publicly traded company based in Chesterfield (St. Louis), Missouri, with respect to several international corporate transactions in connection with its growing market sector in energy and mining. In this regard, SNR Denton is advising relative to a UK acquisition, an Omani joint venture and a Moroccan joint venture, among others. Cooperation between the St. Louis, London and Muscat offices has built a strong foundation for a continuing and mutually beneficial relationship with Insituform.

Insituform's retention of SNR Denton is a prime example of how SNR Denton's global reach can be a catalyst for our 1x1 initiative and our goal of cross-selling the SNR Denton capabilities. It is also indicative of how the international platform can be attractive to potential clients even if they have no immediate need for local service, thereby serving as the basis for the relationship. This provides tremendous potential for international growth of the relationship, but also enhances the ability of SNR Denton to procure localized work in the future. The following SNR Denton lawyers are on the Insituform team: Charles R. Vantine (St. Louis), Joseph Colagiovanni, Jr. (St. Louis), Neil Nicholson (London) and Paul Sheridan (Muscat).

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SNR Denton Competes with Transport Heavyweights 

SNR Denton reached this year's final short list of three for the Infrastructure Journal's "Transport Legal Advisor of the Year" award. Our impressive submission covered deals such as Birmingham Highways Maintenance PFI, Tyne & Wear Metro, Government of Rwanda Airport PPP project and the Thameslink Rolling Stock program.

Matthew Hanslip Ward, sector head of the Energy, Transport and Infrastructure team, said: "We were absolutely delighted to have been short-listed against firms such as A&O and Linklaters. It underlines the pedigree of our transport practice and is a fitting reward for the team's hard work and world-class expertise. It was great to be able to showcase our experience at such a prestigious awards ceremony."

SNR Denton's deals totaled nearly US$6 billion.

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Short Hills Litigation Team Wins—Twice! 

The New Jersey litigation team is on a roll with two recent victories. 

First, Phil White and David Kiefer won summary judgment in the Superior Court of New Jersey on behalf of Andover Properties, which is a developer of self-storage facilities. Our client was facing exposure costs over the termination of a contract for the purchase of a tract of land. The court agreed with our interpretation of the contract and granted unqualified summary judgment in our client's favor, allowing it to avoid discovery of any kind. 

Second, David Kiefer received a favorable judgment in a fraud action in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of our clients John and William Mazor, whose family's estate was mismanaged and defrauded by its former executor. Based on the aggregate loss to the estate, which accrued over 15 years, the court granted compensatory damages, in addition to punitive damages that will be determined at a supplementary hearing in May.

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Midwest Tour of 'Doing Business in Russia' a Success 

During the week of April 11, Doran Doeh and Anna Otkina of SNR Denton's Moscow office presented a program on "Doing Business in Russia" to firm clients and lawyers in Chicago and Kansas City. The presentations, followed by a cocktail reception in each city, were well attended by a targeted group. The Q&A sessions were high energy, and provided an excellent opportunity for Doran and Anna to highlight their experience and the value they can bring to our clients in the Midwest, where a dense population of manufacturing and other heavy industries presents a ripe opportunity for business expansion. 

Approximately 25 lawyers and clients attended each program. The greatest indicator of the success of this tour is the solid business leads generated. Lawyers from Chicago and Kansas City report that they have already received positive feedback, along with promising indicators of potential new business, from attendees representing such companies as Black & Veatch, Lafarge, Leo Burnett, Wells Fargo, Oil-Dri, Butler Manufacturing and Blue Scope Steel.

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SNR Denton Wins for Citibank 

SNR Denton was retained by Citibank to represent its related corporate entities and Citibank as trustee of three related trusts, all in connection with a suit against it in the Southern District of New York.

The action was, in reality, a suit by a lawyer for substantial legal fees, but was framed as an anti-trust action.

Working together was a team consisting of Martin Gold, Douglas Brasher and Kimberly Kalmanson of the New York Litigation and Arbitration practice and John Elias of Short Hills and Barbara Pedersen and Ralph M. Engel of New York in the Trusts and Estates practice.

In response to our papers, the court, at its initial conference, suggested that the plaintiff withdraw her suit or face sanctions. She promptly withdrew, resulting in a total victory for Citibank.

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New Business for Kuwait City 

Recently, David Pfeiffer (Kuwait City) and Ola Saab (Kuwait City) won an exciting piece of business from the Kuwait Oil Company for our Energy, Transport and Infrastructure and Corporate and Business Transactions service lines in the Kuwait City office.

The Kuwait Oil Company has long discussed reorganizing the four main upstream subsidiaries of the company to create a single upstream representative of the national oil company in Kuwait. The portion of awarded work that SNR Denton won, which was bid in partnership with PwC, constitutes the second largest non-litigation engagement in the 17-year history of the Kuwait office.

The one-year contract term will give the firm an extended inside view of the legal function of the Kuwait Oil Company, giving the firm a significant advantage to win further work in this sector in Kuwait.

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Summary Judgment Win for Client 

The New Jersey Superior Court has granted SNR Denton's client Paul Levy a solid win on his claims arising out of a stock purchase agreement and promissory note. SNR Denton brought an action on behalf of Levy and promptly moved for summary judgment when defendants, a New Jersey corporation and its principal officers, failed to pay Levy approximately US$1.5 million in installments due under the agreement and note. 

Defendants claimed that their payment obligations under both documents had been modified. At the first hearing on the motion in mid-February, the court permitted defendants to take expedited depositions and set the matter down for further argument on April 1. At the April 1 hearing, the court agreed with all of the positions put forth by the firm on behalf of our client and awarded him summary judgment in the amount of US$1.565 million together with interest and attorneys' fees. The matter was handled by Steve Marshall (New York), Marty Schwartz (New York), and Erick Orseck (Short Hills). Paralegal Kathryn Schepp (New York) assisted with the matter.

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RFP Win for Insurance Team 

SNR Denton's efforts were successful with respect to an RFP for Educational & Institutional Insurance Administrators, Inc. (EIIA). EIIA is an organization offering a sophisticated range of insurance brokerage, claims and risk management services for private colleges and universities. EIIA administers property and casualty, employee benefit and student insurance programs for many of the nation's leading universities. 

Historically, Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell has served as EIIA's external counsel for insurance and non-insurance matters. As a result of an RFP completed at the end of the last year, EIIA's board has voted to move all of its legal work to SNR Denton. The signed engagement letter arrived on April 1, 2011. EIIA is particularly interested in issues related to captives, surplus lines insurance and reinsurance, but will be looking to SNR Denton to essentially serve as its external/general counsel. The RFP team included Corinne Carr (Chicago) and John Finston, Dan Brown and Michael Barnes (all of San Francisco). Kim Stuart (San Francisco) and Gary Artman (Chicago) coordinated the RFP response. 

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Firm Assists with US$957 Million Deal for Lehman Brothers Bankhaus 

In a transaction the bankruptcy court characterized as "creative and productive," SNR Denton assisted the German insolvency administrator for Lehman Brothers Bankhaus AG (i. Ins.) in continuing to unwind its holdings from US debtor Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. through the sale of structured notes realizing US$957 million for the German insolvency estate. The sale was related to a global settlement between the German and US bankruptcy estates setting the framework for resolving approximately US$20 billion of claims by Bankhaus against the US Lehman debtors to be incorporated into a plan of reorganization. Walter Van Dorn, Michael Calandra and Diana Browne (all New York) comprised the deal team, assisted by Farrington Yates (New York), Patrick Maxcy (Chicago), Scott Koerner (New York) and Christopher Soper (Chicago) from the Restructuring and Insolvency team.

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Q&A with Orlando Vidal on the Law, Dubai, Cervantes and French Fries 

Our global locations and reach are a huge resource into which our lawyers and professionals are actively and successfully tapping. We have been reaching across regional and country boundaries to share client leads and build new client offerings. And our colleagues are in motion to meet one another and take up secondments to generate even more opportunities.

One of these is partner Orlando Vidal, who, earlier this year, relocated from Washington, DC, to our Dubai office. We caught up with Orlando recently and found our colleagues in Dubai had gained a motivated, talented and very funny lawyer.

What is your home town?

That's a hard one to answer. For the past 12 years, I worked and lived in Washington, DC, a city I love. Before that, I worked in Philadelphia, first in a large law firm, then as a US federal prosecutor and also, for a time—while also an assistant US attorney—as the Foreign Resident Legal Advisor for the US Department of Justice in Bogota, Colombia. Before that, I studied law in Boston, and, before that, I was a paralegal in New York. I'm originally from Puerto Rico.

Family? Have they accompanied you and, if so, how have they found the transition?

I have my wife, Jennifer, who's a physician (obstetrics and gynecology) and is now also working in Dubai. We have two children: Isabela (Izzy, turning 13 this month) and Javier (Javi, 9). 

And, of course, a very important member of our family is Leo, our dog.

All have made the transition wonderfully, with great help from people like Steve and Susie McGlennan, Neil and Susie Cuthbert, Michael Kerr and Paul Stothard. Even Amgad Husein, though in Saudi, has gone out of his way to help us.

How did you end up in your chosen field?

I'm a disputes lawyer by training, and working with Michael Kerr and team here in Dubai am in short order expanding into international arbitration. (In my free time—ha!) I'm also pursuing a post-graduate diploma in international commercial arbitration from the University of London, which I can do mostly through distance learning.

In DC, most of my litigation work was in the energy area, working with Clint Vince and our outstanding multidisciplinary team. As a former federal prosecutor, I also get asked often to conduct internal investigations and advise clients on compliance, corporate governance and anti-corruption matters.

It's a great time to be a disputes lawyer doing international arbitration work in the Middle East, especially in Dubai. There's plenty of work here, and I'm told that it's particularly good to have a partner-level, American litigator who could take cases all the way, if need be, rather than having to hand them off, as sometimes happens, to barristers. There's also not many (I actually don't know of any) former federal prosecutors in the region, and with the increase in multijurisdictional investigations and prosecutions, particularly under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Bribery Act, which is about to go into full effect on July 1st, the timing is perfect. In fact, clients have told me they appreciate having this expertise on the ground, and it integrates seamlessly with the worldwide expertise that we offer clients in this important area of increasing profile for client concerns. 

But really, how did I end up in my chosen field, you ask? Bad luck, I guess.

If you weren't a lawyer, you'd be a…?

I'm a frustrated pianist, so maybe a concert pianist? Or a teacher, perhaps (but unfortunately, I'm not that bright nor very patient).

Maybe an ambassador—all those ribbon cuttings, and lunches and dinners. Now, there's a job I could be really good at! 

If you could go back in time, what lessons would you share with your younger self about working in the law and dealing with clients?

The single lesson I would teach myself is that to be a successful lawyer in a law practice it takes not only good legal skills but also good relationships. Every person you meet has the potential of becoming a client, maybe not at that moment but possibly in the future. Cultivate relationships! 

We often use the expression "elevator speech," meaning a very short but very effective "sell." If you had the opportunity to stand in an elevator with a key person from any potential client, who would it be and what would you say about SNR Denton and yourself?

Carlos Slim, from Mexico, the richest man in the world. "Carlos, soy socio de SNR Denton y si no nos contratas, no llegarás al primer piso."

(For those unfortunate souls unable to understand the language of Cervantes: "Carlos, I'm a partner with SNR Denton. If you don't hire us, you won't make it to the lobby.")

In all seriousness, I would tell him that I'm a lawyer who helps clients prevail in disputes, mostly now in international arbitration. I would also tell him that as a former prosecutor I help clients stay out of trouble by meeting their compliance obligations and investigating, protecting and defending them against allegations of fraud, corruption, or abuse. And I'd tell him that I'm with one of the best law firms in the world, that we work in every area of the law and industry, and that we're really in the business of fixing problems and creating opportunities. And if we're still not in the lobby, or he hasn't called security on me, I would ask him if his lawyers ever made or saved him money? If not, I'd tell him he should really check our firm out: SNR Denton. That's our mission—and the mantra we live by—and our personal commitment to each and every one of our clients: quality and efficient legal services.

How did your secondment come about? How long will it last?

I've been dreaming of working in Dubai since…, well…since Elliott first told me I was going to be seconded here.

"A minimum three-year sentence," he said. Little did he know, it's been great!

Seriously now, there are many opportunities for us to grow as a firm here in the Middle East. It's very exciting to be a small part of it.

And thus far so good. Thanks to Paul Tvetenstrand's great contacts, and initially the client's FCPA needs in the region, we were recently able to land Johnson & Johnson, whom we're now advising on numerous matters throughout the Middle East. I was also recently able to expand our relationship with another medical-device company, C.R. Bard, and Michael Lacey and Amgad Husein are now advising them in North Africa and Saudi Arabia. With David Pfeiffer in Kuwait, I participated in a pitch that landed us the US Department of Justice as a client in a huge investigation stemming from actions in Kuwait and Jordan. Recently, I've spoken in Muscat to a group of Omani investors interested in doing business in the US. By the way, they were all wearing their traditional daggers, called "the khanjar." Now, I don't want to blow my own horn too much, but it did take some courage to speak to a room full of men with daggers. (But now that I think about it, it wasn't so different from a crowd in Washington. At least in Oman you can see the daggers.) 

I've also had several recent meetings with Weatherford, AT&T and ENOC (the Emirates National Oil Company, which luck would have it has as its assistant general counsel in charge of litigation a fellow Puerto Rican woman who has now become a good friend). I've been pulled to advise two US health companies doing business in the region on anti-corruption matters. Just last week, I met with the legal counsel in the region for Estée Lauder, which in Dubai alone has over 100 employees, to represent the company throughout the Middle East. (My wife is very excited about this one!) And next week, I'm meeting in Buenos Aires with the CEO of Tenaris, the big oil-and-gas steel tube manufacturer and the largest private company in Argentina, actively doing business in the Middle East with a full-time office here in Dubai. This month alone, I'm speaking in London on corruption before the Middle East Association, moderating a panel at an international medical-device industry compliance conference also in London, and later speaking on anti-corruption in Kuwait before the British Business Forum. It's all really very exciting.

And for all of us in the firm, the opportunities have just begun. As the countries of the region continue to grow, I have no doubt we'll grow along with them. Huge infrastructure projects are being planned in the region (in power, waste, water, and transportation—airports and rail). Very significant resources are being targeted to improve basic services such as health and education. And especially in light of recent events, I have every confidence that we'll even be able to sell in the region our government-relations and public-policy expertise. 

What really excites you about working in the Middle East?

The food. And the weather, summers especially.

Of course, the truth is the people we've got here working in our offices. All brilliant and to a person very nice.

What do you want to achieve while you're in Dubai?

That's easy: I want us as a firm to make as much money as possible. I want to help with that. 

Three reasons everyone should jump at the chance to work with our Dubai team?

Number three: We can all benefit from learning a foreign language, even if that foreign language is British English.

Number two: They really are very discerning, despite the fact that they agreed to take me on.

Number one: Interesting work with interesting people for interesting (and, thankfully, good-paying) clients.

It's a long flight from the US to Dubai. Who would you most like to have sitting next to you on the plane (could be anyone living or dead)?

Penelope Cruz, of course, preferably living (although Michael Kerr tells me my chances would be better if dead). Need I say more?

If stuck on a deserted island, what book, DVD and CD would you take with you?

The book is easy—it would have to be One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The title would also fit my circumstances quite nicely.

A CD and a DVD? What good would a CD and a DVD do me, if I can't also take a player and a TV? And even if I had them, where would I plug them in?

What's one thing you will never do again?

Today, it's eat French fries. You know, here in Dubai, I have to watch my weight. They told me something about the "Dubai stone." I will forget by tonight.

My idea of a relaxing weekend is to…

Be by the pool, with a good book, when the children aren't fighting.

Who am I kidding? The children are always fighting!

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Did You Spot Trevor Brignall at the Royal Wedding? 

 Trevor Brignall<http://marketing.snrdenton.com/reaction/docs/00256/trevor.jpg> 	

Trevor Brignall, the London corporate business development manager, was one of the 2,000 people to receive an invitation to attend the wedding of Prince William and Miss Catherine (Kate) Elizabeth Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London on Friday, April 29. The invitation to Trevor and his wife, Carole, also extended to attending the wedding reception at Buckingham Palace. Trevor said, "It's an honor and a privilege to be invited to such a happy and prestigious event that will be viewed by hundreds of millions of people around the world." The wedding guests included a number of heads of state, and in keeping with bringing the royal family into the modern world, the guest list included a number of world-famous celebrities. Trevor and Carole were to attend the dinner hosted by Prince Charles as part of the evening, but, like Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, were to leave after the dinner and speeches, when some 300 younger guests would continued into the early hours with a party of their own. 

Matthew Jones said, "We're delighted that a member of our firm has been honored to receive an invitation to what some consider to be the event of the year. For people working in, or visiting, the London office, seeing Trevor in a formal morning suit or white tie and tails is a regular occurrence, as he frequently attends royal functions, which have included 15 luncheons and banquets this year, celebrating Prince Philip's 90th birthday and being a guest in the Royal Box during Royal Ascot. Through his roles in the City of London, Trevor also regularly attends banquets at the Mansion House and the Guildhall hosted by the Lord Mayor for visiting heads of state and royalty."

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Questions or comments 

If you have any questions we could answer through CountUp, some news or suggestions on issues we could cover, please email us at [email-masked]. 

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Orlando Vidal
Partner
SNR Denton & Co
26th Floor API World Tower Sheikh Zayed Road PO Box 1756
Dubai 
D +971 4 405 4308
T +971 4 331 0220
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[email-masked]
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