AUSTIN, Texas — Ward Farnsworth, associate dean for academic affairs at Boston University School of Law, has been named dean of the School of Law at The University of Texas at Austin.

Farnsworth’s appointment, effective June 1, fills the position currently held by Interim Dean Stefanie Lindquist.

“As a teacher, a scholar and a leader, Ward Farnsworth is just what UT Law needs," said President Bill Powers. "I’m confident he’ll not only continue the tradition of first-class legal education and service to society at The University of Texas, but take the law school to even greater heights.”

Farnsworth joined the Boston University faculty in 1997 and has remained active in the classroom, teaching courses in civil procedure, torts, contracts and rhetoric. He brings with him a passion for teaching and legal scholarship.

“I am thrilled to be coming to The University of Texas at Austin and to be working with such a world-class faculty and body of law students,” said Farnsworth. “I look forward to leading and building on the foundation of excellence and service that is already in place.”

Farnsworth takes over leadership of the Law School, which has more than 1,200 students and approximately 23,500 living alumni who have forged distinguished careers in government, public-service organizations, corporations and law firms throughout Texas, the nation and the world. There are 24 members of the American Law Institute currently on the faculty.

”The strength of leadership at the Law School is essential to the strength of the university as a whole as it pursues excellence,” said Executive Vice President and Provost Steven Leslie. “We have recruited a scholar of national prominence who has proved to be a stellar administrator. We are very fortunate to have Ward Farnsworth as our new dean.”

Farnsworth earned a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University in 1989 and a law degree from the University of Chicago in 1994. He worked as a law clerk to Richard A. Posner, chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and to Anthony M. Kennedy, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. In 1996 he served as a legal adviser to the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague.

Farnsworth is the author of The Legal Analyst, published by the University of Chicago Press in 2007, and Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric, published in 2010 by David R. Godine Inc. He also is co-author of Torts: Cases and Questions (with Mark Grady), and is Reporter for the American Law Institute's Restatement of the Law Third, Torts: Liability for Economic Harm.

Distinguished litigator and Lawdragon friend Carole Handler provided this remembrance:

Being a great lawyer does not necessarily create a great human being, but Lou Pollak was undoubtedly both. In the fall of 1974, as a third-year law student at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, I was doing what I loved but wondering if I would survive! I was living in Philadelphia with my husband, then the dean of the Curtis Institute of Music, with our three-year-old daughter; was expecting a second child in November; and, on a cold October afternoon, was in a small conference room at school, finishing a law review article on Supreme Court jurisdiction and several papers, certain that I was not in the least equal to these multiple challenges.

Without warning, the door of the conference room opened and in walked Lou Pollak, who had just joined the Penn faculty as an interdisciplinary scholar and professor. I will never know what brought him to that place at that moment, but he sat down and we chatted for over thirty minutes, creating a bridge of empathy and concern that re-inspired me and which I will never forget. I had my second daughter and graduated, and we remained friends. Lou and his wife Katherine were wonderful friends to both me and my husband, and we enjoyed many delightful professorial dinners and musical events together.

Although Lou had said that he did not want to be a dean again, he took on the deanship of Penn Law because it was needed and was wonderful at that. Soon thereafter, President Carter appointed him to the bench, where he could put his values into action and shape the justice system. He was known to walk to the courthouse on Market Street with his two beautiful golden retrievers every morning – they sat as “honorary justices” in the courtroom. Though moving to Los Angeles separated me physically from special mentors and friends like Lou and the judge for whom I clerked, Edmund Spaeth, nothing can ever diminish their importance as mentors whose intellect, values, and personal humanity is what we are – or should be – all about.

– Carole Handler, May 14, 2012

Gerber was a member of Sheppard Mullin's Intellectual Property practice group and based in the firm's Del Mar office.  He spent his entire career with the firm, following a clerkship for the Hon. Rudi Brewster in the Southern District of California. 

Gerber founded Sheppard Mullin's Pro Bono committee in 2001 and served as its chair until 2010.  Among his pro bono achievements was his representation of a Mexican teenager in a precedent-setting immigration case entitled Hernandez-Montiel v. INS, 225 F.3d 1084 (9th Cir. 2000), and in 2010 Gerber was recognized as Sheppard Mullin's Pro Bono Attorney of the Decade.  Gerber also served on the board of directors of Project Concern International and was chair of the search committee that recruited and hired the current CEO. 

"Our firm is deeply saddened.  Bob was a lawyer's lawyer and a true professional in every sense of the word.  Thousands of attorneys around the country knew Sheppard Mullin because of Bob's dedication to the profession.  He added great luster to the firm's reputation nationwide," said Guy Halgren, chairman of Sheppard Mullin.  "Bob was also a generous and caring person, who was always thinking of ways to help others.  He donated thousands of hours of free legal services to the indigent, as well as spearheading the firm's pro bono efforts for a decade.  And of course Bob was really dedicated to his family." 

"Bob will be tremendously missed by the firm and the legal community, because of his incredibly selfless pro bono work, which he managed on top of a successful practice.  Bob led by example when it came to pro bono work and inspired attorneys at Sheppard Mullin to do great things in their communities," said Dan Brown, chairman of Sheppard Mullin's pro bono committee.  "One of Bob's mantras was 'practicing law will earn you a living, but doing pro bono work will give you a reason to live.'  In honor of Bob's pro bono legacy, the firm has decided to re-name its annual pro bono award the 'Bob Gerber Award.'" 

Gerber received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1988, and a M.P.P. and a B.A., high honors, high distinction, from the University of Michigan in 1984. 

Gerber's practice focused on intellectual property, entertainment litigation, and professional liability litigation.  He regularly handled a variety of IP matters in the entertainment and other industries, including patent, trademark, copyright, false advertising, and trade secret lawsuits.  Gerber advised companies and individuals on protection and prosecution of their intellectual property rights.  His practice also focused on the defense of lawyers, accountants, directors, officers, brokers, insurers, and others in professional liability claims and related insurance issues. 

Among his many professional involvements, Gerber was co-chair of the Trade Secrets subcommittee of the ABA Litigation section's Intellectual Property Litigation committee, chair of the Litigation section of the State Bar of California, vice president of the board of directors of the San Diego Bar Association, commissioner for the State Bar of California Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation, a president, vice-president, treasurer and master in the J. Clifford Wallace Inn of Courts, a master in the Louis M. Welsh Inn Of Courts, and a Ninth Circuit trustee of the American Inns of Court Foundation.  He was also an advisor and former chair of the San Diego County Bar Association's Legal Ethics committee. 

About Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

Sheppard Mullin is a full service Global 100 firm with more than 580 attorneys in 14 offices located in the United States, Europe and Asia.  Since 1927, companies have turned to Sheppard Mullin to handle corporate and technology matters, high stakes litigation and complex financial transactions.  In the U.S., the firm's clients include more than half of the Fortune 100.  For more information, please visit www.sheppardmullin.com. 

After joining Morgan Stanley in July 2010, Mr. Barron advised Morgan Stanley's senior management on navigating a wide range of critical issues, including a complex and constantly evolving legal and regulatory environment. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Barron was for 25 years a litigation partner at Cravath, where he advised many of the world's leading corporations, financial institutions and accounting firms with respect to their most important and challenging securities, antitrust and commercial disputes and federal and state regulatory matters. In addition, as a member of Cravath's board advisory practice, Mr. Barron counseled boards of directors, board committees and senior management of corporations and financial institutions in connection with some of their most significant issues, including government and internal investigations, shareholder demands and derivative litigation, and accounting restatements.

Mr. Barron's clients have included CBS Inc., Citigroup, Cummins Engine Company, DreamWorks Animation, The General Electric Company, p.l.c., General Reinsurance Co., Goldman Sachs, Lucent Technologies, Morgan Stanley, Nestlé, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Texaco, UBS and Vitro S.A.

When he returns to Cravath, Mr. Barron will again be a partner in the Litigation Department and a member of the board advisory practice. Cravath Presiding Partner Evan R. Chesler said, "We are delighted that Frank will be returning to the Firm. The breadth and depth of his litigation and board advisory experience fit seamlessly with the needs of our clients in today's challenging economic and regulatory environment."

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, whose roots date back to 1819, has more than 490 lawyers in New York City and London. 

Cutler, who is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Florida, focuses his practice on securities enforcement and litigation law representing international and national accounting firms, companies, auditors and individuals in civil, criminal and regulatory matters. He is the former Assistant Director of the Division of Enforcement for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) in Washington, D.C. While there he helped design and implement many of the division's current enforcement policies and procedures. Prior to the PCAOB, Cutler was senior counsel for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Enforcement, where he opened the Enron investigation and was instrumental in the SEC's settled fraud actions against various financial institutions resulting in more than $320 million of disgorged funds and penalties being distributed to injured Enron investors.

“When it comes to complex securities-enforcement-related litigation, the depth of experience and broad array of capabilities Chris brings to Foley will make him a sought-after advisor for our clients in both the public and private sector,” said Scott L. Fredericksen, managing partner of Foley’s Washington, D.C. office. “We look forward to the many contributions he will bring to clients alongside our team of highly regarded former securities regulators.”

“Chris' vast knowledge and experience will be invaluable resources for securities fraud actions, both private and public, in and around Florida,” said Randolph J. Wolfe, managing partner of Foley’s Tampa office.

At Foley, Cutler, who began his career in accounting, will continue to represent clients involved with investigations before the PCAOB and the SEC. He is highly knowledgeable in both Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and PCAOB auditing standards (formerly Generally Accepted Auditing Standards), and has extensive experience with matters involving complex financial accounting issues.

“Chris’ unique experience as a security regulator with the PCAOB and SEC will add tremendous value for  our clients as we continue to help them navigate the changing regulatory environment,” said Barry Mandel, chair of  Foley’s Securities Enforcement & Litigation Practice.

Foley’s Litigation Department is one of the largest in the country, including more than 300 attorneys nationwide with extensive experience in all aspects of complex litigation, arbitration, mediation, and alternative dispute resolution. Foley represents corporations in nearly every industry, handling some of the largest and most sophisticated lawsuits and investigations for major domestic and international clients.

With approximately 900 attorneys in 21 offices, Foley & Lardner LLP provides award-winning business and legal insight to clients across the country and around the world. Our team-based approach, innovative technology, and focus on value and client service are continually recognized by our clients and the legal industry. In a recent survey* of Fortune 1000 corporate counsel, Foley received a top five ranking out of more than 300 firms for delivering exceptional client service. In addition, Foley received 19 national first-tier rankings on the 2011 – 2012 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” list, and CIO magazine recognized Foley for technological innovation that enhances business value by naming the firm to its prestigious CIO-100 list in 2011. Learn more at Foley.com.

The San Francisco office will initially focus on white collar, antitrust and complex commercial litigation matters, as well as intellectual property law. Litigation partner Matthew Jacobs will reside in the San Francisco office. To start, there will be six attorneys in the office and approximately 15 people, including staff.  In the near future, V&E will consider strategic additions through the lateral market.

The move into San Francisco will allow V&E to serve its existing clients in the United States, Asia and around the world who are doing business on the West Coast.  

“Since Vinson & Elkins has long had a national litigation and IP practice, it made sense strategically to have an office in San Francisco," said T. Mark Kelly, Chairman of V&E. "Moreover, opening in San Francisco bolsters our strong Palo Alto office and gives us a larger Northern California presence, which will be of great assistance and value to our clients. California, in general, is a key part of the firm's growth strategy moving forward."  

The San Francisco office is V&E's 16th, joining six domestic and nine international offices. V&E opened its Palo Alto office in January 2010 to focus on clean energy, venture capital and intellectual property matters.

The firm has made considerable strides in bolstering its presence in the California litigation market as well, recognizing the legal challenges facing clients, particularly in the Northern District. Within the past five years, V&E has handled more than 50 litigation matters filed in California Federal Courts. 

Karl Stern, co-chair of V&E’s Litigation Department, said, "Our new office expands V&E’s litigation and IP capabilities for our growing list of clients internationally, as well as on both coasts. The ability to work closely with two West Coast offices will generate synergies beneficial to our clients.”

Jacobs is a former federal prosecutor in San Francisco with nearly 20 years of trial experience handling white-collar defense, internal investigations, and complex commercial litigation. Widely recognized as one of the leading white collar specialists in Northern California, he is an experienced trial lawyer who represents both corporations and individuals in criminal and internal investigations involving the Department of Justice, the Securities & Exchange Commission, and other governmental agencies. Jacobs has extensive experience in antitrust, health care fraud, FCPA, securities, energy, environmental, and in criminal and civil forfeiture matters. In addition, he represents technology sector clients in complex commercial litigation.

“San Francisco is a critical location for the white collar, antitrust and commercial litigation practice, and this new office is a critical step in our strategic plans,” Jacobs said.  “Many of our clients both in the United States and Asia — particularly in Japan, China and Hong Kong –believe this office will enable us to better serve their needs.  I am personally very excited to be part of this effort.”

V&E is one of the preeminent law firms in Asia, providing integrated U.S. and local law advice, and offers a broad range of legal services in the Asia-Pacific region through four offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. For many years, V&E's lawyers have represented the interests of a variety of clients in connection with their projects, transactions, and other matters throughout the area. The firm's lawyers in Asia are part of V&E’s integrated worldwide network, collaborating closely with lawyers in V&E’s other offices to serve firm clients whose headquarters are located outside Asia.

V&E’s litigation experience includes antitrust, banking, bankruptcy, condemnation, commercial, energy, environmental, financial instruments, government contracts, health care, international trade, sanctions, securities, tax, labor and employment, and tort matters. We also handle the defense of white-collar criminal matters and internal corporate investigations.  

V&E  also has a well established record of success in obtaining, protecting, exploiting, and enforcing clients’ intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks, trade dress, trade secrets, and copyrights.  Our lawyers have successfully litigated patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret cases in state and federal district courts throughout the United States and have obtained highly favorable judgments for V&E’s clients in a variety of appellate courts, including the Federal Circuit.   

Founded in 1917, Vinson & Elkins LLP is an international law firm with over 700 lawyers across 16 offices worldwide.  

“Lorenzo has developed an extremely successful and diverse practice and will bring a wealth of legal and business experience to the firm," said Ronald R. Papa, co-Chair of Proskauer’s Corporate Department and co-head of its Mergers & Acquisitions Group. "He is a talented M&A lawyer and has been involved in a variety of complex, high-profile domestic and international transactions."

Borgogni represents both public and private companies in mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and corporate governance matters. His practice focuses on cash and stock-for-stock mergers, stock and asset acquisitions, tender offers, leveraged buyouts and going-private transactions, auctions, spin-offs and divestitures, takeover defenses and proxy contests.

“Given his significant experience with international clients and impressive legal skills, Lorenzo will allow us to continue to expand our global capabilities," said Michael A. Woronoff, co-head of Proskauer’s Mergers & Acquisitions Group and head of the firm’s Los Angeles office. “He adds further strength to our M&A practice as we continue to grow to meet our clients' needs.”

Proskauer's Mergers & Acquisitions Group has been consistently recognized by leading ranking publications for its work around the world, with Chambers USA and US Legal 500 ranking the practice in their top tier and quoting Proskauer clients about the firm’s integral role in getting their deals done. Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst named Proskauer to its list of “Most Active Law Firms” (by number of buyouts), and the firm regularly appears on Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg and MergerMarket league tables in the U.S. and globally for involvement in completed deals.

About Proskauer

Founded in 1875, Proskauer is a global law firm widely recognized for its leadership in a variety of legal services provided to clients worldwide from offices in Beijing, Boca Raton, Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Newark, New Orleans, New York, Paris, São Paulo and Washington, DC. Additional information about the firm, which has extensive experience in all areas of practice important to businesses, not-for-profit institutions and individuals, can be found at www.proskauer.com.

Photo provided by Duane Morris

As founding sponsor of FashInvest, an annual conference in New York that draws more than 300 attendees from the fashion and investing community,  Duane Morris has become a well-known brand among fashion entrepreneurs and investors.

“We felt that the fashion industry had a very disjointed approach in how designers, technology folks, and investors come together. It is a very haphazard system,” Heide explains. “So the conference was organized to help build a community where folks in the fashion industry looking for people to help their companies grow their businesses can come and meet with them. Each year we hold this event and we pre-screen companies that want to do a 5-minute presentation.”

Lawdragon: Can you briefly describe your practice?

Nanette Heide: My practice primarily involves working with a company through all stages of a company’s life, from the formation of a company to a liquidity event. I do capital raising, strategic growth transaction work, fund work, private equity funding, make acquisitions and divestitures of the company. I’ve also represented all sides on the table. Having previously been a GC and CFO for two technology-based companies, I am really able to give clients a 360-degree view of the entire transaction from a company’s perspective. It’s so great to be on the ground floor and work with those folks and the idea people to really help them shape, formulate exactly what their company should look like in order for them to get from the idea in their head to getting a financing done or potentially becoming a public company, to doing a merger or what have you.

LD: How did you end up representing companies in the fashion industry?

NH: I’ve always been interested in fashion. It is something that is ingrained in me and I have always loved because my mother was an interior designer. She is also very talented with the sewing machine. Through her I really gained a true appreciation of the genius and the difficulties involved in fashion design. Then I started practicing in the VC arena and it just happened that many of my clients are either fashion-focused or are investing in fashion related companies. My client base includes fashion designers and companies that have developed software for fashion companies.

LD: Duane Morris is probably one of a handful of law firms that actually has a fully dedicated sub-practice focusing on the fashion industry. What was the reason behind the formation of this group?

NH: We have a strong client base in the fashion industry. We represent American Outfitters, luxury designer Reem Acra, some online startups, and other luxury-brand designers. So the firm thought it made a lot sense to have that expertise under one group and to pool resources to get everyone involved in the firm. It enabled us as a firm to present clients a full package of resources available to serve their needs.  That’s very beneficial from a client's perspective.

Also, one of the things that the firm really strives to do is to cultivate that entrepreneurial side of our corporate practice and the fashion industry has a highly entrepreneurial environment. We want to be able to assist all our clients involved in the entrepreneurial process. Duane Morris has a really strong private equity and venture fund practice, for example, and our clients are always looking for opportunities to invest, and we can match them with our clients who are looking for funding.

We have actually developed an entrepreneur-type program, where we hold videoconferencing for the attorneys to present possible investing opportunities so that fellow attorneys can learn about them and funnel that information to their own clients.

LD: Can you talk a little bit about the matters you’re currently working on?

NH: Currently, I’m working with an online startup what2wearwhere.com. It’s basically an online destination for women to find out the appropriate clothes to wear for certain occasions. You go on the site and it gives you great ideas of what to wear to events. And you can click through and order those pieces. The company is actually a combination of all the online things that are happening right now. We are not doing things the old-fashion way anymore. It has become too cumbersome to go to a store and shop, and it is so much easier to pop online and order the things you need. I think it is a very interesting play in combining fashion with the online social media aspects of our current world.

I’m also working with clients specializing in really high-end clothing. And there’s a huge difference between these clients and the typical retail clients. Everything is really made-to-order type products so you don’t have these huge amounts of inventories and quite divergent product concepts.

I also have traditional clothing designer clients who are trying to get their business plans going and find investors.

LD: What is the most pressing legal issue or development in your clients’ minds right now?

NH: It’s the current environment in which everyone is operating. Everything now has a significant online aspect to it. How are we going to change who we are and make sure what we are going to create is something that works in this new online environment? For others, it would be 'how do we get eyeballs to become relevant' or 'whose blog do we need to be mentioned in in order to get noticed'. You see all kinds of fashion-oriented online sites. There are sites now which basically allow you to keep your wish list and anyone who knows you can access that list so they can buy you a gift. It is really about staying current and relevant and getting noticed within the way in which people interact now and make purchases. That’s the key issue on which all my clients are focused.

We also pay a lot of attention to copyright issues, changes in privacy laws, and new legislation coming regarding design. All of those are legal business issues on how you make it in today’s social media market. It is still a little bit of the wild west out there. You have to be incredibly careful. One bad posting can crush you and there’s no control over it. If you have one bad posting that goes viral, it’s tough to undo that. It’s unlike in the old days when you issued a press release and you got noticed. Your audience is everywhere now.

LD: What is the most challenging part of your job?

NH: Helping clients that are just starting to get the capital they need. Even with clients that have capital, this industry is quirky. You may end up with 600 pieces of something that don’t sell and it messes up your business plan. You may have a fabulous idea but you need someone who is going to believe in your dream. It is tough to get out there and find the capital to make that dream come true.

LD: What is the most rewarding part of your job?

NH: Watching a client become successful and really launch their vision, making their dreams come true.

LD: Any advice to young attorneys thinking of embarking in this field?

NH: You have to get out there and participate in the places where the clients are and the industry lives. This is not a type of practice that will walk through your door like institutional clients. If you want to be involved in an industry where things are new and happening, you gotta get out there.

LD: What do you do for fun?

NH: I have an 8-year old son who is absolutely my number one priority. He’s an avid skateboarder so I spend a lot of hours driving him around and watching him skateboard.