Crowell & Moring Adds 23 Lawyers in Washington and New York

Washington, D.C. – November 13, 2006: Pointing to significant growth in its newly opened New York office, Crowell & Moring LLP announced that the attorneys of King Pagano Harrison (KPH), one of the nation’s leading health care and labor & employment litigation law firms, and a trio of intellectual property partners from Morgan & Finnegan LLP, have joined the firm. The addition of 20 lawyers from KPH significantly strengthens the litigation capabilities of Crowell & Moring’s Health Care and Labor & Employment groups, which serve an international client base of Fortune 1000 companies and other organizations on regulatory, strategic counseling, and litigation concerns. The firm’s nationally ranked intellectual property practice also gains increased momentum in New York through the additions to its litigation, counseling and procurement practices. The moves add a total of 23 new lawyers, including 12 partners, to Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. and New York offices.

The KPH attorneys, led by founding partners Jeffrey W. King, Jeffrey W. Pagano, and Keith J. Harrison, are experienced trial lawyers who have won cases in state and federal courts throughout the United States, as well as matters before administrative boards that regulate industry. Litigation is the cornerstone of KPH’s practice, whose health care and labor & employment clients include Brink’s Company, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, Inc., and MedStar Health, Inc.

The former Morgan & Finnegan partners, Bruce D. DeRenzi, Dickerson M. Downing, and Andrew M. Riddles, bring further depth to the firm’s intellectual property practice in the patent field, including added capabilities in the chemical and electrical sciences, as well as with regard to the trademark, trade secret and copyright fields. Their practice has included extensive involvement in litigation in the federal courts and in proceedings before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and International Trade Commission, representing numerous United States and foreign clients, such as DuPont, a long-standing Crowell & Moring client. In addition to their litigation practice, each also has extensive experience in providing counseling and opinions in a wide array of technologies.

“We have known and respected the health care and labor & employment litigation capabilities of King Pagano Harrison for many years. Their significant courtroom experience complements our practice and provides new depth and resources for high-stakes litigation matters. We are also excited that our intellectual property practice in New York continues to gain momentum through three seasoned partners who offer significant litigation and counseling experience. It’s a tremendous opportunity for the firm to expand the breadth and depth of our client service,” said Kent A. Gardiner, Crowell & Moring chairman.

The addition of KPH’s health care practice boosts Crowell & Moring’s Health Care Group to 34 lawyers. KPH’s health care work ranges from litigation to creating and implementing HIPAA compliance, and fraud & abuse investigations. KPH’s dynamic work in partnering with accounting firms has recovered more than $300 million in underpaid premiums to managed care companies that participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Crowell & Moring’s Labor & Employment Group will gain 12 lawyers from the move, growing its practice to 30 lawyers in the United States and Europe. The group provides a full range of management-side labor and employment services including: class action and individual labor and employment litigation in federal and state courts and before administrative bodies, strategic labor and employment law advice in the context of acquisitions or mergers, affirmative action compliance and related statistical analyses of employment practices, ERISA litigation and counseling, advice on international employment law issues, employment practice audits, and wage and hour class action litigation. The group boasts a preeminent traditional labor law practice, providing and solutions for the full spectrum of labor relations problems, including union organizing and “corporate” campaigns, unfair labor practice litigation, and collective bargaining under the National Labor Relations Act and Railway Labor Act. Jeffrey Pagano will serve as co-chair of the Labor & Employment Group with Crowell & Moring partner Kris D. Meade.

“The core strength of our health care and labor & employment practices has been our ability to successfully litigate high-stakes matters. Joining with Crowell & Moring allows us to pair that capability with the firm’s renowned regulatory and strategic counseling. Additionally, we’ll be able to serve clients more broadly by drawing upon the multi-disciplinary counsel of the firm’s wide range of practice groups and locations in California and Europe. Our combination is a natural fit because we share a similar and important culture in the way we foster and value long-term client relationships. We see eye to eye in that regard, and there’s nothing more important when you make such a significant move,” said Jeffrey King.

In 2003, KPH was ranked as one of the top firms in the nation in the areas of client service, responsiveness, and value by the BTI Consulting Group's Survey of Client Service Performance for Law Firms, a survey of in-house counsel. Additional KPH partners joining Crowell & Moring include: James E. Kellett, Jeffrey L. Poston, Christopher Flynn, Ira M. Saxe, Trina L. Fairley, and Kimberly G. Baldwin. The arrival of the KPH team brings together two firms that place a premium on culture and a commitment to diversity.

The new intellectual property partners, combined with lawyers from KPH, increase Crowell & Moring’s New York office to 15 attorneys. DeRenzi brings nearly 20 years of experience, focusing primarily on chemical and pharmaceutical patent infringement litigation, opinions and counseling, as well as in providing strategic advice to companies directed to the development and management of their intellectual property portfolios. He has litigated, prosecuted and rendered opinions in patent matters for United States and foreign clients in a wide array of subject matters, primarily in the chemical, agrochemical, pharmaceutical, petroleum, printing, and mechanical fields, including numerous appearances in the federal courts and administrative agencies. Downing brings more than 25 years of experience in litigation and counseling in trademark, trade secret, and copyright matters. He has successfully brought and defended cases for trademark and trade dress infringement, false advertising, trade secret violations and related causes of action for a variety of corporate clients nationwide. Riddles brings more than 20 years experience in counseling clients on patent portfolio management and in litigating patent matters in the electronic, mechanical and computer arts before the Federal Courts and administrative agencies. Riddles has also been involved in some of the seminal cases involving prosecution and litigation of business method patents. He is regularly called upon to render opinions on patents involved in high stakes litigation.

The New York intellectual property additions come just two months after the arrival of Janet M. MacLeod, known for her work in the life sciences arena. The moves reinforce the firm’s commitment to offering a leading intellectual property practice and add new strength in key industry areas, including the electrical and chemical sectors.

“The practice of intellectual property law and the way lawyers serve the global needs of clients in this area are becoming increasingly complex and require a platform that offers a diverse team of counselors and professionals. We’re proud to be part of a team in New York that can offer clients the benefit of our collective experience in handling all aspects of their intellectual property needs while drawing upon the strengths of the greater firm, from its internationally recognized Antitrust Group to the extensive international capabilities offered from its European offices,” said Bruce DeRenzi.

Crowell & Moring LLP is a full-service law firm with more than 300 lawyers practicing in litigation, health care, antitrust, labor & employment, intellectual property, government contracts, corporate, and more than 40 other practice areas. More than two-thirds of the firm's lawyers regularly litigate disputes on behalf of international corporations, start-up businesses, and individuals. Crowell & Moring's extensive work ranges from advising on one of the world's largest telecommunications mergers to founding the nation's leading victims of terrorism practice. Based in Washington, D.C., the firm has offices in California, New York, Brussels, and London.