From its global platform, McDermott offers a broad array of transactional services through globally integrated teams with experience in M&A, tax, labor/benefits, intellectual property, regulatory matters and disputes.  The study mentioned McDermott as among an "elite group of law firms [that] shine in international transactions."  According to BTI, McDermott is identified by clients as a "top hiring choice" for international transactions.

"Whether a transaction is large or small, domestic or international, it requires a breadth of skills and experience to manage efficiently and close successfully," stated Harvey Freishtat, Firm Chairman.  "Companies are increasingly looking for teams that understand the client's business goals and execute flawlessly.  I am particularly pleased with our recognition in Europe as well as the United States."

Timothy Alvino, co-head of the Firm’s Corporate Department added:  "McDermott is particularly well suited to meet a company’s transactional needs, because we have premier practice groups in such areas as corporate, finance, benefits, intellectual property, antitrust and tax.  These groups function as integrated deal teams across our platform and link with sector-based teams across a broad range of industries.  This combination of strong subspecialty skill and in-depth industry knowledge provides clients superior levels of competence, practical business sense and service."

"We have an international platform that has the resources, talent and geographic reach to service multinational and other corporations and financial institutions who operate in the key global economic centers," added David Dalgarno, head of the Firm's London office.  "With a proven track record for project management, we have experience in a wide variety of sectors encompassing traditional 'old' economies and the new high tech economies worldwide."

McDermott completed nearly 100 M&A transactions in 2006 according to Mergerstat, an industry data provider.  The Firm's M&A practice is recognized worldwide, placing in the top 20 in several deal tables in 2006 and 2007 by Bloomberg (Global Legal M&A and Global Financial M&A), Thomson Financial (Worldwide Rankings for M&A/Legal Advisors and Americas Rankings for M&A/Legal Advisors) and Mergermarket  (Global M&A, North American M&A, Global Top Deals and North America Top Deals for YTD 2007).

During 2007, the Firm has completed nearly 85 M&A transactions, and was recognized for its involvement in the top ten U.S. deals announced by Thomson Financial through June 2007.  McDermott played a key role in three of the 10 largest deals, including the leveraged buyout of TXU and the spinoffs of Tyco Electronics and the Tyco Healthcare Group.

BTI conducted more than 150 independent interviews with corporate counsel responsible for transactions at large and Fortune 1000 companies.  BTI selected companies active in the deal markets with revenue in excess of $1 billion across 14 industries.  For more information visit www.bticonsulting.com.

PCT Law Group, PLLC announced today that it has opened the doors of its new office in McLean, Virginia. The firm, which is located in the heart of Tysons Corner, will devote its practice to representing regional and national clients in a broad range of corporate, intellectual property, employment, and litigation matters.

PCT Law Group has tapped H. Scott Johnson, Jr. to serve as its Managing Member. Johnson was previously with Arlington-based Albo & Oblon, LLP and has worked in the General Counsel’s office of Noblis, Inc. (formerly Mitretek Systems, Inc.) and the Washington, D.C. real estate transactional boutique Krooth & Altman, LLP. Prominent intellectual property attorney Raymond Millien will manage PCT’s patent, copyright, and trademark practice. Prior to joining PCT, Millien was General Counsel for Ocean Tomo, LLC. Millien has also served as Vice President and IP Counsel at The American Express Company and practiced at the Washington, D.C. offices of DLA Piper US, LLP and Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox, PLLC.

“Tysons Corner is the epicenter for businesses competing in the 21st century knowledge economy,” said Johnson. “PCT’s central location between the District of Columbia and the Dulles Technology Corridor provides us with a unique opportunity to serve companies at all stages of the growth cycle. Our talented team of established attorneys will offer the experience and legal acumen of a large law firm at a fraction of the cost.”

About PCT Law Group, PLLC:

PCT Law Group, PLLC is a full-service law firm that provides legal counsel and representation to businesses competing in the 21st century knowledge economy in the complimentary practice areas of corporate, intellectual property, employment, and litigation. For more information, please visit http://www.pctlg.com or call (703) 752-3742.

• Transactions and Finance
• Land Use and Zoning

Additionally, the Guide recognized Chicago Real Estate shareholders Corey Light (Transactions and Finance) and Mark McCombs (Land Use and Zoning).

The Legal 500 US - Volume IV: Real Estate, Labor and Employment, and Tax is the fourth of four guides covering the U.S. legal market. The guide provides independent and unbiased commentary on pre-eminent law firms, and lawyers, in the world’s strongest and most competitive legal market.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, full-service law firm with more than 1,700 attorneys and governmental affairs professionals in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The firm is ranked seventh on The American Lawyer's Am Law 100 listing of the largest law firms in the U.S., based on number of lawyers.

Greenberg Traurig serves clients from offices in: Albany, NY; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Atlanta, GA; Boca Raton, FL; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Houston, TX; Las Vegas, NV; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; Morristown, NJ; New York, NY; Orange County, CA; Orlando, FL; Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Sacramento, CA; Silicon Valley, CA; Tallahassee, FL; Tampa Bay, FL; Tokyo, Japan; Tysons Corner, VA; Washington, D.C.; West Palm Beach, FL; Wilmington, DE; and Zurich, Switzerland. Additionally, the firm has strategic alliances with the following independent law firms: Olswang, London and Brussels; Studio Santa Maria, Milan and Rome; and Hayabusa Asuka Law Offices in Tokyo.

For additional information, please visit the firm's Web site at www.gtlaw.com.

The law firm signed a letter of intent to move by early 2010 and the building will be renamed K & L Gates Center because the firm will become its largest tenant. The building will also remove the Ariba signs and replace them with K & L Gates signs as part of the transition.

Ariba, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., extended its lease at the building to 2017 earlier this year, but it also cut the amount of space it will use from 10 to five floors.

Kirkpatrick & Lockhart will occupy 13 floors of the building.

The law firm has 235 lawyers and 650 employees in the city, and maintains 21 other offices in the United States, Europe and Asia.

New York law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges plans to open an office in Hong Kong in October to serve its private equity and corporate clients.

The office, which was approved by the Hong Kong authorities in August, will have five attorneys: two New York partners, Akiko Mikumo and Peter Feist; a Shanghai partner, David Meredith; and two associates. The group will focus on private equity and project finance, Feist said.

The 1,200-attorney Weil firm, whose private equity clients with Chinese operations include Bain Capital and Providence Equity Partners, is the last of the five largest New York firms to open in Hong Kong.

"In order to get the most out of our Asia practice, we had to be in Hong Kong," said Mikumo, who is a member of the firm's management committee and will be managing partner of the new office. "Once you're in Shanghai, you need to be in the key financial centers."

The firm, which opened its Shanghai office three years ago, intends to use Hong Kong as its base for representing clients in Asia. Weil has plans to open an office in Beijing next and is in the process of applying for a license. Tokyo "would be a natural next step," Mikumo said.

Feist said: "There are so many foreign investors asking about doing business in mainland China and how to deal with the regulatory environment. The whole modus operandi is so different from how U.S. businesses are run."

Though the U.S. subprime crisis has virtually halted private equity activity in the United States, Feist said he was not worried about the firm's prospects in Hong Kong.

"I don't expect the private equity firms to stop looking at the opportunities in Asia," said Feist, who moved to Hong Kong on Monday.

The firm's clients did not ask the firm to open an office in Hong Kong, though "private equity clients had voiced their concern," Mikumo said.

The Hong Kong office will look to hire additional lawyers, including intellectual property and general corporate practitioners, after the opening, she said.

"We're going to start modestly," Mikumo said. "It's easy to hire laterals if you have an office there. The firm wanted people from the home office to start operations."

Weil, whose clients include General Electric, Reuters, Johnson & Johnson and Koch Industries, had revenue of $1.05 billion in 2006, the ninth-highest among U.S. law firms, according to the trade publication American Lawyer.

Weil was fourth among legal advisers to principals in mergers and acquisitions deals involving private equity in 2007, according to Bloomberg data. The firm provided advice on 48 deals worth a total of $129.7 billion. Sullivan & Cromwell is first with $205.7 billion in private equity deals.

http://www.weil.com

Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice has been named as one of the Best Law Firms for Women by Working Mother magazine and Flex Time Lawyers LLC. Best Law Firms for Women honored 50 firms for their commitment to the retention and advancement of female talent.

Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers selected law firms based on survey data collected earlier this year measuring a variety of factors, including the number of women in leadership positions, parental leave, child care, flexibility options and programs to help train, retain and advance women.

Womble Carlyle will be profiled in the August/September issue of Working Mother magazine. Flex-Time Lawyers is a consulting firm that advises law firms on work/life balance.

http://www.wcsr.com