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#12010 CustomerSatisfactionSurveySmarter legal research.branch: director Michael Blumeand trial attorney Allan Gordus. Atthe Maryland U.S. attorney’s office:U.S. Attorney Rod Rosensteinand assistant U.S. attorney StuartBerman.FOR DEFENDANT RANBAXYLABORATORIES LIMITED(GURGAON, INDIA)Venable: Geoffrey Garinther, W.Warren Hamel, Thomas Kelly,Jr., and Winnie Weitsen. (Hamelis in Baltimore; the rest are in Washington,D.C.) The firm advised on theJustice Department settlement.Zuckerman Spaeder: KateBeardsley and Carmen Shepard.(They are in Washington, D.C.) The firmadvised on the FDA settlement.Simpson Thacher & Bartlett:Bryce Friedman, Henry Gutman,and Noah Leibowitz. (Theyare in New York.) The firm advisedDaiichi Sankyo and Ranbaxy’s boardand senior management.—David Bario, with T.C.In ReGeneral e Electric c Co.Securities iees Litigationig ioAfederal district courtjudge in Manhattanruled on January 12that an Illinois pension plancould proceed with a class actionagainst General ElectricCompany on behalf of investorswho purchased $12 billionof the company’s stock. Theplan claims that investors weremisled by GE and dozens offinancial institutions aboutthe company’s exposure tosubprime mortgages and otherrisky investments during thefinancial crisis.Federal district court judgeRichard Holwell kept alive mostof the suit against GE, severalofficers, and 27 GE underwriters,including The GoldmanSachs Group, Inc., BarclaysCapital Finance Ltd., MorganStanley, J.P. Morgan SecuritiesLLC, and Citigroup Global MarketsLimited. Spearheading thelead plaintiff’s case is KathleenDonovan-Maher at BermanDeValerio. GE is looking toGreg Danilow at Weil, Gotshal& Manges.In an amended complaintfiled in October 2009, the Illinoispension plan alleges thatGE repeatedly touted its AAArating and promised to pay a fulldividend in the first quarter of2009; meanwhile, it allegedlyfailed to disclose its exposure,via the GE Capital unit, tonearly $220 billion in subprimemortgages and other bad investments.The plan alleged thatGE also withheld informationabout its difficulty issuing commercialdebt before the dividendannouncement.The complaint cited excerptsfrom former secretaryof the Treasury Hank Paulson’smemoirs in which he confessedto being “stunned” by the“troubling news” that GE washaving difficulty selling debt. Ifthat information was importantto Paulson, Holwell wrote inhis decision, it was likely to beof interest to an investor. Healso found that December 2008statements by Immelt on futuredividends were misleading.GE argued that its assertionsfell within the “Safe Harbor”provision of the Private SecuritiesLitigation Reform Act, andclaimed that it never made anyguarantees. Defendants filed amotion for partial reconsiderationon January 26.FOR PLAINTIFF THE STATEUNIVERSITIES RETIREMENT SYSTEMOF ILLINOIS ET AL.In-House:MichaelWeinstein.Berman DeValerio: KathleenDonovan-Maher, Joseph Tabacco,Jr., counsel Kristin Moody,and associate Steven Buttacavoli.(Tabacco is in San Francisco; the restare in Boston.) The firm is a regularlitigation counsel to the fund.Lowey Dannenberg Cohen &Hart: Richard Cohen, David Harrison,and Thomas Skelton. (Theyare in White Plains, New York.) Thefirm was local counsel.FOR DEFENDANTS GENERALELECTRIC COMPANY (FAIRFIELD,CONNECTICUT) ET AL.Weil, Gotshal & Manges: GregDanilow, Paul Dutka, and associatesAshish Gandhi and CarolineZalka. (They are in New York.)The firm did not respond to requestsfor comment.FOR DEFENDANTS BARCLAYS CAPITALFINANCE LTD. (LONDON) ET AL.Willkie Farr & Gallagher: RichardBernstein, Mei Lin Kwan-Gett,and Antonio Yanez, Jr., and associateZheyao Li. (Bernstein is inWashington, D.C.; the rest are in NewYork.) The firm successfully representedGE in a billion-dollar pensionlitigation with the federal government,according to its Web site.—Victor Li, with T.C.Fairfax axFinancial ncial v. S.A.C...Capital al Management, agennt et al.ANew Jersey state courtjudge threw out an $8billion claim againstthree hedge funds over allegationsthat they conspired todepress the share price of aCanadian insurer, Fairfax FinancialHoldings Limited. TheDecember 23 decision followsthe dismissal of a fourth hedgefund, S.A.C. Capital Management,LLC, in September.The three hedge funds andtheir principals—InstitutionalCredit Partners LLC, ThirdPoint LLC, and Kynikos Associates,Ltd.—were jointly representedby Susman Godfrey’sBill Carmody. Michael Boweof Kasowitz, Benson, Torres &Friedman argued the case forFairfax.Fairfax filed suit against thehedge funds, their principals,and analysts in July 2006 instate court in Morristown, NewJersey, alleging that they had engagedin a stock market manipulationscheme aimed at deflatingFairfax’s share price in order toprofit by short selling the stock.The complaint also included aracketeering allegation.AALL 2010New Product of the Year When you need a law firmthat's plugged into your business...