MLA In The News

Experts debate whether the unexpected demise of the "death tax" will breathe new life into the 1031 exchange market in 2010. MLA partner J. Timothy Scott, for one, doesn't see the zero estate tax goosing exchanges.

Brian Olasov addressed the Congressional Oversight Panel in a hearing focused on banks' reluctance to finance new developments or refinance existing deals with reasonable workouts.

MLA Political Law practice chair, Stefan Passantino, discusses the impact the Citizens United v. FEC ruling will likely have on state pay to play laws.

California Real Estate Journal selected the Malibu City Hall transaction, represented by McKenna Long & Aldridge partners Tony Canzoneri and Geoffrey Mitchell, as one its top Deals of 2009.

MLA Partner Sharon Gay is quoted discussing the governor’s plan for special tax districts used to fund road and rail projects.

Michael Boucher is quoted regarding a recent analysis by the Environmental Working Group saying confidential business information (CBI) protections in the U.S. keep crucial chemical information from the public and even from EPA personnel.

Senior Counsel, C. Stanley Dees is quoted discussing the new appointment of Daniel Gordon the new head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP).

Ethics attorneys, including MLA Partner Stefan Passantino, are finding ways to help clients respond to the growing number of restrictions on registered lobbyists

Patrick McGeehan discusses the importance of understanding that buying distressed mortgage debt is not the same as buying the real estate collateral.

The FDIC recently closed its 22nd, 23rd and 24th banks in Georgia this year — more than any other state in the country. The populist response to these banking failures — and the broader financial crisis — has been to lump financial services firms together indiscriminately and rail against excessive bonuses, risk-taking and “bail out” money many of these firms received under the TARP program. In this op-ed, Brian Olasov discusses why Georgia's economic recovery hinges on the outlook for Georgia’s banks.

During a December 15 interview with Fox Business Network, Peter Gray discusses what has been happening in Copenhagen and how the talks there could change the way companies do business in the US.

Alison Doyle is quoted regarding a Freedom of Information Act request is an act of public disclosure under the False Claims Act.

One of the biggest obstacles to achieving a global climate change agreement is a fundamental difference between how developed and developing economies would set carbon-emission goals. The big developed economies prefer absolute emissions targets while emerging markets want “carbon intensity” cuts based on the rate of a country’s GDP growth.

Stefan Passantino discusses the ethical issues and prevalence of legal defense funds, and the increase of these funds on the state level.

In an ominous sign for the recovery, bank loans are drying up faster than ever. "There are people with legitimate projects out there who cannot get loans, and we can't sustain a real recovery without access to credit," said Brian Olasov.

MLA Chairman, Jeff Haidet is a featured speaker at the new leadership program offered by the Terry College of Business at its Buckhead campus.

Federal regulators haven’t put enough pressure on banks to unload poorly performing commercial real estate loans, according to a panel of industry leaders convened by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. “Investors don’t feel the (banks) are under real regulatory pressure to liquidate,” said Brian Olasov.

Commercial real estate has more rough water ahead of it as the economy recovers, though some bright spots exist in the market, according to Brian Olasov and other panelists who spoke at the 15th annual FSU Real Estate Trends & Networking Conference.

Lisa Oberg comments on the San Francisco County Superior Court’s efforts to create a single asbestos department where all discovery, law and motion, and case management matters will be heard.

Partner Mick Cochran is quoted in an article about private equity firms eager to enter banking.

MLA Chairman Jeff Haidet, and Chief Recruiting Officer Jennifer Queen are quoted regarding the firm's hiring and growth in the current economic climate.

Scotty Greenwood comments on the honor and importance of Ambassador David Jacobson’s post as ambassador to Canada in Canada.

Peter Gray, Partner with the firm's Environment, Energy & Product Regulation practice, weighs in on climate change from a corporate perspective.

Scotty Greenwood discusses the issues the new U.S. Ambassador to Canada will face upon arrival, as well as the knowledge he has gained from working in Washington, D.C. before reporting to his new post.

Robert Bohn, a senior associate in the government contracts practice group in McKenna Long & Aldridge's Los Angeles office, believes that treating yourself as just an employee won't get you far.

Partner Bill Ide is mentioned in this article on the recently released report on executive pay by The Conference Board Task Force on Executive Compensation.

Tony Canzoneri is recognized for making Real Estate deals possible in 2009.

On Sept. 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers became the largest company by a factor of three to file for bankruptcy protection in U.S. history. In this op-ed, Brian Olasov considers the hard-earned lessons from this past year.

Washington Mutual is long gone, but its lax lending could haunt us for years. Brian Olasov comments on the uncertainty ahead.

Tony Canzoneri, partner in the law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge, believes the regulators learned a lot from the earlier crash.

Maggie Joslin is recognized in the Law & Accounting “Who’s Who” section of the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Former U.S. Congressman Paul McHale was the keynote luncheon speaker for the event. A former Assistant Secretary of Defense, McHale is now Of Counsel with the Washington, DC office of McKenna Long & Aldridge.

The number of "problem banks" in the United States reached a 15 year high, while 28.3% were unprofitable, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which delivered a litany of painful quarterly data from the lending industry. Brian Olasov comments.

Brian Olasov comments on the Fed's extension of the commercial mortgage-backed securities portion of the TALF program.

The Deal highlights McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP's addition of David Pollak to the firm's government affairs practice.

Penny Cobey is quoted regarding the new Fourth Avenue Underpass in Tuscon and the a previously undisclosed development cost of $46 million.

Earle Taylor and the Kilpatrick public finance team left the firm and joined McKenna Long & Aldridge’s corporate practice group.

Jeff Haidet, MLA Chairman and Mike Rizzo, MLA Hiring and Professional Development Partner are quoted discussing the value of the firms merit-based promotion system for associates.

Moore's report praises subsequent actions by TVA's board of directors on July 21 to publicly acknowledge "that mistakes were made" and to accept a study more critical of management by McKenna Long and Aldridge.

When Security Bank closed on Friday, it was Georgia’s 10th bank to fail this year. But unlike other closures in the state, Security was acquired by a group of investors, not a competitor. There may be more investors lining up to buy Georgia’s troubled banks. The Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Crystal Edmonson interviews Brian Olasov.

Eric Tanenblatt, former Chief of Staff to Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, discusses the Governor’s accomplishments and leadership skills during his tenure.

Todd Silliman, who has been assisting Rabun County with the acquisition and permitting of a facility for the past two years, addresses water quality concerns and emphasizes that the discharge permit the county is applying for would feature strict requirements.

The 13th and 14th bank failures in the state in the last nine months signal an acceleration of what some are considering the worst financial industry crisis in the state since the Great Depression. Brian Olasov is quoted.

Jeremy Silverman and Gary Marsh represented firm client HD Supply in its purchase of ORCO Construction Supply Inc. at auction last week.

Ambassador Gordon Giffin shares some of the advice he has given the newly appointed Ambassador to Canada, David Jacobson, based on his experience in the position under President Clinton.

Scotty Greenwood praises President Obama’s selection of David Jacobson as the new United States Ambassador to Canada.

MLA partner, John Clerici discusses the new administration and its impact on the work load of Washington DC’s Top 200 law firms.

Janine Bowen is highlighted in an article about issues relating to the future of cloud computing.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has shelved plans to extend its program to guarantee bank bonds to 10 years after the Obama administration opposed the move, Chairman Sheila Bair said.

Now that the results of the federal banking regulators’ stress tests of the 19 largest U.S. banks is complete, the scramble is about to begin for the 10 that need additional capital.

Detainee issues continue, of course, to remain at the forefront of the current political discourse. And Thomas Abbott, chair of McKenna’s government contracts practice, says Carter’s background makes him ideal for the job. “This is what he did for a living. He was in enforcement. He’s worked with the Iraqi police even,” says Abbott, a partner in McKenna’s Los Angeles office. “He actually understands this at a ground level.”

The Obama administration has chosen a lawyer and Iraq war veteran who has denounced U.S. detention policy to direct detainee affairs at the Department of Defense. Until starting at the Pentagon this week, Phillip E. Carter, 33, was an associate at New York’s Park Avenue law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge. He specialized in government contracting and national security regulation.

Frank M. Rapoport, chair of the Global Infrastructure and Public-Private Partnerships practice, is quoted regarding the collapse of the $2.5 billion Midway deal and the future of private funding for public-private partnerships in the United States.

John Clerici, chair of the Life Sciences and Public Health Preparedness practice, is quoted regarding vaccine development for pandemic influenza.

Atlanta-based Labor and Employment Partner Richard Hankins is quoted based on his extensive knowledge of and experience with the proposed legislation, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Hankins maintains "EFCA Report" (www.efcareport.com), a blog dedicated to providing news, insights, and management perspectives on the legislation and related traditional labor law issues.

McKenna Long & Aldridge of the District named Ipsita Smolinski, former J.P. Morgan Chase health-care policy analyst, senior adviser and independent consultant in its life sciences and public health preparedness practice.

Clay Long discusses his background and the roots of his success as an attorney in Atlanta as well as his efforts to give back to a community that has given him so much.

Josh Hochberg is quoted in the National Journal regarding problems at the Public Integrity section and potential changes that could be made to address the problems.

The U.S. Senate voted to prevent the budget reconciliation process from being used to push through climate change legislation. Peter Gray, chairman of the Environment, Energy and Product Regulation Department at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, is quoted on his doubts that the Democrats ever planned to use the budget reconciliation process to pass a climate bill.

Clay Long is quoted on the peregrine falcons that nest outside the firm's 51st floor offices.

"When you take all these new disclosure schemes -- which are all online, which are all downloadable, which are all sortable -- the lobbyist community and their clients face a heightened risk," Stefan C. Passantino, head of the political law team at McKenna Long & Aldridge, told National Journal earlier this year.

Investors will know an economic recovery is under way when the housing market finds price stability and foreclosures moderate.

Treasury's plan for toxic assets could help thaw the marketplace by raising the prices investors can afford to pay while still generating an acceptable rate of return. However, Managing Director Brian Olasov notes that it's unclear whether the availability of federal financing will bring prices high enough to entice the banks to participate.

Dr. Jennifer Hannesschlager, managing director with MLA's Life Sciences and Public Health Preparedness practice, will serve as a featured speaker at Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Second Annual Advanced Biofuels Development Summit, to be held April 20-21, 2009 at the Marriott at Metro Center in Washington, D.C.

Josh Hochberg is interviewed on MSNBC regarding the Bernie Madoff proceedings and plea.

The announcement about the availability of Form 1 and new filing instructions was published in the Federal Register, but many associations that operate PACs are likely unaware of the new reporting requirement, especially if their PAC does not engage in bundling. A new client advisory being prepared by the law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge outlines steps existing PACs need to take to ensure they have updated their Form 1 and are prepared for the publicity and criticism of the lobbying community that is likely to result from the release of the first bundling reports that will be filed by reporting committees in May.

With Newt Gingrich, his top client, eyeballing a possible run for president in 2012, J. Randolph "Randy" Evans plans to step down as general counsel of the state Republican Party in May. "With all of those [groups], my roles have dramatically shifted and gotten larger," said Evans, a partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge.

Larry Ebner is quoted on the possible impact of the Supreme Court's Wyeth decision on FIFRA preemption.

McKenna Long & Aldridge has beefed up its real estate and litigation practices with the addition of seventeen attorneys. The large lateral group came from the small Los Angeles law firm of Brown Winfield Canzoneri Abram.

"It would be almost impossible for the defense" to take the case to trial, said attorney Joshua Hochberg, a former head of the U.S. Justice Department's criminal fraud section and now a defense lawyer at the McKenna Long & Aldridge law firm.

But changes in Congress, as well as clear signals from the Obama administration that there will be more scrutiny on government contracting, could have a shorter-term impact on San Diego defense contractors, said Doug Farry, a managing director in the San Diego office of Washington, D.C. law firm McKenna, Long & Aldridge.

The U.S. Senate is expected to pass an economic stimulus plan on Tuesday. Brian Olasov, a Managing Director at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, doesn't expect the recession to end immediately after the plan is given the nod.

Managing Director Brian Olasov discusses the Treasury Department's plan to create incentives for private sector investment into troubled banks.

Synovus Financial Corp., Georgia’s third-largest bank, has created a new subsidiary company, whose sole mission is to acquire, manage and sell foreclosed land, lots and homes from Synovus’ 31 banks across the Southeast.

When a real estate developer dropped out of a military housing project in Texas, McKenna Long & Aldridge partner G. Scott Rafshoon's client stepped into the void. Balfour Beatty Communities LLC last month closed on a $142 million deal to acquire a project to privatize housing at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.

Brian Olasov, a Managing Director at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, talks with Bloomberg's Ken Prewitt about TARP and its inability thus far to shore up the participating banks' stock prices.

But Stefan Passantino, a lawyer at McKenna Long & Aldridge, said the administration’s definition was not necessarily broad enough and could inadvertently create confusion for lower-level staffers who may technically fall outside of the document’s legal definition — and therefore, still be eligible to take up to $20 from lobbyists. “The ethics pledge and the gift ban is only applicable to ‘appointees’ — and ‘appointees’ are defined in there as a fairly senior person,” Passantino said.

Stefan Passantino, a partner at the McKenna, Long & Aldridge law firm who has represented former House Speakers Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), assessed the situation matter of factly. “Very often in Washington and in politics there are efforts to – make grand pronouncements reflecting a grand change in policy,” Passantino said. “It’s the common phenomenon of the law of good intentions running headlong into the law of unintended consequences.”

Managing Director Brian Olasov discusses moving problem assets off banks’ balance sheets to open the market to new capital.

What is driving this effort is the need and desire for the U.S. to be economically competitive with other countries so goods can be moved more efficiently from ports into cities, according to Frank M. Rapoport, chair of the Public Private Partnership (P3) team at McKenna, Long & Aldridge LLP, a law firm that specializes in helping business better interact with government.

Managing Director Brian Olasov discusses the RTC's role in getting markets moving again after the savings-and-loan crisis in the early 1990s.

Recent quotes made by Thomas Papson to Government Executive regarding the upward trend of challenged bid awards by federal contractors are referenced in the January 9th blog entry, Government Inc., published by the Washington Post.com

Mick Cochran and Trey Wainwright are highlighted for their role in the acquisition of PlayON! Sports

Ann-Marie McGaughey is profiled in Atlanta Woman Magazine as part of the firstPro Leaders in Law Series

The election of Barack Obama promises a new era of eco-awareness in the US. Fred Anderson, a partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, is quoted on thoughts of integrating the high priority environment policy into other industries.

Joseph Dennin is quoted extensively on the new rules for foreign buyers under CFIUS.

Frank Rapoport is quoted regarding President-elect Obama's plans for infrastructure spending.

McKenna Long & Aldridge named Stephen Goldsmith senior strategic adviser for its global infrastructure finance and public-private partnerships practice.

President-elect Barack Obama calls it "the largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s."

Frank Rapoport is quoted discussing Obama's plans for transportation infrastructure.

Frank Rapoport is quoted discussing Mayor Goldsmith teaming up with MLA's Global Infrastructure Finance and Public-Private Partnerships Practice.

Maggie Joslin is quoted on bond sales in DeKalb County

Managing Director Brian Olasov discusses Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's announcement that the government will not buy troubled mortgage assets and instead focus on the consumer credit market.

Eric Tanenblatt discusses the Senate runoff, saying “I think this will be a full-fledged campaign. I think we will have a flood of surrogates coming in to energize the base.” He goes on to say, however, that this will likely not create an advantage for Jim Martin’s candidacy, just as it did not in 1992 for Wyche Fowler’s.

Marcia Hale speaks positively of Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s new Chief of Staff, and credits him for sticking it out through a demotion under the Clinton administration.

Scotty Greenwood discusses the priorities of the new American president, saying there are many more issues that will be addressed before bilateral relations with Canada are brought up.

While we might all agree that the ability to cast our ballot the week before Election Day has been a convenience, our nation’s founding fathers would not be pleased with what advance voting —- in place in 34 states and involving well over half of the population —- has become. Especially in states like Georgia, which permits voting more than a full month before Election Day; or Ohio, which permits registration and same day voting, couldn’t it more aptly be called “uncontrolled voting?” In

Scotty Greenwood is quoted discussing Canada’s position with Barack Obama, saying Canada can sell itself to the Obama administration as the solution to U.S. “obsession” with energy security.

John Clerici discusses bioterrorism and preparedness in relation to Australia while discussing leasons learned in the U.S.

Mark Budwig is quoted discussing the redevelopment of the Navy Broadway Complex in San Diego, CA.

Managing Director Brian Olasov discusses banks' upcoming third-quarter reports, which bankers and industry analysts widely expect to show further worsening of loan portfolios and balance sheets across the Atlanta metro area.

DC Office Partner Josh Hochberg is quoted concerning the likelihood of criminal prosecutions of companies being investigated for financial fraud.

Monday’s deference to Hurricane Gustav was proper and good, but Tuesday was the day this party got started. Georgia delegates to the Republican National Convention said there is important work to do the rest of this week. Doug Chalmers, an alternate delegate from Georgia who leads a lawyers’ committee for McCain, was eager to get back to business.

Buddy Darden discusses the selection of Joe Biden as Barack Obama's running mate.

R. Todd Silliman, a partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, representing Georgia in the Lanier Lake case is quoted on Georgia's position in the U.S. Supreme Court appeal.