05/08/07

Thompson Coburn merges with FagelHaber; expands into Chicago
Thompson Coburn, LLP, a St. Louis-based firm, is merging with FagelHaber, LLC, a Chicago-based firm. The merger, expected to be completed later this year, will create a firm of around 330 attorneys working in Washington, DC, Chicago, St. Louis, and southern Illinois.

The move will allow Thompson Coburn to step into the Chicago market while FagelHaber will enlarge its presence in the Midwest. FagelHaber is a firm with 40 attorneys and a significant client base in Chicago. Both firms have a similar fee structure and focus on mid-sized public companies and large, privately-held companies.

The merger will be a major strategic move for Thompson Coburn, which has been considering a move into the Chicago market for some time now. The current firm Thompson Coburn is the result of a 1996 merger between Thompson & Mitchell and Coburn & Croft.

FagelHaber, a firm with 2006 revenues of about $18 million, was founded in 1962, and serves national and international clients including financial services institutions and manufacturing conglomerates.

Nixon Peabody's private equity activities awarded
Nixon Peabody's private equity fund formation and transactions works have brought home laurels once more. The Private Equity Analyst has adjudged the firm as one of the "Most Active Law Firms" of 2006 in the practice area, an award it has won three years in a row.

The firm ranked fourth in position on the "Most Active League Table" in the Dow Jones publication for the number of private equity and venture capital funds the firm handled last year. Among the firm's most profitable accounts was its successful representation of Credit Suisse's Customized Funds Group in the country and abroad. The Credit Suisse fund enables limited partners to allocate their capital commitment among several different investment strategies, besides offering limited liquidity features.

A full-service law firm, Nixon Peabody has 700 attorneys in 17 offices representing clients in 25 different practice areas.

BIZARRE NEWS

Spider Boy
Two spiders found in a nine-year-old boy's ears!
Ewwwwwwwww!

We have had our fill with bee-attacks, bug-bites and rat-shits...Now, this is way, way worse than what most of us have experienced. Jesse Courtney, a nine-year-old boy from Albany, OR, complained about irritation and strange popping sounds in his ear. Jessie told his mom, Diane Courtney that the popping sounded like "Rice Krispies." A visit to the doctor revealed that a pair of eight-legged creepy creatures had set up home in his left ear. "They were walking on my eardrums," said Jesse Courtney. The doctor flushed out the two pencil eraser-sized spiders - the first came out dead, while the second was still alive. It seems the fourth-grader is really enjoying all this fuss. In fact, he has kept the spiders as a souvenir and wonders "what next?" This news actually gave me heebie jeebies. After reading this, I just have one thing to say: pleasant dreams everybody!! Word of caution: sleep with earplugs!!