Trust the Leaders

Issue 20/ Fall 2007

• Mergers & Acquisitions: Not a Spectator Sport Mergers and acquisitions can be like a competitive sporting match. In most cases, there are two sides, each of which seeks to “win.”
• Back To The Future The technological changes of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century dwarf, in numerical terms, any similar period in history. Information, expression and communication advances are unparalleled. One commentator recently noted that 3,000 new books are now published daily. Another source reported that 18.7 billion text messages were sent by mobile phone users in the month of December 2006 alone.
• Supreme Court Antitrust Rulings In 2007, the United States Supreme Court decided four antitrust cases. In general, those decisions reflect a basic faith that markets, left alone, produce correct outcomes and a belief that the costs of antitrust litigation — both the direct litigation costs and the chilling effect the threat of litigation can have on markets — outweigh the potential benefits.
• U.S. Supreme Court October Term 2007 The Supreme Court began its 2007 term in October. In recent years, the Court has reduced the number of cases it accepts for review. As a result, there are fewer cases the Court has agreed to hear that have implications outside the realm of criminal law. That being said, the following is a collection of civil cases that are likely to have a significant impact on our clients and their business practices.
• What’s New in Employment Law? From time to time, Trust the Leaders will bring you highlights of relevant events in the world of employment law, including topics of interest from the EEOC. In this issue, we focus on our clients and friends of the firm who have employees in Florida and New York.
• Two Years in the Congo June 2005. For almost 26 years, I had practiced law with the same firm. I had lived in the same house for more than 20 years. I had been married to the same wonderful wife (Kay) for nearly 30 years. With four terrific children, I was enjoying life and a challenging law practice. By any measure, I was a model of stability.

  That was all to change.

• Genes of Mercy: SGR’s Jane Haverty Continues Family Tradition of Public Service Since Saint Joseph’s Hospital opened its doors on Courtland Street in downtown Atlanta in 1880, the Haverty family has distinguished itself in its volunteer and philanthropic support of the institution. The hospital was founded by the Sisters of Mercy, whose mission it is to serve the poor and downtrodden. Rawson Haverty, Sr. embraced the ideals of the Sisters and served on the first board of directors of Saint Joseph’s Hospital in 1970. He later served as its chairman for many years, including during the period when the difficult decision was made to move the hospital from its original downtown location to the Northside suburbs.
• AOD National Conference 2007 This fall, SGR’s Ira Genberg chaired the hugely successful national conferences for the Associated Owners & Developers (AOD) on September 17-18 at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel, Washington, D.C., and again on October 15-16 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta. AOD is an industry forum for owners, developers, architects, engineers and academia, as well as construction lawyers, contractors, project managers and others.
• IRS Extends 409A Deadline to 2008 In response to comments from benefits practitioners, the IRS has issued a general extension to December 31, 2008 to bring most deferred compensation arrangements into compliance with, or meet one of the exemptions from, the new Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code (“409A”).