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Dec 16, 2008

SGR Launches New York Office

ATLANTA (Dec. 16, 2008) — Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP, a full-service, international law firm with offices in Atlanta, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida, Washington, DC and Frankfurt, Germany, has launched a New York City office with the addition of seven new attorneys. Six attorneys from the New York office of litigation boutique Bainton McCarthy LLC have joined the firm, along with an additional partner from Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC.

The new partners are J. Joseph Bainton, John G. McCarthy and John J. Lee from Bainton McCarthy LLC and Stephen S. Friedman formerly of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. New associates are Deana D. Ahn, Carmine J. Castellano and Mark D. Wessel from Bainton McCarthy LLC.

Stephen M. Forte, Managing Partner and Chairman of SGR, said: “The current economic climate presents exceptional opportunities for our firm in the New York market. Many talented lawyers are considering their options, with boutique firms seeing advantages in our bigger platform and partners at large firms seeing the benefits of being connected with a firm that is somewhat smaller, but still big enough to have the resources and the level of sophistication they are used to, in terms of the colleagues they work with, the clients they counsel and the work they do.

“This move comes at a time when many clients and lawyers are becoming frustrated with escalating fees. Our structure enables some of the leading attorneys in their fields to work with their clients in a way that produces not only outstanding results, but value as well.”

“Our firm is fortunate that we are able to move forward, even in a down economy, with a long-term commitment to New York which will enable us to provide an expanded range of service to new and existing clients. Our plan for the office is to build on our practice strengths — litigation, aviation, international and transactional work — and we currently have commitments from additional lawyers, who will join SGR soon, who practice in areas including bankruptcy, international and transactional work.”

J. Joseph Bainton said: “Smith, Gambrell & Russell has built a reputation for outstanding service to its clients over a 115 year history. The firm’s stability, sound management and long-term commitment to excellence make it a very appealing place to work. Joining SGR gives us an opportunity to focus on serving clients from a platform that provides us with tremendous resources.”

SGR is currently operating out of temporary office space in downtown Manhattan and will be relocating to permanent space in midtown after the first of the year.

J. Joseph Bainton has, for over 30 years, represented a wide variety of public and private clients in a diverse range of commercial litigation. For many years, he was responsible for the anti-counterfeiting/anti-piracy programs of a number of leading intellectual property owners, including Louis Vuitton S.A, Gucci and various subsidiaries of Warner Communications. He has represented high profile clients in cases involving accounting malpractice, corporate governance issues, product liability and a wide range of contract disputes and other matters.

John G. McCarthy has a wide range of experience representing domestic and foreign clients in all aspects of general business litigation, including business torts, contract disputes, corporate law and governance, director and officer liability, professional malpractice, banking, products liability, real estate, bankruptcy, intellectual property, unfair competition and trade secrets. He has extensive trial experience in federal and state courts.

John J. Lee focuses his practice on business litigation in a variety of areas, including antitrust and trade regulation, banking and financial services, business torts, contract disputes, construction and real estate, intellectual property, and unfair competition and trade secrets. He represents domestic and foreign clients in litigation and arbitration before courts throughout the U.S. and before various U.S. and international arbitration organizations.

Stephen S. Friedman has represented clients in a range of real estate matters, including acquisitions and dispositions, restructurings, workouts and refinancings, preparation and negotiation of loan documents, acquisition documents, leasing, real estate syndications, preparation and negotiation of partnership and management agreements, foreclosures and evictions. He brings a sophisticated corporate background to real estate transactions and has closed some of the largest and most sophisticated financing and workout transactions in the real estate industry.

About Smith, Gambrell & Russell

Smith, Gambrell & Russell is a full service, international law firm that advises regional, national and global businesses on a wide range of legal matters. The firm’s 180-plus attorneys provide legal counsel in practice areas including corporate transactions, litigation, intellectual property, aviation, banking, construction and employment law. Founded in 1893, SGR has offices in Atlanta, Jacksonville, New York, Washington, DC and Frankfurt, Germany.


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