The national Appellate Practice at international law firm Greenberg Traurig has been named an "Appellate Group of the Year" for 2010 by Law360, a respected online legal news service. The firm's Appellate Practice was honored based on a year of significant appellate victories, including six major cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and both federal and state appellate courts.
Among the Appellate team's key cases that resulted in the Law 360 recognition, were two handled by Boston attorneys Joseph W. Ambash and Paula J. DeGiacomo -- New Process Steel in the Supreme Court, and SEC v. Tambone in the First Circuit, en banc -- respectively.
In New Process Steel, petitioner New Process Steel challenged whether the National Labor Relations Board could lawfully issue decisions with only two sitting members although the statute required at least three members. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of New Process, holding that the Board did not have authority to issue decisions with only two Members. The case was argued and briefed against the United States Solicitor General, drawing national attention and was widely considered the most important labor case of the year.
In SEC v. Tambone, the First Circuit after rehearing en banc reversed the panel decision and dismissed the SEC's fraud claim brought pursuant to Rule 10b-5(b) against the former co-president of Columbia Funds Distributor Inc., in an SEC enforcement action alleging market timing in the company's mutual funds. The Court held that use or dissemination was insufficient to support a under Rule 10b-5 and the word "make" should be interpreted in the plain meaning of "to make a statement" and should not be "imbued with any exotic meaning." The Court rejected the SEC's interpretation of SEC Rule 10b-5(b), which would have expanded the scope of liability for underwriters under the federal securities laws and ruled that the interpretation was "inconsistent with the ordinary meanings of the phrase 'to make a statement,' inconsistent with the structure of the rule and relevant statutes and is in considerable tension with Supreme Court precedent." The claims based on negligence and aiding and abetting were remanded to the trial court.
Law360 received more than 400 submissions for this award, from which five law firms' appellate groups were selected. Submissions were solicited from 300 law firms for its Groups of the Year series. The submissions were reviewed by a panel of four editors, who selected winners based on the number of important wins in the practice area.
Greenberg Traurig's Appellate Practice includes more than 50 lawyers in offices across the country. They handle appeals in opposition to U.S. government regulatory agencies in wide-ranging matters, with a focus on science, technology and health care issues and constitutional law. Their experience includes serving as lead counsel in precedent-setting cases arising under the federal and Florida Administrative Procedure Acts, the Information Quality Act and other state and federal statutes.
About Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, full-service law firm with approximately 1800 attorneys serving clients from more than 30 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. In the U.S., the firm has more offices than any other among the Top 10 on The National Law Journal's 2010 NLJ 250. In the U.K., the firm operates as Greenberg Traurig Maher LLP. Greenberg Traurig has a strategic alliance with the independent law firm, Studio Santa Maria in Milan and Rome. The firm was Chambers and Partners' USA Law Firm of the Year in 2007 and among the Top 3 in the International Law Firm of the Year at the 2009 The Lawyer Awards. For additional information, please visit www.gtlaw.com.
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