Venable LLP
Encyclopedia
Venable LLP is a law firm formerly known as Venable, Baetjer & Howard LLP. The firm is ranked 77th in the 2010 AmLaw 100 survey. It was founded in Baltimore in 1900. Today the firm maintains 7 offices throughout the country and includes over 500 attorneys practicing in over 70 practice and industry areas covering corporate and business law, complex litigation, intellectual property and regulatory and government affairs.
A Baltimore-based
firm since its founding, in 1999 Venable merged with Washington, D.C.
-based Tucker Flyer and subsequently moved its headquarters to Washington, D.C. Venable established a presence in New York City
in 2005 through the integration of litigation boutique Heard & O'Toole, and in Los Angeles in 2006 with the integration of Whitwell Jacoby Emhoff LLP and Gorry, Meyer & Rudd LLP.
Venable has had its share of high-profile errors. In one case covered by the New York Law Journal
, Venable produced 346 gigabytes of data of which about one-third was irrelevant to the case and the rest contained 377 documents that should have been withheld as privileged. Even worse, among those documents was an email message that implied Venable's client may have been trying to commit fraud, and caused its opponents to move for leave to amend their complaint to add a fraud claim. Federal magistrate judge Mary E. Stanley ruled on May 18, 2010 that Venable had failed to take reasonable measures to prevent the inadvertent production of privileged materials and therefore, its client's privilege claims had been waived.
However, the judge's analysis has been criticized by other judges, practitioners, and commentators.
A number of Venable practices have garnered national recognition. U.S. News and World Report’s Best Law Firms survey ranked five Venable practices nationally, including Advertising Law, Employment Law - Management, Banking and Finance Law, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, and General Commercial Litigation, and 36 in local markets. Chambers USA ranked 16 Venable practices in 2009 and presented its Award for Excellence to Venable's Privacy and Data Security (2009) and Advertising, Marketing and New Media (2010) practices. The firm's Advertising, Privacy and Data Security, and M&A practices also received favorable rankings in Legal 500's 2010 edition. Legal Times ranked Venable 13th among law firm lobbying practices in 2010 and the firm’s Bankruptcy and Creditor's Rights practice ranked among Law360’s top five bankruptcy practices in the nation in 2010. Additionally, Venable topped the Maryland Daily Record's list of top ten verdicts in 2010 for its work in a major land development case. According to Intellectual Property Today, Venable assisted clients in 617 trademark registrations, ranking it 12th among law firms nationwide. Computerworld's survey of corporate clients in the privacy and data protection arena determined that Venable's privacy advisers ranked in the top tier in 2007, singling out the firm for its compliance, investigative and international capabilities.
Venable's community service and philanthropy efforts have been recognized by the Washington Business Journal, which ranked the firm among the top 20 corporate philanthropists in Washington, D.C. in 2010.
Venable attorneys also garnered favorable rankings in a number of publications including Chambers, Legal 500, Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers.
History
The law firm of Venable, Baetjer & Howard was formed in 1900 when Maj. Richard Venable, an attorney who had been practicing and teaching law in Baltimore, formed a partnership with two of his former law students, Edwin Baetjer and Charles McHenry Howard. The firm grew slowly at first, but between 1951 and 1991 expanded from 12 lawyers to over 220.A Baltimore-based
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
firm since its founding, in 1999 Venable merged with Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
-based Tucker Flyer and subsequently moved its headquarters to Washington, D.C. Venable established a presence in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 2005 through the integration of litigation boutique Heard & O'Toole, and in Los Angeles in 2006 with the integration of Whitwell Jacoby Emhoff LLP and Gorry, Meyer & Rudd LLP.
Venable has had its share of high-profile errors. In one case covered by the New York Law Journal
New York Law Journal
The New York Law Journal, founded in 1888, is a legal periodical covering the legal profession in New York, United States. The newspaper covers legal news, decisions, court calendars, and legislation, and provides analysis and insight in columns written by leading professionals...
, Venable produced 346 gigabytes of data of which about one-third was irrelevant to the case and the rest contained 377 documents that should have been withheld as privileged. Even worse, among those documents was an email message that implied Venable's client may have been trying to commit fraud, and caused its opponents to move for leave to amend their complaint to add a fraud claim. Federal magistrate judge Mary E. Stanley ruled on May 18, 2010 that Venable had failed to take reasonable measures to prevent the inadvertent production of privileged materials and therefore, its client's privilege claims had been waived.
However, the judge's analysis has been criticized by other judges, practitioners, and commentators.
Rankings
Venable is nationally ranked by a number of legal and business journals. It ranked 77th in the 2010 AmLaw 100 list, and 78th on the National Law Journal's top 250 law firms list. Venable was ranked 82nd in the 2011 Vault 100 Survey. Regionally, the Washington Business Journal listed Venable among the 10 largest D.C. law firms in 2010 and the Baltimore Business Journal listed Venable as the largest law firm in the Baltimore, MD area.A number of Venable practices have garnered national recognition. U.S. News and World Report’s Best Law Firms survey ranked five Venable practices nationally, including Advertising Law, Employment Law - Management, Banking and Finance Law, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, and General Commercial Litigation, and 36 in local markets. Chambers USA ranked 16 Venable practices in 2009 and presented its Award for Excellence to Venable's Privacy and Data Security (2009) and Advertising, Marketing and New Media (2010) practices. The firm's Advertising, Privacy and Data Security, and M&A practices also received favorable rankings in Legal 500's 2010 edition. Legal Times ranked Venable 13th among law firm lobbying practices in 2010 and the firm’s Bankruptcy and Creditor's Rights practice ranked among Law360’s top five bankruptcy practices in the nation in 2010. Additionally, Venable topped the Maryland Daily Record's list of top ten verdicts in 2010 for its work in a major land development case. According to Intellectual Property Today, Venable assisted clients in 617 trademark registrations, ranking it 12th among law firms nationwide. Computerworld's survey of corporate clients in the privacy and data protection arena determined that Venable's privacy advisers ranked in the top tier in 2007, singling out the firm for its compliance, investigative and international capabilities.
Venable's community service and philanthropy efforts have been recognized by the Washington Business Journal, which ranked the firm among the top 20 corporate philanthropists in Washington, D.C. in 2010.
Venable attorneys also garnered favorable rankings in a number of publications including Chambers, Legal 500, Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers.
Notable alumni and current attorneys
- Birch BayhBirch BayhBirch Evans Bayh II is a former United States Senator from Indiana, having served from 1963 to 1981. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in the 1976 election, but lost to Jimmy Carter. He is the father of former Indiana Governor and former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh.-Life...
, former U.S. Senator of IndianaIndianaIndiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is... - Benjamin CivilettiBenjamin CivilettiBenjamin Richard Civiletti served as the United States Attorney General during the last year and a half of the Carter administration, from 1979 to 1981. He is now a senior partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Venable LLP, specializing in commercial litigation and internal investigations,...
, former United States Attorney GeneralUnited States Attorney GeneralThe United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government... - James H. Burnley IV, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation
- John SarbanesJohn SarbanesJohn Peter Spyros Sarbanes is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes the state capital of Annapolis, central portions of the city of Baltimore, and parts of Anne Arundel, Howard and Baltimore counties.-Early life, education...
, U.S. Representative, Maryland's 3rd congressional districtMaryland's 3rd congressional districtMaryland's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district from the state of Maryland. It comprises portions of Baltimore, Howard and Anne Arundel counties, as well as a significant part of the independent city of Baltimore... - Paul SarbanesPaul SarbanesPaul Spyros Sarbanes , a Democrat, is a former United States Senator who represented the state of Maryland. Sarbanes was the longest-serving senator in Maryland history, having served from 1977 until 2007. He did not seek re-election in 2006, when he was succeeded by fellow Democrat Ben Cardin...
, former U.S. Senator from Maryland - Asa HutchinsonAsa HutchinsonWilliam Asa Hutchinson is a former U.S. Attorney for the Fort Smith-based Western District of Arkansas, U.S. Congressman from the Third District of Arkansas, Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the first-ever Under Secretary for Border & Transportation Security at the U.S...
, former UndersecretaryUndersecretaryAn under secretary is an executive government official in many countries, frequently a career public servant, who typically acts as a senior administrator or second-in-command to a politically-appointed Cabinet Minister or other government official...
of Homeland SecurityHomeland securityHomeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...
and former head of the Drug Enforcement AdministrationDrug Enforcement AdministrationThe Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
, former U.S. Representative for the ArkansasArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
' 3rd congressional district - James E. RoganJames E. RoganJames Edward Rogan is a judge of the Superior Court of California, a law professor, an author, and a former Member of the United States House of Representatives from California...
, former U.S. Representative of CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and current United States District Judge - John Marshall ButlerJohn Marshall ButlerJohn Marshall Butler was a Republican member of the United States Senate, representing the State of Maryland from 1951-1963.-Early life:Butler was born in Baltimore, Maryland and attended Baltimore public schools...
, former U.S. Senator from Maryland - Kathleen G. Cox, Judge of the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, Maryland
- Richard W. Emory, former Deputy Attorney General of Maryland
- Susan K. Gauvey, United States Magistrate Judge of the District Court for the District of Maryland
- Glenn F. Ivey, former State's Attorney for Prince George's County, Maryland
- Joseph H.H. Kaplan, former Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge
- Benson E. Legg, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the District of Maryland
- L. Paige MarvelL. Paige MarvelL. Paige Marvel is a judge of the United States Tax Court.Marvel was born in Maryland and graduated magna cum laude from the College of Notre Dame, in Baltimore in 1971. She earned her J.D...
, United States Tax Court Judge - Powell Moore, former White House Legislative staff member and U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense official
- J. Frederick Motz, United States District Judge
- Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr., former judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- William D. Quarles, United States District Judge
- David E. Rice, United States Bankruptcy Judge
- Noah SamaraNoah SamaraNoah A. Samara is a Chief Executive Officer of WorldSpace, the world's first to launch satellite radio system. He also played a pivotal role in the foundation of XM Satellite Radio. He claimed what motivated him to found WorldSpace is to give millions of people in Asia and Africa access to...
, present CEO of WorldSpaceWorldSpace1worldspace, formerly known as 'WorldSpace', is a currently defunct satellite radio network that provided service to over 170,000 subscribers in eastern and southern Africa, the Middle East, and much of Asia with 96% coming from India... - Paul F. Strain, former Deputy Attorney General of Maryland
- Roger W. Titus, United States District Judge
- Robert L. Wilkins, United States District Judge
Notable Transactions and Representations
- Secured a precedent-setting victory on behalf of nearly 5,000 abused and neglected children in a nearly three decade-long case involving the long-troubled Baltimore, Maryland foster care system. The defendants in the case, both Maryland state agencies, had argued that, as a result of a 2009 Supreme Court decision, foster care children had no rights to enforce federal child welfare laws. In the first ruling by an appellate court on this issue, Circuit Judge Allyson K. Duncan disagreed and found that the state agencies were misinterpreting the Supreme Court decision. Judge Duncan's decision ensures that federal child welfare laws will be enforced in the state of Maryland, meaning that a Baltimore federal court will be allowed to enter a decree negotiated between Venable's attorneys and two Maryland state agencies to compel needed reforms to the foster care system. As a result of the decision, Maryland must comply with 28 separate outcomes for the foster children, which are measured by over 100 performance measures.
- On behalf of Hornbeck Offshore Services, helped secure a series of victories rebuffing the government's efforts to implement a moratorium on offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 in response to the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Venable obtained a preliminary injunction against the moratorium in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana on June 22, 2010, when U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman found that the moratorium had been rashly implemented and would irreparably harm Hornbeck and other plaintiffs whose businesses were dependant on deepwater drilling. The decision was upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on July 9, 2010, which found that Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar had "failed to demonstrate a likelihood of irreparable injury if the stay is not granted; he has made no showing that there is any likelihood that drilling activities will be resumed pending appeal." The Obama Administration subsequently sought to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Hornbeck and other plaintiffs, arguing that a second moratorium implemented by the Administration in July superseded the original moratorium, and thus the lawsuit challenging the original moratorium was moot. U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman denied the Administration's request, finding that "in reality, the new moratorium covers precisely the same rigs and precisely the same deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico as did the first moratorium."
- Secured a jury verdict in excess of $36 million on behalf of The Penrose Group for breach of contract claims arising out of the development of a two-tower, high-rise luxury apartment complex in Bethesda, Maryland. The case was noted by the Maryland Daily Record as the largest verdict within the state of Maryland during 2010.
- Won a unanimous Supreme Court decision on behalf of Wal-Mart Stores in a case that had significant intellectual property ramifications. In the case, a jury found that Wal-Mart had infringed Samara's copyrights and "inherently distinctive" designs for a product line of children's clothing. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the jury's verdict on appeal, relying not upon any "factors" or "tests," but rather upon the testimony of a Samara executive who claimed that the consistent design elements were "inherently distinctive" because Samara intended for them to be identified with the company and build brand loyalty. The Supreme Court overturned the Second Circuit's decision, and in doing so further established the circumstances under which a design is protectable under the Lanham Act. The Court found that product design and product color, by themselves, are insufficient attributes for meeting the threshold of being "inherently distinctive." As a result of this decision, in order to gain trademark protection for a product design, the manufacturer must prove that consumers believe that the look of a product automatically identifies its creator.
- Secured a reversal of a lower court ruling in the case of Lockshin v. Semsker. In this particular case, a jury had awarded the plaintiffs over $5.8 million in damages, including $3 million in noneconomic damages, in a medical-malpractice case. The defendants, a group of doctors, asked the trial court to apply Maryland's long-standing statutory cap on noneconomic damages, which would limit those damages to $812,500. The trial court, however, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. Venable, representing the doctors on appeal, argued that the trial court had misread Maryland's Health Care Malpractice Claims statute. Maryland's highest court agreed, holding that the cap on noneconomic damages applied to all health care malpractice claims, whether or not arbitrated.
- Represented Perot SystemsPerot SystemsPerot Systems was an information technology services provider founded in 1988 by a group of investors led by Ross Perot and based in Plano, Texas, United States. A Fortune 1000 corporation with offices in more than 25 countries, Perot Systems employed more than 23,000 people and had an annual...
in its $250 million acquisition of the QSS Group in 2007.
- Currently representing Redwood Capital in its proposed acquisition of bankrupt Erickson Retirement Communities. Venable client Redwood Capital Investments, LLC received broad media coverage when it announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire substantially all the assets of Erickson Retirement Communities, LLC, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- Represented CWCapital Asset Management in litigation related to the foreclosure of the Stuyvesant Town – Peter Cooper Village in New York City. After months of litigation, the case was resolved when junior debt holders Pershing Square Capital Management LP and Winthrop Realty Trust agreed to sell their debt to CWCapital for $45 million. The deal gave CWCapital additional options to recoup the $3.7 billion it was owed on the property.
- Represented Tishman Speyer in its $22.2 billion acquisition and subsequent privatization of real estate investment trustReal estate investment trustA real estate investment trust or REIT is a tax designation for a corporate entity investing in real estate. The purpose of this designation is to reduce or eliminate corporate tax. In return, REITs are required to distribute 90% of their taxable income into the hands of investors...
Archstone-Smith Trust.
- Closed a $40 million stock-for-stock acquisition by SafeNet, Inc. (SFNT) of Cylink Corporation (CLYK).
- On behalf of American Mensa, settled a trademark dispute with Carlton Publishing over the use of the Mensa trademark which provided American Mensa with monetary compensation as well as control over the quality of all books associated with the “MENSA” name distributed in the United States.
- Represented Modern Woodmen of America, one of the largest fraternal life insurance societies in the United States, in chartering MWABank.
- Represented Perdue Farms, Inc. in successfully dismissing a class action lawsuit for failure to plead with sufficient specificity.
- Venable Partner and former U.S. Attorney General Benjamin R. Civiletti served as Special Compliance Counsel and successfully negotiated settlement for Publishers Clearing House with 26 state Attorneys General.
- Drafted Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising, and currently serves as counsel to coalition of marketing and trade associations.
- Represented Boat America Corporation (BoatU.S.) in the sale of its retail boating equipment division to West Marine Products, Inc. for $72 million.
- Represented the State of Utah in its settlement with the Sierra Club and other environmental groups for the construction of the Legacy Parkway in northern Utah.
- Represented SafeNet, Inc. (SFNT) in a closed public offering of its shares for approximately $84 million.
- Represented Mercantile Bankshares Corporation in Mercantile's $543.4 million acquisition of Frederick-based F&M Bancorp and its principal banking subsidiary Farmers & Mechanics Bank.
- Represented the plaintiffs in a case involving e-discovery that has resulted in at least one controversial ruling, Mt. Hawley Ins. Co. v. Felman Production, Inc. In response to a production request, the plaintiffs produced 346 gigabytes of data; the defendants argued that approximately 30% of this production was irrelevant; however, subsequent analysis showed the actual irrelevant amount to be closer to 4%. The production also included 377 documents that, largely due to a technical glitch caused by a third-party vendor's software, should have been withheld as privileged (an error rate of 0.0006%). Among those documents was an email message that was used by the defendants to move to amend their complaint to add a fraud claim, despite the fact that the email noted that a Venable attorney was advising against a potentially fraudulent course of action. Federal magistrate judge Mary E. Stanley ruled that in spite of the technical glitch, the plaintiff's claims to privilege had been waived. Following a thorough analysis of the findings of fact in the case, noted e-discovery practitioner, author and educator Ralph Losey called Judge Stanley's decision "bad and ugly."
- Obtained approximately $800 million in relief from labor and long-term pension and health care obligations on behalf of former coal producer Horizon Natural Resources Co., which paved the way for the sale of $786 million of Horizon's assets to an investment consortium led by Wilbur Ross Holdings.
- Represented Anteon International Corporation (NYSE: ANT) in its acquisition of Milestone Group, LLC, a privately held provider of IT services to U.S. government clients.
- Represented Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in its acquisition of substantially all the assets of iMAPS, LLC.
- Represented Ecolochem, Inc. in patent litigation against Southern California Edison for patent infringement in field of water purification.
- Represented former baseball star Steve Garvey in a significant case that limits the circumstances under which an advertising spokesperson can be held responsible for product claims.
- Successfully defended Maryland private accountant and consultant, Paul L. Wright, in his criminal prosecution for conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, and conspiracy to commit theft of government funds.
Offices
BaltimoreBaltimoreBaltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...- Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
- New YorkNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
- Rockville, MarylandRockville, MarylandRockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a major incorporated city in the central part of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The 2010 U.S...
- Towson, MarylandTowson, MarylandTowson is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 at the 2010 census...
- Tysons Corner, VirginiaTysons Corner, VirginiaTysons Corner is an unincorporated census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Part of the Washington Metropolitan Area located in Northern Virginia, Tysons Corner lies between the community of McLean and the town of Vienna along the Capital Beltway . The population was...
- Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....