Opus

Jones Walker is very pleased to declare that Michael W. Magner has signed up with the organization’s New Orleans firm of criminal law attorneys as special counsel. Mr. Magner practices in the firm’s Business & Commercial Litigation Practice Group. His practice centers on preventative and litigation services for businesses and individuals in corporate and white collar criminal law matters. He likewise represents individuals and firms associated with grand jury and several other investigations.

Mr. Magner’s particular expertise is in anti-corruption deference and Litigation matters on both a domestic and international level. He served as a federal prosecutor in New Orleans for 20 years where he was a key member of the team that successfully prosecuted former Louisiana Governor, Edwin Edwards, following a 5 month trial. He was also the lead prosecutor in the Department of Justice‘s long term investigation and prosecution of judicial and related public corruption in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana known as “Operation Wrinkled Robe.” In recognition of his work, Mike was awarded the Department of Justice‘s highest award for Litigation, the John Marshall Award, as well as the Director’s Award for Superior Performance by a Litigative Team.

Mr. Magner stated, “Joining Jones Walker and being able to work with the Jones Walker white collar team is an exciting opportunity. Their law firm has a number of former U.S. Attorneys and Assistant U.S. Attorneys, all of whom have a stellar reputation in representing clients in the defense of government investigations and prosecutions.”

Mr. Magner also has served as a director of the U.S. Attorney’s Office‘s Anti-Terrorism/Crisis Response Unit, Organized Crime Strike Force, and Violent Crime Unit, and has tried over 40 jury trials to verdict, in virtually all sections of the United States District Court for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Louisiana. He specialized in long term, complex white collar investigations and trials, including export control, mail and wire fraud, government contract fraud, bribery, money laundering, police misconduct, civil rights violations, and RICO. In 2011, he served as the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Advisor to the Kenyan Anti-Corruption Commission (“KACC”) in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was embedded in the KACC’s principal headquarters for nearly two months, and provided training to KACC’s investigators, auditors, and attorneys on corruption compliance, investigative, and prosecution matters. He has also trained foreign judges and prosecutors in Central Asia and Africa and has regularly trained federal prosecutors through the Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute.

Preceding working together with the KACC, Mr. Magner was with the Department of Justice‘s first Counsel for Emergency Management and Crisis Response in the Office of Director, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys in Washington, D.C. for 18 months, where he represented the DOJ at various White House level emergency exercises and planning meetings relating to the federal government’s response to major criminal events, natural disasters, and pandemics. While with DOJ, Mike was also selected as a trained evaluator of other U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout the country on various substantive legal areas as well as ethics and professionalism.

Mr. Magner acquired his juris doctor qualification via Tulane University School of Law, cum laude; and was Managing Editor of The Maritime Lawyer. His Bachelor of Arts in Political Science/International Relations was earned from The George Washington University.

GS Battery Inc. just now revealed they have began to provide its ECO R model SLC 70-4 and SLX246-12 batteries for use in Suniva’s Balance of System Solutions. Co-Branded with the Suniva and GS Battery logo, these significant capacity batteries deliver long life as well as superior cycling capability backed up by a great deal of practical experience within Japan.

This collaboration allows Suniva and GS Battery to optimize their alternative energy products to improve the performance and reliability of the entire PV system, thus improving the Levelized Cost of Electricity. Custom engineering support to help meet individual project needs is also available. The ECO R batteries are a significant component to Suniva’s Balance of System Solutions.

“Market interest continues to be very positive for the ECO R batteries and has been aided by Suniva’s introduction of the Balance of System Solutions (BOSS) at Solar Power International,” said Jay Northey, Executive Vice-president and General Manager, GS Battery (USA) Inc. “We are excited to continue our collaboration with Suniva as our co-branded offerings expand globally.”

GS Battery Inc. is an American subsidiary of GS Yuasa Group of Japan, a world leader in automotive, motorcycle and standby storage batteries, which serves the power sports, telecommunications, UPS, and the emergency lighting markets. GS Battery Inc. recently announced that they will enter the renewable energy photovoltaic and storage market in North America.

Suniva® is an American manufacturer of high-efficiency crystalline silicon PV cells and high-power solar modules used in solar panels. The company uses patented, low-cost manufacturing techniques and industry-leading technology to produce its high-quality products and maintain competitive costs. Headquartered in metro-Atlanta, GA, Suniva sells its advanced photovoltaic solar cells and modules globally.

The law organization of Lee Tran & Liang has picked up yet another Ninth Circuit appeal; that is its fourth specific victory in the Ninth Circuit since 2009. On Jan twenty six, 2012, the Ninth Circuit confirmed a grant involving summary judgment which LTL received for its client, the accused in a copyright laws and trade dress legal action. Firm business partner Enoch H. Liang – together with lawyer Daniel Taylor – defended Bedrosian’s (in Orange County) and Hirsch Glass Company (in New Jersey) both before the District Court and the Ninth Circuit. The complaintant was represented by notable intellectual property specialist Christie Parker & Hale.

As reported in LTL’s June 2010 press release, the District Court granted LTL’s motion for summary judgment on Plaintiff’s trade dress claims in mid-2009. Then, in September 2009, less than 4 days before a jury trial was scheduled to begin, the District Court also dismissed Plaintiff’s 17 copyright claims. In July 2010, Plaintiff appealed to the Ninth Circuit, arguing that the District Court erred in both holding that the scope of Plaintiff’s copyrights were “thin,” and finding that “there is no substantial similarity (much less virtual identity) insofar as the protectable items are concerned as between Plaintiff’s copyrighted products and Defendants’ glass tiles.”

After extensive briefing, on January 13, 2012, LTL Partner Enoch Liang argued the case, defending the District Court’s ruling. Fewer than a couple weeks following the oral argument, the Ninth Circuit Judges W. Fletcher, Fisher, and Zouhary—issued their unpublished opinion. The Ninth Circuit held that “protection over designs is thin.” The Court further held that the defendants’ designs “are not ‘virtually identical’ to because the streaking effect, color blends, and appearance of randomness in designs are different…”

This decision reaffirms the significance of a two-pronged tactic in copyright infringement actions. Often, the issue of infringement is determined by the “scope” of the copyright that the court determines as a matter of law. Hence, in litigating copyright matters, plaintiffs should pay particular attention to avoid falling into various limiting doctrines that may limit the scope of their copyrights. Defendants should do the opposite.

Lee Tran & Liang, APLC is a California based law firm focusing exclusively on business litigation. The firm’s partners have practiced at prominent law firms, and are graduates of top law schools including Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, and Michigan. Primary practice areas, as outlined by the firm itself and every attorney directory, include business disputes (breach of contract, aggrieved investors and professionals, and commercial disputes) intellectual property litigation (patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets), and employment litigation (defense). Specifically what sets the business apart is actually its intent of aligning itself with its clients’ needs, by providing several imaginative payment plans in appropriate issues.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is telling small business that Feb. twenty four is the completing deadline regarding federal government business injuries disaster loans available in Lee and Scott counties in Virginia. The SBA declared a disaster because of extreme storms, tornadoes, straight-line wind gusts as well as floods which began on April twenty three, 2011.

In addition, the Small Business Administration revealed recently that federal economic injury disaster financial loans are offered to small companies, small farm cooperatives, small enterprises active in aquaculture and most private non-profit firms of all sizes based in the counties of Dillon as well as Horry in South Carolina as a result of Hurricane Irene which took place in August.

“When the Secretary of Agriculture issues a disaster declaration to help farmers recover from damages and losses to crops, the Small Business Administration issues a declaration to assist eligible entities affected by the same disaster,” stated Frank Skaggs, director of SBA’s Field Operations Center East in Atlanta.

Under this declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is accessible to eligible farm-related along with nonfarm-related businesses that experienced monetary losses as a direct consequence of this catastrophe. Except for aquacultural businesses, agricultural producers, farmers and ranchers are definitely not eligible to a href=”http://www.sba.gov/content/how-apply-sba-loan”>apply to SBA.

Financing for small business can be up to $2 million, with interest rates of 3 percent for non-profit organizations and 4 percent for small businesses. Terms can be up to 30 years. The SBA ascertains eligibility based on the size of the candidate, form of undertaking as well as financial means. The agency creates loan amounts along with terms based on each applicant’s economic affliction. These may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. These particular small business loans are not meant to replenish already lost sales or business earnings.

During the wake of the darkest court budget cuts in California‘s history, plaintiffs’ trial lawyer Michael Alder of AlderLaw, P.C. in Beverly Hills assumed the office of president of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), the nation’s largest local association of plaintiffs’ attorneys, that’s consisting of approximately 3,000 lawyers.

“Consumer lawyers are vital, now more than ever, to protecting the civil rights of people who’ve been left without access to judicial relief, which is just about everyone except the super-rich,” said Alder. “Legal bills add up to astronomical sums very quickly, because litigation is such an intensive process. Without lawyers who work on a contingency fee basis, which means they risk their own money instead of the clients’ and agree not to be paid unless they win the case, even people with big incomes quickly find their resources drained when faced with the large legal bills that result from a contested matter. Consumer lawyers must be prepared to provide leadership, vision and most of all integrity.”

Alder is a steadfast supporter of plaintiffs’ practitioners, otherwise known as consumer lawyers, working to raise public awareness of their importance at a time of corporate fraud and abuse. He’s been a member of CAALA for 14 years and spearheaded a city-wide billboard campaign to fund billboards that highlight the good that consumer lawyers do for society. He also is one of five founding members of the Trial Lawyers Charities, a non-profit enterprise which gives capital and also legal expertise to individuals in need within Los Angeles.

Alder is presently accomplishing some of the very most cutting-edge litigation labor in the country. He has tried in excess of 70 lawsuits as part of his professional career and secured more than $140 million in decisions and pay outs for his valued clients this year alone. Lately, in December last year he received a nearly $33 million decision for Concept Chaser, Co., Inc. in the advertising fraud case Concept Chaser Co., Inc. v. Pentel of America Ltd.

CAALA officially installed Alder as its 2012 president on Jan. 21 at its 63rd Annual CAALA Installation & Awards Banquet at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills. The group also announced its new officers and Board of Governors. For more information, visit www.caala.org.

AlderLaw, P.C. is a Los Angeles criminal attorney and plaintiffs’ law firm that represents plaintiffs in personal injury, business tort and employment litigation nationwide. The firm was founded in 2000 by attorney Michael Alder, current president of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) and past CAALA Trial Lawyer of the Year. Alder has tried more than 70 cases in his career, and works with a team of seven associate attorneys. AlderLaw, P.C. obtained more than $140 million in verdicts and settlements for its clients last year. For information, visit www.alderlaw.com.