The Lanier Law Firm has maintained a prominent role in the BP litigation since filing one of the nations' first class-action lawsuits against BP following the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. BP has yet to stop the millions of gallons of crude oil currently spewing into the gulf.

"BP not only disregarded important safety rules, they also took unbelievably unnecessary risks, which is why people are facing one of the worst environmental and financial disasters in history," says attorney Evan Janush of The Lanier Law Firm. "There are laws designed to protect employees from the precise, devastating scenario facing a lot of workers at BP."

At the end of 2009, BP's U.S. Employee Savings Plan had more than $2 billion invested in BP stock. Since the explosion and eruption of oil, BP's stock price has fallen by approximately half, accounting for more than $100 billion in lost stock value. The retirement plans for many company employees are tied to the stock, costing them what is believed to be hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Lanier Law Firm founder Mark Lanier, who recently was named by The National Law Journal as one of the most influential attorneys in the nation during the past decade, says the people responsible for BP's 401(k) plan knew or should have known about the company's inability to provide a safe work environment on the Deepwater Horizon, as well as its inability to contain the massive release of oil -- two factors that have contributed heavily to the downturn in BP's stock price.

The law firm has identified several potential legal claims for participants in the BP Employee Savings Plan whose accounts included units from the BP stock fund. Learn more at www.lanierlawfirm.com.

About The Lanier Law Firm

With offices in Los Angeles, Palo Alto, Houston and New York, The Lanier Law Firm is committed to addressing client concerns with effective and innovative solutions in courtrooms across the country. The firm is composed of outstanding trial attorneys with decades of experience handling cases involving oil & gas law, maritime law and ERISA litigation.

Bowie & Jensen is pleased to announce the opening of its New York office located in Midtown Manhattan.

"The firm's operations have grown significantly over the past few years, and a New York office will be a tremendous asset as we continue our growth," said Bowie & Jensen Founder Robert R. Bowie, Jr. "At Bowie & Jensen we are very lucky. We are small enough to be personally responsive to clients of all sizes and sophistications, but large enough to handle the most complex legal issues."

"Even as we grow we will continue to have a culture that supports our lawyers and our staff which in turn benefits our clients. Our culture is that the law firm has clients and the individual lawyers do not," said Bowie. "What this means is our best and brightest are brought to each matter because our focus is on our clients and their businesses not on the lawyers who represent them. This philosophy has allowed us to represent our clients well and grow even in times of economic uncertainty. We look forward to working with New York businesses and with the New York legal community."

Bowie & Jensen offers extensive experience in litigation and corporate and intellectual property law. Our attorneys advise companies regarding mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, corporate governance, employment law, technology transactions, and intellectual property protection. Our litigation specialists have successfully defended clients in civil, antitrust, employment, and intellectual property cases.

Bowie & Jensen will continue to support clients that include companies at all stages of development, from start-ups to large corporations, as well as the venture capital firms, banks, and other financial institutions that support them.

This includes: breach of all forms of Contractual Litigation, Intellectual Property Matters, Employment, Anti-Trust and Trade Regulations. Construction, Computer Law, Trade Mark and Trade Name, Trade Secrets. Patents, Advertising Law, Commercial Real Estate, Internet Law, Privacy Law, Mergers, Acquisitions and Financings, Estates and Trusts.

About Bowie & Jensen

Bowie & Jensen is a law firm focusing on all aspects of business law. We have been proudly serving businesses of all sizes for more than 20 years. For more information on Bowie & Jensen, please visit our website at www.bowie-jensen.com.

The law firm of Anita M. Volpe is offering Chapter 7, Chapter 12 (Farmers and Fishermen), and Chapter 13 bankruptcy relief at a reasonable fee.

If you are experiencing financial distress because your house is (or is about to be) in foreclosure, or your car, fishing boat or farm machinery has been (or is about to be) repossessed, or you are overwhelmed with credit card debt, hospital bills or any other form of debt, or any combination of these, bankruptcy relief might be the best and smartest way of getting a clean slate for a new financial beginning (as well as peace of mind). The filing of a bankruptcy petition immediately stops every effort of creditors.

While you may fear that filing for bankruptcy will hurt your credit standing (and it will, temporarily), what is to be gained by filing for bankruptcy may far outweigh the temporary loss of credit standing. (Remember that the U.S. Constitution expressly recognized the right to file for bankruptcy. Also, K-Mart, A.H Robbins and Macy’s as well as such notables as Mickey Rooney, Tammy Wynette, Kim Basinger, and Larry King have all filed for bankruptcy. Milton Hershey [the Hershey Bar] filed three times before his success.)

Of course, bankruptcy may not be the course of action for you since everyone’s financial situation is different. For that reason, the firm offers an initial consultation to analyze your particular circumstances (with follow-up if necessary) absolutely free. To set one up call Alice at (207) 594-5246.

The Law Review Staff of the Phoenix School of Law wanted to find a way to publish a law journal, and recognize the Centennial Anniversary of the writing of Arizona’s Constitution at the same time.  The result was the printing of The Arizona Government Book, a compilation of articles written by prominent judges, attorneys and legal minds within and around Arizona Government, including the Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, Rebecca White Berch,  Nick Dranias of the Goldwater Institute, and more.  The theme of the book is “The Past, Present and Future of Arizona Government.”

“Because we’re a new law school, it was difficult to solicit articles for our law journal,” says Editor-In-Chief Anthony Tsontakis.  “But we persisted, and the results were submissions of extraordinary articles from Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch (Arizona Supreme Court) and many prominent government attorneys – some of whom argued cases before the Arizona Supreme Court.”

A Symposium / Reception to celebrate the publishing of The Arizona Government Book will be held on Tuesday, April 27th from 5:00 PM-7:00 PM at the Phoenix School of Law, Room D-110.  Speakers include Vice Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court Andrew Hurwitz and Arizona Senate President Robert Burns.  

Hors d'oeuvres will be served.  CLE credit may be earned for this event.   The event is free, but RSVP is required by registering at www.phoenixlaw.edu.

WEALTH ADVISORS

The independent multi-family investment company said it hired Christopher Smith as a principal. Smith was a director of the corporate client group at RBC Capital Markets.

LEGAL & GENERAL INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

Chicago-based investment manager Legal & General Investment Management America said it hired Aaron Meder in a new role as head of U.S. pension solutions. Meder was a managing director and head of asset-liability investment solutions at UBS Global Asset Management.

MAYER BROWN

The law firm said it hired Dallas Parker from Thompson & Knight as a partner in its corporate and securities practice in Houston.

BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH (BAC.N)

Merrill Lynch appointed Giles Hutson as Managing Director of its EMEA debt capital markets team. Hutson joins Merrill Lynch after a 11-year stint at Morgan Stanley (MS.N) where he was co-head of EMEA debt capital markets.

FRANKLIN TEMPLETON INVESTMENTS

The investment company named Adam Gorlyn vice president of its sovereign funds and supranationals group. Gorlyn worked as a portfolio specialist with the Franklin Templeton Fixed Income group.

KNIGHT CAPITAL GROUP INC (NITE.O)

The firm named Didier Bankole vice president of sales for its electronic trading group (ETG) in Europe. Bankole joins Knight from NYSE Euronext (NYX.N) where he was in charge of global account management.

LASALLE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

LaSalle Investment Management appointed Andy Watson to the newly created role of head of core funds and separate accounts, continental Europe. Watson previously worked as international director in the company's Paris office.

EMIRATES NBD ENBD.DU

The head of retail banking at Emirates NBD is to step down, three people familiar with the matter said, in the second major departure from the lender. [ID:nLDE63B08J]

T. ROWE PRICE GROUP (TROW.O)

The investment management firm named Michael Joehr as a client service executive focused on southern Europe and Switzerland. Most recently Joehr was senior relationship manager with Allianz Global Investors Europe GmbH.

QUILTER

The investment management services provider named Gillian Bailey as an investment manager at its Glasgow office. Bailey joins the firm from Cornelian Asset Managers in Edinburgh, where she was associate director. (Compiled by Arnika Thakur in Bangalore and Elinor Comlay in New York. Editing by Robert MacMillan)