About The Firm

Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell's 700 lawyers pay attention to the right things - meeting or beating deadlines, exceeding expectations, responding quickly and always delivering the highest quality work. We practice in virtually every area of the law, with our core focus to get the best results for our clients creatively and efficiently every day.

We are loyal to clients' individual and corporate goals. For more than a century, we have grown along with many of our clients. Together we've weathered economic and regulatory change, championed passage of new laws, developed new business models and structures, and proven that lawyer/client relationships can stand the test of time.

Letter from the Chair

Re: Locke Lord Client Update

April 2008

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

It has been just over six months since the combination between Texas-based Locke Liddell & Sapp PLLC and Chicago-based Lord Bissell & Brook LLP, and I want to thank you for being such a valued client of our firm prior to the combination and since we became Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP.

As Chair of Locke Lord, it has been an honor to work with such fine lawyers and to represent such outstanding clients. When we announced our combination, we said we were bringing together two well-established firms with similar cultures, shared values and deep histories to meet and better serve the growing legal needs of our clients. We believe we are succeeding in these stated objectives.

After this initial six months, we are more convinced than ever that our combination has provided us the breadth, depth and geographic scope to better serve our clients. We continue to look for ways to enhance our services, whether it is expansion of particular practice areas, the addition of talented lawyers, or adding new offices. In February, we announced the opening of Locke Lord's twelfth office in Boston. We also announced the addition of a highly regarded Real Estate Practice Group in Atlanta. In March, we announced the hiring of a former Assistant U.S. Attorney as a partner in our Chicago office who now plays an important role with our White-Collar Practice Group.

We have had the privilege of serving clients in many significant successes and endeavors in recent months, and I would like to highlight just a few as examples:

Our nationally-recognized real estate investment trust practice is involved in some of the year's largest REIT transactions, including representing American Campus Communities, Inc., one of our publicly-traded REIT clients, in its pending $1.4 billion acquisition of GMH Communities Trust and $265 million equity offering.
We currently are representing Shell Oil in the development of one of the largest wind farms in the world, a 3,000 megawatt project being built in Texas.
We represented New Vision Television, LLC in the purchase of Montecito Broadcasting Company and the related $500 million debt and equity financing.
We recently represented American Airlines on an appeal to the First Circuit in Boston in a case involving an American captain's decision to remove passengers from a flight due to perceived security risks, and we currently are representing American in two alleged nationwide class actions brought by passengers who claim various state law torts and breaches of contract arising from their flights being diverted to other airports and then delayed on the runway during a severe weather event at DFW Airport.
We are representing a mutual life insurer in connection with its development of a new low-fee individual variable deferred annuity product and the creation of a new corresponding proprietary mutual fund family which will invest in Exchange Traded Funds and serve as its funding vehicle.
We obtained dismissal of two related federal class-action cases in Georgia alleging unlawful behavior in Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases by our client, a Fortune 500 company and one of the leading mortgage lenders in the United States. The cases were handled by a team of lawyers from our Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas offices.
We represented client Texas Pacific Group in all gaming licensure matters for its $27 billion acquisition, together with Apollo Management, L.P., of Harrah's, an undertaking that required as many as 50 firm lawyers working at a given time to meet critical deadlines.
We represent Visa International in a series of antitrust and unfair business practices cases in New York and California, including merchant and consumer class actions.
We represented an underwriting unit of Farmers Group, Inc., which is a subsidiary of Zurich Financial Services AG, in reaching an agreement in principle to acquire from Zurich the renewal rights on Zurich's small-business solutions book of business. The book consists of about $800 million of business owner's policies for property, general liability and umbrella, first- and third-party auto and workers compensation.
Our firm has represented Belo Corp., a client we have had the privilege of serving for over 80 years, in the separation of its television and newspaper businesses into two independent NYSE companies, the continuing Belo Corp. for television, and the newly-formed A. H. Belo Corporation for newspaper operations.
We obtained extraordinary relief from an international arbitration panel mandating the payment of substantial pre-hearing security to be posted in favor of our client in a reinsurance dispute.
We are representing a joint venture led by Kinder Morgan in the development of the Rockies Express natural gas pipeline. Stretching 1,680 miles from the Rockies to Ohio, this is the largest pipeline project built in the United States in over 20 years. This $4.5 billion project will have a substantial impact on our national domestic energy security, as it makes economically viable the production of the vast gas resources of the Rocky Mountains.
In addition to these substantial achievements and undertakings for our clients, over the last six months we have focused upon and strengthened our diversity initiatives because we know a diverse workplace is a more creative workplace, bringing together different viewpoints that are as important to our clients as they are to us. We also have encouraged our lawyers in various cities to interact closely through their practice groups, committees and personal visits in order to enhance optimal staffing on all client matters.

Locke Lord has brought together two venerable law firms that we now are transforming into a new, stronger firm with broader experience, expanded reach and greater depth. Many of our clients have expressed enthusiasm about this process. We pledge to continue to transform our firm to better serve you and all our valued clients.

Very truly yours,

Jerry K. Clements
Chair