John Dowd, a combative ex-Marine who
cursed at a cameraman after court one day, was the lawyer
Galleon Group LLC co-founder Raj Rajaratnam selected for his
trial last year on insider-trading charges. The jury, citing
overwhelming evidence, voted to convict.

Rajat Gupta — the ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) director
whose own insider-trading trial begins today — chose a lawyer
with a different style: Gary Naftalis, an affable presence in
the elite New York white-collar defense bar who recently
attended a reception for a Rajaratnam prosecutor at his new law
firm and who socializes with the judge presiding over the Gupta
trial, Bloomberg News’s David Glovin and Patricia Hurtado
report.

“Why is he so good? Because he’s very disarming,” Charles Carberry, a friend of Naftalis and a former federal prosecutor,
said. “Gary has a way of talking to people that’s non-
confrontational,” said Carberry, now a partner at Jones Day in
New York. “There’s nothing about him that reeks of arrogance.”

A jury in Manhattan will determine whether the 70-year-old
Naftalis’s low-key style wins Gupta the acquittal that eluded
Rajaratnam, who’s serving 11 years in prison. Of almost 90
criminal trials last year in the federal district that includes
Manhattan, the Bronx and some suburban counties, all but about
eight ended in conviction, according to the office of U.S.
Attorney Preet Bharara, who’s prosecuting the case.

Gupta, who ran consulting firm McKinsey & Co. from 1994 to
2003 and also sat on the Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) board, is charged
with conspiracy and securities fraud. Prosecutors say he gave
Rajaratnam material, nonpublic information about New York-based
Goldman Sachs and Cincinnati-based P&G, the world’s largest
consumer-products company. Securities fraud carries a maximum
20-year prison sentence.

Gupta’s trial won’t be like Rajaratnam’s, which was built
on dozens of wiretapped phone calls in which the hedge fund co-
founder could be heard swapping tips. Former colleagues also
testified for the prosecution.

The Gupta jury will hear a circumstantial case, centered on
the timing of trades after conversations between the two men,
plus a smaller number of wiretapped phone calls. Prosecutors say
Rajaratnam can be heard on the tapes referring to Gupta without
naming him.

Naftalis, who is co-chairman of New York-based Kramer Levin
Naftalis & Frankel LLP, comes to Gupta’s defense after
representing some of the biggest names on Wall Street.

His clients have included Michael Eisner, the former Walt
Disney Co. (DIS) CEO whom Naftalis successfully defended at a 2005
civil trial over claims that he breached his duty to
shareholders, and ex-Refco Inc. Chief Executive Officer Phillip Bennett, who is serving 16 years in prison after pleading guilty
in a $2.4 billion securities fraud.

Naftalis, who declined to comment for this article, tells
his clients he’s a hands-on litigator who will make all
decisions except one: whether to testify.

Style matters, said Tom Dewey, a lawyer at New York’s Dewey
Pegno & Kramarsky LLP, who isn’t involved in the Gupta case.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP’sDowd, Rajaratnam’s
lawyer, brought a “no-holds-barred, confrontational, fight-for-
every-inch approach” to combat multiple witnesses and wiretaps,
Dewey said in an interview. He sparred with witnesses at the
Rajaratnam trial and occasionally snapped at a prosecutor.

In Gupta’s case, where the evidence may be less concrete,
“a more low-key approach may well be warranted,” Dewey said.

Dowd declined to comment for this story, said Akin Gump
spokesman Ben Harris.

“In most criminal cases, the defendant does not testify,
so for that reason alone the style and presentation of the
defendant’s lawyer are enormously significant to a jury,” Dewey
said. “Gary is just as tough, but in a much more understated,
buttoned-down fashion.”

The case is U.S. v. Gupta, 11-cr-907, U.S. District Court,
Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

For more, click here.

Firm News

Fulbright Elects Stewart Chairman of Executive Committee

Fulbright & Jaworski LLP elected Kenneth L. Stewart the new
chairman of the executive committee. Stewart will succeed
outgoing chairman Steven B. Pfeiffer on Jan. 1. Pfeiffer has
served in the role since Jan. 2003.

A corporate lawyer, Stewart has been the partner-in-charge
of Fulbright’s Dallas office since 2004. A partner since 1987,
Stewart has handled mergers and acquisitions, partnership
arrangements, securities transactions, business financings, and
general corporate transactions and operations. He is also a
member of Fulbright’s policy committee and partners committee.

“Superior client service was a focal point throughout
Ken’s tenure as partner-in-charge of the Dallas office. I am
confident that his forward-thinking leadership will take the
firm and its clients to new heights,” Pfeiffer said in a
statement.

Fulbright has 17 offices worldwide, six of which were
opened over the last decade. Overseas expansion has led to
offices in Beijing, Dubai and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fulbright’s
book of energy clients prompted the opening of U.S. offices in
Denver and Pittsburgh-Southpointe, and the firm’s health law
work led to a new office in St. Louis.

Capital Markets Partner Johnson to Lead O’Melveny in Hong Kong

O’Melveny & Myers LLP announced that capital markets
partner David Johnson is the new head of the Hong Kong office.
He will be relocating from the firm’s Century City, California,
office.

Johnson is a former global head of O’Melveny’s transactions
department, responsible for the group’s worldwide strategy. He
has 25 years of experience representing corporations, funds, and
investment banks in all aspects of capital formation, strategic
advice, and restructuring involving the international financial
markets.

He represented the underwriters in a $1 billion and a
$2.5 billion notes offering for Toyota Motor Credit Corp. in
2011. He also represented Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. in a
number of debt and equity offerings, including high-yield debt
offerings totaling $436 million, the firm said in a statement.

“Expanding our Hong Kong office capabilities and
strengthening our capital markets practice are key components of
our larger plans for growing O’Melveny’s presence in Asia and
we’re fortunate to have Dave Johnson leading those efforts,”
Bradley J. Butwin, chairman of O’Melveny said in a statement.

O’Melveny & Myers LLP began its practice in Asia almost 25
years ago. The firm has approximately 800 lawyers in 15 offices
worldwide.

Lawsuits

Facebook Suit Over Subscriber Tracking Seeks $15 Billion

Facebook Inc. (FB), the social network operator whose shares
began trading May 18, was sued for $15 billion in an amended
complaint by subscribers who claim the company invaded their
privacy by tracking their Internet use.

In the complaint filed May 17 in federal court in San Jose,
California, the plaintiffs say Facebook improperly tracked users
even after they logged out. Twenty-one cases making similar
claims have been consolidated before the court. The latest
filing seeks to proceed on behalf of U.S. residents who
subscribed to Facebook from May 2010 to September 2011.

“This is not just a damages action, but a groundbreaking
digital-privacy rights case that could have wide and significant
legal and business implications,” David Straite, a partner at
Stewarts Law US LLP, which represents some of the users, said in
the e-mailed statement.

Andrew Noyes, a Facebook spokesman, said in an e-mailed
statement that the claims are without merit and the company will
contest them.

Straite said his firm is evaluating ways to add non-U.S.
residents to the group of plaintiffs.

The U.S. Wiretap Act “provides statutory damages of the
greater of $100 per violation per day, up to $10,000, per
Facebook user,” according to the complaint. Facebook’s more
than 800 million members are entitled to about $15 billion in
total, according to the plaintiffs.

Facebook, which sold stock in an initial public offering
valuing the company at about $104 billion, has been scrutinized
by regulators in the U.S. and Europe over how it protects users’
private information. Last year, a German data-protection agency
said it may fine the Menlo Park, California-based company over
facial-recognition software used for tagging photos.

Facebook sold 421.2 million shares at $38 each to raise $16
billion, it said in a statement. That values the company at
$104.2 billion, or 107 times trailing 12-month earnings, more
than every S&P 500 member except Amazon.com Inc. and Equity
Residential.

The case is In re Facebook Internet Tracking Litigation,
5:12-md-02314-EJD, U.S. District Court for the Northern District
of California (San Jose).

Moves

Hogan Lovells Adds Silicon Valley Insurance Litigator Wells

Hogan Lovells LLP has expanded its presence in Silicon
Valley with the addition of insurance litigator Vanessa Wells as
a partner in the litigation, arbitration and employment
practice. Wells was previously a partner with Sedgwick LLP in
San Francisco.

Wells has experience in the representation of insurance
companies in complex litigation in California, with a particular
focus on pricing issues, business regulation matters, and unfair
competition disputes.

Hogan Lovells has more than 2,300 lawyers operating out of
more than 40 offices in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, the
Middle East and Asia.

Steptoe Expands International and Latin American Practices

Steptoe & Johnson LLP has added Brigida Benitez to the firm
as a partner in the international regulation and compliance and
commercial litigation practices. Benitez will practice out of
the Washington office.

Benitez most recently was chief of the Office of
Institutional Integrity of the Inter-American Development Bank,
the firm said. During her tenure at the IDB, she served as a
member of the senior management team, reporting directly to the
IDB president and to the audit committee of the board, and
overseeing a staff of attorneys, auditors and other
professionals.

Her practice focuses on high stakes dispute resolution,
including international litigation and arbitration, and internal
investigations and anti-corruption issues, such as the Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act, with a particular emphasis on Latin
America.

Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professionals
in offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, London, Los Angeles,
New York, Phoenix, Washington and Century City, California.

K&L Gates Adds Two Partners to Moscow Office

K&L Gates LLP has added real estate partner Andrei V.
Soukhomlinov and corporate and finance partner Dmitry K. Gladkov
to its Moscow office.

Soukhomlinov joins K&L Gates from Salans LLP, where he was
co-head of its Russian real estate/construction practice, while
Gladkov was formerly the general counsel for Russia/CIS at the
investment bank Aton, the firm said in a statement.

With a focus on real estate and construction law,
Soukhomlinov advises domestic and international clients in the
real estate, manufacturing, banking and other sectors on
acquisitions, financing, investment and development projects,
commercial leases, and property management issues.

Transactional lawyer Gladkov counsels on matters involving
project and structured finance, capital markets, corporate
finance and regulation, mergers and acquisitions, international
tax planning, and financial market regulatory issues, among
others.

K&L Gates has lawyers practicing out of more than 40
offices located in North America, Europe, Asia, South America
and the Middle East.

David Lorello Joins Covington & Burling in London

Covington & Burling LLP is strengthening its anti-
corruption and trade control practices by adding lawyer David
Lorello as a partner in its London office. Lorello was
previously at Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

His practice spans U.S., U.K., and European international
regulatory issues.

Lorello has represented numerous multinational clients on
issues arising under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the
U.K. Bribery Act and other related U.S., U.K. and global anti-
corruption laws. He helps clients in developing anti-corruption
compliance programs and in managing enforcement matters.

Covington & Burling has more than 800 lawyers and offices
in Beijing, Brussels, London, New York, Washington, San Diego,
San Francisco, and Silicon Valley, California.

Capital Markets Partner Tomer Pinkusiewicz Joins Gibson Dunn

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP announced that Tomer
Pinkusiewicz joined the firm’s New York office as a partner.
Pinkusiewicz, formerly with White & Case LLP, will continue his
capital markets practice, with a focus on project bonds and
infrastructure.

Pinkusiewicz practices in the area of capital markets. He
has experience in Latin America-related transactions, project
bonds and infrastructure financings and assets, and debt
financings. He represents both issuers and underwriters in a
range of capital markets transactions, including public
offerings, Rule 144A/Regulation S offerings and private
placements.

Gibson Dunn has more than 1,000 lawyers in 17 offices in
the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Akin Gump Adds Corporate and IP Litigation Lawyers in L.A.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP added two lawyers who
principally serve the technology and consumer electronics
industries. Paul C. Lin and Kevin G. McBride joined the Los
Angeles office of the firm as partners in the corporate and
intellectual property litigation practices, respectively. Both
lawyers were previously at Jones Day.

Lin’s practice is focused on serving the needs of clients
in the technology and consumer electronics industries. He has
experience in cross-border corporate transactions, mergers and
acquisitions and corporate finance.

McBride’s practice focuses on patent and other intellectual
property litigation.

Akin Gump has more than 850 lawyers and advisers in the
U.S., Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Dewey & LeBoeuf Moves

Dewey Energy Lawyer Moves to O’Melveny & Meyers.

O’Melveny & Myers LLP has added federal energy regulatory
lawyer Hugh Hilliard as counsel in the firm’s Washington,
office. He will be a member of O’Melveny’s project development
and real estate practice group.

Hilliard was a partner at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP prior to
joining O’Melveny. Before practicing law, Hilliard worked at
the U.S. Department of the Interior, where he was involved in
leasing federal lands and royalty collection in connection with
oil, natural gas, and coal development, the firm said.

O’Melveny & Myers has approximately 800 lawyers in 15
offices worldwide.

Kaye Scholer Hires Dewey Team in Chicago

Kaye Scholer LLP hired a four-member securities and
financial services litigation group from Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP in
Chicago. Led by former Dewey partner Alan Salpeter, who joins
the firm as senior counsel and three other lawyers.

Salpeter has experience litigating securities fraud and
other kinds of class-action lawsuits; contested tender offers;
proxy contests; aborted business transactions and business
failures; alleged breaches of fiduciary duty and negligence by
corporate officers and directors and antitrust issues.

He also has extensive arbitration and mediation experience.
Recent matters include the successful representation of DeVry
Inc. and two of its senior executives in a putative class action
and the successful representation of Walgreens in two dismissals
of a putative shareholder class action claim, the firm said.

Kaye Scholer has offices in the U.S., Canada, Europe and
Asia.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Elizabeth Amon in New York at
eamon2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Andrew Dunn at
adunn8@bloomberg.net

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