Herzfeld & Rubin P.C. is relocating its headquarters to 125 Broad St. in New York's Financial District, after a 50-year stint at 40 Wall St.

Mack-Cali, which owns roughly 40 percent of the 40-story office tower, signed the global law firm to a 20-year, 56,322-square-foot lease. The new deal brings the REIT's 525,000-square-foot portion of the 1.3 million-square-foot high-rise to full occupancy. Mark Shapses, Joseph Messina and Jason Schwartzenberg with Studley represented Herzfeld & Rubin.

The law firm joins prominent tenants such as Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), both of which own their space. Herzfeld & Rubin's 64,736-square-foot lease at 40 Wall St., which encompasses floors 50 through 56, is up at the end of this year. The new space offers comparable size, but on less than two floors.

The new deal brings a nearly four-year search to an end. "We were hired in 2005 to find a more cost-effective, efficient occupancy solution for the firm, and periodically went out into the market looking for space," said Shapses. "The market went through extraordinary price and availability changes in that period. The right situation with the right economics hadn’t surfaced until now."

Schwartzenberg noted that the space hadn't even hit the market yet. "We knew it would soon be vacated so we moved quickly to secure it."

Mack-Cali will cover 100 percent of the modifications Herzfeld & Rubin requires. The concession package also includes free rent and furnishings.

Continuing its string of long-term deals, Mack-Cali also signed Global Aerospace to a 12-year lease in Parsippany, NJ. The aerospace insurer took 47,891 square feet at One Sylvan Way at the Mack-Cali Business Campus. Kenneth Flynn of Jones Lang LaSalle represented Global Aerospace.

Global Aerospace is relocating its U.S. headquarters from 22 Sylvan Way, also part of the Mack-Cali Business Campus. Wyndham Worldwide Operations leased the entire 250,000-square-foot office building for 15 years in January, according to CoStar information.

Ken Solomon and Don V. Kelly, registered patent attorneys at the law firm Gallop, Johnson & Neuman (www.gjn-ip.com), have been approved by the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, as certified neutrals in the Court's alternative dispute resolution (ADR) program. Their names are included on an exclusive roster of neutrals from which parties before the U.S. District Court may chose when a law suit is referred to alternative dispute resolution by judicial order.

Mr. Kelly and Mr. Solomon are among a small handful of patent attorneys in Missouri who qualify as mediators under Missouri Supreme Court Rule 17. They each were certified after completing formal mediation training at the Saint Louis University School of Law.

"A growing number of businesses are looking to alternative dispute resolution and its cost-effective benefits and its flexible, speedy, business-oriented options for resolving disputes as the alternative to traditional litigation and its limited means for relief.  As certified neutrals, we are able to offer clients and litigants mediation and arbitration expertise to help resolve disputes in areas of patent and trademark  infringement, licensing and other matters to achieve quick, creative, certain, and business-driven resolution, while at the same time avoiding costly litigation processes," Mr. Solomon and Mr. Kelly said in a statement.

Mr. Solomon and Mr. Kelly are both partners of the firm and members of the Intellectual Property Law Practice at Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C., one of the largest full-service law firms in St. Louis.

Mr. Solomon, chair of the IP Law Practice, has substantial oversight and management experience gained over more than 25 years of preparing and prosecuting hundreds of patents and trademark applications, maintaining such rights and protecting such rights through client counseling, policing, licensing, negotiating, defending against claims asserted by others, and through litigation. The May 2009 edition of Intellectual Property Today magazine features an article by Mr. Solomon entitled “Arbitration & Mediation: A More Effective Way to Protect Valuable Intellectual Property” explaining how ADR can short-circuit expensive litigation to achieve better results.

Mr. Solomon’s practice over the past 15 years has been primarily focused on managing large client patent and trademark portfolios in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and, also, international patent and trademark offices. His expertise includes drafting and prosecuting diverse intellectual property agreements and preparing patentability, validity and infringement opinions on behalf of clients. He has substantial experience in many industry sectors and technologies involving chemical and mechanical arts, pharmaceutical products and processes, among many others. He earned a J.D. from the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law, currently ranked among the five top law schools in the country for intellectual property law by U.S. News & World Report, and a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Mr. Kelly represents clients in litigation and intellectual property matters. He concentrates his practice in the areas of patent infringement, trademark infringement, trade secret litigation, non-compete agreements and business disputes. He has handled numerous multi-million dollar trade secret, franchise, contract and intellectual property cases. He has drafted and prosecuted patent applications for engine components, industrial tools, computer equipment, fuel systems, optical coatings and food industry apparatus, among many other technologies. He also counsels clients regarding trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, technology license agreements and infringement analyses.

Mr. Kelly is featured in a recent article in Midwest CEO discussing indemnity rights. He has served extensively as lead counsel in state and federal jury and non-jury trials. His experience includes handling medical malpractice, toxic tort, pharmaceutical, medical device and products liability litigation. Mr. Kelly earned a J.D. degree from Washington University School of Law and a B.S. in physics from Duke University.

Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C., a full service law firm of 80 attorneys, has provided legal services to clients in all industries since its founding in 1976. The firm received an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau in its January 2009 ratings of Missouri law firms. The firm is located at 101 South Hanley Road, Suite 1700, in Clayton, Missouri. For more information, visit www.gjn.com. For information about the firm’s Intellectual Property Law Practice, contact Ken Solomon or Don Kelly at 314.615.6000.

For more information, contact Lois LaDriere, Director of Marketing, at 314.615.6103

The law firm of Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C. (www.gjn.com) served as counsel to Stratus Building Solutions, an industry-leading provider of integrated facilities maintenance services for retail, commercial, industrial, professional and multi-family buildings and real estate property, in connection with  expansion of the company's successful licensed building services and building maintenance operations into Canada.


The transaction, which was effective May 4, 2009, allows Stratus Building Solutions of Canada, a newly formed entity based in Toronto, Ontario, to use Stratus Building Solutions' trade secrets, copyrighted materials and branding in Canada.  The new entity will offer building services and maintenance licenses under the Stratus Building Solutions brand in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan.

Robert D. Cantwell, a partner at Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C., served as lead counsel for Stratus Building Solutions.  Mr. Cantwell’s legal practice focuses on business, corporate and governmental law with an emphasis on complex mergers and acquisitions, gaming and franchising.

St. Louis-based Stratus Building Solutions (www.stratusclean.com) offers 16 different building service and maintenance plans providing “environmentally green” cleaning systems, products, services and marketing support. These include the “Stratus GreenClean” program which uses environmentally-friendly products and services to help sustain healthier, more productive facilities. Also, the firm offers a program called “Stratus Sani-Proof” that kills Influenza Type A and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), and other bacteria often found in offices, schools, daycare centers, health clubs, medical facilities and industrial buildings.

Stratus Building Solutions of Canada will operate under an agreement established with Stratus Building Solutions. Jeffrey B. Aibel and Kenneth Casseri will own and manage the new Canadian operation.  

Dennis Jarrett, chief executive officer, and Pete Frese, president, founded Stratus Building Solutions in 2004 after each worked for more than a decade as senior executives in building services and maintenance industries.

Gallop, Johnson & Neuman has served clients around the world since 1976 from its offices in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the largest law firms in St. Louis. The firm serves entrepreneurs, privately-held companies and start-up firms; public corporations; private equity funds; individuals and families; trustees and trust beneficiaries; charities; and non-profit entities. Offices are located at 101 South Hanley Road, Suite 1700, Clayton, Missouri, 63105.  

Stratus Building Solutions currently has U.S. operations in Connecticut, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, with plans for further international expansion.  

For information about Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, please contact Lois A. LaDreier at 314.615.6000 or visit the website www.gjn.com. For information about Stratus Building Solutions, see the website www.stratusclean.com 

or call  314.731.2000 or toll-free at 877.731.2020. Media contact: Jeff Dunlap at 314.993.6925.

For that purpose, a 3-2 majority -- Vice Mayor Jack Grasty and Commissioner Jim Hathaway voted no -- agreed to hire the Orlando law firm of Shutts and Bowen for a fee of $7,500.

The firm will conduct an independent review of the club's 99-year, $25 per annum, lease of city-owned waterfront property to see whether there are any red flags such as discrimination in membership practices or if it fulfills the original intent of the agreement. That was to promote tourism and business development, according to Mayor Sally Mackay, who led the majority.

Mackay went so far as to challenge the club's 90 members to "step into 2009" and decide how they could contribute to New Smyrna Beach in a significant way.

Johnnie Cochran -- O..J. Simpson's famous lawyer -- died four years ago, but remains a powerful brand for his law firm.

The massive visage of legendary defense attorney Johnnie Cochran has been gazing down from Twin Cities billboards in recent days.

They're advertising his firm's recent arrival in the metro area.

But if you harbor hopes of having your legal case handled by the lawyer who most famously won the acquittal of O. J. Simpson, there's one problem: Cochran has been dead for nearly four years.

The departed Cochran remains a powerful brand for his law firm, which has expanded into 28 offices in 18 states from its original Los Angeles base.

"It's absolutely a branding thing for us," said James Rolshouse, who is lead attorney in the firm. "If I move into a market and try to brand Jim Rolshouse, it'd be a waste of money."

And, he added, it's not misleading just because the firm's founder is dead. "It's still the Cochran law firm," Rolshouse said.

There's nothing subtle about the billboards. "INJURED?" one screams in bright red letters, adding that the firm has "aggressive personal injury attorneys."

Locally, the firm opened offices in Burnsville and downtown Minneapolis late last year. Six attorneys work for it.

The billboards have been up for just a couple of days. Eventually about 45 will be erected around the Twin Cities, Rolshouse said.

The billboard rollout follows a few local radio and TV ads.

Cochran was 67 when he died of an inoperable brain tumor in 2005.