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Mr. North is a Partner in the Firm’s Corporate Group and Chair of the International Trade and Investment Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association. He focuses his practice on international trade and investment, securities law, corporate and commercial transactions, mergers, acquisitions and business combinations and other issues encompassing the full range of commercial transactions. He represents foreign and domestic companies, public and private, in their ongoing operations as well as in complex domestic and international business transactions including deals involving businesses in biotechnology, medical devices, high-technology, health care and environmental remediation industries, among others. Mr. North advises foreign companies in successfully establishing their presence in North America in accordance with applicable corporate, immigration, intellectual property and other regulatory requirements. Legal Experience LeClairRyan, Newark, New Jersey, December 2007- present Seiden Wayne, Newark, New Jersey, 2007 (merged with LeClairRyan) Sills Cummis Epstein & Gross, Newark, New Jersey, 1987 - 2006 Paskus Gorden & Mandel, New York, New York, 1985 - 1987 Parker & Rutstein, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1983 - 1985 Hazeline Corporation, Product Line Manager, In-House Contracts Manager, Greenlawn, New York, 1973 - 1980 Education New York University School of Law, LL.M., 1985 Brooklyn Law School, J.D., 1980 Syracuse University, B.A., Maxwell School American Studies, 1973 Extended Information Representative Matters Negotiated $150 million NATO AWACS Program transferring display and identification friend or foe (IFF) technologies with component by component interchangeability (designed in English, drafted in parallel, measured in inches, weighed in pounds and paid for in dollars) to Siemens AG (to be designed in German, French and English, drafted isometrically, measured metrically and paid for in blended currencies of French francs, English pounds and German deutschmarks) Established limited partnerships by which Japanese investors obtained equity participations in major New York City hotels minimizing tax consequences otherwise inherent in real estate transfers Retained by American public building supply company to provide all Securities 33 and 34 Act advice and public document drafting replacing prior Wall Street law firm counsel Organized a healthcare over-the-counter products company; raised $9 million for initial product test marketing in California; raised second traunch of $20 million of financing with Pfizer for national product launch; and one year later sold entire company to Pfizer for $200 million Represented American public co-generation power company in its acquisition of PUMA Power, a mobile power generation company (supplied back office power to the London Stock Exchange) Represented dissident shareholder in successfully obtaining a seat on the Board of Directors of Ronson Corporation , the cigarette lighter company (including reimbursement of all expenses) despite the opposition of the majority owner Represented Amex listed Spartech Corporation in its acquisition from NYSE listed Oxychem of a 12 acre portion in the center of a 250 acre industrial site representing the vinyl chloride portion of integrated vinyl monomer production facility that the FTC required to be sold due to the anti-competitive effects of a prior acquisition Represented the Specialty Sector of Fiat S.p.A. in its $29 million acquisition of 51% of publicly held Incstar Corporation, a radioimmunoassay diagnostic company, in a tax free reorganization avoiding the application of Minnesota Control Share and Business Combination Acts; assisted in the technology transfer of American Vitamin D testing to Europe and European hepatitis testing from Europe to the U.S.; four years later assisted in the sale of this Italian entity with its $40 million European investment and its American affiliate to NYSE listed American Standard for in excess of $250 million Represented a European chemical company in the creating of a 50/50 joint venture greenfield poly-aluminum-chloride ( PAC ) manufacturing plant built in Vancouver, Canada with an initial $5 million investment; although PAC costs $800 per ton as compared to $200 per ton of aluminum, use of PAC permits $1 billion paper mills to run 10% faster; in essence creating $100 million of avoided capital expenditure to the customer’s capacity Represented Milan bourse listed Sorin S.p.A. in its $280 million acquisition of the Shiley Heart Valve Division of NYSE listed Pfizer Inc. involving over 3,000 employees in 17 countries with three manufacturing facilities (Irvine, California; Munich, Germany; and Mirandola, Italy); transaction represented Sorin’s first operations in Austria and the Pacific Rim countries of Japan, Singapore and Australia; Sorin subsequently sold the Shiley respiratory business to Mallinckrodt and the Shiley Monostrut heart valve business to its former management Represented Chinese investors in forming the first foreign wholly owned entity Beijing which operated an FDA nutritionally qualified food service to the Beijing municipal school system Represented Snia S.p.A., a European public chemical company in its $24 million acquisition of an American nylon manufacturer with a 3% market share in the NAFTA market; assisted in subsequent $35 million capital expenditure program to penetrate the U.S. automotive component market Settled a patent dispute between client Sorin S.p.A. and NYSE listed Medtronic Corporation involving an alleged infringement of an American patent for a manufacturing technique for a medical device taking advantage of the differences between EU and U.S. patent enforcement policies Advised Continental Grain, one of the largest privately held companies in the world, in refinancing its tax exempt debt on Mississippi Grain Elevators to save $1 million per year of interest costs on a $48 million debt Represented an English company in relaunching a conflicted trade name with a variation of the name that could be listed in 28 countries so as to begin a consistent marketing program Represented a family owned manufacturer of the 120 millimeter silver bullet tank shell that was so effective in the first Iraqi war to a Fortune 100 military contractor, resolving the environmental issues arising from its use of depleted uranium Assisted a publicly held insurance company in complying with the state based Shareholder Protection Act without invoking the punitive provisions of the federal tax law governing changes of control Represented a Canadian corporation in its NAFTA roll out of selling natural gas compressors and automobile conversion kits to permit vehicles to run on natural gas and be recharged at home overnight Represented an Indian company seeking to import Balsamic rice into the United States; by testing one hundred pounds in the U.S. prior to their initial shipments, avoided several months of delay in U.S. Customs Represented an Italian eyeglass company in its introduction into the United States of proprietary eyeglass frames that would in the next several years obtain shelf space in 850 high end eyeglass retail shops In lieu of suing client’s patent firm for failing to make timely foreign patent filings, filed client’s innovative floss in a credit card as a trademarked trade dress , protecting its use from third party infringement without regard to expiration of the US patent Represented Sorin S.p.A. in its $320 million acquisition from Swedish public company GAMBRO of its COBE Cardiopulmonary Division with operations in 10 countries Advised founders in the formation and licensing to an Italian furnace company of an innovative incinerator ash into ceramic tile process where contaminating heavy metals safely added tile color and sheen Advised Bradco Supply, an east coast building supply business, in its sale to a public building supply business and Bradco’s successful recovery when the buyer defaulted on its obligations Advised inventor in successful recovery of infringement and commercialization of next generation packaging and filtering products, creating three new patented business lines, each with projected sales in excess of $50 million Represented Rag Shop, a NASDAQ listed retail craft chain, in its expansion into nine states and in the implementation of shrinkage reduction programs Represented NASDAQ listed EPMed Systems in three rounds of PIPE based equity funding Represented dissident shareholder in a hostile proxy fight for NASDAQ listed Vestcom International, successfully overturning its poison pill amendment Represented management in its $50 million management buyout from American Standard of its $100 million DiaSorin blood testing diagnostic business with operations in 30 countries, the purchase price for which was conditioned upon FDA approval of six hepatitis blood tests without imposition of material restrictions Represented NASDAQ listed Preserver Group Inc. in its successful going private self tender offer at a 40% premium Represented Italian based Vischim srl in filing its pesticide application with the EPA Represented Manchester, England based TDS (Telemedicine) Limited, a telemedicine diagnostic company in its acquisition and reverse merger with public company shell; launching its skin cancer and retinopathy diagnostic telemedicine service in Texas in collaboration with the University of Texas Medical School Represented Bradco Supply in its acquisition of 10% toe hold stake in Wickes Lumber and its subsequent exchange for certain strategic Wickes operating locations Represented U.S. based nutritional supplement distributor in its acquisition of the exclusive worldwide distribution rights of an activated calcium manufactured in Japan Part of team which represented NASDAQ listed IT service company, Computer Horizons Corp., in its successful defense against Aquent’s hostile offer and proxy fight Represented Italian Snia and French Rhodia in the sale of their 50/50 American nylon manufacturing business to a private entity fund Represented OSIRIS Therapeutics in the negotiation of Adult Stem Cell Clinical Research Program with Johns Hopkins University Medical Schoo Managed Hart-Scott-Rodino and foreign anti-trust filings on behalf of NASDAQ listed Computer Horizons Corp. for its proposed merger with Analyst International Corporation and part of team assisting Computer Horizons in subsequent hostile proxy fight and board removal solicitations by dissident hedge fund/arbitrator Negotiated on behalf of household goods manufacturer as to its license to use Liz Claiborne trademarks throughout the world and the qualification of the manufacturers of off-shore suppliers Defended a DOD/NATO military contractor against a purported patent infringement arising out of the pharmaceutical industry Launched a patent enforcement program for an innovative preemptive assessment program involving the vehicle transportation industry Speaking Engagements April 25, 2006: On behalf of NJSBA International Law & Organizations Section and New Jersey Corporate Counsel, acted as a moderator for What Every New Jersey Practitioner Needs to Know About the United States Court of International Trade with the Honorable Timothy C. Stanceu and the Honorable Leo M. Gordon, Judges of the United States Court of International Trade as featured speakers November 6-8, 2005: Hosted Executive Briefing for South Yorkshire Bioscience Enterprise Network and representatives of eight English Biotech companies at New Jersey EDA Tech Centre, North Brunswick with New Jersey Biotechnology Life Science Coalition; program included International Trade and Investment Subcommittee presentation New Jersey Life Science Cluster: Where International Biotech Innovations are Brought to Market November 2004: Panelist and Presenter at White Rose University Consortium BioForum in York, England on behalf of the New Jersey Biotechnology Life Science Coalition June 2003: Tour of Northern England Biotech companies on behalf of the State of New Jersey; Biotech Panel Presentation with Parliament Life Science Committee in London Trade Missions and Conferences July 4, 2007 attended administrative launch of Institute of Bio-Sensing Technology, drawing upon the research capabilities of the 5 Research Universities of the South West of England July 13, 2006: Selected as member of executive steering committee and attended the kick off conference of England’s largest trans university- transnational competitively awarded academic collaboration, the White Rose University Health Innovation Partnership in Leeds, England in collaboration with four English Research Universities and four New Jersey Research Universities May 31, 2006: Arranged for Professor Sannino of Lecce University, innovator of nerve regenerative scaffold with successful animal ad human clinical trials, to present at NJBLSC Neuroscience program and to regional venture capital companies; Professor Sannino biotech startup company launched March 2007 April 6 & 7, 2006: Hosted a tour of New Jersey Life Science Cluster for BioApproaches South West; a major center of Lifesciences and Biotechnology excellence of the South West of England March 9, 2006: Arranged for an Executive Briefing by which the White Rose University Consortium offered to collaborate with the New Jersey Biotechnology Life Science Coalition particularly the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey for a Higher Education Funding Council Program for Accelerated Radical Innovation in Patient Health Care; in June 2006 this collaboration was competitively awarded a two year £4,700,000 grant (US$10 Million) November 6-8, 2005: Hosted Executive Briefing for South Yorkshire Bioscience Enterprise Network and representatives of eight English Biotech companies at New Jersey EDA Tech Centre, North Brunswick with New Jersey Biotechnology Life Science Coalition; program included International Trade and Investment Subcommittee presentation New Jersey Life Science Cluster: Where International Biotech Innovations are Brought to Market June 2005: Hosted Executive Briefing for Taiwan Investment & Trade Office at New York City with return Briefing in October 2005 at Newark, New Jersey May 2005: Sponsor at New Jersey World Trade Conference at Burwood Manor, Whippany, New Jersey; focus on Italy with return mission at Italian Trade Commission, New York, New York in September 2005 October 2004: Hosted Executive Briefing for Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry at Newark, New Jersey June 2003: Tour of Northern England Biotech companies on behalf of the State of New Jersey; Biotech Panel Presentation with Parliament Life Science Committee in London September 2002: Trade mission to Harwood House with former Commerce Secretary Gil Medina; attended Biotech Showcase at Sheffield University January 2002: Reception of Italian Furniture Manufacturers at Newark, New Jersey with a return presentation at Pesaro, Italy Furniture Trade Show in September 2002 May 2001: Hosted English Trade Mission from Leeds, England and return Mission in July 2001 November 1999: Trade Mission to Milan, Italy on behalf of the State of New Jersey October 1999: Hosted Executive Briefing for Danish Economic Minister Gjellerup at Newark, New Jersey September 1999: Hosted Executive Briefing for Korean Chollabuk-Do Provincial Governor You at Newark, New Jersey September 1998: Hosted English Trade Mission to New Jersey to attend Incubator Showcase March 1998: hosted collaboration between North of England and New Jersey Academic Institutions to launch British American Business School February 1998: Guided New Jersey Trade Mission with Commerce Secretary into Leeds, York and Hull, England October 1997: Hosted Export Match Maker Showcase in partnership with the New Jersey Regional Business Partnership June 1997: Hosted International Purchase Management Conference with representatives from 27 countries June 1997: English Trade Mission on behalf of the State of New Jersey March 1996: New Jersey Business News Seminar Mining Your Own Business Publications New Jersey Life Science Cluster Where International Biotech Innovations are Brought to Market Parts I, II & III, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, October and December 2005 and February 2006 Now We Are All International Trade Lawyers Parts I, II & III, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, May, June and July 2002 Honors and Awards September 2007 Awarded Edison Innovation Award by the Edison Innovation Foundation for successfully launching the largest Trans University and Transnational project ever undertaken in the United Kingdom for health innovation in collaboration with the 4 New Jersey Research Universities of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey Professional Memberships Prosperity New Jersey, Inc. Public/Private 501(c)(3) Business Advisor to New Jersey Governor [75 CEOs on Board of Trustees]: Outside Counsel, 1996-2005 New Jersey State Bar Association: Chair, International Trade and Investment Committee, 2005-present; Member since 1988 American Bar Association: Member, Sections on Business Law and International Law since 1980 New York State Bar Association: Member, Section on Business Law Biotechnology Council of New Jersey: Member, Biotech Collaboration Trans Atlantic Business Council of New Jersey: Member Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York (President, 1973) Admissions New Jersey New York |
