Patrick McManemin, a partner in the firm’s Dallas office, was quoted in DSNews on Monday, March 8, 2010, about a recent surge in mortgage-related litigation.

Patton Boggs, working in conjunction, Mortgagedaily.com created its Fourth Quarter Mortgage Litigation Index, based on active cases covered by the Web site from October 1 through December 31, 2009.

During this period, 134 mortgage-related lawsuits were tracked, up from 76 cases documented during the third quarter of 2009. This was the highest quarter on record since MortgageDaily.com began tracking mortgage litigation in 2007. The driving force behind this increase was loan modification cases, which more than doubled from the third quarter.

“State and federal agencies are aggressively cracking down on modification scammers with severe criminal and civil penalties,” Mr. McManemin said. “The upward trend in related fraud litigation is likely to continue.”

Rosemary Becchi, a partner in the firm’s Washington office, was quoted by Business Week on Monday, March 8, 2010, in an article about how lobbyists for small businesses, construction companies, manufacturers and other trade groups are pressing Congress to reinstate the federal estate tax that they tried to kill.

The groups have changed positions in a bid to head off higher taxes on the horizon: Unless Congress acts, current law would raise the tax next year to 55 percent on estates after they exceed $2 million per couple, from nothing this year, according to Business Week.

The clock is ticking on estate-tax changes because, as 2011 nears, so does the prospect that congressional inaction would start to bring in billions of dollars to help reduce trillion- dollar deficits.

“That’s the real fear,” Ms. Becchi told Business Week. “Then it becomes extremely difficult to change it.”

Robert B. Dove, former parliamentarian of the Senate and now an attorney in the firm’s Washington office, was featured by Time, MSNBC, Roll Call, and NPR from March 1 – March 3, 2010 about a parliamentary maneuver called the reconciliation process.

Mr. Dove was the Parliamentarian of the Senate and assisted in the writing of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. The act contained a provision which allowed the majority party a way to bypass a filibuster- to pass legislation. Mr. Dove is familiar with the reconciliation process, which is rarely used. During 1995, he was involved in a reconciliation, in which he threw out 300 plus amendments.

Lisa Ann T. Ruggiero, a partner in the firm’s New Jersey office, was featured in an article in the March 2010 issue of New Jersey Business that examines the pathways of successful female attorneys and the hurdles they have faced.

Ms. Ruggiero noted the difficulty female attorneys, particularly litigators, have in reaching the partner level at law firms. “They were women who had to fight their way to the top...you can tell it was a hard road for them,” she said. “But now you do see a big change. There are a lot more female partners.”

The article highlighted Ms. Ruggiero’s extensive experience before state and federal courts while managing and defending toxic tort and product liability cases for major chemical, industrial, medical and consumer product manufacturers.

Eric Foster, a partner in the firm’s New York office, authored an article published in Complinet’s Spring 2010 issue of Informer discussing why U.S. and European legislators may differ in their approaches to over-the-counter derivatives reform.

“It seems unlikely that there will be a fully consistent approach by Washington and Brussels in regards to enacting a new statutory regime for the over-the-counter derivatives markets,” Mr. Foster wrote. “The reason is simple: the upcoming elections in the U.S. will mean legislators will be more interested in obtaining ‘payback’ from the big banks it had to recapitalize than in ensuring New York and Chicago operate at a level playing field with London.”

John McGahren and John Corbett, attorneys in the firm's New Jersey office, authored an article published by the New Jersey Law Journal on March 1, 2010, about New Jersey’s recently completed agreement with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. With this agreement, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Environmental Radiation now has sole licensing, rulemaking, inspection and enforcement authority for certain radioactive materials formerly under the nuclear commission’s direction.

“New Jersey's newly-conferred agreement state status means that New Jersey firms terminating licenses and decommissioning facilities with source materials, subcritical mass special nuclear material and its byproducts and naturally occurring and accelerator-produced byproducts now deal with regulators closer to home, but face considerably tighter state regulatory standards and scrutiny in doing so,” stated Mr. McGahren and Mr. Corbett.

Companies in New Jersey are encouraged to adapt their legal and technical approaches toward their licenses, termination and remediation accordingly.

News that Rosemary Becchi has joined Patton Boggs as a partner in the firm’s Washington office was featured in Politico and Roll Call on February 24, 2010. Ms. Becchi, former counsel to the Senate Finance Committee, will work with the firm’s financial services and tax groups.

Before coming to Patton Boggs, she spent time exploring the financial industry via the private-sector and through government. While work on the Senate Finance Committee, she helped create the 529 college saving account and the Coverdell education savings account; she also worked at Fidelity Investments where she launched the government relations office and Citigroup and Arthur Anderson.

“Rosemary’s combination of government and private-sector experience gives her the ability to effectively advocate on behalf of corporations on a number of tax and financial service matters,” said Stuart M. Pape, managing partner of the firm.

Major Frank Biggio, an associate in the firm’s Washington office was featured in an article by American Lawyer on February 19, 2010, about his tour of duty in Afghanistan with the Marine Corps.

Mr. Biggio, a Marine Corps reservist, recently returned to Patton Boggs after spending seven months in Nawa, Afghanstian.

“While his peers spent the past few months worrying about billing the requisite hours and keeping their desk jobs, Maj. Frank "Gus" Biggio helped build a forward operating base and kept his eyes peeled for IEDs,” American Lawyer reported.

Mr. Biggio recently returned to the firm after spending seven months leading a civil affairs unit in Nawa where Marines are currently taking part in an offensive called Operation Moshtarak.

Mr. Biggio spent five years in active duty as an infantry officer, serving in Iraq in the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm before earning his law degree from Georgetown University in 2004.

In 2005, Biggio volunteered for civil affairs service. “I thought the combination of my active infantry experience with some of my business and legal background would make me ideally suited to civil affairs work,” he told American Lawyer.

Mr. Biggio praised Patton Boggs for supporting him. “The firm was great to me and my family while I was gone,” Mr. Biggio said. “People are glad that I’m back and they’re aware of the stuff that we achieved over there.”