Two Cooley Partners Named California Lawyers of the Year

24 February 2006

Cooley Godward LLP announced today that litigation partner John C. Dwyer and business partner Keith A. Flaum, both based in Palo Alto, have been named 2005 California Lawyers/Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) by California Lawyer magazine. The list is comprised of California-based lawyers who made a significant impact on law or policy or continued their exceptional work during 2005.

"We are extremely proud of John and Keith for earning this prestigious recognition," said Stephen Neal, chairman and CEO of Cooley Godward. "It is testimony to not just their outstanding accomplishments in 2005, but to their stature as top lawyers in their respective practices."

Dwyer was named lawyer of the year in the Securities category for his successful representation of Siebel Systems, Inc. and two of its senior officers in one of the most closely watched securities cases of 2005. Dwyer led the defense of the first-ever contested Regulation FD enforcement action, which was closely monitored by officers and directors of public companies and their counsel as they struggled to understand the limits Regulation FD placed on their ability to communicate with investors and analysts. In an editorial shortly after the decision, The Wall Street Journal wrote: "Markets need more information, not less, if prices are going to properly reflect the underlying value of an asset. Congratulations to Siebel for standing up for free speech and against the SEC's bullying." (The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 12, 2005)

Flaum was the only lawyer recognized in the Transactional category. He was lead counsel on more than 16 M&A transactions in 2005, including three of the year's largest technology deals in Silicon Valley: Adobe in its $3.4 billion acquisition of Macromedia; Siebel Systems in its $5.8 billion sale to Oracle Corporation; and eBay in its largest acquisition to date -- its purchase of Luxembourg-based Voice over IP (VoIP) leader Skype, for a combination of stock and cash valued at up to $3.9 billion. In the eBay transaction, he successfully negotiated and helped to structure one of the largest and most complex "earn outs" in history.

The tenth annual California Lawyer of the Year (CLAY) awards recognize lawyers who made a significant impact on the legal industry in 2005. In 2004, Steve Friedlander, a partner in Cooley Godward's San Francisco office, was the recipient of a CLAY award in the pro bono category for his work on behalf of death row inmate Larry Lucas.

About John Dwyer

Dwyer has been a partner in Cooley's Litigation department since 1998. His principal clients include a wide range of California companies, including Pacific Gas & Electric Company, NVIDIA Corporation, Synopsys Inc., Adobe Inc., Genecor International Inc. and Gilead Sciences Inc. He came to Cooley from the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was Acting Associate Attorney General, the department's third highest post. In that capacity, he oversaw the DOJ's Antitrust, Civil, Environment and Natural Resources, Civil Rights and Tax divisions.

Dwyer was also instrumental in a major impact pro bono matter involving the representation of a nationwide class of immigrants who had been unfairly denied documentation of their legal status. Under Dwyer's leadership, Cooley recently received The National Law Journal's Pro Bono Award for this case, Santillan, et al. v. Gonzales, et al., which was selected as one of the country's top four pro bono cases of 2005.

About Keith Flaum

Flaum focuses his practice on mergers & acquisitions, representing both public and private companies in a broad range of industries, primarily in the information technology and life sciences industries. He was recognized by California Law Business in 1999 as one of the "Top 20 California Lawyers Under the Age of 40" for his representation of Boole & Baggage in its $1 billion deal with BMC Software. He is also included in Chambers USA, Leading Lawyers for Business.

About Cooley Godward

Cooley Godward is an established provider of strategic litigation and business transaction services and a recognized leader in the representation of high-growth private and public companies, financial institutions, venture capital firms and nonprofit organizations. Our singular focus on providing the highest quality legal services has enabled our clients to achieve their strategic business objectives and garnered for Cooley recognition as one of the country's leading law firms.

Cooley was recently named to The American Lawyer magazine's 2005 "A List," the publication's annual ranking of "the best of the best" among the nation's top law firms. For additional information please visit http://www.cooley.com.

Media Contact:

Christine Wherry

Cooley Godward LLP

650-843-5702

cwherry@cooley.com

Source: prnewswire

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