CHICAGO – LAWFUEL – US Legal News Network – Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the United States, is pleased to announce that 27 of its Chicago attorneys have been named “Illinois Super Lawyers” for 2007 in a survey conducted by Law & Politics magazine.

Additionally, Gary M. Ropski, President of Brinks, was named among the top 10 lawyers in Illinois across all practice areas for the second consecutive year. Meredith Martin Addy, Chair of Brinks’ Appellate Group, and Laura Beth Miller, Chair of the International Trade Commission Group, were listed among the top 50 female attorneys in Illinois. This is the second consecutive year that Ms. Addy has appeared on the Illinois Top 50 Women Attorneys list.

Law and Politics surveyed approximately 47,000 Illinois attorneys, representing more than 60 practice areas, and asked them to identify the best Illinois lawyers they had personally worked with or had observed in action. Attorneys from firms of all sizes were considered as well as those in private practice, prosecutors, in-house counsel and public service lawyers. The complete list of Illinois Super Lawyers appears in the 2007 Illinois Super Lawyers magazine and will appear in a future issue of Chicago magazine.

Congratulations to the following Brinks attorneys named Super Lawyers in these practice area categories:

Appellate
Cynthia A. Homan

Intellectual Property
Meredith Martin Addy
Jack C. Berenzweig
Jeffery M. Duncan
Jerome Gilson
James P. Naughton

Intellectual Property Litigation
Glen P. Belvis
Joel W. Benson
Michael P. Chu
Rodney A. Daniel
Timothy Q. Delaney
Thomas J. Filarski
David S. Fleming
William H. Frankel
Ralph J. Gabric
Jeffery A. Handelman
Roy E. Hofer
Jerold A. Jacover
Richard A. Kaplan
Bradley G. Lane
Laura Beth Miller
Jonathan E. Retsky
Gary M. Ropski
Gustavo Siller, Jr.
James R. Sobieraj
Dominic P. Zanfardino

International
Mary M. Squyres

Founded in 1917, Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione is based in Chicago with four additional offices across the country serving the intellectual property needs of clients from around the world. The firm is one of the largest IP law firms in the country, with more than 150 attorneys, scientific advisors and patent agents specializing in intellectual property litigation and all aspects of patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, unfair competition, intellectual asset management and technology and licensing agreements. Brinks routinely handles assignments in fields as diverse as electrical, chemical, mechanical, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, nanotechnology, Internet and computer technology, as well as in trademarks and brand names for a wide variety of products and services. For more information, visit www.usebrinks.com.

# # #

NEW YORK–LAWFUEL – US Legal News –The American Civil Liberties Union today announced its support for an effort by AT&T shareholders to force the company to disclose more about its role in the recent National Security Agency (NSA) illegal spying scandal and to tighten its policies to better protect customer privacy.

“In an era when one of the nation’s oldest corporate names has begun to collude with the government in an illegal domestic spying program, patriots must seek out every possible avenue for defending the Constitution and our privacy,” said Barry Steinhardt, Director of the ACLU’s Technology and Liberty Project. “We are backing this campaign because it promises to increase AT&T’s accountability and shed light on just what kind of spying has been taking place.”

The shareholder effort consists of a proposed resolution to be considered at AT&T’s April stockholder meeting, which would require management to take the relatively modest step of issuing a report on the issues surrounding cooperation with the NSA, what steps the company could take to “further ensure” customer privacy, and the company’s expenditures related to the program. It is being spearheaded by the As You Sow Foundation, an investor activist group.

AT&T has appealed to the Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to exclude the resolution from its proxy statement. The company claimed that the resolution would interfere with “ordinary business matters,” and also relied upon a declaration from National Intelligence Director John Negroponte citing the so-called “state secrets privilege.”

“Once again the intelligence agencies, working through their proxies in the telecom industry, are abusing the state secrets privilege,” said Steinhardt. “We at the ACLU are all too familiar with this tactic, which is more about trying to shield the government from embarrassment than actually protecting national security.”

In support of the As You Sow resolution, Steinhardt said the ACLU plans to lend its legal expertise, mobilize members, activists and allies, and also our many members and affiliates that are AT&T shareholders.

The ACLU’s support for the shareholder campaign fits in with the group’s other efforts to stop the NSA’s illegal spying program. In July, ACLU staff attended a BellSouth shareholders meeting to raise questions about the implications for the merger of AT&T’s apparent cooperation with illegal spying. The ACLU also asked the Federal Communications Commission to review AT&T’s merger with BellSouth because of the spying issue, and has filed requests with state utility commissions in 23 states seeking investigations of violations of state laws. It has also sued the government directly over the program.

“This is really an issue for anyone who uses a telephone and values privacy and the rule of law,” Steinhardt said. “But it is of particular concern for AT&T shareholders because of the enormous multi-billion-dollar financial liability that AT&T may have engendered, and because of the damage to the company’s reputation and the trust of its current and potential customers. AT&T management should not be trying to duck accountability on this matter.”

The proposed shareholder resolution and other materials are online at www.aclu.org/privacy.