Davis Polk Elects Seven New Counsel.

NEW YORK -- Davis Polk & Wardwell is pleased to announce that Erin Cho, George Hacket, Mark Lehmkuhler, James McClammy, Christopher Schell, David Toscano and Erika White have been elected Counsel to the firm as of December 1, 2006.

Ms. Cho is Counsel in the firm's Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Practice Group. She advises clients on matters involving employee benefits, with a particular emphasis on ERISA's fiduciary rules. Her work is principally focused on ERISA issues relating to hedge funds and private equity vehicles, as well as plan assets and prohibited transaction concerns arising in connection with venture capital investments and corporate transactions. She advises asset managers, broker-dealers and investment bankers with respect to the many and varied services and financial products they offer to U.S. pension plans.

Mr. Hacket is Counsel in the Corporate Department and works in the Frankfurt office. He has broad international experience advising non-U.S. companies, including financial institutions, on international equity and debt offerings and advises foreign private issuers on corporate governance issues, including their reporting obligations with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He also advises on U.S. securities laws regarding public tender offers and business combinations of non-U.S. companies. He has advised on numerous securities offerings in Germany and Austria.

Mr. Lehmkuhler is Counsel in the Corporate Department and has worked in our Hong Kong and Tokyo offices since 1997. His work focuses on merger and acquisition transactions, including private equity portfolio investments, leveraged buyouts, tender offers, and cross-border joint ventures and strategic alliances throughout Asia. He has also advised a number of institutional clients on the formation of Asia-focused private equity funds and other investment vehicles. He also has significant experience in Asian high-yield bond financings and other capital markets transactions.

Mr. McClammy is Counsel in the Litigation Department. He has represented a wide range of institutional clients and committees in a variety of complex bankruptcy-related litigation matters. He has also represented clients in a number of complex commercial litigation matters and civil actions brought under the federal securities laws. His recent matters include the representation of an airline in connection with the restructuring of its obligations under certain special facilities revenue bonds, the defense of lenders in connection with fraudulent conveyance actions, and the representation of several financial institutions in the defense of civil securities fraud actions.

Mr. Schell is Counsel in the Capital Markets Group. He has worked on a wide variety of both public and private debt and equity offerings by U.S. and non-U.S. issuers, including initial public offerings, convertible offerings and high-yield debt financings, as well as leveraged finance transactions and advisory assignments, in a range of industries for financial institutions and companies in New York and London, such as The AES Corporation, Bank of America, Burger King, Credit Suisse, DaimlerChrysler, Greenhill & Co., GSC Partners, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Scotland. Mr. Schell regularly advises investment banking clients on securities law-related matters and corporate clients on general corporate matters, including corporate governance, SEC and Sarbanes-Oxley matters.

Mr. Toscano is Counsel in the Litigation Department. He has extensive experience in representing financial institutions, accounting firms, law firms, and a variety of other companies in federal and state commercial litigation, including in the fields of securities law, accountants liability, legal malpractice, corporate governance and antitrust law, among others. He also has represented clients in white collar criminal investigations and in investigations by antitrust and securities regulators.

Ms. White is Counsel in the Corporate Department. Her practice focuses on advising banks, broker-dealers and other institutions regarding credit risks involved in cross-border derivatives and other complex financial transactions, including the enforceability of rights to close-out, net and liquidate collateral upon a counterparty insolvency. Her practice also includes the structuring and documentation of collateral and other credit risk mitigation arrangements for a wide range of transactions, including fixed income, equity and credit derivatives, prime brokerage and secured financing transactions.

If you have questions about this news release, please call the Davis Polk & Wardwell Business Development Office, 212 450 6811.