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Lawyers Worldwide Awards Magazine Five Star Lawyers 2017 Lawyers Worldwide Awards is recognised all over the world for our comprehensive awards programs we run, taking votes from countries all over the world to recognise the most prestigious professionals in their specialised areas of practice.

The 2017 Awards recognises a select number of leading professional firms around the world working both nationally and internationally in their field of expertise.

Lawyers Worldwide Awards selects the best professional & financial institutions from around the world and showcases there work ethic and skills within their area of expertise.

The Awards Magazine is aimed at not just the large corporations but the smaller companies of the advisory business sector.

Lawyers Worldwide Awards is currently being read by Lawyers, Advisers, Consultants and corporate executives.

We aim to showcase every company individually and to its full potential.

Five Star Lawyers 2017 Index Deep & Far Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year – Taiwan Dennemeyer Group European Trademark Law Firm of the Year – Romania Douglas Silas Solicitors Education Law Firm of the Year -UK Francis O Scarpulla Attorney At Law Competition: US Plaintiff Law Firm of the Year HIROE AND ASSOCIATES Patent Law Firm of the Year – Japan Joseph Saveri Law Firm Civil & Antitrust Litigation Law Firm of the Year – USA Kandar & Partners Energy & Natural Resources Law Firm of the Year – Indonesia Linklaters Corporate Law, Mergers & Acquisitions Law Firm of the Year – Belgium PatentAxis Inc Full Service Patent Advisory Firm of the Year – Canada Private Advising Group, P.A. Corporate Law Firm of the Year – USA The Entrepreneur Law Center, P.L. International Business Law Firm of the Year - USA

Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year – Taiwan Deep & Far attorneys-at-law was founded in 1992 and is dealing with all phases of laws with a focus on the practice in separate or in combination of all aspects of intellectual property rights (IPRs) including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair competition, and/or licensing, counselling, litigation and/or transaction thereof.

Yu-Li Tsai: Partner & Patent Attorney Practice area/industry focus: Intellectual Property, Unfair Competition, Litigation Career highlights: Mr Tsai is a patent attorney who holds a degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Master’s degree from the Graduate Institute of Communication Engineering, both awarded from the National Taiwan University.

His practice covers patents, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets, unfair competition, licensing and litigation.

Mr Tsai also studied and gained a Master’s degree from the Law School, University of New Hampshire, also known as Franklin Pierce Centre for Intellectual Property. Upon graduation, he worked for InterDigital, Inc. in Delaware for a short period and later studied and passed the US Patent Registration Examination.

The patent attorneys and patent engineers in Deep & Far normally hold outstanding and advanced degrees and are generally graduated from the top five universities in this country.

Our prominent staffs are dedicated to provide the best quality service in IPRs in this country. As a proof, about one half of top 100 incorporations in this country have experiences of seeking patented their techniques, but more than one fifth of the top 100 incorporations has ever used services of this firm. Furthermore, Hi-Tech companies in the science-based industrial park located at Hsin Chu had ever played the most important role in booming the economy of this country. About one half of them has experiences in seeking patented their techniques, and out of more than 60% of the patent-experienced companies in that park have ever entrusted their IPR works to this firm. Certainly, we must also represent international giants, e.g. InterDigital, MPS, Schott Glas, Toyo Ink, Motorola, Armani…

It is our philosophy to provide competent legal services that other firm cannot comparably provide. The necessitated ensuing problem is how we can so provide? Deep & Far so achieve by selecting, edifying and nurturing peoples who have the following personalities: learned in expertise, morally earnest and sincerely behaved in mind and strictly disciplined between give and take. It is well-believed that such properties are key factors for peoples to properly and competently behave themselves.

Deep & Far (D&F) is willing to take challenges to prove that it is the best IP firm, and to verify its supreme competence by e.g.: 1) Sending to D&F a pending or granted patent for its comments about how it can improve the claims;

2) Sending to D&F a pending patent specification without the claims for it to draft the claims for comparison with the original claims; or 3) Sending to D&F and the firm the client is currently using at the same time an initial disclosure so that the client can compare and find out where better claims are.

Deep & Far assures the clients that no competitors can escape from the patent rights D&F safeguards for the clients at reasonable service fees.

Because the tough economic downturn we are encountering in Taiwan, we are also encountering severe price competition. This situation also leads to that there are too many poor quality patents being granted because most enterprises do not have proper knowledge of the importance of patents. For example, they might only want to spend lower cost to file a patent application without considering the quality, or could not be alerted timely that narrow claims can protect their products of the current version only although there are reduced fees in responding to office actions. Therefore, the patent agents or firms of the enterprises sometimes cannot help but sacrificing the quality to keep profits under the limited budgets of the clients. Under such social environment, it is very hard to anticipate that the clients have strong patents, or the patent firms or attorneys can nurture the ability of drafting wonderful scope of the claims.

Accordingly, it will not be surprised to find that there are some patent firms which cannot provide competent services but offer extreme low price to attract clients only caring about the price of filing a patent. This does also explain that there are poor quality patents being granted We persist in providing quality service rather than participating into the price war because we believe the Client will finally find the quality is the most important thing for intellectual property. If you sacrifice the quality and surrender to the price, you actually get negative return because .a poor quality IP is valueless. We did suffer a little last year in view of the reduced local generated works, but we see the situation began to change this year.

This firm is used to focusing on IPR, and takes deliberate steps to practice in all fields of law. In recent year, we make progress in either general civil law, business law or criminal law fields.

Contact Details 13th Fl., 27 Sec. 3, Chung San N. Rd., Taipei 104, Taiwan, R.O.C. ': 886-2-25856688 7: 886-2-25989900/25978989 Email: email@deepnfar.com.tw www.deepnfar.com.tw

Technology Law Firm of the Year – USA Scott & Scott, LLP is a boutique intellectual property and technology law firm with an emphasis on software licensing and disputes, technology transactions, and software copyright litigation.

At Scott & Scott, LLP legal and technology professionals strive to deliver superior service with the highest level of integrity and honesty. The firm is founded on the premise that collaboration between legal and technology professionals is necessary to solve complex business problems. By combining these resources in one firm, Scott & Scott, LLP strives to serve clients' needs better than law firms or technology services firms working independently.

Today, legal and technology market forces are ever changing, and they are committed to monitoring the developing technology and emerging law in order to provide highly-focused representation.

Robert J. Scott, Managing Partner, represents mid-market and large enterprise companies in software license transactions and disputes with major software publishers such as Adobe, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP. He has defended over 225 software audit matters initiated by software piracy trade groups such as the BSA and SIIA. He is counsel to some of the world's largest corporations on information technology matters including intellectual property licensing, risk management, data privacy, and outsourcing.

He is regularly called upon by his peers and the media to share his expertise. His work has been published in Northwestern Journal of Technology & Intellectual Property, Westlaw Journal Intellectual Property, The Licensing Journal, and Texas Lawyer among others.

Julie Machal-Fulks, Partner, leads a team of attorneys in representing and defending clients in legal matters relating to information technology. Her practice focuses on complex litigation ranging from privacy and network security, data breach notification and crisis management, intellectual property disputes, service provider negligence claims, and content-based injuries such as copyright and trademark infringement in software, the Internet, and all forms of tangible media.

Her focused practice has made Julie a trusted resource in her field. She is often invited to submit papers and present on topics including data breach notification, security incident response, software licensing and defense against regulatory and consumer class actions.

Texas Lawyer, The Licensing Journal, Texas Wesleyan Law Institute, American Bar Association, and the IT Compliance Institute are a few of the publications that have published Julie’s work.

Scott & Scott, LLP was counsel on over $150,000,000 of software licensing transactions and disputes in 2016. They represented users in some of the world’s largest cloud services contracts with Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM. The keys to delivering value for Scott & Scott LLP are:

1) Only accept engagements that require their core competencies 2) Leverage technology and continuous process improvements to insure efficiency 3) Retain staff and associates so clients always deal with a team with deep expertise Scott & Scott, LLP continuously evolves to deliver their services faster and cheaper to meet client’s business needs. They have learned to say no to engagements if they have any concern about their ability to deliver great value for the money clients are willing to spend.

Every day Scott & Scott, LLP is working on the cutting edge of IT and law. Their clients rely on them to do the legal work for the transactions that are driving the IT industry forward. Scott & Scott LLP plans to continue serving clients with the high standards they have become known for. As technology evolves Scott & Scott, LLP will continue to adapt by staying on the forefront of these changes.

Contact Details: Scott & Scott, LLP, 1256 Main Street, Suite 200, Southlake, Texas 76092 (P) 214.999.0080

(F) 214.999.0333

www.scottandscottllp.com

Immigration Law Firm of the Year – USA FGI was founded as Fakhoury Law Group in 1997 exclusively serving U.S. businesses’ immigration needs. In 2006, FGI was formed as a separate entity to offer immigration services to a global clientele. The two entities are currently in the process of merging under the FGI namesake with global operations taking the name of Fakhoury Global Professional Services, Inc. Starting with Mumbai, India, FGI rapidly opened a series of branch offices in California, New York, and Florida.

We achieved ISO certificated in 2005 and were ranked as an AV Preeminent law firm by Martindale Hubbell in 2012. As we have grown, FGI has acquired a global staff of over 100 attorneys, paralegals and specialized staff with expertise in all major U.S. visa classifications (H-1Bs, L-1s, EBs, O, TN, etc.) as well as those from foreign countries due to our extensive network Alliance Partner Network. FGI has grown to become Michigan’s largest independently-owned immigration law firm.

Fakhoury Global Immigration (FGI) specializes in U.S. and global business-based immigration. Our client list comprises some of the world's most innovative brands in the automotive, engineering, healthcare, and IT industries. FGI is a leading service provider to high volume visa filers and have served clients in over 100 countries.

What makes FGI unique is our three-part service approach. First, we have a single point-of-contact case management system so that clients always know who is in charge of these cases. Second, we feature Six Sigma-certified streamlined and technology-driven petition processing that maximizes efficiency, shortens time-tofiling, and has enabled us to achieve 98-99% success rates in many visa categories.

Finally, we offer a competitive flat fee structure that enables our clients to plan and budget their immigration-related activities effectively and confidently.

A prospective client asked if we could develop a central case management repository into which four of their globally based immigration law consuls could input and update case information. We modified our existing case management system to capture seamlessly and to report each case that the external immigration providers processed.

Currently, our firm’s managing director is Rami D. Fakhoury, who is also founder of the firm. Carmen Fakhoury is President of FGI’s global arm, Fakhoury Global Professional Services, Inc. The firm’s attorneys control client teams that manage specific client accounts and serve as single-point-of-contacts for their assigned clients. Their teams generally consist of a paralegal and a support staff member (such as a technical writer). Our attorneys specialize in multiple visa categories.

Our firm and attorneys have received multiple awards such as our inclusion in U.S. News and World Report’s Best Law Firms for 2016 and 2017, Corporate NTL’s

Global Immigration Law Firm of the Year, and Who’s Who Legal Corporate Immigration for 2016 and 2017, among others. These awards testify to our thought leadership, high ethical standards, and mastery of the domain of immigration law.

Now more than ever, immigration has emerged as a national concern and firms like FGI have an important role to play both for our clients and for the broader public.

With the increasingly likelihood of statutory and regulatory changes in the near future, we think it vital to help our clients navigate this changing terrain as smoothly and effectively as possible. To that end, we recently launched our revamped and interactive website: www.fakhouryglobal.com. It features multiple resources including Immigration Alerts which provide real-time updates of immigration law changes in over 140 countries, Global Webinars which provide indepth analysis on immigration trends, and a Global Immigration Resource Map that links to digital process maps that provide updated procedures for securing work permits and visas worldwide. More broadly, we believe we have an educative role to play as thought leaders to the larger public. FGI participates in many initiatives such as Global Detroit and the Forum for Expatriate Management that inform the public on the positive impact that immigration has on the U.S. economy.

For more information about our services, please visit www.fakhouryglobal.com or contact us at info@fakhouryglobal.com.

Contact Details:

Fraud Law Firm of the Year – UK Edmonds Marshall McMahon was founded in February 2012 to offer a novel service to companies and individuals who have been the victims of crime. Our success is based on the creation of a private, high-powered team of senior prosecutors with an unrivalled track record in conducting major fraud prosecutions and regulatory work.

We have invested significant time into making sure that we can always provide the services our clients require, including working with other specialist firms where this is in our client’s best interest. We also guarantee our clients that their case will be managed and overseen by one of the firm’s directors.

Edmonds Marshall McMahon has three founding partners each with vast but varying expertise and experience: Tamlyn Edmonds – Tamlyn was called to the Bar in 2000, prior to founding EMM she specialised in the most complex and high-value prosecutions on behalf of the DWP & Pensions and Department of Health. She was chosen to lead the Department of Health, Medicines and healthcare produces Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) specialist team of prosecutors, a role in which she gained an impressive reputation. During this time she had conduct of the largest fraud and trademark cases for the Department of Health, including the largest ever counterfeit medicines case. Tamlyn has considerable experience in restraint and confiscation & enforcement.

She also has significant experience in the area of extradition, both within and outside the EU. Andrew Marshall – Andrew is a barrister of almost 30 years’ experience has led the prosecution of major fraud and regulatory matters for a range of government agencies. He has been involved in the notoriously difficult prosecutions of many corporates such as Shell and Schindler Lifts. He is a committed and experienced advocate whose former practice principally relates to large scale, organised crime cases requiring a strategic overview, normally concerning complex fraud or drugs. Other areas of work include wide ranging advisory and review work on criminal and quasi-criminal matters (with a particular speciality in disclosure) appellate work and asset forfeiture and restraint. In addition to being a Grade 4 Advocate for the CPS, Andrew was appointed to the AG’s list of prosecuting counsel in 1990 and to the list of Standing Counsel in 2005. In June 2012 he was appointed to the Regulatory list of Advocates for the Health & Safety Executive, Office of Rail Regulation and Environment Agency.

Kate McMahon – Kate is a specialist, dual-qualified prosecutor. Prior to founding EMM she prosecuted for the Serious Fraud Office where she works as a senior lawyer on some of the UK’s largest criminal prosecutions.

Kate has also prosecuted a number of high-profile, high-value international ‘boiler room’ frauds operating across a number of countries, involving thousands of victims. Kate also has significant experience in the area of confiscation, having obtained confiscation orders in excess of £1m. She has also successfully conducted many large-scale fraud trials, including the famous ‘transit thefts’ of pharmaceuticals in transit from the EU factories to wholesale dealers in the UK. She has also prosecuted serious and violent crime in Australia as a Crown Court Advocate. Since founding EMM, Kate has specialised in cases involving serious fraud, serious and violent crime, international crime and perverting the course of justice.

Edmonds Marshall McMahon is the first and only specialist private prosecution law firm in the UK. Edmonds Marshall McMahon is described by the UK Legal 500 (2013) & (2014) as a leading firm in “Fraud: white collarcrime”.

The firm is staffed by highly experienced prosecutors and offers tailor-made private prosecution services to companies and individuals. The Directors have a combined total of 45 years of experience in criminal justice and are focused on helping victims negotiate the system. We are fully versed in all manner of fraud or offending and however complex, understand the problem. We don’t believe in a ‘one size fits all’ approach, we prefer to

use our extensive experience, hard won reputation and expertise in criminal law to provide the most effective solution to a problem.

R (Mirchandani) v Ketan Somaia Ketan Somaia was convicted in June 2014 following a private prosecution brought by Mr Mirchandani for 9 counts of obtaining money transfer by deception totalling $19, 6960,000, Following conviction, Edmonds Marshall McMahon were instructed to commence confiscation proceedings in order to deprive Mr Somaia of the benefit of his criminal conduct, after State bodies indicated that they did not have the capacity to pursue the matter. Restraint proceedings were instituted in the High Court. Following the trial, EMM were able to secure the largest ever confiscation order for a private prosecutor in the sum of £20,434,691 in confiscation to the state, £18,220,723 compensation in favour of Mr Mirchandani and £200,233 compensation in favour of a second victim, Mr Shah. · R (William Orenstein) v Soloman Pradhan. Following an 8 day trial, Mr Pradhan was convicted and sentenced to 8 months imprisonment for charges of Perverting the Course of Justice & Fraud. Mr Pradhan, who owned a property which shared a border with Mr Orenstein’s tenanted property, knocked through a wall, commandeered Mr Orenstein’s rear yard and erected a hookah bar. When Mr Orenstein tried to claim his property back, Mr Pradhan claimed that he had acquired the title by way of adverse possession, deliberately lied in his application to the land registry and enticed others to lie on his behalf. These individuals eventually gave statements to support the prosecution at trial.

• TM EYE Ltd - Edmonds Marshall McMahon prosecutes a range of cases on behalf of TM Eye Ltd, nationwide. TM Eye represent a number of well-known clients including the manufacturers of brand named, high class, luxury goods such as designer label clothes, handbags, perfumes and watches. They are one of the few organisations in the UK that carries out proactive actions against those involved in this form of criminality.

They are experts in surveillance, case preparation, disclosure and giving evidence and have brought the tactics used in fighting organised crime into the area of Intellectual Property theft to catch and convict those involved.

Edmonds Marshall McMahon and TM Eye have so far achieved a 100% conviction rate with sentences ranging from fines to 6 months imprisonment. During a recent, ongoing operation, goods valued in the region of £1m were seized.

• Edmonds Marshall McMahon is providing ongoing advice to a high-net worth individual based offshore, with significant corporate and beneficial trust interests, in relation to the potential prosecution of an associate for bribery. The advice provided is set against the background of high-profile civil litigation involving a global corporation, a cash seizure and subsequent investigation by multiple authorities. Edmonds Marshall McMahon are strategizing to manage the client’s exposure to a bribery prosecution and assisting with dealings with the authorities. The case additionally requires consideration of bribery, before and after the introduction of the Bribery Act 2012.

The economic downturn has meant that there have been further cuts to the justice budget, in particular with police forces and the CPS. This has meant that more and more people are feeling unsatisfied with the way their cases have been dealt with and many feeling that justice has not been achieved for them. In times such as these more and more people are looking to other means of obtaining justice and private prosecutions are a key tool in this. Edmonds Marshall McMahon have found that not only has there been an increase in financial crime cases but in other types of crime also.

Our firm is growing rapidly to accommodate the increase in cases being referred to us. It is a very exciting time for the Edmonds Marshall McMahon team!

Contact Details: Edmonds Marshall McMahon 2-5 Warwick Court, London, WC1R 5DJ DX 450 LDE Office: 0207 583 8392

Full Service Law Firm of the Year – UK Mackrell Turner Garrett is an award-winning, full service London law firm, with a truly global reach.

Headquartered in central London with an additional office in Surrey, we have been providing high quality legal advice and services since 1845.

As a firm, we are here to make your life easier. Providing clear, practical solutions through an otherwise complex web of legal jargon, our ability to make legal advice accessible has resulted in us maintaining an impressively high retention rate amongst our clients.

Despite significant growth in recent years we remain personal enough to provide the tailored service clients look for and every case is supervised by one of our Partners, working closely with our team at all levels throughout. We are also large enough to offer comprehensive and practical expertise so our clients are able to use our firm to deal with all of their legal needs, no matter what the scale or complexity may be.

Being a full service firm also allows us to easily refer work between departments– avoiding outsourcing of parts of a client’s legal requirements saves the client both time and money; something we are able to provide both domestically and internationally through our international association Mackrell International.

We are founders of Mackrell International, a world leading global network of approximately 5000 lawyers across 60 countries, enabling us to offer the added value of immediate international legal advice and assistance in any jurisdiction worldwide. We are a worldwide web of lawyers, with local knowledge.

Our expertise is also widely recognised within our profession, in the UK and further afield.

In 2015, we were named Litigation Law Firm of the Year and Dispute Resolution Firm of the Year, and in 2016, Full Service Law Firm of the Year and Arbitration Law Firm of the Year Mackrell Turner Garrett – an innovative, traditional, local and truly global firm, in one.

Nigel is the Managing Partner and Head of Litigation and Dispute Resolution in the London office of Mackrell Turner Garrett.

He is experienced in complex litigation matters, and various forms of dispute resolution.

Clients include in the banking and hedge fund sector [Indus Capital LLP, KBC Bank NV]; Information Technology and Management [AFD Software, Blue Cube Group]; Property [William Pears Group]; Motor [JLC Ltd (Jaguar Land Rover), Imperial Carriages Limited]; Publishing [Financial-I, Grapo AS]; Restaurant & Entertainment [Sketch, Wainscott Studios]; Architecture & Design [Space Projects Ltd].

A brief look at his experience of acting in the last year including cases with potential injunctions includes:-

Acting for a US hedge fund against a UK bank in a claim for in excess of $10m claiming misrepresentation Acting for a UK based software company in a claim for £15m against a UK infringer claiming commercial infringement Acting for a US film producer in a claim against a UK media company claiming commercial infringement of rights Acting for a US high net worth individual in a claim against a UK architect designer claiming substantial over invoicing Acting for a SA company in a £12m claim against a Canadian conglomerate – share dispute Acting for a UK motor trader in a £1m+ claim against a UK individual – breach of guarantee Acting for a UK company director in defending a claim against an Iranian state owned business – alleged misallocation of payments Acting for a Middle Eastern Royal in defending a £20m+ claim made by a UK bank – alleged bank guarantee default.

Nigel has considerable experience in defending FCA prosecutions, and HMRC Appeals.

He is an International committee member for EMEA on Mackrell International, the independent network of 80+ law firms around the world and Chairman of the Membership Committee for Mackrell International.

As a result of the firms membership of Mackrell International, Nigel is very experienced in cross-border disputes, and multi jurisdictional litigation.

Nigel studied at Caterham School, City of London University before training at Mackrell & Co who he joined in 1988. He was made partner at Mackrell Turner Garrett in 1991.

In 2012 Nigel was named England and Wales Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year as well as being appointed Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, Member of the Diversity Law Institute and Member of the Trial Law Institute.

Contact Details: Tel: 00 44 (0) 207 240 0521 Fax: 00 44 (0) 207 240 9457 Email: nigel.rowley@mackrell.com

Insurance Litigation Law Firm of the Year – USA McKennon Law Group PC represents a full range of individuals, professionals, and businesses in all types of insurance coverage, including bad faith litigation, disability insurance, life insurance, health insurance, ERISA/employee benefits, long-term care insurance, property & casualty insurance, professional liability insurance, insurance agent & broker liability, unfair competition and business litigation matters. We primarily specialize in disability insurance; life insurance and ERISA litigation matters and we have been doing so for over 30 years.

Our law firm is committed to the highest level of client service while maintaining the highest standards of legal excellence and professional ethics. Our litigation practice is thoughtful, experienced, and integrated with each client’s needs, budgets, and goals. We pride ourselves on our impeccable reputation for work product and professional and client relationships along with our intelligent, innovative and practical approach to the practice of law.

McKennon Law Group’s attorneys have attended the top law schools in the country and bring a strong sense of pride and quality work ethic to everything they do. McKennon Law Group’s attorneys have big firm experience because they previously practiced at some of California’s finest law firms. Therefore, they combine a rare mix of big firm expertise and legal quality with small firm attention to your case. We are also able to provide our clients with a level of trial experience rarely found in firms of our size. McKennon Law Group PC and its attorneys have also received many prestigious awards and recognitions.

Our law firm specializes in arbitrations, trials and appeals on all lines of ERISA/Employee, insurance—life, health, disability, property/casualty, commercial general liability, professional liability, officers and directors liability, employment practices liability, and homeowners and business owners property and liability— successfully resolving both coverage and bad faith claims on behalf of our clients. We represent our clients’ interests in all state and federal courts in California and in federal courts nationwide. We have been involved with recovering multi-million dollar judgments, arbitration awards, and settlements for our clients.

Our attorneys have extensive experience representing insurance companies and policyholders in life, health, disability and ERISA litigation, and in general liability, environmental, marine, and property/casualty litigation.

We have been involved with recovering several multi-million dollar judgments, arbitration awards, and settlements for our clients.

Although we primarily litigate in California, we take cases nationally and we have extensive experience litigating cases in other states, especially in the western United States, including Hawaii, Arizona and Nevada.

Most of our consumer litigation cases, and many of our business litigation cases, are taken on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing and we recover nothing unless you win your case by way of settlement or verdict.

We welcome referrals from the legal community, and honour referral fee commitments in keeping with the rules of professional conduct.

Robert J. McKennon is a founding shareholder of McKennon Law Group PC. He represents individuals and small-to-large corporations in sophisticated litigation matters in state and federal court. He has recovered millions of dollars for our clients from such insurance companies as: Unum, Prudential, Lincoln National, Standard Life, Sun Life, Met Life, Hartford Life, Mass Mutual, Paul Revere, Provident, Trustmark and Aetna for all types of insurance claims, including:

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Disability Insurance

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Life Insurance

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ERISA

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Health Insurance

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Long-Term Care

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Property & Casualty

Mr. McKennon is admitted to all federal and state courts in California, and regularly handles litigation matters in federal courts in the Western United States. He is a nationally recognized expert in insurance litigation matters and has tried, litigated, and resolved hundreds of insurance litigation matters, including ERISA/employee benefit, life, health and long-term disability and short-term disability insurance, insurance coverage, insurance bad faith, unfair trade practices, and insurance agent/broker litigation. Mr. McKennon has also handled numerous business litigation cases in the areas of general business and contract disputes and unfair competition.

Mr. McKennon frequently serves as a guest speaker at local and national conferences concerning life, health, long-term disability, short-term disability and ERISA issues, and has chaired numerous national conferences on these topics.

Mr. McKennon formerly represented numerous insurance companies in first-party insurance lawsuits involving life, health and short-term and long-term disability insurance disputes, insurance bad faith and punitive damages for over twenty-four years. He now represents insureds, claimants, businesses and other consumers who believe that their insurance companies have improperly denied their claims for insurance benefits.

Mr. McKennon was the founder and editor of the Life, Health & Disability Insurance Law Blog at lifehealthdisabilityinsurancelaw.com while he was a partner at Barger & Wolen LLP. He is currently the editor of the California Insurance Litigation Blog at californiainsurancelitigation.com. He is also a regular contributing author of insurance articles in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, the most read and respected legal journal in California. The nationally respected Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory and the nationwide Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers has awarded Mr. McKennon their highest possible rating, “AV.” This assessment is based on confidential recommendations received exclusively from lawyers and judges. The rating highlights an attorney’s competence, ethical conduct, professional ability, diligence and overall performance. Mr. McKennon has been also awarded AVVO’s rating of “Superb,” 10.0 out of a possible 10.0, which also highlights an attorney’s competence, ethical conduct, professional ability, diligence and overall performance. Mr. McKennon has also been recognized as a 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 Southern California “Super Lawyer,” which recognizes him as one of California’s top attorneys in ERISA and insurance coverage matters. Mr. McKennon was recently profiled in Forbes, American Lawyer, Coast magazine, Los Angeles Times, Corporate Counsel, and National Law Journal as a top Southern California insurance and business litigation attorney. Mr. McKennon was named as one of Orange County Register Metro’s Top Southern California Attorneys for 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. Mr. McKennon was also named as a Corporate Livewire’s Global Awards for several years as Newport Beach, Orange County, California “Insurance & Reinsurance” Lawyer of the Year. The American Society of Legal Advocates has recognized him as one of the top 100 Insurance lawyers in the State of California for several years.

Aggressive Advocacy Unlike many firms that are interested in doing as little work as possible because they know they will settle all cases, we aggressively litigate our cases, and we are not afraid to take our cases to trial. Our attorneys have extensive trial experience, and our strong reputation for excellence in trial advocacy will inure to your benefit when settlement discussions occur. This will maximize your settlement potential.

Integrity

We place a very high value on integrity and fidelity to our clients’ interests. You will get an honest assessment of your case during all phases of the pre-litigation and litigation process. You can expect a full and honest accounting of expenses relating to your case, including outlays for court costs, preparation of exhibits, hiring expert witnesses, obtaining medical records and depositions.

Excellence Our attorneys are graduates of the top law schools in the country and previously have practiced law at large firms where we honed our litigation skills. We take pride in the quality of law that we practice. We engage in the necessary investigation and preparation of your case to ensure we achieve the best possible results for our clients. This preparation will include thorough investigation of facts and documentation, appropriate legal research, development of appropriate courtroom exhibits, hiring of experts, engaging in necessary discovery and more.

Trust We pride ourselves on the relationships we have built with our clients. Our practice has been built on the confidence our clients have placed in us. When we commit ourselves to your case, you can count on the fact that you will receive the best representation available. We maintain regular and appropriate communication with you throughout your case and treat you as a vital and necessary team member as we litigate your case. As a result, we are proud of the referrals we receive from our clients, other attorneys and professionals.

Personal Attention Rather than create a high-volume law practice, we limit the cases we accept to provide you with the personal attention you need and deserve. You will not be passed off to case managers or intake personnel, a common practice in many firms. We are committed to the highest level of client service and we are committed to ensuring you are satisfied with our level of service to you and the results we receive on your behalf. As your case progresses, you will be apprised of developments and important events as they occur Experience There are few firms anywhere that have more experience in handling insurance coverage, ERISA and insurance bad faith litigation than our firm, and we bring that experience to bear in every case we litigate. For nearly 30 years, we have successfully arbitrated and litigated insurance, business and employment litigation cases. Mr. McKennon is an accomplished trial attorney and is a nationally recognized expert in disability insurance, life insurance and ERISA/employee benefits litigation. He has chaired, and been a frequent speaker at, numerous local and national conferences on the subjects of disability insurance, insurance coverage, and life insurance and ERISA/employee benefits litigation. He has also authored numerous articles and book chapters on the subjects of disability insurance, insurance coverage, and life insurance and ERISA/employee benefits litigation. Mr. McKennon has received the highest possible rating for legal ethics and legal abilities. He is AV® Peer Review Rated and has received the highest AVVO rating of “Superb.” Mr. McKennon was recognized as a 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 Southern California Super Lawyer, a recognition given to fewer than 5% of attorneys in the country. As indicated in his attorney profile section of this website, Mr. McKennon has been recently profiled in several magazines and other articles, and has received several recognitions and awards as a top California insurance coverage, ERISA and business litigation attorney.

Contact Details: Robert J McKennon Address: 20321 SW Birch St., Suite 200, Newport Beach, California 92660 Tel. (949) 387-9595 Fax: (949) 385-5165 Email: rm@mckennonlawgroup.com Web: www.mckennonlawgroup.com Blog: www.californiainsurancelitigation.com

Full Service Patent Advisor Firm of the Year – Canada A founding principle of PatentAxis Inc. is to treat every client as a premium client, with an emphasis on client communications and client satisfaction. Regardless of the size of the client a concerted effort is made to provide clear and practical advice at each decision point, and whenever relevant set out options with benefits and risks of each option.

PatentAxis Inc. is a Canadian patent services firm located in Toronto, specializing in patent filing and prosecution. For local clients, patent portfolios and international filing strategies are managed and executed. International clients are represented for Canadian patent prosecution to achieve grant of a Canadian patent.

Jai Chatterjee is a Director of PatentAxis Inc., and has over a decade of experience helping clients obtain patent protection for various technologies. His scientific background is in the health sciences having received a PhD in Biochemistry from McGill University. Early in his career his patent practice related to medical and biotechnology fields as a natural progression from his doctoral research, but over the years he has helped a great variety of clients having diverse technologies to the point that now discussions on most technologies are welcome.

PatentAxis Inc. provides patent services that include search, analysis, filing and prosecution. A major emphasis is placed on prompt communication with clients and providing clients with clear and practical advice to allow clients to make informed and educated decisions. The firm endeavours to provide clients with a competitive advantage in relation to patents. Typically, this means successfully obtaining a patent for a client. But, sometimes providing a patent analysis or strategy tailored to a client’s commercialization goals can be significant.

The firm’s clients range from local small and medium sized businesses to larger entities to foreign firms. Regardless of the size of the client, PatentAxis Inc. is inspired by the innovative activity and is committed to providing services in a clear and practical manner to secure a competitive advantage in patents. The objective is to make the patent process transparent so that clients can focus time and energy on effecting change with their innovations.

Accessibility and prompt and clear responses to clients wishing to discuss strategy or query a patent practice is a cornerstone of PatentAxis Inc.’s service model. Client initiated discussion and questions are encouraged by a policy of not charging for short telephone calls. Every attempt is made to have calls directed to and answered by a relevant patent professional during business hours. Open communication channels provide clients with opportunities to make informed decisions when considering multiple parallel options that can arise during filing and prosecution and ultimately obtain patents that are better correlated with client goals.

PatentAxis Inc. is delighted to be named among Five Star Lawyers2017 and enthusiastically accepts the opportunity to commemorate this recognition through Lawyers Worldwide Awards Magazine.

The reputational value of this accolade cannot be overstated, and the firm is excited to leverage this recognition in its continuing efforts to recruit new clients and add new contacts to its global network of colleagues and associates.

CONTACT DETAILS Company: PatentAxis Inc. Name: Jai Chatterjee Email: mail@patentaxis.com Web Address: www.patentaxis.com Address: 10 King Street East, suite 500, Toronto, Ontario, M5C 1C3 Canada Telephone: +1-416-556-2999

European Trademark Law Firm of the Year – Romania The foundation of Dennemeyer's extraordinary success story was laid 50 years ago in Luxembourg. Since 1962, Dennemeyer has earned a reputation for setting the service standard in the IP industry and remains dedicated to discovering and developing improved ways to protect and preserve intellectual property rights around the world. Initially a patent law firm, Dennemeyer soon became a fullservice provider, addressing our services to the entire chain of IP management. A succession of innovations has transformed the company headquartered in Luxembourg into one of the world's largest IP service providers.

Dennemeyer Group has a unique position in the global IP market. The combination of their global IP law firm, Dennemeyer & Associates; the IP management service provider, Dennemeyer IP Solutions; Dennemeyer Consulting; as well as the stateof-the-art IP management software, DIAMS iQ, makes Dennemeyer the sole “full service provider” for global IP management. Their customers benefit from their broad range of expertise – all within one provider.

Over more than five decades, their global presence has developed into more than 20 offices on all continents. Since 1962, they have continued to open offices to better serve their customers. Dennemeyer believe that their customers deserve the best representation wherever they want to protect their IP; in their language and in their time zone.

The IP industry is currently undergoing massive changes. IP service providers worldwide have become the target of private equity investors. Dennemeyer believe that IP rights are not just a commodity. IP rights are some of the most valuable assets of a company. They also believe that the current developments in the IP industry do not inspire trust or confidence. Mergers and takeovers are fundamentally changing this industry and will lead to an increasing price pressure and consolidation. Dennemeyer continues to stand as an independent, trusted partner to customers.

Contact Details Dennemeyer & Associates SRL Raluca Judele (Director) Str. Aurel Vlaicu 94, 500178 Brasov Phone: + 40 268 41 2979 Fax: +40 268 412965 info@dennemeyer-law.com www.dennemeyer.com

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55 years of Dennemeyer Come get your special birthday offer!

Client-oriented Self-funded Owner-managed Global For our 55 th birthday, we want to celebrate with you who have made us what we are today: the world's most comprehensive IP full-service provider! For this we want to thank you.

Choose a service you have not experienced yet and we will make you a special offer.

Let us make you an offer: go.dennemeyer.com/55-years-of-dennemeyer

International Employment Law Firm of the Year – Global Seyfarth Shaw LLP is an 800+ lawyer firm with global reach and unparalleled capabilities in international employment law.

The firm’s team of specialist international employment lawyers is the largest of its type globally, and its practice is acknowledged as one of the world’s leading practices in the area. All the partners in the international practice are internationally-trained, and each has assisted many of the world’s largest companies with numerous complex and high-profile global employment-related strategic, compliance and transactional projects across a wide range of industries. The team has experience across more than 170 countries, often working on projects covering up to 150 countries at one time.

The experience and credentials of Seyfarth’s international practice have led to its reputation as a global leader in the practice of international employment law and have positioned the team as ‘go to’ advisors for large multinational companies requiring strategic employment advice covering their global operations. Key areas of experience and expertise include: •

Structuring and implementing employment related strategic initiatives on a multi-jurisdictional basis

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Workplace policies and handbooks

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Terminations – individual and large scale reductions in force

• Workplace harassment, anti-discrimination and equal opportunity law matters •

Protection of employers' proprietary and confidential information

• Multi-jurisdictional privacy/data protection and employment law compliance issues • Employment documentation

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contingent

workforce

arrangements

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• Employment and labour issues arising from international mergers and acquisitions •

International outsourcing arrangements

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International workplace investigations

Seyfarth’s international employment team is located in key global locations and provides a true cross-border expertise. Its unique service model has been developed over a number of years and is very well tested by many of the world’s largest companies. The team’s success is the result of a constant, unrelenting focus on the needs of its clients and a commitment to excellence using the strength of an integrated team-based approach to deliver international employment law services in a creative, innovative and commercial way.

Contact Details Key Contact: Darren Gardner – Chairman, International Practice Firm: Seyfarth Shaw LLP Email: dgardner@seyfarth.com Tel: +1 (415) 544-1018 Website: www.seyfarth.com

Financial Analysis Firm of the Year - USA Demotech, Inc. is a financial analysis firm located in Columbus, Ohio. Since 1985, Demotech has been serving the insurance industry by providing actuarial consulting as well as accurate and proven Financial Stability Ratings® (FSRs) for Property & Casualty insurance companies and Title underwriters. FSRs are a leading indicator of the financial stability of an insurer. In 1989 Demotech became the first insurer rating services in the United States to review and rate independent, regional and specialty insurers based upon the company’s execution of its business model and not its size. The rating process provides an objective baseline as well as insight as to the financial stability of an insurer. Demotech levels the playing field by offering FSRs to insurers of all sizes.

Demotech distinguishes itself from other rating services in many ways. Four distinguishing characteristics are the industry experience of our analysts, long tenure of our analysts, our focus on an insurer’s business model rather than its size, and the transparency of our analysis process. In total, our four primary analysts average more than 30 years of progressively responsible insurance experience. Furthermore, the same four primary analysts average more than twenty years of tenure with Demotech. As a result, carriers that contact Demotech can be assured of comparable treatment, institutional memory and consistent outcomes due to the professionalism and tenure of our staff.

As noted, our analysts, including myself, are experienced professionals. I am an actuary with forty years of insurance and financial analysis experience. Sharon Romano Petrelli, co-founder of Demotech, has earned the designations of CPCU, AIAF, CCP and ARC. She has served on the board of an insurer as well as the board of governors of the CPCU Society. She has thirty years of insurance experience. Barry J. Koestler, II, Chief Ratings Officer, a Chartered Financial Analyst, has more than twenty years of insurance and financial analysis experience including rate filings, loss and loss adjustment expense reserving and financial analysis. He has coordinated the development and monitoring of FSRs since 1996. Robert M. Warren, CPCU, CPA, Client Services Manager, has served as the chief financial officer of several insurers. His forty years of experience includes more than ten years with Demotech.

Although other rating agencies seem fascinated by the size of an insurer and its diversification, neither size nor diversification has kept insurers out of liquidation. In fact, some of the largest insolvencies in the history of insurance were substantial publicly traded carriers that touted their diversification. As such, Demotech focuses on a carrier’s business model and its execution of that model. In 2007 we introduced our Company Classification System to initiate dialogue on business models.

A Comment from Joseph Petrelli: “I am the President and Founder of Demotech, Inc. Organized in 1985, Demotech is a Columbus, Ohio based financial analysis company. Demotech reviews and rates more than 420 carriers domiciled in the United States. Our clients include larger, publicly traded carriers as well as regional insurance companies, title underwriters, risk retention groups and specialty insurance markets. Financial Stability Ratings® of A or better are accepted by the secondary mortgage marketplace, virtually all mortgage lenders and an increasing number of umbrella insurance markets, insurance agents errors and omissions insurance carriers, reinsurance carriers and other informed third parties.

Prior to forming Demotech, I was employed by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Countryway Insurance and ISO. I am a member in good standing of the Casualty Actuarial Society, American Academy of Actuaries,

the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries. I graduated from The College of Insurance and have an MBA from The Ohio State University.”

In addition to our efforts reviewing and rating insurance carriers, two of our clients during 2015 were the State of Ohio Office of Risk Management and State of Iowa Title Guaranty Division. When these public entities needed experienced, credentialed actuaries to assist them with the pricing and evaluation of their casualty insurance exposure and title guaranty exposure, respectively, our actuaries were the first choice.

Recent acknowledgements of our insurer rating capabilities include HUD’s re-affirmation of our acceptance in its Section 232 Handbook and expanding our acceptance to its Section 241(a) program, Fannie Mae Multifamily acceptance of risk retention groups and captive insurers rated A or better, our nomination for Intelligent Insurer’s Global Award – Best Rating Agency (2014 and 2015) and securing the ACQ5 award for US – Niche Financial Analysis Provider – Insurance, two consecutive years, 2014 and 2015. In addition Demotech was nominated for the Rating Agency of the Year at the fall 2015 Reactions North America Gala.

We were also honoured with the Florida Association for Insurance Reform’s Founder’s Award at its 2015 annual meeting.

More recently we secured the Financial Monthly – M&A Awards 2015 – Financial Analysis Firm of the Year – USA and the Corporate Vision – Corporate Excellence Award 2015 – Best Evaluator of US Regional and Specialty Insurers & Sustained Excellence in Insurer Financial Analysis.

Our clients operate in an environment dominated by low interest rates and the pressure of same on earnings yet many of our insurer clients benefit from alternatives to insurance and reinsurance. Additional coverages, such as cyber liability, data breach, and gap coverages associated with addressing the need to supplement personal automobile insurance policies for commercial use associated with transportation network companies focused our experienced, professional insurance company analysts on a collaborative role with clients. Our analysts are well versed in the traditional aspects of insurance and reinsurance.

Concurrently, as educated professionals they were comfortable with the development or analysis of creative strategies and products to address emerging consumer needs. Our experienced and credentialed analysts often provided clients with peer review and independent feedback on several aspects of the client’s current and future operations.

Demotech is focused on continuing to grow and serve our current and our future clients. With a team of experienced, credentialed professionals, we are uniquely positioned to address the current as well as the emerging issues that must be addressed. In May 2016, we will host a seminar addressing the needs of regional and specialty carriers in the important areas of product development, client retention, and the identification and response to emerging issues.

Contact Details: Joseph Petrelli Demotech, Inc. 2715 Tuller Parkway Dublin, Ohio 43017-2310 Main: (800) 354-7207 Direct: (614) 526-2160 FAX: (614) 526-2161 JPetrelli@demotech.com www.demotech.com

Product Liability Law Firm of the Year – Asia A leader in global litigation management, Carroll Burdick has over 60 lawyers on three continents, speaking more than 16 languages including German, English, Mandarin Chinese, French, Latvian, Romanian, Russian and Spanish, with over 20 percent of the firm’s lawyers having legal educations in two or more countries. This unparalleled experience provides the cultural insights necessary for effectively working with international clients to meet their business goals.

Founded in 1948 by three highly respected San Francisco lawyers—Jack Dale Burdick, Francis Carroll and Richard McDonough—Carroll, Burdick & McDonough LLP has enjoyed a stellar reputation for providing legal excellence, creativity, intellectual aggressiveness, and client confidence for over 65 years.

Practice Areas: Appellate

Intellectual Property

Class Action

International Business

Commercial & Business Litigation

Mass Tort Litigation

Construction Litigation Consumer Litigation Defence Corporate, Finance & Commercial Law Emerging Companies & Venture Capital Employment Litigation Financial Institution Practice Food and Beverage Litigation German Practice Insurance Coverage Litigation

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Media & Entertainment Law Mergers & Acquisitions Patent and Intellectual Property Litigation Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Litigation Privacy and Data Security Products Liability Real Estate Renewable Energy Technology

David Goh, managing partner at its Asia practice, has significant experience in large, complex and international commercial disputes, with particular emphasis on corporate issues and product liability matters. He also advises clients on regulatory matters, compliance, and anti-bribery/corruption cases, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Bribery Act. His experience includes leading or coordinating investigations on behalf of both corporations and regulators, as well as advising or acting in the defence of any prosecutions.

In his more recent roles in senior management at various multinational corporations, Mr Goh developed significant experience in handling corporate and commercial matters, in particular, M&A transactions across the Asia Pacific region.

He has developed proven methodologies in assisting companies to coordinate and manage their in-house and external legal service and continues to be consulted on such matters.

“Some cases carry more strategic weight than others. When your markets are threatened, when your business model is under pressure, when your operations are attracting lawsuits, then legal matters are no longer just about favourable results— it’s about your company’s core mission. At Carroll Burdick, we’re known for helping companies with matters of strategic value.”

Contact Details David Goh CARROLL, BURDICK & McDONOUGH LLP Suite 5904, 59/F Central Plaza 18 Harbour Road Wan Chai Hong Kong SAR Tel: +852.2511.1040

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WE PRACTICE LAW

BUT WE LIVE BUSINESS Sadis & Goldberg represents over 800 hedge and private equity funds. Above all else, we value our client relationships.

Our attorneys strive to provide excellent, consistent, practical and efficient legal services. We distinguish ourselves from other law firms by assisting our clients in the development of their businesses. This comprehensive approach has often earned us recognition as one of the top five law firms in the U.S. for our hedge fund practice. Invest a few minutes to learn what our attorneys can do for your business.

SADIS & GOLDBERG LLP RANKED NUMBER FIVE IN SERVICING HEDGE FUNDS IN THE 2016 PREQIN GLOBAL HEDGE FUND REPORT Best Law Firm Hedgeweek USA Awards 2011, 2014 - 2016

Best Hedge Fund & Private Equity Law Firm USA InterContinental Finance 2011 - 2015

Best Law Firm of the Year - USA 2013 - 2016 Lawyers World

Private Funds Law Firm of the Year ACQ Law Award 2011 - 2016

Investment Funds’ Law Firm of the Year Finance Monthly 2010 - 2016

Financial Services Industry Law Firm of the Year - USA, Acquisition International 2013 - 2016

Law Firm of the Year DealMaker Law Awards, 2011 - 2015 DealMaker Global Awards 2012 - 2015

Private Funds Law Firm of the Year M&A International Global Award 2013 - 2016

Hedge and Private Equity Fund Formation | Transactional Counseling Compliance Services | Regulatory Representation | Litigation | Derivatives Tax, ERISA and Estate Planning | Real Estate 551 Fifth Avenue, 21st Floor ,New York, NY 10176 212.947.3793 | www.sglawyers.com

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