Excellence awards 2016

WORLDWIDE FINANCIAL ADVISOR AWARDS MAGAZINE

FOR ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT: ADMIN@WFAAMAG.CO.UK

Worldwide Financial Advisor Awards Magazine Excellence Awards 2016 Worldwide Financial Advisor Awards Magazine 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 Excellence Awards 2016 recognises a select number of leading professional firms around the world working both nationally and internationally in their field of expertise.

Worldwide Financial Advisor 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.

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

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

Worldwide Financial Advisor Awards Magazine Excellence Awards 2016 Konecna & Zacha s.r.o. advokatni kancelar Real Estate Law Firm of the Year – Czech Republic Afschrift Tax Law Firm of the Year – Belgium Afschrift Tax Law Firm of the Year – Switzerland Anand & Anand Corporate Law Firm of the Year – Asia Avondale Best Uk Acquisition Service Campbells Litigation Law Firm of the Year – Cayman Islands Campbells Investment Funds Law Firm of the Year – Cayman Islands Campion Insurance Insurance Broker of the Year – Ireland Deep & Far Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year – Taiwan Demotech, Inc. Financial Analysis Firm of the Year – USA Ghellal & Mekerba Amine Ghellal – Lawyer of the Year – Africa John Harrison & Company Tax Reform Specialist of the Year – UK

Kemp Little LLP Commercial Technology Law Firm of the Year - UK

Kisch IP Patents Law Firm of the Year – South Africa Ksi Mexico Accountants of the Year – Mexico LMCR International Corporate Law Firm of the Year – Italy meyerlustenberger | lachenal Rechtsanwälte Real Estate Law Firm of the Year – Switzerland Moraes Pitombo Advogados Criminal Law Firm of the Year – Brazil Pang & Co Mergers & Acquisitions Firm of the Year – Hong Kong PatentAxis Inc Best Patent Advisory – Canada PC Capital Private Equity & Investment Banking Firm of the Year – Mexico Sadis & Goldberg Law Firm of the Year – USA Seyfarth Shaw International Employment Law Firm of the Year – Global Singh & Singh Lall & Sethi Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year - India

Financial Analysis Firm of the Year – USA Demotech, Inc. is delighted to have earned the Worldwide Advisor Excellence Award for 2016 in the category of Financial Analysis Firm of the Year – USA. Since 1985, Demotech has focused on addressing the needs of insurers that are unrated or under-rated by the legacy rating services. We initiated our effort in the late 1980s by covering regional and specialty insurers in the United States.

Demotech secured acceptances from the Federal National Mortgage Association, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, and United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for Financial Stability Ratings® (FSRs) of A or better. At year-end 2015, Demotech reviewed more than 420 insurers writing in each of the United States, District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and US possessions.

As third parties become familiar with our ability to identify financially stable insurers, increasing numbers of umbrella insurance carriers, premium finance companies, insurance agent’s errors and omissions insurers and other informed parties recognize our FSRs as credible and viable. Florida State University’s College of Business Risk Management and Insurance undertook an independent study of Demotech, A.M. Best, Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch insurer ratings over multiple years. A Comprehensive Examination of Insurer Financial Strength Ratings concluded there was consistency in the firms that each categorized as secure and Demotech served the need of a unique group of insurers.

Other independent acknowledgements of our capabilities include HUD’s re-affirmation of our acceptance in its Section 232 Handbook, HUD’s expansion of 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 for two consecutive years, 2014 and 2015.

In addition, during 2015 Demotech was nominated for the Rating Agency of the Year at the Reactions North America Gala. We were also honoured with the Florida Association for Insurance Reform’s Founder’s Award at its annual meeting. More recently we secured the Financial Monthly – M&A Awards – Financial Analysis Firm of the Year – USA and the Corporate Vision – Corporate Excellence Award – Best Evaluator of US Regional and Specialty Insurers & Sustained Excellence in Insurer Financial Analysis. In 2016, we earned the Corporate Live Wire’s Financial Stability Analysis Firm of the Year – USA. 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, a focus on an insurer’s business model rather than its size, and the transparency of our analysis process.

Our four primary analysts have more than one hundred and twenty (120) years of insurance industry experience. Furthermore, these four primary analysts average nearly twenty-five years

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.

Our primary analysts are experienced professionals. I am an actuary with forty years of insurance and financial analysis experience. Sharon Romano Petrelli, co-founder of Demotech, is a CPCU, AIAF, CCP and ARC. She has served on the board of governors of the CPCU Society. 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 our Preliminary FSRs and FSRs since 1996. Robert M. Warren, CPCU, CPA, Client Services Manager, has more than ten years with Demotech. Previously he served as the chief financial officer of several insurers. His forty years of experience includes selection and implementation of processing, accounting and investment systems, development and implementation of investment strategy and guidelines, demutualization, due diligence associated with mergers or acquisitions, collaborating with board members, executive committees, rating and regulatory agencies and state examiners.

Demotech focuses on a carrier’s business model and its capability to execute that model. We introduced the Company Classification System to initiate dialogue on business models. While other rating agencies seem fascinated by the relative financial size of an insurer and the degree of diversification, the reality is that neither size nor diversification has kept insurers out of liquidation. Some of the largest insolvencies have been publicly traded carriers that touted their access to capital, diversification and the rating assigned by legacy rating services to the abrupt end.

In age of transparency, our process is focused on quantitative criteria, not subjective, qualitative criteria. Should a carrier fail to meet our criteria for an FSR at the A level or above, we point to specific metric(s) or condition(s). We do not utilize subjective criteria to supersede or ignore underlying financial stability. We focus on the consistency of fundamental relationships in current versus historical balance sheets and income statements.

With a team of experienced, credentialed professionals, we are uniquely positioned to address current as well as the emerging issues.

Contact Details Joseph Petrelli President Tel: 614-761-8602 Email:Jpetrelli@demotech.com

DRAGONFLY: 300 MILLION YEARS OLD

T-REX: EXTINCT

Nature knows size and survival are independent.

Demotech, Inc. has proven that to the insurance industry.

Regional and Specialty insurers are often mistakenly thought of as financially unstable due to their size.

Financial Stability Ratings® offer the following benefits:

Financial Stability Ratings® look beyond the size of an insurer and evaluate solvency using a quantitative model based on insurance fundamentals.

• Acceptance by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD

Innovative thinking, strategic analysis, commitment, insight and on-going involvement with the insurance industry allow us to provide solutions as unique as your company.

• Eliminate Reinsurance Cut-Throughs • Access to Stand-Alone Umbrella Insurance • Premium Financing Available • Errors and Omissions Insolvency Gap Coverage Available • Much more!

Contact us today to learn how Demotech and Financial Stability Ratings® can help insurers level the playing field.

Call 800-354-7207 or visit www.Demotech.com/FSRBenefits

®

Best Patent Advisory – Canada While idiomatic expressions tell us to consider both sides of a story, decision points in the patent process are rarely limited to dual choices. Rather than black and white options, multi-faceted choices are the norm. PatentAxis Inc. navigates such selections with proficiency in order to positively impact the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the patenting process.

PatentAxis Inc. is a Canadian patent services firm located in the financial district of Toronto, Canada.

The firm is experienced in all types of patent preparation and analysis providing services of patent filing, prosecution and consultations to its clients.

Understanding client objectives and providing pragmatic guidance in view of these objectives is a hallmark of the firm’s business approach. Strong client communication skills underlie this approach.

Whenever feasible, multi-faceted choices inherent in patent prosecution are distilled within the context of client objectives to represent available choices in a practical format of risks and opportunities to allow clients to select choices best suited to their objectives. Guidance and consultations provided to clients is based on a nimble client service model that assesses and adapts to each client’s goals and needs.

The Canadian patent system lends itself to multiple procedural decision points and provides opportunities to adjust patent prosecution strategy benefiting those that are able to nimbly navigate the various procedural options. For example, unique to the Canadian patent system, a late entry from an International PCT application is permitted within 42 months of the earliest priority date. This allows applicants that have missed the initial 30 month deadline afforded under the PCT, to nevertheless enter national phase in Canada up to 12 months after the 30 month deadline.

Furthermore, the late entry submission is a routine procedure with payment of a $200 CAD late fee and neither requires a reason for the late entry nor any submission in advance to establish a basis for late entry. No other country provides such a convenient option for late entry.

The Canadian patent system provides options to both delay examination as well as to expedite examination. Examination of patent applications may be deferred up to five years from the filing date. For applicants that wish to delay the cost of examination and back and forth correspondence pertaining to examiner’s objections or for applicants that wish to assess prosecution in other jurisdictions and leverage allowable subject-matter in Canadian prosecution, the ability to delay examination can be a major advantage. On the other hand, applicants are also able to expedite examination. The two most effective procedures for expediting examination are a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) submission or a formal request for accelerated examination with payment of a $500 CAD fee and a statement that failure to advance the application is likely to prejudice the applicant’s rights.

The Canadian patent system provides still further options that reflect an adaptiveness to benefit small and medium sized companies compared to other jurisdictions, including fees paid at a small entity rate and a one-year grace period for an inventor’s own disclosure or disclosures indirectly originating from the inventor. Still further examples of procedural flexibility within the Canadian patent system include ease of reinstatement within twelve months of abandonment of an application.

PatentAxis Inc. provides its clients with guidance to identify and take advantage of procedural alternatives provided during Canadian patent prosecution. Starting with a client service model that emphasizes strong client communications and stresses the importance of providing clients with opportunities to express goals and parameters, clients are always welcome to initiate discussions to reassess prosecution procedures in the context of any change in such goals and parameters. For example, a client for whom a Canadian application is filed with the intention to defer examination may benefit from accelerated examination in the event that an infringement of the client’s patent rights is likely or a change of ownership of the patent application has occurred. As another example, an applicant that has received allowance in a counterpart application such as a US or European patent application may wish to leverage the allowable subject matter to prosecute a Canadian application through a PPH examination. With any such events that can effect a change in prosecution strategy PatentAxis Inc. encourages robust discussion and is happy to consult with its clients to ensure that prosecution strategy is cooperatively aligned with current goals and parameters.

The firm looks to its future with unguarded optimism as Canada remains a favoured destination for foreign applicants, partly due to a welcoming and attractive business environment and patent system. The Canadian patent system furnishes multiple alternatives to optimize a patent strategy at any given time point during prosecution, and navigation of these alternatives to achieve a successful result on behalf of its clients is a core feature of the firm’s service model. Moving forward PatentAxis Inc. is keen to increase its profile among international clients and in this context is thrilled by the recognition and coverage provided by the 2016 Excellence Awards.

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

Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year – India The Firm Singh & Singh Lall & Sethi (SSL&S) is a merger of two highly acclaimed IP Law Firms of the country. The merger took place in April 2015. The merger brought professionals passionately dedicated to create perfect synergy with specialist IP practitioners and litigators in different fields of intellectual property law. The firm serves as a one stop solution for IP, Telecom, Competition laws, Information Technology and related aspects, as also technology, media and telecommunication laws with a wide bandwidth to handle large portfolios and litigation across all areas.

The firm also handles a large number of non-IP matters especially in the field of pharma regulatory, arbitrations, policy making in IP and Telecom Sectors, including Compulsory Licensing and Copyright Amendment Act 2012.

The firm not only represents a large volume of Patent and Trademark litigation cases in India, but also provides unrivalled IP services, including but not limited to domestic and international filing and prosecution.

The firm currently has offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Colombo and Kathmandu.

The Founders and Partners The founders are four of the most prolific litigators of the country. Mr. Sandeep Sethi, Mr. Maninder Singh and Ms. Prathiba M. Singh are all designated Senior Advocates. Mr. Chander M. Lall took over the mantle from the founders and is the Founding and Managing Partner of the merged firm.

SSL&S is a professionally managed firm with 9 partners, over 40 attorneys and patent agents and a total strength of over 120 personnel. Out of the 9 partners in the Firm, the Managing Partner and two other Partners are involved in Patent litigation. One Partner heads the Patent Prosecution. Four Partners are heading IP Prosecution and Enforcement teams and one partner is involved in Telecom & Broadcasting. There is an entire team of lawyers and patent agents working under each Partner.

Patents The patent professionals of SSL&S have wide ranged experience in drafting applications of various technologies and liaising with inventors, technical experts and in-house patent counsels in the preparation of specifications. Because of its day to day experience in patent litigation, SSL&S is able to provide assistance in strategizing complex innovation related issues, enforcement of patents, and analysing strength of patents prior to enforceability, streamline prosecution etc.

SSL&S is estimated to be engaged in over 70% of the patent litigations currently pending in the country concerning technologies like pharmaceuticals, bio-similar, medical devices, mechanical engineering, chemicals, electrical and electronics, to name a few. In the area of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs), the firm is engaged in virtually all pending cases in India and is instrumental in assisting development of the law in this field.

Trademarks On the trademarks front, SSL&S has been instrumental in laying down the law in several areas such as comparative advertising, trade dress protection and a wide variety of internet and IT law related issues. The firm has been involved in many civil and criminal anti-counterfeiting actions. The firm currently represents 7 of the top 25 of the world renowned trademarks listed by Interbrand. SSL&S is

the preferred firm not just in India but the entire South Asian region, including Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Maldives and Bhutan.

Telecom and Broadcasting SSL&S practices extend beyond core IP. It has a strong presence in the area of telecom and broadcasting representing a large number of broadcasters in different forums including the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

Bespoke IP Management Software All the work is carried out on a unique bespoke IP management software platform ClickIPR. The software has IP law engines for all jurisdictions around the world ensuring automated docketing of files worldwide and populating of forms. The use of the software system, which is far superior to any known IP software system, ensures that deadlines are never missed and costs are kept low. The firm was perhaps the first in the world to maintain all its files in electronic form.

Clients SSL&S has a very wide list of clients from all over the world which include The Coca-Cola Company, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, GSK, Bayer, Merck KgaA, Monsanto, Citibank, Mondelez, KraftHeinz, Diageo, Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox, United Technologies Corporation, Kimberly-Clark, Lacoste, Gant, Hewlett Packard, Nike, Ebay, Cisco, Amazon, Samsung, Reckitt Benckiser, Panasonic, DuPont, to name a few International one with an equally impressive list of Indian clients which includes Zee, Marico, Havells, Woodland, HCL, NIIT, Essel, ITC, Eicher, HeroEco and Fabindia.

Awards SSL&S is the more extensive awarded firm of 2016 being acknowledged as a leader in IP law. The firm has bagged several awards and maintains highest rankings in many categories. The `Managing Intellectual Property` has ranked Singh & Singh Lall & Sethi as Tier 1 for Patent Contentious, Trade Mark Contentious and Copyright respectively for 2016. The `Chambers & Partners` has ranked the firm as `Band 1 in Intellectual Property` and Chander Lall as `Band 1 Intellectual Property Litigation Lawyer in India`. `Legal Era` positioned Singh & Singh Lall & Sethi as the `IP Law Firm of 2015`.

The firm also bagged `WTR Gold award for Enforcement and Litigation` and Chander bagged the `Gold award` in individual category. The firm shot the `Deal of the Year 2015` award for representing Glenmark Pharmaceuticals in Merck Sharp & Dohme and Sun Pharma v Glenmark Pharmaceuticals

by India Business Law Journal besides bagging the `2015 - Indian Law Firm Awards - Intellectual Property`. The M&A magazine declared the firm as the Law Firm of the Year - Intellectual Property – India. `Professional Sector Network` has accolade the firm with `IP Law Firm of the Year – India`.

WIPR chose Chander Lall as `Leaders 2016 in Patents & Trademark`, while Sudeep Chatterjee was chosen for Trademarks.

CHANDER M. LALL- FOUNDER & SENIOR PARTNER Co- founder of the previously reigning IP boutique, Lall & Sethi Advocates, Mr. Chander M. Lall is currently the Managing Partner and spear-head of the merged entity ‘Singh & Singh Lall & Sethi’ (Singh & Singh is India’s leading IP litigation firm – the two firms merged to form this IP Powerhouse since April 2015).

An adventure sports enthusiast by heart and a successful Advocate by profession, Mr. Lall is a renaissance man, who has many firsts in his name in the legal profession. He was the first to have the foresight to commence patent drafting outsourcing to India in the year 2002, when the concept was relatively unknown. Under his mentoring and leadership, in the year 2007, his firm developed one of the world’s first proprietary IP Management Software (Click IPR) for international filing and management. His firm went completely paperless as long back as in the year 2010, perhaps one of the first, internationally. He argued his first case with the complete file on a tablet in that year itself.

In court, Mr. Lall is rated amongst the best IP litigators. He was counsel for a winning cause in two of the lead decisions (whirlpool and Ocuflox) of the Supreme Court of India on well-known and famous marks – decisions which were path-breaking not just in India, but internationally. His litigation and enforcement foresight is legendary when one considers the impact his strategies had on bringing down film piracy levels in India whilst representing a consortium consisting of the Motion Pictures Association of America, the leading Hollywood studios and many leading Indian film producers. The Supreme Court decision on curtailing cable piracy stands at the forefront of this initiative. He is widely acknowledged as one of the best in the field of copyright and copyright litigation.

Post his graduation, Mr. Lall enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of India in 1989. He has been practicing in various forums including the Supreme Court of India, Delhi High Court, in addition to other High Courts around the country for over 25 years. He was also a part of the Core Group to make amendments in the copyright laws of India. Mr. Lall is a leading member of the Pharmaceutical Trade Marks Group and advises and represents many leading pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Bayer and Merck on various IP issues. His firms protects 8 of the top 30 brands of the world listed in the Interbrand 2014 Rankings.

Besides having an illustrious career as a litigator, Mr. Lall is also a proud member of various globally renowned network and associations. He was perhaps the youngest, and the first Indian and south Asian member to be on the Board of Directors of the International Trademarks Association (INTA), a worldwide association of trademark owners & professionals from the year 1998 to 2000. He was also the Chairperson of the World-Wide Anti-Counterfeiting and Enforcement Committee at INTA for a two year term and also serves as the President of the Intellectual Property Rights Attorney Association.

Besides his exceptional litigating skills, Mr. Lall demonstrated his outstanding writing abilities by being the contributing Author and Editor for the publication entitled "Trademark Anti-Counterfeiting in Asia and the Pacific Rim". He has also authored the chapter on Indian law in both the editions of the publication of INTA entitled "Trademark Law and the Internet".

Mr. Lall has is consistently listed as one of the leading IP practitioners in India by virtually all leading international publications. He frequently attends and speaks at national and international IP conferences and is on the WIPO Panel of speakers and resource persons for their Training of Trainers (TOT) Programs. He has participated in well over 20 TOT programs in over 3 continents including Africa, South America and Asia.

In addition to being a distinguished lawyer, Mr. Lall is an advanced certified scuba diver, a fervent mountaineer, an avid and former national lever cyclist, a bold bungee jumper, a one-time sky diver, a wanna-be Harley Davidson Hog and a passionate water and alpine skier.

Contact Details Chander M. Lall cmlall@indiaip.com D - 17, South Extension II, New Delhi - 110 049, India Ph: 91-11-4289 9999 Website. www.IndiaIP.com

Amine Ghellal – Lawyer of the Year – Africa Over the last 25 years, Ghellal & Mekerba has been the trusted legal counsellor of prominent foreign and domestic corporations operating in Algeria.

Constant efforts to achieve outstanding performance substantiate Ghellal & Mekerba’s leading law firm status, particularly in the following specialties: investment, commercial, corporate, mining and natural resources, financing and mergers and acquisitions.

One of the partners (Amine Ghellal) is also a leading expert in Algeria on law relating to oil and gas, investment and international commerce, financing and project financing, telecommunications, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and international commercial arbitration.

Several of our attorneys have corporate experience at high-level posts. This particular feature has allowed our firm to build an extensive professional network and has ensured its thorough understanding of the Algerian, North African and international business environment.

Our firm’s key practice areas include but are not limited to: mining and natural resources, investment, privatizations, telecommunications, financing construction, international arbitration, litigation, economic regulation, employment, intellectual and industrial property, insurance, exchange control, customs, environment, health and pharmaceutics.

Amine Ghellal, the founding partner of Ghellal & Mekerba, has 44 years of experience and is considered as one of Algeria’s leading law practitioners.

He is said to know the Algerian Business framework “like the back of his hand”.

He has a wide knowledge of all aspects of Algerian law regarding investment, corporate, financing, exchange control, tax and customs law.

He is an international arbitrator and a member of the International Arbitration Institute. He has a perfect knowledge of contractual mechanisms and precautions governing dispute resolution. Dr. Ghellal acts as an arbitrator before the International Chamber of Commerce (CCI) and the Algerian Chamber of Trade and Industry (CACI).

He is also currently seen as one of Africa’s leading gas and oil practitioners and regularly advises major international firms on all the intricacies of energy regulation. Dr. Ghellal has counselled the Algerian Ministry of Energy and has also headed Sonatrach’s “International Legal” and “International Negotiation” departments.

Between 1979 and 1981, he was Algeria’s legal expert within the OPEC and the OPAEC. Dr. Ghellal is a graduate in both public and private law and in political sciences. He studied in France and obtained a Higher Diploma in Public law with Magna Cum Laude, a Higher Diploma in Political Sciences with Magna Cum Laude and a PhD with Summa Cum Laude and praises of the examination board. He also taught public law, both in France and Algeria, for many years, and has published many articles. Dr. Ghellal is a member of the Algerian Bar Association, a member of the International Bar Association, a member of the International Arbitration Institute (IAI), a correspondent of the World Bank in Algeria, an honoured Member of the International Who’s Who of Professionals and of Project Finance, a member of the International Lawyers Club (Head Office in France), and a member of the International Lawyers Association “Mackrell International” (Head Office in Great Britain).

Contact Details: Tel: 213 21 91 42 30 E-mail: contact@ghellal.com

International Employment Law Firm of the Year – Global Seyfarth Shaw LLP is an 850+ 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 multijurisdictional basis

•

Workplace policies and handbooks

•

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 and contingent workforce arrangements and documentation

•

Employment and labour issues arising from international mergers and acquisitions

•

International outsourcing arrangements

•

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

Tax Law Firm of the Year – Switzerland AFSCHRIFT is a multi-awarded 24 lawyer’s boutique law firm established in Brussels, Antwerp, Geneva, Fribourg, Luxembourg, Madrid, Tel Aviv and Hong Kong.

The firm provides personalized consultancy services on the fields of direct and indirect taxation, especially (international) tax optimization and (corporate, estate and real estate) planning, while defending taxpayers in tax and white collar crime cases before the courts; it has participated in the major tax trials of the past 20 years.

The firm’s clientele includes individuals, industrial and commercial companies, Luxembourgian, Swiss and Belgian banks, as well as companies established out of Belgium. Due to the partners’ expertise on European tax law, as well as their specific knowledge of Swiss, Belgian, Luxembourgian, Spanish and Israeli tax law, AFSCHRIFT’s lawyers are in position to help companies to achieve the best optimization of their tax situation and individuals to optimize the planning of their estate.

Managing partner and founder Thierry Afschrift, professor to the Free University of Brussels, deputy judge to the Court of appeal and referred as “Best Tax Lawyer-Belgium 2009” (World Finance Magazine), he is a member of the Brussels, Antwerp while he is admitted to the Geneva, Madrid, Fribourg and Hong Kong bars.

Companies and individuals have to face the three principal problems in Belgium: over-regulation (but not always of optimal quality), constant increase of the State’s powers and, also constant, increase of taxes. In this frame, Afschrift’s role is to help its clients to prepare, efficiently and legally, future operations… and/or to mend existing ones.

That means that the crisis did not really touched the firm, except on the field of consultancy on commercial operations, as business have been slowed down by the crisis.

No special measures have been taken, nor have changes of the firm’s policy been made.

AFSCHRIFT’s lawyers still work in the same manner, trying to always achieve the best results for their clients.

From a business point of view, our goal is to reinforce our position in the Benelux and Switzerland and Luxembourg, where the lawmakers prove themselves of a great creativity on the tax field.

The firm will also probably spread its activities in Asia, as the situation in Europe risks to worsen, given the increase of sovereign debts, and the austerity policy followed by the most of the European countries, which will probably result in an new increase of taxes, while the business and labor markets will, in the best of the scenarios, only stabilize.

This recession, which will probably touch also the Scandinavian countries, as well as the stagnation of the economic growth, will force a number of European companies to extend their activities in other, more distant, markets.

Contact Details Avenue Louise, 208 1050 BRUSSELS BELGIUM T +32 2 646 46 36 F +32 2 644 38 00

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.

Area of Practice: Intellectual Property, including patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret.

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 50% of the patent-experienced companies in that park have ever entrusted their IPR works to this firm.

Experiences: Mr. Yu-Li Tsai, a patent attorney graduated from Department of Electrical Engineering of National Taiwan University (NTUEE), which is the best engineering school in Taiwan. Because of interest in communication system, he then attended in the Graduate Institute of Communication Engineering (GICE) of NTU. During his research life in GICE, he also started to get involved in knowledge and skills of patent-related matters for taking and receiving the qualification of patent attorney. Mr. Tsai also attended to receive an IP master from Law School of University of New Hampshire, also known as Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property, had an internship with InterDigital, Inc., and passed the U.S. Patent Bar Examination. Currently, Mr. Tsai is working for Deep & Far Attorneys-at-Law as a patent attorney.

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. Because the clients become more understood in the knowledge of IP and more budget-sensitive, they usually want to select an agent who can more efficiently and effectively deal with their IP matters. They often invite bids, set out tenders and call for interview before they decide to entrust a service provider. Taking patent for example, they gather information of costs for patent prosecution, previous works, and firm introduction materials in a preliminary choice stage, and hold an interview to obtain further details of the firm which has passed the preliminary choice stage. We represent international giants, e.g.

InterDigital, MPS, Schott Glas, Toyo Ink, Motorola, Cypress, Google, Armani.

We always keep updating the newest state of this firm, recruiting elite patent engineers and strictly training them the essential skills, improving the efficiency and quality of service, and developing new strategies that can assist the clients effectively protecting their intellectual property rights. This firm believes that if the efficiency, quality, and enthusiasm of the services can be consistently monitored and maintained, overcoming complexities, challenges or changes is just a result rather than an issue.

Our aspiration and directions would be developing more potential clients either in domestic or foreign countries, and expanding the size of this firm to assist more clients in pursuing most satisfactory IP protection. Although the domestic IP market, especially in the patent field in 2013 shrank a little, we expect this situation may finally change because there is a phenomenon that the gross economy is starting to recover in 2014.

Contact details Deep & Far Yu-Li. Tsai Tel: 886-2-25856688#900 Fax: 886-2-25989900//886-2-25978989 Add: 13th Fl., 27 Sec. 3, Chung San N. Rd., Taipei, Taiwan Web: www.deepnfar.com.tw Email: lawtsai@deepnfar.com.tw

DEEP & FAR Attorneys-at-Law 13th F1., No. 27, Sec. 3, Chung San N. Rd. Taipei 104, Taiwan, R.O.C. Tel: +886-2-2585-6688 Fax: +886-2-25989900/25978989 email@deepnfar.com.tw Deep & Far was founded in 1992 and is one of the largest law firms in this country.

The firm is presently focused 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, counseling, litigation and/ or transaction thereof. Since this firm edges itself into the IPRs field, the firm quickly comes to fame. As an illustration, this firm often is one of the largest sources from which foreign filing orders originate.

The fascinating rise of this firm begins from the founder of Deep & Far attorneysat-law, C. F. Tsai, who is the one first patent practitioner in this country who both has technological and law backgrounds and is qualified as a local attorney-at-law.

The patent attorneys and patent engineers in this firm normally hold outstanding and advanced degrees and are generally graduated from the top five universities in this country and/or the university in the US. Our prominent staffs are dedicated to provide the best quality service in IPRs. 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 are/were clients of this firm.

Furthermore, Hi-Tech companies in the science-based industrial park located at Hsin Chu play an important role in booming the economy of this country. About one half of which have 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.

We have experienced in seeking IPR-protections for our clients in more than 100 territories all over the world. We have thousands of IPR-cases respectively prosecuted before official Patent Offices of major industrialized countries.

This firm not only is the most competent in IPR-related matters in this country but also is very familiar with IPR-practices in major industrialized countries. As a matter of fact, this firm oftentimes tries and makes precedents of new claim-drafting styles. While we might have become wonderfully famed locally with remarkable appreciation and respects, we would like to extend our services for internationalized or quality service-requiring foreign conglomerated giants, corporations or individuals. We strongly believe that we will win more

www.deepnfar.com.tw

Accountants of the Year – Mexico KSI México is a Mexican Company of Certified Public Accountants, and o ne of the best domestic consulting firms. Member of KS International, an association of independent accountancy firms with over 100 offices; we operate in some 50 countries around the world to deal with your international business need.

We belong to the PCAOB (Public Co mpany Accounting Oversight Board) , as a corporation to oversee the audits of public companies in order to protect the interests of investors and further the public interest in the preparation of informative, accurate and independent audit reports.

KSI México offers a personal service, focused on the growth and success of our clients . We outstand for the quality of our services, offering a complete solution for each client .

We provide a wide range of business service to companies in a variety of industries. The firm specializes in corporate finance advice, accounting, tax planning, consultation, and auditing services.

The Key to our approach is to build a close relation ship between partner and client. If you are thinking doing business in México, think Ksi México. We help successfully set up and gro w many companies. We can tailor a special propose of your investments.

Our commitment is to help your business succeed by keepi ng up-to-date with your affairs and offering a high standard of both commercial and supportive advice.

Qualities you will find in a K SI México firm include: 

A real understanding of your business .



The partners are in tune with your needs and aspirations .



Regular attention and support from accessible partners .



Commercial realism in the advice you receive .



Technically reliable responses to your enquiries .

Additionally, KSI México fir m attach great importance to recruiting and training quality staff.

Contact Details: Mr. David Hernández Munguia info@ksi.mx

Most Professional Asset & Trade Finance Firm of the Year – International APT Finance is an independent finance company providing asset finance and Trade finance to all kinds of businesses, from start ups and sole traders to some of the biggest companies in the UK. After many years specialising in the Entertainment and IT industries, APT's financial packages now cover any kind of product and all types of businesses.

Our short term (1-6 months) and long term (1-5 years) finance packages enable you to make the most of the assets of your business - your cash resources, your customers, the equipment you own, your sales force and your business track record.

For ten years APT Finance has worked closely with the suppliers and users of equipment in the entertainment industry and although our expertise is the funding of "high tech" equipment such as IT, cameras, pro audio, video, sound and lighting, A/V, multimedia and digital imaging, we also finance "low tech" products used by the same customers, such as fixture and fittings for bars and clubs, signage, vehicles and furniture. If it is tangible, we can finance it!

The three directors of APT Finance each have over twenty years experience in general management, finance or marketing for both small and large IT manufacturers and so, whether you are a supplier wanting to implement your own label leasing programme or an end user needing advice on the tax implication of leasing versus hire purchase, you can be sure of getting responsive and experienced help from APT. Designing and implementing supplier (vendor) leasing programmes is one of APT's key activities because the directors have each spent over 20 years, before setting up APT, in senior marketing and finance roles with a variety of IT companies, from own start up ventures to major international PLCs. The APT Team are here to rapidly source funding for your business. We have considerable expertise in:

Lease

Hire Purchase Sale and Leaseback Business Start-ups Sales-Aid Finance Extended Hire Schemes Operating Leasing

Over the last 15 years, APT established itself as the clear Service Leader in Broker Finance, and has funded thousands of assets of every description to thousands of small, medium and large UK businesses, from sole traders to PLC's.

Over the years our expertise has expanded from financing Film & Television production equipment, professional sound & lighting, production CD & DVD, into event finance, entertainment venue finance, Video Walls, Plasma Screens, CCTV systems, Computer Equipment and Software-only Leasing.

For example, if a club owner often wants finance for his bar and kitchen equipment, or a recording studio needs some air conditioning - and so to provide a comprehensive service to our customers, APT has the resources and experience to finance any asset costing between ÂŁ1000 and ÂŁ1 million.

The APT's team are all seasoned business professionals and we have recruited management and support staff with years of experience in the relevant disciplines and markets in order to provide our customers with informed, competent and responsive service and advice.

Contact Details: APT Finance 22, Reading Road, Henley on-Thames Oxon RG9 1AG United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)1491 642077 Fax: +44 (0)1491 642078 E-mail: enquiries@apt-finance.com

Overall Tax Law Firm of the Year Belgium AFSCHRIFT is a niche tax boutique: its lawyers, most of which teach at the University, practice almost exclusively tax cases. Services are highly personalized and confidentiality is jealously preserved.

AFSCHRIFT (Listed several times in www.worldfinance100.com and 3 times recipient of the Belgian legal awards) is a multi-awarded 24 lawyer’s boutique law firm established in Brussels, Antwerp, Geneva, Luxembourg, Madrid, Tel Aviv and Hong Kong.

The firm provides personalized consultancy services on the fields of direct and indirect taxation, especially (international) tax optimization and (corporate, estate and real estate) planning, while defending taxpayers in tax and white collar crime cases before the courts; it has participated in the major tax trials of the past 20 years.

The firm’s clientele includes individuals, industrial and commercial companies, Luxembourgian, Swiss and Belgian banks, as well as companies established out of Belgium. Due to the partners’ expertise on European tax law, as well as their specific knowledge of Swiss, Belgian, Luxembourgian, Spanish and Israeli tax law, AFSCHRIFT’s lawyers are in position to help companies to achieve the best optimization of their tax situation and individuals to optimize the planning of their estate.

Managing partner and founder Thierry Afschrift, professor to the Free University of Brussels, deputy judge to the Court of appeal and referred as “Best Tax Lawyer-Belgium 2009” (World Finance Magazine), is admitted to the Brussels, Antwerp and Madrid Bar, while being member of Luxembourg, Geneva and Hong Kong bars.

Companies and individuals have to face the three principal problems in Belgium: over-regulation (but not always of optimal quality), constant increase of the State’s powers and, also constant, increase of taxes. In this frame, Afschrift’s role is to help its clients to prepare, efficiently and legally, future operations… and/or to mend existing ones.

That means that the crisis did not really touched the firm, except on the field of consultancy on commercial operations, as business have been slowed down by the crisis.

No special measures have been taken, nor have changes of the firm’s policy been made.

AFSCHRIFT’s lawyers still work in the same manner, trying to always achieve the best results for their clients.

From a business point of view, our goal is to reinforce our position in the Benelux and Switzerland and Luxembourg, where the lawmakers prove themselves of a great creativity on the tax field.

The firm will also probably spread its activities in Asia, as the situation in Europe risks to worsen, given the increase of sovereign debts, and the austerity policy followed by the most of the European countries, which will probably result in an new increase of taxes, while the business and labor markets will, in the best of the scenarios, only stabilize.

This recession, which will probably touch also the Scandinavian countries, as well as the stagnation of the economic growth, will force a number of European companies to extend their activities in other, more distant, markets.

Contact Details Avenue Louise, 208 1050 BRUSSELS BELGIUM T +32 2 646 46 36 F +32 2 644 38 00

Criminal Law Firm of the Year – Brazil Moraes Pitombo Advogados was founded in 2001, with the scope of harmonically combining two different qualities of contemporary legal practice: personally tailored client service – which is characteristic of small Law Firms – and the cutting-edge technology and organization of big law Firms.

The firm provides expert legal services in litigation, mainly in the criminal area, focusing on white-collar crimes, money laundering and corporate-related issues. It is also specialized in international cooperation, having dealt with several cases involving international mutual legal assistance, working with top firms from the United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Luxembourg, among others.

The office is based in Sao Paulo, the financial capital of Brazil. It has also offices in Rio de Janeiro and in Brasilia, where all the Superior Courts are located, providing a much closer follow-up of the procedures.

In the past 15 years, the firm earned a reputation as a leading practice in the field, working in high profile and mediatic cases, and being recognized for dedication, best knowledge of the cases and skilled performance.

Moraes Pitombo Advogados’ attorneys are recruited from the best law schools in Brazil and are also encouraged to engage an international experiences, such as LLM courses and interships abroad.

The founder Antonio Pitombo has a Master’s Degree in Criminal Law with the dissertation “The Specificity of the Predicate Crime in Money Laundering”, and a PhD degree in Criminal Law with the thesis “The Specificity of the Criminal Organization” at Law School of the University of Sao Paulo. He also concluded his Postdoctoral studies in Democracy and Human Rights at Coimbra University, in 2013, with the dissertation entitled “The impartiality of the jurisdiction: current criminal procedure issues.”

He is the author of several newspaper articles, magazines and compilations specialized in Law and criminal procedure. He is also a member of the Brazilian Institute of Criminal Science (IBCCRIM); of the Institute Manoel Pedro Pimentel; of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; of the Association Internacionale de Dróit Pénal; and the Association Internationale des Avocats de la Défense.

Contact Details: Antônio Sérgio A. de Moraes Pitombo Partner/Founder Tel: +55 11 30473131 email: apitombo@mpp.adv.br website: www.moraespitombo.com.br Address: São Paulo (SP) Rua Pequetita, 215 - 8º andar Cep: 04552-060 - São Paulo - SP Tel: +55 11 30473131 Fax: +55 11 30473141 Brasília (DF) Setor de Autarquias Sul, Quadra 01 Bloco N, salas 410/411, Ed. Terrabrasilis Cep: 70070-010 - Brasília - DF Tel / Fax: (55 61) 3322-7690 Rio de Janeiro (RJ) Rua Da Assembléia, 10 Conj. 3520 Centro – Rio de Janeiro – RJ CEP: 20011-000 Tel: (55 21) 3974-6250

Employment Disputes Law Firm of the Year – Turks & Caicos Mark Anthony Fulford is a Managing Partner at F Chambers Attorneys based in Providenciales. He is an organizer and communicator with extensive experience in public administration and policy making, public relations, banking, sales and marketing. His expertise lies in Inward Investment, Corporate Structuring, Development, Immigration, Employment and Real Estate.

He is an outstanding graduate of the University of Buckingham Law School where he was the first Turks and Caicos Islander to receive the coveted Merit Prize Award. At Buckingham University he served as President of the Law Society a position that ushered him into the company of distinguished leaders including His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent. Prior to returning to the TCI where he is now the Managing Partner of F Chambers, he gained work experience in an array of practice areas with reputable law firms in London, and in Bermuda.

Fulford has successfully conducted numerous cases in the Magistrate Court, Labour Tribunal, Supreme Court and Court of Appeal in the Turks and Caicos Islands. He serves as the President of the Legislative Committee of the TCI Bar Association. He is a founding member and Chairman of the Advocates Legal Group, which is the largest group of Legal Aid lawyers that undertake litigation for the indigent. He is a member of the International Bar Association and sits on the Law Firm Management committee. Fulford has served as Special Assistant to the first Premier of the TCI and as an Advisor to the second Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands. He regularly provides his opinion on specially commissioned work to the current Premier.

2. The value that defines F Chambers can be summarized as fearlessly committed: To human rights – that includes a recognition that the poorest citizen is not made equal to the richest corporation simply by according them the same rights; To a liberal tradition of defending freedom and citizens’ rights irrespective of the popularity of the cause or the client; To creating an undisputed reputation for excellence; To providing a service that is swift, efficient, responsive and at a price matching the quality of our service; and To ensuring that principles of equality, respect and diversity are embodied both in the service we provide to our clients and in the recruitment, training and support policies we promote.

3. F Chambers unique selling point is Client Care.

The fact that we are a medium size firm, we have not lost the personal touch of seeing each client as a person and not just a file.

Contact details: F Chambers Attorneys-at-Law 007 Emily House 1105 Leeward Highway P.O. Box 666 Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands.

Advisor of the Year - 2014 - Maritime Law Firm of the Year – Egypt Nabil Farag Law Firm is dealing with all aspects of business, Trade, Maritime, Arbitration and Financial affairs. We also handle both straightforward and complex legal matters, the firm is covering all aspects of litigation, Legal defence and all other legal affairs, the partners are charging for each department in the firm and may act as a focal point for the client's contact with the firm. Many of our lawyers are specialists in their legal field. In fact, they are experts in their legal work in the firm. Nabil Farag Law Firm was founded in 1991 by its managing partner, DR Nabil Farag. The firm has grown up steadily and is now one of the largest firms in the field of Maritime Law and all aspects of litigation in Egypt. The head office is based in Port Said, and headquarters are based in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez.

Each of our clients is unique with particular business concerns. We are giving a personal commitment for all of our clients to understand their cases and objects rapidly and effectively and to expedite solutions by means of clear and practical legal advice and action. The practical application of excellence and cross-utilization of special skills which are provided by all of our lawyers, as professional, culminate in the production of a comprehensive legal package and tailored to the specific circumstances of each client. We have a huge numbers of clients from Europe, USA, Asia, Africa and all over the world, each of our clients is unique with particular business concerns. We are giving a personal commitment for all of our clients to understand their cases and objects rapidly and effectively and to expedite solutions by means of clear and practical legal advice and action. The practical application of excellence and cross-utilization of special skills which are provided by all of our lawyers, as professional, culminate in the production of a comprehensive legal package and tailored to the specific circumstances of each client.

Practice Areas: Banking & Finance Commercial & Corporate Litigation Intellectual Property International trade agency disputes

Capital Markets Insurance & Reinsurance Oil & Gas Privatization Tourism & Hotels

Tax Law Mergers and Acquisitions Accounting & Auditing Company management Business Formation Taxation & insolvency Credit work Business consultancy Marketing services Anti-dumping and Trade disputes

Travel & Services Translation Services Project Finance & PPP Law Probate Law Guardianship & Conservatorship Franchising Immigration Bankruptcy & Restructuring Family & Divorce Law School Law (and Special Education).

The Arab Transport Ministers Council, Which was hold on the last year in Alexandria, Egypt, had decided to adopting "The suggestion of establishing specialized maritime courts in the Arab World" which was submitted by Mr/ Nabil Farag, The managing partner of Nabil Farag Law Firm, The Arab Transport Ministers Council, had decided in the article No 4 of his decisions to highly adopted this suggestion and to move this suggestion to "The Arab Justice Ministers Council" to take the necessary steps to execution.

Our law firm is handle both straightforward and complex legal matters, We study the case by extra-ordinary ways and preparing searches in full in a high class levels such as a master and doctorate searches exactly to be presenting to the courts in order to get the full success and progress to the clients Our law firm is aspire and preparing to prolong the branches in Europe, USA and Asia through the next few year, The firm is see the market in 2013/2014 is good but it's expected to goahead and straight-forward in 2015.

Contact Details: Nabil Farag Law Firm.

------------------------------------------------Office: 23 July & Abou El-Feda St., El-Shark.

Second Floor, El - Shammaa Tower, 42111.

P. O. Box: 1036. Port - Said, Egypt.

-------------------------------------------------Tel: +20 66 3208888 - +20 66 3208963.

Fax: +20 66 3355061. +20 66 3208255. nbllaw@interlink.com.eg - www.nbllaw.com

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR ISRAEL Ehrlich & Fenster is a leading Israel based Patent and Trademark Attorneys Firm, offering premiere expertise in all matters concerning the protection and prosecution of Intellectual Property. The synergism between highly personalized service and unrivalled expertise in all technological fields has made Ehrlich & Fenster the most reputable IP firm in Israel. The Firm provides Patent, Design, Trademark, Litigation Support and Breeder’s Rights services to Corporations, Institutions, Governmental Institutes, Universities and Individual clients around the world. The firm and its team are renowned for excellence in both the local and international professional arena. Extensive professional knowledge and experience, along with scientific insight enables Ehrlich & Fenster to offer an optimal Intellectual Property strategy, and assisting in managing the intellectual property portfolio, for clients in light of the client’s business strategy, be it in licensing, investment, financing and multi-billion buyout exits and deals.

The technical depth of the firm and the industrial and academic experience of the key patent attorneys enables our attorneys to get to the heart of the technical and business aspects of the client’s R&D and product line so that it can provide the protection that the client needs and to which the client is entitled.

Key clients include all the major universities and medical and research institutes in Israel such as Ramot at Tel-Aviv University Ltd.; Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd. at the Weizmann Institute of Science; Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Ltd.; Technion Research & Development Foundation Ltd.; Ben Gurion University of the Negev Research and Development Authority. The firm has filed patent applications for several Nobel and Wolf Prize laureates as well. Private and public companies for which the firm have performed substantial Intellectual Property work in the recent year include, inter alia, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.; IBM Corporation; Stratasys; Protalix Ltd.; Cheetah Medical; Ceragon Networks Ltd.; Biosensors International Group, Ltd.; Elminda Ltd.; Mobli Media Inc; Nintendo Co Ltd; Plasson Ltd; Playtech Software Ltd; Real Madrid Club de Futbol; Kaiima Ltd. and Cyber-Ark Software Ltd. Main Areas of Practice: Biotech: The department specializes in IP matters in fields such as nucleic acids, peptides, proteins, diagnostics, cell therapy, embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells, protein production, nucleic acid production, modulation of biochemical pathways, immunoreactive and immunomodulating molecules and cells, and their use in the treatment and/ or diagnostics of cancer, cognitive disorders, diabetes, inflammatory

disorders and genetic disorders, genetically modified organisms and their uses in, e.g., agriculture, plant breeding, hybrid seed technology and nutrition to list a few.

Contact: DR Hadassa Waterman, Patent Attorney Email: hadassa@ipatent.co.il Pharma/Chemistry: The department specializes in IP matters in fields such as pharmacology, chemistry, nanotechnology, material science, energy conversion, cleantech, agrochemistry, cosmetics, nutrition, etc.

Contact: DR Revital Green, Patent Attorney Email: revital@ipatent.co.il Physics: The department specializes in IP matters in fields such as energy conversion, radiotherapy devices, optical waveguides, micro- and nanotechnology, medical signal analyses, medical devices, mechanical devices, solid state devices and many types of imaging technologies. The department also specializes in protecting of non-tangible inventions such as inventions related to data analysis and image processing.

Contact: DR Eran Naftali, Patent Attorney Email: eran@ipatent.co.il Hi-Tech: The department specializes in IP matters in fields such as communications engineering and signal processing, imaging technology, image processing, digital printing technologies, digital electronics, electronic design and simulation technology, semiconductor technology, measurement and sensing, including laser sensing, and ultrasound technologies and touch and smell-based sensing, applications of numerical analysis and algorithms including cryptography and steganography, data security and digital rights management, also Data Storage Technologies and Systems and Data Migration, Network Technologies and Network Management Technologies, including Network Security, and Robotics.

Contact: Geoffrey L Melnick, Patent Attorney (Israel), European Patent Attorney, UK Chartered Patent Agent Email: geoff@ipatent.co.il Software, Information System: The Software department has substantial experience in advising clients in relation to intellectual property protection for computer implemented inventions in a wide range of technologies (hardware and software), including search engine technology, electronic commerce and financial services, content distribution, database and memory management, internet security, gaming machines, cellular communications, telecommunications, cloud computing, social network platforms, wireless communication, image processing, multi-media data streaming and management, and network management. In providing invention extraction services to startups and inventors, the Software department includes a team of patent attorneys with strong industry experience and legal background.

The department provides services to private inventors, start-up companies, universities, medical centers, and international corporations.

Contact: Roy S. Melzer, Advocate, Patent Attorney, Email: roy@ipatent.co.il Medical Devices: The department specializes in IP matters in fields such as Medical Devices and Methods, Cleantech, Mechanics, Bio-Tech & Industrial instrumentation, Medical Imaging and Interdisciplinary fields such as

Bioinformatics and Computational Chemistry. The department also specializes in strategic design of patent portfolios, value-oriented approach to IP decision making, patent mining services for TTOs, managing re-examinations with licensing and litigation at stake and fine-tuning patents and patent applications for specific needs.

Contact: Maier Fenster, Patent Attorney, US Patent Agent Email: maier@ipatent.co.il Litigation Support: Headed by Dr. Paul Fenster, who has over 20 years’ experience in this area, this department deals with cases which involve actual or potential litigation or which involve due diligence or analysis of patents or patent portfolios during acquisition or investment. The firm advises clients on preparing for litigation and help clients to find suitable representation overseas. The firm continues to be involved in the technical and interface aspects of these litigations remaining deeply involved in these cases during their entire lifetime. The firm has a major part in cases of this type in the US, the EPO, the UK, Germany, Japan, China and Singapore. The firm also represents clients in discussions with foreign patent holders who assert their patents against our clients.

Contact: DR Paul Fenster, Patent Attorney Email: paulf@ipatent.co.il Trademarks, Design Patents: The firm provides trademark availability and infringement analysis, advising clients on practical ways to enhance protection of their IP rights by searching and clearing proposed trademarks, obtaining local and foreign trademark registrations, complex prosecution of 3D trademarks and slogans, trademark oppositions, rival proceedings and cancellation actions before the Israeli Trademark Office. Clients range from individuals and start-ups to large Israeli and foreign companies. Example of foreign clients includes Giorgio Armani, Nintendo, Real Madrid, Ulker, Re/Max International.

Contact: Yoel Sztybel, Advocate, Email: yoel@ipatent.co.il

Contact Details: G.E. Ehrlich (1995) LTD., The Rogovin-Tidhar Tower, 15th Floor, 11 Menachem Begin Road, 5268104 Ramat-Gan, Israel Tel: +972-73-7919199 | Fax: +972-73-7919100 | www.ipatent.co.il | patents@ipatent.co.il

Corporate Tax Law Firm of the Year - USA At Fredrikson & Byron, we’ve built a reputation as the firm “where law and business meet” by bringing business acumen and entrepreneurial thinking to our work with clients, and by operating as business advisors and strategic partners as well as legal counselors.

A proactive, problem-solving mindset runs throughout our service areas, from our traditional legal areas of support like litigation, real estate, and intellectual property to our more consultative practices like government relations and health care consulting. It’s a mindset that enables us to understand and keep client objectives firmly in mind, and to anticipate and address problems before they arise.

Our lawyers blend a common sense approach with in-the-field experience, and we utilize our firm’s strong reputation and our lawyers’ broad networks of business and industry contacts to get things done for clients.

Clients have relied on us since 1948 for great solutions that help them minimize legal risks and maximize business benefits. We look forward to an opportunity to show you what it is like where law and business meet.

Tom Wilhelmy has practiced Property Tax and Real Estate Law since 1978 and has been an MSBA Board Certified Specialist in Real Property Law since the inception of that designation.

Practice Areas: Property Tax Appeals Tax Disputes & Resolution Real Estate Litigation Real Estate Litigation Contact Details: 200 South Sixth Street Suite 4000 Minneapolis, MN 55402-1425 Phone: 612.492.7000 Email: twilhelmy@fredlaw.com Office: 612.492.7058

M&A Law Firm of the Year – India Fortitude Law Associates is a full-service law firm where lawyers from diverse backgrounds have integrated their intellectual capital to provide clients with well-rounded and effective legal advice.

The firm focuses on representing clients having business interests in India on all aspects of Indian laws and regulations affecting their industries and specializes in strategic legal and regulatory advice coupled with industry expertise in an integrated manner. Fortitude Law Associates focuses on niche areas in which the firm provides significant value and is invariably involved in select highly complex, innovative transactions.

Mr. Mahajan has been ranked as a leading practitioner in the Corporate (Merger & Acquisition) area

by Chambers Asia, 2009. He was recognized as regulatory counsel in the Telecommunications, Information Technology and Media Industries, Who’s Who Legal, 2007, 2008 and 2009; as well as being noted as a Communications and Financial Services specialist, Legal 500, 2008. Mr. Mahajan's practice focuses on the corporate and commercial laws of India with emphasis on cross-border transactions. Mr. Mahajan advises on mergers and acquisitions, securities laws, financing laws, telecommunications and IT regulations, investment regulations, entry strategies for multinationals and general advice on corporate and commercial laws. Mr. Mahajan has negotiated and advised on multi-jurisdictional joint-venture and shareholder agreements, technology transfer agreements, financing documents, investment agreements, corporate due diligence matters, assisted on public tender offers, and advised on corporate and commercial laws. He has also represented companies in various industries, including aviation, banking, entertainment media, software technology, satellite, telecommunications, textiles and venture capital funds.

Mr. Mahajan is admitted with the Bar Council of India and New York Bar Association as a Legal Consultant.

Fortitude Law Associates has strong relationships with various international law firms – which has enabled Fortitude Law Associates’ to provide legal counsel carefully nurtured to their clients’ global requirements and because of which Fortitude Law Associates, today has key clients which include marquee repeat Fortune 500 clientele, of which more than 60% are US corporations.

Contact Details: Rahul Mahajan RMahajan@fortitude-law.com Phone: 0203 667 3775

FOR ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT: ADMIN@WFAAMAG.CO.UK

WWW.WFAAMAG.CO.UK