Head Start: Hillary raised $26 million in the first quarter of ’07, almost three times the amount that any candidate has raised at this point in a presidential election. John Edwards also topped previous records reporting at least $14 million for the first three months of the year.
Hat Toss: Former Wisconsin governor and more importantly (to us) Akin Gump partner Tommy G. Thompson threw his hat into the ring for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.
Trade War?: In what could be a boon to trade lawyers around town, the Commerce Department reversed two decades of trade policy and agreed to apply duties to imports of glossy paper from China on the grounds that China is illegally subsidizing its production. The case could open the floodgates for a wide range of industries ranging from steel to furniture to textiles to file similar cases requesting import duties to counteract Chinese subsidies. Meanwhile, in a sign of escalating trade tensions between the two countries, Beijing swiftly called on the Bush administration to reverse the decision. (For some background see this recent Legal Times article).
Eastward Expansion: And talking about China, Baker Botts becomes the latest in a long list of U.S. firms to open a Beijing office. The Texas-based firm, which has had a Hong Kong outpost since 2005, sees the potential for a bonanza of energy-related work as China develops its natural resources.
South of the Border: International behemoth DLA Piper launched a Latin American initiative to establish a network of "best-friends" firms in the Americas. The 3,200-lawyer firm felt like it had a “gaping hole” in Latin America despite its 62 offices worldwide.
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