Hugh Verrier Elected to Lead White & Case

New York, August 6, 2007 ... White & Case LLP has announced that Hugh Verrier has been chosen Chair of the Firm in an election by the partnership.
 
Verrier, 51, is a project finance and banking lawyer, a member of the Firm's eight-member Management Board and executive partner of White & Case's Moscow office.  A New York-qualified lawyer who joined White & Case in 1983, Verrier will relocate to the Firm's New York office before officially assuming his new role.

Verrier will succeed Managing Partner Duane D. Wall as head of the Firm.  Wall has led the Firm since 2000.

As Chair, Verrier will be in charge of a leadership and management team under a new governance arrangement adopted by the Firm this past May.

"White & Case is on the move," Verrier said.  "We are a global firm, and we will continue to grow with the worldwide marketplace to best serve our clients."

Under the Firm's new governance arrangement, Verrier will serve as head of White & Case and lead an Executive Committee consisting of himself and three partners he selects.

In addition, an eight-member Partnership Committee will be elected by the partners with responsibility to serve on the Compensation Committee and the New Partners Committee.

The terms of office for the Chair and the Partnership Committee will be four years.

Managing Partner Duane Wall said: "The challenges facing our firm today are  different from those we faced when I became head of the Firm in 2000, not just because of our significant growth since that time, but also because of the changes in the competitive landscape, the increased complexity in managing client relationships and the many ways technology has changed how we do business.

"By enlarging our management team, and with Hugh Verrier as Chair of the Firm under this new governance arrangement, I believe White & Case will have the hands-on leadership necessary to assure that we continue to provide the very best of our resources and capabilities to our clients," said Wall.

The election process will continue to the next stage to choose the members of the Partnership Committee. The Firm's current leadership, consisting of Wall and an eight-member Management Board, will remain in place until the new leadership is fully in place.

Hugh Verrier
Hugh Verrier is widely recognized as one of the leading international project finance lawyers.  He has led the Moscow office since 1998, building it into an acknowledged market leader in Russia.  He previously worked at White & Case offices in New York, Turkey and Indonesia. Verrier was described in Chambers Global directory as "a wise man and a gifted manager." A Canadian, Verrier received a bachelor of arts degree from Universite de Montreal, his LL.B. from the University of Ottawa, and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School.

About White & Case
White & Case LLP is a leading global law firm with more than 2,000 lawyers in 35 offices in 23 countries. Our clients value the breadth and depth of our US, English and local law capabilities and rely on us for their complex cross-border commercial and financial transactions and for international arbitration and litigation. Whether in established or emerging markets, the hallmark of White & Case is our complete dedication to the business priorities and legal needs of our
clients.

Contacts:
Reilly Starr
Regional Media Relations Manager - Americas
White & Case LLP
1 212 819 8315
rstarr@whitecase.com

James Martin (London)
Media Relations Manager
44 20 7532 2853
jmartin@whitecase.com