Morgan Lewis Continues California Expansion — Hires Michael J. Lawson, Another Nationally Known Trial Lawyer

San Francisco, June 13, 2005 — Morgan Lewis announced that Michael J. Lawson, an experienced, highly regarded trial lawyer whose clients include many leading Wall Street firms, has joined the national Litigation Practice and will be resident in the firm's San Francisco office. Mr. Lawson, a former shareholder in the Litigation Group at Steefel, Levitt & Weiss who also served as that firm's managing partner and a member of its board of directors, brings his considerable skill to Morgan Lewis' growing Litigation Practice.

"Michael's experience with litigation and regulatory matters brings additional strength to Morgan Lewis' sweet spots, and represents another exciting development in the expansion of our West Coast litigation capacity," said Brock Gowdy, managing partner of Morgan Lewis' San Francisco office. "We continue to catch the attention of high-profile attorneys who are attracted to the fact that our firm has more than 600 lawyers skilled in every litigation specialty. Michael joins some of the country's best litigators handling numerous and substantial issues for our clients."

Mr. Lawson's commercial litigation practice focuses on the representation of securities brokerage firms and financial services companies in all aspects of securities litigation and arbitration and in management-side employment law. Many of his clients are already represented by Morgan Lewis in other matters, and his presence will add significant depth to their representation.

Mr. Lawson has been a judge pro tem in San Francisco Municipal Court and a judicial arbitrator in the San Francisco Superior and Municipal Courts. He is also a frequent author and lecturer for the Practising Law Institute and other law symposiums, including annual employment law programs sponsored by the California Continuing Education of the Bar, in the fields of trial practice, securities litigation, broker-dealer regulation, and employment and discrimination.

Mr. Lawson received his B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, from Stanford University in 1972 and his J.D. from the University of California, Boalt Hall School of Law in 1975, where he was named to the Order of the Coif.  While at Boalt, he was a member of the California Law Review. Mr. Lawson is a member of the Board of Arbitrators, National Association of Securities Dealers and the Securities Industry Association, Legal Compliance Division.

About Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

Morgan Lewis is a global law firm with 1,200 lawyers in 19 offices located in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Chicago, Palo Alto, Dallas, Harrisburg, Irvine, Boston, London, Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt and Tokyo. For more information about Morgan Lewis, please visit www.morganlewis.com.