November 16, 2004 (Los Angeles, CA) – Proskauer Rose LLP, a leading law firm with over 600 lawyers in the U.S. and Europe, announced that Neil Cummings has joined the firm's Los Angeles office as a partner and head of the office's lending and mezzanine finance practice. Mr. Cummings was formerly a partner in the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins.

The arrival of Mr. Cummings comes on the heels of the addition of Michael Woronoff, a former partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and principal at Shelter Capital Partners, who leads Proskauer's Los Angeles-based corporate and securities practice.

Martin Zohn, head of the Los Angeles office, said: "This is the next step in building one of the leading corporate transactional practices in the country. Adding Neil and Michael to our existing highly respected transactional practice elevates us to a preeminent position as a national leader in the most sophisticated corporate transactions. Neil is also a significant addition to the firm's rapidly growing national leveraged finance practice."

Mr. Cummings has substantial experience representing domestic and foreign investment banks, commercial banks, leveraged buy-out funds and mezzanine investment funds in senior debt, subordinated debt, mezzanine, bridge loan and second lien financings, as well as in debt restructurings. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto, where he received his LLM, and of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, where he received his LLB. He is a resident of Los Angeles.

Mr. Zohn continued, "This is the latest in a series of major lateral hires we've made in Los Angeles since 2000 that have significantly grown our litigation, labor, and corporate capabilities."

Since 2000, Proskauer Rose's Los Angeles office has expanded from 43 attorneys, 14 of whom were partners, to 58 attorneys, 22 of them partners. The growth of the office has included the addition of several top tier litigation attorneys, including two who have argued before the United States Supreme Court, and the expansion of the firm's preeminent labor and employment department. Proskauer also has increased its geographic footprint in the United States with the opening of two new offices in 2004 in Boston and New Orleans.