MaSSSoftech

Joins Recent Hires from Goldman Sachs, Time Warner, Credit Suisse in IP
Expansion




NEW YORK, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The international law firm of Chadbourne &
Parke LLP announced today that Duane Valz is joining the firm's intellectual
property group as counsel. He was previously with Yahoo! Inc. He will divide
his time between Chadbourne's Los Angeles office and Northern California's
Silicon Valley.

Mr. Valz's practice focuses on patent portfolio development, IP strategy and
complex technology transactions. He also advises on all aspects of IP issues
ranging from litigation, licensing and corporate development matters as well
as on social media and networking, web-content and cloud computing matters and
on issues related to enterprise use and distribution of open source software.

Prior to joining Chadbourne, Mr. Valz spent over three years as VP & Associate
General Counsel, Global Patents at Yahoo! Inc. In that role, he led a team of
legal and engineering professionals responsible for Yahoo's IP needs across
the Internet giant's 20-plus markets around the world. Mr. Valz expects to
continue to provide advice and counsel to Yahoo! while at Chadbourne.

His hiring continues the dramatic expansion of Chadbourne's IP group and
reinforces the Firm's commitment to provide full service and authoritative
counsel to the information technology, digital media and financial services
industries. Mr. Valz, 39, joins the recent, high-profile additions of former
Goldman Sachs' Chief Intellectual Property Counsel John Squires, former Time
Warner Inc. Chief Patent Counsel Chuck Fish and Credit Suisse's Chief Patent
Counsel Ken Johnson.

"With John, Chuck, Ken and now Duane, we have hired four of the premiere IP
attorneys practicing in the private sector to strategically grow the
Chadbourne IP team and support the firm's IP capabilities in our 12 U.S. and
international offices," said Chadbourne Managing Partner Charles K. O'Neill.

Mr. Squires, who co-chairs Chadbourne's IP Group, said, "We are seeing, and in
many ways driving, a transformation in the market for IP legal services, which
places a premium on in-house experience at the practice-head level and on
leading edge expertise in emerging technology and interoperability issues.
In addition, our clients now more than ever are turning to us for advice and
counsel on how to effectively manage IP issues that arise from both the
delivery and receipt of technology and services over the internet and,
increasingly, mobile devices."

"We continue to seek and acquire top-notch talent and have attracted
additional existing and new client work as a result," Mr. Squires added.
"Duane's hiring is a continuation of our strategy. He is a tremendous
addition to our team as we build out the best-in-breed model for serving the
global IP needs of our diverse client base, especially on the West Coast."

Mr. Valz joined Yahoo! in May 2006. During his tenure there, he reinvigorated
the patent function, drastically increasing Yahoo's filings and issued
patents. Mr. Valz also introduced many innovations to the company's
development and positioning of its IP assets, including custom developed
software tools and new appraisal and asset management methodologies. His
efforts resulted in Yahoo! becoming a constituent of the Ocean Tomo 300(R)
Patent Index, and climbing the ranks of the Patent Board's top 35 companies in
the information technology sector.

Mr. Valz also led Yahoo's cross-functional Open Source Working Group. Before
Yahoo!, he worked in legal positions at Quantum Corporation as Director of
Intellectual Property, at NextCard, Inc. as Corporate Counsel and at eBusiness
Design as General Counsel. He also practiced IP law and commercial litigation
at the San Francisco law firm Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin.

"Duane is a tremendous addition to the growing Chadbourne IP team," said
Walter Hanchuk, co-chair of Chadbourne's IP group. "He further expands our
'West Coast-style' technology focus, with a deep understanding and successful
body of work which reflects Wall Street's, Silicon Alley's and Silicon
Valley's changing legal, business and technology needs."

Mr. Valz received a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1993
and a J.D. from Berkeley Law in 1996. He is a highly sought after speaker and
lecturer on law and technology matters. Mr. Valz has presented testimony at
the Federal Trade Commission on the evolving IP marketplace, guest lectures
regularly at U.C. Berkeley's Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, and
has participated in numerous conferences and roundtables on intellectual
property law.

A patented inventor, he has written and spoken about the impact of In re
Bilski on patent eligible subject matter, including amicus curiae filings both
at the Federal Circuit and the proceedings now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Firm has also prepared and filed briefs with the Supreme Court on behalf
of clients on the issue of patent eligible subject matter as well.


About Chadbourne & Parke LLP

Chadbourne & Parke LLP, an international law firm headquartered in New York
City, provides a full range of legal services, including mergers and
acquisitions, securities, project finance, private funds, corporate finance,
energy, communications and technology, commercial and products liability
litigation, securities litigation and regulatory enforcement, special
investigations and litigation, intellectual property, antitrust, domestic and
international tax, insurance and reinsurance, environmental, real estate,
bankruptcy and financial restructuring, employment law and ERISA, trusts and
estates and government contract matters. Major geographical areas of
concentration include Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East and
Latin America. The Firm has offices in New York, Washington, DC, Los Angeles,
Mexico City, London (an affiliated partnership), Moscow, St. Petersburg,
Warsaw, Kyiv, Almaty, Dubai and Beijing. For additional information, visit
www.chadbourne.com.