CARTER, LEDYARD & MILBURN ELECTS TWO PARTNERS

-Firm Commits to Growing Intellectual Property and Financial Services Groups-

NEW YORK, January 28, 2002 - Wall Street law firm Carter, Ledyard & Milburn announced today that Rose Auslander and Andris J. Vizbaras have been elected partners of the firm effective January 1, 2002.

"We are very pleased to have elected Rose Auslander and Andris Vizbaras as partners of our firm," said Robert A. McTamaney, partner and chairman of the Corporate Practice Group at Carter, Ledyard. "This strengthens our commitment to growing our intellectual property and our financial institutions practice groups. Both attorneys are wonderful assets, and we look forward to their continuing success in their respective practice areas."

Rose Auslander
Intellectual Property

Since joining Carter, Ledyard as counsel in the fall of 2000, Rose Auslander successfully defended Sixty, Inc. and Seize S.A. from claims that their watch design infringed and diluted TechnoMarine's TechnoDiamond watch; she represented Cosmos European Travels AG in its successful arbitration for the domain name cosmos.com and continues to represent Cosmos in the appeal of that decision; and she represented TT Sounds Good AB in its trial against Tommy Lee, MCA Records, Inc. and Universal Music & Video Distribution, Inc. over the trademark Methods of Mayhem, which was amicably resolved.

Ms. Auslander was a member of the team that successfully defended Jim Henson Productions against Hormel Food Corporation's well-publicized claim that SPA'AM, a wild boar MUPPET in the movie Muppet Treasure Island, tarnished Hormel's mark SPAM. In addition to defending SPA'AM, Ms. Auslander has represented record label, television, publishing, fashion, financial service, Internet-related, and consumer product clients in a variety of unfair competition, trademark, trade dress and copyright disputes. Among her successes is a victory in a case of first impression on surname marks in the Second Circuit, Lane Capital Management, Inc.

Ms. Auslander's achievements also extend to the negotiation of numerous copyright and trademark transactions. Notably, she negotiated a co-existence agreement between a major record label and Seattle's Frank Gehri-designed Experience Music Project museum, which is backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen - achieving agreement in principle in time for the museum's nationally-publicized June 2000 opening. She also represented Internet-related client Webfaze, Inc. in its acquisition of the domain name webphase.com. Before joining Carter, Ledyard, Ms. Auslander was a litigation associate for six years at the top-ranked intellectual property boutique Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu, and was a litigation associate for two years at the firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Ms. Auslander received her J.D., magna cum laude, in 1992 from New York University School of Law, where she was articles editor of New York University Law Review. She received her B.A., magna cum laude, in 1989 from City University of New York. She is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and a member of the Committee on Intellectual Property at the American Bar Association. Ms. Auslander, 46, resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Andris J. Vizbaras
Investment Management

Andris Vizbaras advises and represents broker-dealers on their initial applications and ongoing compliance issues, buyers and sellers in mergers, acquisitions and tender offers, and issuers on their private placements and public offerings. He also counsels hedge fund managers on all aspects of launching hedge funds and forming and building their investment management businesses. He helped Jay Higgins, Craig Coats and Bob Doto, formerly senior officers of Salomon Brothers, to form and register new broker-dealer and investment advisory firms, and he recently helped Bowater Incorporated to raise $600 million through an offering of debt securities.

He previously was counsel at Carter, Ledyard. Mr. Vizbaras, 39, received his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1989, where he was a member of the Moot Court Board, and his B.A. from Washington University in 1983. He is a member of the New York Bar and of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP (www.clm.com), established in 1854, has approximately 104 attorneys and has been headquartered on Wall Street since its founding and has additional offices in midtown Manhattan and Washington, DC. Carter Ledyard's general practice includes corporate, securities, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, litigation, intellectual property, environmental, employment, media and technology, immigration, investment regulation, antitrust, trusts and estates, maritime, ERISA, exempt organizations, real estate, tax and bankruptcy. A significant part of the firm's practice involves representing overseas-based clients and their U.S. affiliates, financial institutions and other financial services providers, governmental entities and media and technology clients.