Litigators Fritz Zimmer and Brenda Buonaiuto Join King & Spalding

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - April 2, 2008) - Completing the second phase of its expansion into California six weeks after establishing a Silicon Valley office in Redwood Shores, King & Spalding, a leading international law firm, announced today that it has opened an office in San Francisco. Joining the firm there are experienced product liability litigators Donald F. (Fritz) Zimmer, Jr., and Brenda Buonaiuto, who will anchor King & Spalding's product liability and toxic tort practice in California.

"The opening of an office in San Francisco is the latest in a series of new offices that are part of our strategic plan to grow core practices and follows openings since January 2007 in Frankfurt, Charlotte, Riyadh, Dubai and Silicon Valley," said Robert D. Hays, Jr., chairman of King & Spalding. "Fritz and Brenda are skilled, experienced trial lawyers, and their addition will help us serve our large roster of California-based clients and other clients who do business in the state and beyond."

Zimmer, a seasoned litigator with 25 years of experience, focuses primarily on pharmaceutical and medical device product liability litigation and also handles toxic tort, commercial and employment litigation cases. He joins King & Spalding from Drinker Biddle, where he was a partner and vice chairman of the products liability and mass tort practice group. Zimmer is a graduate of the University of California at Riverside and received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

"I have worked with King & Spalding litigators representing mutual clients for more than 10 years. I am excited to be joining this nationally recognized tort litigation practice, which offers a rare combination of big firm litigation resources and deep trial experience," Zimmer said.

King & Spalding's product liability and toxic tort practice has been recognized as one of the best in the United States by The American Lawyer, which has ranked the firm as one of the top three product liability practices in the nation; Chambers USA, which has chosen the firm as a national tier-one product liability practice; and The National Law Journal, which has named King & Spalding as one of the top defense firms in the nation for two consecutive years, one of only three firms to be named those consecutive years.

Buonaiuto, who was a partner at Drinker Biddle, represents pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in product liability and other personal injury litigation. She has defended clients in mass tort litigation for pharmaceutical products, breast implants, intravenous immunoglobulin, orthopedic implants, surgical sutures and other products. She is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Connecticut and earned her J.D. cum laude from Santa Clara University School of Law.

Joining Zimmer and Buonaiuto in the San Francisco office at 4 Embarcadero Center is Elaine H. Tseng of King & Spalding's FDA/healthcare practice. Tseng has been providing an "on the ground" presence in California since May 2006.

Courtland L. Reichman, King & Spalding's intellectual property practice group leader, who is relocating to California from the firm's Atlanta office to become the managing partner of the Silicon Valley and San Francisco offices, said, "We are looking forward to working with Fritz and Brenda to build our California offices. Their practices complement the firm's strength in the life sciences area, which is a critical part of our long-term plan for growth in California."

King & Spalding's California offices will focus initially on the firm's strengths in intellectual property, FDA/healthcare, product liability and toxic tort, private equity, real estate capital markets, government and internal investigations, business litigation and energy.

The Silicon Valley and San Francisco openings represent King & Spalding's fifth and sixth new offices, respectively, in the past 15 months, and its tenth and eleventh worldwide locations.

About King & Spalding

King & Spalding is an international law firm with more than 800 lawyers in Atlanta, Charlotte, Dubai, Frankfurt, Houston, London, New York, Riyadh (affiliated office), San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. The firm represents half of the Fortune 100 and in a Corporate Counsel survey in September 2007 was among the top firms representing Fortune 250 companies. For additional information, visit www.kslaw.com.

Contact Information: Contact: Les Zuke King & Spalding Ph: (212) 827-4392