Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP Expands Corporate Practice With Addition of Brobeck Business & Technology Partners Richard H. Gilden, Ernest S. Wechsler and Associates

New York, March 6, 2003 – Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP today announced that Richard H. Gilden and Ernest S. Wechsler have joined as partners in the Corporate Department, focusing on business and technology. Mr. Gilden had been managing partner in the New York office of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP, where Mr. Wechsler was also a partner. John Bessonette and Michelle Lung, two Brobeck corporate associates who worked closely with Messrs. Gilden and Wechsler, have also joined Kramer Levin.

“Rich Gilden and Ernie Wechsler’s breadth of knowledge and experience with companies in the technology sector will enhance the depth of our corporate practice,” said Kramer Levin Managing Partner Paul Pearlman. “In addition to strong individual track records, they have a long and successful collaborative history that began when they practiced together at Fulbright & Jaworski and carried over through their Brobeck years. We are pleased to welcome them and their group to Kramer Levin.”

Mr. Gilden has a significant international practice, concentrating on representing foreign technology companies raising capital in the United States and U.S. companies in international joint ventures, with an emphasis on Israel-based companies whose shares are traded in the United States. His extensive experience in corporate and securities law includes an emphasis on public equity offerings and mergers and acquisitions transactions.

Formerly a senior partner with Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP; and a partner with Gelberg & Abrams and Rosenman & Colin, Mr. Gilden is a graduate of Cornell Law School, where he was managing editor of The Cornell Law Review. He received his B.A. degree, cum laude, from Lafayette College.

Mr. Wechsler represents technology companies, particularly in the computer software, telecommunications hardware and software, and Internet and information technology industries. He focuses on public and private offerings of debt and equity, venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, and general business law matters, for both domestic and international clients. Together with Mr. Gilden, he has an active practice representing Israel-related companies.

Mr. Wechsler was previously a partner with Fulbright & Jaworski, and had been an associate with the firm now known as Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman. He received his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and his B.S. degree, magna cum laude, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.