REED SMITH ADDS MARC LACKNER ASPARTNER

Former Bank of America Associate General Counsel
Joins Financial Industry Group in San Francisco Office

(February 14, 2012, SanFrancisco) – Reed Smith LLP today announced the addition of Marc Lackner as apartner in its Financial Industry Group (FIG) in the firm’s San Franciscooffice.

Mr. Lackner was formerlyan Associate General Counsel in the Legal Department of Bank of America, wherehe managed the Mortgage Litigation Group, providing litigation support for thatinstitution’s Consumer Real Estate and Legacy Asset Servicing Divisions.

“Marc is alreadywell-known and highly regarded at Reed Smith as a result of his collaborationwith several of our attorneys for many years,” said Perry A. Napolitano, Chairof the firm’s Financial Industry Group. “His knowledge and expertise areexceptionally well aligned with the work the FIG currently handles for banks andmortgage companies, as well as for work we expect to be doing in the future forthese financial institutions. We are quite excited that Marc is joining ReedSmith.”

After Bank of America’s2008 acquisition of Countrywide Financial, Mr. Lackner was responsible for theBank’s combined mortgage litigation, which grew to more than 7,000 openlitigation matters, including more than 200 class actions. He alsomanaged the integration of the legacy Countrywide and BofA litigation groups,and participated in the 2008 resolution of Countrywide’s legacy “SalesPractices” attorneys general investigations and enforcement actions, whichresulted in the first significant residential mortgage loan modificationprogram and became the model for HAMP. In addition, Mr. Lackner assistedin the management of legacy Countrywide’s shareholder, MBS securities, and repand warranty litigation, including issues of corporate separateness andsuccessor liability.

When Bank of Americashifted to an enterprise-wide litigation group in 2010 to deal with singleplaintiff consumer litigation, Mr. Lackner managed the group, handling some1,000 of the institution’s mortgage litigation matters, including class andregulatory enforcement actions.

“I am delighted to bejoining Reed Smith, which has an excellent reputation and record,” said Mr.Lackner. “I already enjoy strong relationships with David Powell, MaryHackett and other members of the firm, and am looking forward to working moreclosely with them on the matters that we have already been handling togetherfor many years for BofA, with an eye toward expanding that work to otherbanking institutions.”

Reed Smith’s 220-lawyer Financial Industry Groupis one of the largest practices in the world dedicated to representing clients inthe financial sector. It provides representation in finance, commercialrestructuring and bankruptcy/insolvency, financial services litigation,investment management and funds, financial services regulation, and structuredfinance. The firm has represented banks and financial institutions formore than 130 years, and this strong tradition continues today as it advises amajority of the world’s top financial institutions in the United States,Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Mr. Lackner joined Bank ofAmerica in 1997 as a Senior Counsel, assuming primary responsibility for theBank’s Consumer Real Estate (“CRE”) litigation in 1999. In 2003, hebecame an Associate General Counsel and assumed management of the Bank’sConsumer Products Litigation Group, which provided litigation support toConsumer Products (CRE, Insurance Services, Deposit Products, ATM/Debit ande-Commerce), as well as Card, Consumer Special Assets (subprime real estate,sub-prime auto, auto lease, and manufactured housing), Dealer FinancialServices (indirect auto lending), Vendor Management, Corporate Marketing andCommunications, Tax, and Bank Regulatory. During this period, he alsomanaged the integration of the MBNA litigation group and its litigationportfolio.

From December 2003through March 2004, Mr. Lackner was BofA’s interim Director of Litigation,before resuming management of the Consumer Products Litigation Group. In2004, he served as the Bank’s representative in its successful support of theCalifornia tort reform effort, Prop 64, as a member of the steering committeethat drafted the state-wide initiative language.

Since 2000, Mr. Lacknerhas been the Bank’s primary National Bank Act preemption litigation resourcein-house, including managing its amicus support in Watters v. Wachovia Bank,550 U.S. 1 (2007) and Cuomo v. Clearing House Association, 557 U.S. ___,129 S.Ct. 2710 (2009).

Mr. Lackner joined Bank of America in 1997 after12 years at Steefel, Levitt & Weiss in San Francisco, where he was a memberfrom 1990-1997, and Co-chair/Chair of the Litigation Department from1994-1996. At Steefel, his practice focused on the representation offinancial institutions, including Bank of America. Mr. Lackner’srepresentation of Bank of America began in 1993 with his participation in theBank’s most significant jury trial, a $2.8 billion price-fixing classaction. Although the alleged co-conspirators settled for $55 million,Bank of America refused to settle, resulting in a 10-week jury trial in SanFrancisco Superior Court and a defense verdict, affirmed on appeal.

A 1983 graduate of the University of California,Hastings College of the Law, Mr. Lackner is a member of the Board of SanFrancisco Legal Aid – Employment Law Center.

AboutReed Smith LLP

ReedSmith is a global relationship law firm with nearly 1700 lawyers in 23 officesthroughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Asia andthe Middle East.

OurFinancial Industry Group is comprised of more than 220 lawyers organizedon a cross-border, cross-discipline basis, and dedicated to representingclients involved in the financial sector, advising most of the topfinancial institutions in the world. As well as being authorities in theirareas of law, FIG lawyers have a particular understanding of the financialservices industry sector, enabling the practice to evaluate risks, and toanticipate and identify the legal support needed by clients. Lawyers in thegroup advise on transactional finance covering the full spectrum of financialproducts, litigation, commercial restructuring, bankruptcy, investmentmanagement, consumer compliance and bank regulation, including all aspects ofregulatory issues, such as examinations, enforcement and expansion proposals.For more information, visit reedsmith.com/fig

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