April 28, 2004

Blackwell Igbanugo P.A. Expands Nationally:

Opens New Offices in Troy, Michigan, and Washington, D.C.

MINNEAPOLIS, TROY, AND WASHINGTON, D.C., April 28, 2004 - Jerry W. Blackwell, founder and president of Blackwell Igbanugo P.A. announced today the Minneapolis-based law firm is expanding nationally with the opening of two offices - one in Troy, Michigan and the other in Washington, D.C. Founded in May 2000, Blackwell Igbanugo P.A. is one the most diverse firms in the country and with this expansion it becomes one of the nation's largest institutional law firms founded and owned by African-American attorneys.

Blackwell Igbanugo represents numerous Fortune 500 companies as national counsel, with its attorneys handling matters in all 50 states, Europe, Japan and sub-Saharan Africa, and offers client services in several different languages. The expansion allows the firm to better serve existing clients and is a platform for creating new regional and national strategic relationships.

Jacqueline Sellers leads the new Troy, Michigan office and Werten Bellamy, Jr. anchors the firm's new offices in Washington, D.C. Both bring national reputations to their new firm. "We get approached fairly regularly by interested attorney candidates," said Blackwell, "because we serve as national counsel for a wide range of major corporate clients and because of our unique diversity among firms representing these corporations. However, when we were approached by these two highly regarded and accomplished attorneys, we recognized instantly the perfect complement to our own vision of institution building around Fortune 500 clients and core competencies. Their collective practice areas, strong institutional roots and philosophies complement us very well. We now expect to be able to provide our clients with an even greater cross-sector expertise."

Sellers, formerly of Lewis & Munday, brings more than ten years of national counsel experience to Blackwell Igbanugo P.A.. She will chair the firm's Warranty Litigation Practice Group, overseeing product-related claims spanning the country. The Troy office will focus upon the firm's core practice areas, including a wide range of litigation and arbitration, corporate immigration, and intellectual property. Sellers will lead a group of 19 attorneys and staff.

"This was the perfect opportunity for me," said Sellers. "The substantial litigation orientation of the firm dovetails in all the right ways with the present focus and future development of my practice. I thought long and hard before I made this decision, but I am confident that it was the right one."

Werten F. W. Bellamy, Jr. will anchor the Washington, D.C. office. Bellamy, most recently with Lewis & Munday, is the former Group Counsel of Celera Genomics Group and former Division Counsel at Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals. "Blackwell Igbanugo P.A.'s vision for a national presence representing institutional clients and its solid corporate client base - particularly in complex commercial litigation - is very exciting," says Bellamy. "The opportunities for cross-marketing and developing the firm in dynamic practice areas are tremendous."

The Washington D.C. office will add a new component to Blackwell Igbanugo P.A.'s practice areas, handling complex transactional and corporate matters for institutional clients, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and corporate finance matters. Bellamy will also expand the firm's intellectual property practice, adding technology licensing and counseling to the firm's service areas. The Washington group will include 6 attorneys and staff.

With the addition of the Troy and Washington offices, Blackwell Igbanugo P.A. has a current staff of almost 70.