Partners

Sunoco Inc., the oil refiner and marketer that is being acquired by Energy Transfer Partners L.P. for $5.3 billion, was courted by a second company that wanted to shut down Sunoco's refineries and to relocate "substantial operations" from Philadelphia. In a registration statement filed last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Sunoco and ETP disclosed the intense two-month courtship they underwent, starting on Feb. 28, when the Texas pipeline company first suggested a merger, until April 30, when the marriage was announced.

Pepper Hamilton L.L.P. announced that Thomas J. Cole, a partner in the labor and employment group, has been appointed managing partner of the firm, effective Jan. 1, 2013. Robert Heideck, the managing partner of the firm for almost 10 years, will step down then and return to full-time law practice. Cole will focus on the firm's legal practices and operations and will report to CEO Scott Green. The firm made headlines earlier this year when it named Green, a non-lawyer, as head of the firm.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is in talks to build an outpost in San Antonio, Texas, in partnership with publicly traded Vanguard Health Systems Inc., a Tennessee company that owns the Baptist Health System in that city. Children's spokesman George V. Bochanski Jr. confirmed the discussions Monday. "We think it presents a good opportunity as part of the long-term planning at CHOP to expand our services," Bochanski said. He declined to provide details because talks were continuing.

In another sign of the growing importance of overseas business to Philadelphia law firms, Dechert L.L.P. said Wednesday that it is adding a large team of lawyers in London, Dubai and the Republic of Georgia to bolster the firm's capital-markets and energy-related practices in the Middle East and Central Asia, among other places. In all, about 25 lawyers are expected to join the firm over the next several weeks, said Dechert CEO Daniel O'Donnell. The leading edge of the group is made up of four partners in London and Dubai, and one in Tbilisi, Georgia.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan security forces shot and killed three international troops Monday, one of them an American, in two attacks. They were the latest in a rising number of attacks in which Afghan forces have turned their weapons on their foreign partners. The killings reflect a spike in tensions between Afghan and international forces that follow an American soldier's alleged massacre of Afghan civilians, the burning of Muslim holy books at a U.S. base, and uncertainty about Afghanistan's fate as foreign troops prepare to pull out. They also come at a time when international troops have stepped up training and mentoring of Afghan soldiers, police, and government workers so that Afghans can take the lead and the foreign forces can go home.

WXPN, the area's preeminent alternative radio station, and the Philadelphia Film Society, producers of the annual Philadelphia Film Festival, are partnering for the XPN Music Film Festival, April 26-29, with most programs playing at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. The movie titles in the Music Film Fest, a kind of expanded spin-off of the PFF's "Sight and Soundtrack" program, are being programmed by the PFF's Michael Lerman. Although opening- and closing-night titles have yet to be announced, the early lineup offers an eclectic mix of rock docs, fiction films, concert flicks, and a feature about Gustav Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony.

Training sessions at Health Partners of Philadelphia Inc. often include a brief, emotional video to instill a customer-centered service mentality at the nonprofit that provides government-paid health insurance for 160,000 people, mostly in Philadelphia. One such true-life video shows how a college senior hits her first home run, then blows out her right knee, leaving her unable to round the bases. Rules prohibited teammates from helping. Two players from the opposing softball team, moved to do what they called "the right thing," picked up their injured opponent and carried her around the bases, allowing her to touch them with her left foot, preserving her home run - and costing their team a win. For William S. George, 60, Health Partners' president and chief executive, that story, which in his words, "tugs at the heartstrings," is an example of doing the right thing no matter what it costs.

Putin a safe, predictable partner Trudy Rubin is correct that the "reset" of U.S.-Russian relations depends less on rational factors and more on what is going on in the mind of Vladimir Putin ("U.S. will have struggle with hostile Putin," Sunday), only if one believes that his actions are not rational. What many analysts see in Putin is the embodiment of what they dislike: a patriotic leader who believes in, and upholds, the right of sovereign nations to be in charge of their affairs within their borders.

DAYTON, Ohio - Every pass is a risk. Every basket is an accomplishment. The scoreboard doesn't change very much and may not make it up to 50 until late in the game. South Florida is bringing its own brand of ugliness to the NCAA tournament. The Bulls (20-13) got to the First Four because of their ability to make a basket the ultimate challenge. They set a Big East record by allowing only 56.9 points per game this season, reducing high-flying offenses to 40 minutes of futility.

Men may think their girlfriends or wives want them to read their minds, but a new study finds that what women (and men) want more is for their partners to try to understand. In short, showing you're trying to figure out why a partner is upset is more important than getting it right. This came out of a complicated study of empathy in couples. It was part of a longtime research collaboration between Robert J. Waldinger at Harvard Medical School and Marc S. Schulz, a Bryn Mawr College psychology professor who studied at Harvard.