Evan Greebel, former lawyer of “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli, was convicted Wednesday by a federal jury of conspiring with his ex-client to defraud investors, reports Newsweek.

Greebel, “who was an outside counsel to Shkreli’s former company, Retrophin Inc, was found guilty of conspiring to commit wire fraud and securities fraud when he helped Shkreli steal $11 million from a pharmaceutical company to pay back investors after the former pharma bro lost their money in risky investments,” writes Christina Zhao.

Prosecutors accused Greebel of conspiring with Shkreli by helping him devise sham settlement and consulting contracts to pay back investors, using Retrophin assets.

Read the Newsweek article.

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Reuters is reporting that General Motors Co. on Thursday won a court ruling that could reduce the private litigation it faces over flawed vehicle ignition switches, which have been linked to 124 deaths and triggered a big recall.

“U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan said the plaintiffs in two bellwether cases, involving accidents where airbags had deployed, could not introduce expert testimony to show how defective ignition switches might have played a role in the crashes,” reports Jonathan Stempel.

The judge in the multi-district litigation ruled that the expert testimony offered by plaintiffs was unreliable, and their opinions “do not pass muster.”

Read the Reuters article.

William W. Graham, a lawyer, investor and philanthropist who was a member of the family that owned and published The Washington Post for many years, died Dec. 20 at his home in Los Angeles, according to The Post. He was 69.

Reporter Matt Schudel writes that the cause was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Graham’s brother, Donald E. Graham, a former Post publisher and chief executive.

“Graham was a lawyer at the prominent Washington firm of Williams & Connolly in the 1970s before settling in Los Angeles, where he taught trial law at his alma mater, the University of California at Los Angeles,” the report says.

Fox News reports that the death was reminiscent of the suicide of Graham’s father more than 50 years ago.

Read the Post‘s article.

A Ninth Circuit ruling on President Trump’s “travel ban” case offers the U.S. Supreme Court a clever way to reject the ban without limiting government power over immigration, writes Garrett Epps for The Atlantic.

The court does not question the statute that the administration relies on as the basis for the travel bans, but it denies that the bans conform to it.

Epps explains that “a travel ban is perfectly possible, and the administration is always free to ask Congress for one. Had it done so in January, Congress might have enacted one by now. The Supreme Court may be concerned that a decision against the government in this case may weaken the nation; the Ninth Circuit opinion suggests a way to avoid doing so—while still rejecting Trump’s demand for personal powers that ‘will not be questioned.’”

Read The Atlantic‘s article.

Bloomberg Law reports that IPhone users have begun racing to courthouses, infuriated by an Apple Inc. software update that slowed down the operation of their smartphones.

U.S. financial regulators said that because the new tax bill could make timely financial reporting difficult, public companies can make reasonable estimates when uncertain of the impact of the new tax law in financial reports, and will have up to a year to report final numbers, Reuters reports.

“The $1.5 trillion tax bill, signed into law on Friday by U.S. President Donald Trump, will significantly affect many companies’ year-end financial statements because listing rules oblige them to flag any potential material risks or changes to their operations and financial outlook to shareholders,” according to the report.

Regulators gave public companies a “measurement period” to study the new law.

Read the Reuters article.

Because of the potentially far-reaching consequences of the FCC’s vote on net neutrality, consumer groups and some state attorneys general have vowed to sue the agency to overturn its decision, writes Brian Fung in an article for The Washington Post.

Some analysts told the reporter that the first suits could be mere weeks away.

“Opponents of the FCC are expected to make two broad categories of arguments, analysts say,” Fung writes. “One thrust is likely to target the FCC’s legal reasoning for undoing the net neutrality rules, and the other will concentrate on the decision-making process that led to the vote, which some critics claim had been ‘corrupted’.”

Read the Post article.

Former lawyer Brian Cuban writes that his 1992 arrest for driving while intoxicated should have been a learning experience, but the only lesson he learned at the time was that it would be better to take cabs to and from his drinking spots.

In a post on Above the Law, Cuban describes the humiliation he felt when he was hauled to a Dallas jail, followed by relief when his case was dismissed because the arresting officer didn’t show up for the trial.

“I high-tailed it out of the courthouse,” he writes. “No thought about how I’d gotten to that point. No thought of being in desperate need of treatment. Just relief that I had dodged a bullet. No hard consequences other than the few grand I gave my lawyer and getting my car out of impoundment.”

But the continuing slide into addiction would carry consequences he didn’t envision.

Read the Above the Law article.

The FBI’s top lawyer, James Baker, is being reassigned — one of the first moves by new director Christopher A. Wray to assemble his own team of senior advisers as he tries to fend off accusations of politicization within the bureau, reports The Washington Post.

Reporters Devlin Barrett, Ellen Nakashima and Carol Leonnig write:

Baker told colleagues he will be taking on other duties at the FBI, according to people familiar with the matter. In recent months, Baker had been caught up in a strange interagency dispute that led to a leak probe and attracted the attention of senior lawmakers, but people familiar with the matter said the probe had recently ended with a decision not to charge anyone. The leak issue had not played a part in Baker’s reassignment, these people said.

The report says Baker was close to former FBI director James B. Comey, who asked Baker to be his general counsel.

Read the Post article.

LawGeex, publisher of “LegalTech Buyer’s Guide,” has published a guide to change management for legal teams: “In-House Counsel’s Guide to Change Management.”

The book delivers the definitive eight-stage process of navigating and reinforcing enduring change. It contains dozens of interviews and real-life experiences from a host of industry leaders, including Pearson, Telstra, Avis Budget Group, NetApp, L’Oreal, Microsoft, Cisco, Google and many more.

The guide includes:

• The secrets of legal change management from Pearson, Telstra, Avis Budget Group, NetApp, L’Oreal, Microsoft, Cisco, Google and many more.
• The definitive eight-stage process of lasting change, including everything from identifying opportunities, to measuring and reinforcing success.
• Dozens of interviews and real life experiences from the world’s leading in-house lawyers and legal experts on navigating lasting change.

Download the guide.

Androvett Legal Media & Marketing has compiled its list of the Top 10 Texas legal news stories for the sixth consecutive year.

“In a year marked by so many changes from Washington, it was a challenge to keep the focus on issues directly related to state-based businesses or stories originating in the Lone Star state,” said Mike Androvett, founder and president of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing. “However, there is never a lack of provocative legal issues in a state as dynamic as Texas, and 2017 was certainly no exception.”

The complete Top 10 Texas Legal Stories of 2017 list can be found on the Androvett blog.

Highlights include:

· Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg came to North Texas to testify in an intellectual property case involving Oculus VR technology. Though the company was found liable on some counts, the jury awarded plaintiff ZeniMax Media a fraction of the $6 billion it had sought.
· Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones backed star running back Ezekiel Elliott through the protracted appeals process of his six-game NFL suspension, and then went to battle against the rest of the league over the proposed extension of the league commissioner’s contract. Neither case went Jones’ way.
· After more than a decade under federal investigation, Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price finally got his day in court – and walked out a free man.
· Massive rains related to Hurricane Harvey led the Army Corps of Engineers to release water from Houston reservoirs to protect dams. But it resulted in the flooding of hundreds of homes, leading to what is projected to be some of the most complex and costly litigation in history. The storm also literally swamped the Harris County criminal courts, as offices and courtrooms were left under water.

Bankruptcy attorney Michelle Vonsenden Larson has joined the Dallas office of Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, LLP, as an insolvency and reorganization practice partner.

“Michelle is an exceptional addition to our firm,” said Carrington Coleman Managing Partner Bruce Collins. “She brings significant experience in complex, sophisticated bankruptcy matters that will greatly benefit our clients.”

In a release, the firm said Larson represents a diverse range of clients, including financial, energy, real estate, insurance and sports entities, in complex commercial bankruptcy and restructuring matters nationwide. Larson also frequently serves as outside general counsel offering guidance on general corporate and transactional matters. In addition, she represents bankruptcy clients before appellate courts across the country, as well as before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Her practice includes:
· Insolvency & reorganization
· Accounting & receiverships
· Acquisitions & dispositions
· Liquidation
· Secured finance
· Commercial transactions and disputes

A 1996 magna cum laude graduate of Loyola University School of Law and the valedictorian of the 1992 Nicholls State University graduating class, Larson joins Carrington Coleman from the Dallas office of Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP. She previously practiced at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. She is also licensed as a Certified Public Accountant (Louisiana 1992).

Also joining the firm’s Dallas office are three associates:

Lance Henderson’s practice focuses on litigation and intellectual property law. He is a 2014 graduate of The University of Texas School of Law.

Evan Kirkham is an associate in the firm’s securities and director and officer practice group. He is a 2017 cum laude graduate of the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.

Derrick Ward’s practice focuses on employment litigation and insurance coverage, and also includes appellate work. He is a 2014 graduate of The University of Texas School of Law.

Freeborn & Peters LLP announced that attorneys James “Jim” F. Hendricks Jr. and Michael P. MacHarg have joined the firm as partners in its Litigation Practice Group. Both attorneys focus on employment counseling and litigation.

“Freeborn has been concentrating on expanding key practice areas by welcoming top-level talent,” said Rachel Atterberry, who leads the firm’s employment practice within its Litigation Practice Group. “Employment law is one of our areas of focus, and we are thrilled to have a deep bench of experience that Jim and Michael complement so well.”

Hendricks and MacHarg most recently were partners at SmithAmundsen LLC in Chicago.

In a release, the firm said:

Hendricks represents employers in union campaigns and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) charges, as well as collective bargaining, discrimination and human resource issues. His clients work within a number of industries, including automotive, construction, hospitality, manufacturing and healthcare. He assists operations and human resource executives on a variety of issues regarding the development and implementation of employment policies and procedures. He also counsels employers facing labor and employment issues that arise in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, and personnel transactions, and he advises on preventive labor and employment strategies and training. Throughout his career, Hendricks has handled more than 300 union representation campaigns across the nation. He has represented single employers and hundreds of companies in multi-employer negotiations covering thousands of employees, and filed appearances in more than 300 cases where a union election was being conducted by the NLRB. He also has successfully negotiated first contracts after certification.

Hendricks received his J.D. from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. He also holds a Master of Science from Loyola University Chicago and a Bachelor of Science from Indiana University.

MacHarg assists clients in union avoidance, collective bargaining, contract administration, unfair labor practices, grievance and arbitration, wage and hour issues, and discrimination. He represents clients in various industries, including government contractors, security, commercial laundry, manufacturing, energy, telecommunications, retail, automotive and healthcare. In more than 20 years of practicing law, MacHarg has successfully represented employers in dozens of union organizing campaigns. He has worked on more than 1,000 unfair labor practice investigations and has successfully tried many unfair labor practices cases, including defending employers against government efforts seeking injunctive relief in federal court. His experience involves vacating arbitration awards, complex and class action wage-hour matters, pension collection cases, and injunctions against picketing in Section 301 cases. He also litigates cases involving ERISA, the Railway Labor Act and unfair competition cases.

MacHarg earned his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law and his Bachelor of Business Studies from Loyola University in Chicago.

NAVEX Global has compiled an e-book that presents predictions about the top trends and events that will impact ethics and compliance programs in 2018 — along with recommendations for compliance.

The book can be downloaded from the NAVEX site at no charge.

“Business, societal and political events transpired this past year at a pace that left many with a fractured view of the ethics & compliance industry and its expectations,” the company says on its website. “The experts at NAVEX Global and its thought-leadership network discuss these challenges and opportunities based on their experiences with over 12,000 clients to provide well-informed predictions on what’s to come in 2018.”

The e-book covers:

• The top trends and events that will impact your ethics and compliance program in 2018
• How increased awareness and reporting of sexual harassment will affect your program
• The evolving role of the ethics & compliance officer
• How to create a culture of compliance

Download the e-book.

What started seven years ago as a whistleblower lawsuit filed by two Charlotte-area doctors ended Tuesday with two emergency room physicians groups paying federal and state governments more than $33 million to avoid going to court, according to a report by The Charlotte Observer.

“The payments cap off longstanding allegations of a vast medical-fraud conspiracy between a major hospital chain and the physicians groups that bilked federal and state healthcare programs in North Carolina and five other states out of millions of dollars,” writes Michael Gordon.

He explains that prosecutors allege that EmCare physicians took kickbacks and other inducements from Health Management Associates, a now defunct chain of acute-care hospitals, to recommend that their patients be admitted to HMA hospitals rather than receive outpatient care. Then the doctors would order expensive and unnecessary tests, resulting in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to the hospitals.

Read the Observer article.

The Hill reports that the National Labor Relations Board is delivering a flurry of wins to businesses now that it has a Republican majority under President Trump.

In recent days, the independent board tasked with enforcing fair labor practices and collective bargaining rights overruled three Obama-era rules in a series of 3-2 rulings, writes reporter Lydia Wheeler.

One of the rules, which employers had opposed for years, was a controversial NLRB decision that changed the definition of a joint-employer. That rule could have put employers on the hook for labor law violations committed by their subcontractors in some cases.

Read The Hill article.

Flamboyant lawyer Richard Luthmann may fancy himself a champion of the little guy, but federal prosecutors say he is little more than a “violent criminal and fraudster” who bilked customers in a scrap-metal, had a victim threatened at gunpoint, and took advantage of a blind client in a bid to hide the scheme, reports SIlive.com.

The FBI arrested the Staten Island lawyer on a slew of charges, including kidnapping, kidnapping conspiracy, money laundering, brandishing a firearm to commit a crime, aggravated identity theft and extortion conspiracy.

Vice reports that Luthman is “facing federal charges for allegedly running a fake scrap metal empire that involved setting up a blind man as the fall guy and extorting people at gunpoint. In fact, according to the 11-count indictment in that case, the bow-tie-wearing Luthmann may prove to be one of the most colorful—and dangerous—criminals in recent New York City lore.”

Read reports on the case:

SIlive.com

Vice

New York Post

In a 2018 client advisory released in conjunction with Hildebrandt Consulting, Citi analysts said they expect modest growth in law firm revenues and profits-per-equity partner, reports Bloomberg Big Law Business.

Reporter Stephanie Russell-Kraft writes that the analysts expect high variability in individual firm performance to continue to drive consolidation.

“In 2017, Citi analysts found that law firm revenue was driven primarily by rate growth rather than a growth in demand for services,” Russell-Kraft writes. “And yet, despite this slight decline in demand, firms added to their headcount at a 1.7 percent pace, driving lawyer productivity down 0.6 percent.”

Read the Bloomberg article.

With a new year starting soon, now is a good time to consider the legal marketing opportunities through 2018, advises Bruce Vincent of Muse Communications.

“These upcoming events represent excellent fodder for blog posts, news releases, client alerts, media pitches and other methods to highlight your insights, ability and successful work for clients,” he explains in a post on his agency’s website.

The article outlines marketing opportunities keyed to calendar events throughout the year, starting with January, for “tax lawyers who can spotlight new regulations in their clients’ industries, to sports lawyers who know the compensation issues for college and professional athletes, to family law attorneys whose clients may face new child support rules.”

Other opportunities to publicize a lawyer’s expertise could include weather events in the spring, completion of the Supreme Court’s term, summer activities that result in litigation, the start of school in August, new sports seasons, legislative activities, and more.

Read the article.

When entering into licenses for commercially available, off-the-shelf software products, it is common to use the “vendor’s paper” for contracting, according to a post on Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP’s Tech & Sourcing blog.

“Using the vendor’s paper does not mean that the contract shouldn’t be reviewed and negotiated to ensure that key issues are addressed,” point out Barbara Murphy and Eric J. Pennesi.

In part 1 of the article, they discuss license types, use within the enterprise and by third parties, divestitures and acquisitions, nonproduction use, the right to relocate or change users, use outside the United States, the obligation to support, rights to successor products, payments and escalators for renewal terms.

A link on the article takes the reader to part 2 of the discussion.

Read the article.