A new study by Above the Law takes a unique approach to ranking the influence and impact of justices of the U.S. Supreme Court by rating them based on the career success of their former clerks.

“Today’s Supreme Court clerks are tomorrow’s Supreme Court justices. They are tomorrow’s attorneys general and United States attorneys.” explains executive editor Elie Mystal. “They are tomorrow’s law professors and corporate GCs. Former Supreme Court clerks are incredibly powerful people in their own right, and they received their final training from a Supreme Court justice.”

The study covers former justices as well as current members of the court. That’s why, for example, Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy and the late Thurgood Marshall score high in the rankings. The study focuses on four categories: the judiciary, Biglaw, academia and government.

Read the Above the Law article.

A California appellate court has given Tokai Intl. Holdings Inc. the go-ahead to proceed with cleanup cost-related malpractice claims against law firm Paul Hastings LLP, according to a Bloomberg Law report.

“The firm allegedly failed to properly advise the Delaware-based company about environmental cleanup costs taken on by a subsidiary when it bought a holding company in 2005. Paul Hastings provided advice during the acquisition,” writes Bloomberg reporter Peter Hayes.

Tokai alleges an agreement in a contract for the purchase of a holding company left it, rather than the seller, with $2 million or more in reimbursed cleanup costs related to contamination at a former manufacturing site in California.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

The ABA Journal reports that a would-be class action suit filed against President Donald Trump alleges he engaged in a scheme to defraud investors by promoting three companies that charged people to sell their products and learn about business opportunities, while failing to disclose the financial risk of the buy-in.

Reporter Debra Cassens Weiss writes that the suit alleges Trump didn’t disclose that he was “lavishly paid” for the endorsements, and instead led consumers to believe that his backing was based on due diligence, inside information and personal experience with the companies.

Defendants include Trump, the Trump Organization and children Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump.

Read the ABA Journal article.

A new study that ranks law schools by the quality of their overall faculty “team” puts New York University at the top of the list, reports Above the Law.

“It’s not an entirely new concept, but where J.B. Heaton’s project ‘Who Fields the Best Team? A (Better) Measure of the Top Ten U.S. Law Schools by Faculty Impact’ differs from prior stabs at this metric is in focusing on faculty excellence across specialties,” explains editor Joe Patrice. “Most law students don’t walk through the door knowing exactly where their career will take them — the law school with the best experts in a number of different specialties provides students with the best foundation for later success.”

Harvard’s law school takes the number 2 slot on the list.

Read the Above the Law article.

Former Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice and Penn State University general counsel Cynthia Baldwin was cleared Friday of any wrongdoing relative to her representation of university officials during the Jerry Sandusky investigation, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

She had been accused by the Pennsylvania Office of Disciplinary Counsel of violating several of the Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys as she represented Penn State, former PSU president Graham Spanier, and two other administrators while she served as university general counsel from 2010 to 2012, writes reporter Paula Reed Ward.

The case included an alleged conflict in representing the interests of the university as well as the three administrators before the investigating grand jury. All three administrators were convicted of child endangerment stemming from a case which resulted in a former university assistant football coach being convicted of sexually abusing children.

Read the Post-Gazette article.

Bloomberg Law is reporting that Foley & Lardner LLP experienced a cybersecurity incident earlier this month, but said there was “no unauthorized access to client data.”

Jill Schachner Chanen, external communications manager at Foley & Lardner, told Bloomberg Law in an email that the incursion occurred earlier this month.

She said the firm has security safeguards in place designed to protect the IT system and data and that no client data was exposed to the cyber intruders.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

James L. Heskett, a Harvard Business School professor emeritus, reports on some of the responses to a recent column about how best to foster a climate of inclusion in an organization.

In his original column, the author discussed how diversity and inclusion are universal topics among executives. One typical study looking at the issue found “a strong correlation between gender diversity and a company’s bottom line.”

Companies in the top quartile of gender diversity worldwide had a high likelihood of outperforming bottom-quartile industry peers in both earnings before interest and taxes as well as longer-term value creation, according to the study.

Read the article.

The Justice Department’s Criminal Division has announced updated policies and procedures related to the selection of corporate monitors in federal criminal cases, according to an advisory written by Paul N. Monnin, a partner in Alston &. Bird.

He writes:

The memorandum makes clear that “the Criminal Division should favor the imposition of a monitor only where there is a demonstrated need for, and clear benefit to be derived from, a monitorship relative to the costs and burdens.” In short, a monitor is now disfavored “[w]here a corporation’s compliance program and controls are demonstrated to be effective and appropriately resourced at the time of resolution.”

The article also includes a link to a PDF of the DOJ advisory.

Read the article.

SCOTUSblog reports that in Lamps Plus Inc. v. Varela, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit correctly held that an employer consented to class arbitration.

The employer in that case included language in the arbitration contract that committed the parties to use arbitration “in lieu of any and all lawsuits or other civil legal proceedings,” specified that arbitral claims include those “that, in the absence of this Agreement, would have been available to the parties by law,” and authorized the arbitrator to “award any remedy allowed by applicable law.”

Lower courts have found that the arbitration agreement could be read to authorize class arbitration, and that California contract law called for ambiguity on that point to be resolved against the contract’s drafter, Lamps Plus, writes Charlotte Garden.

Read the article.

John Beckworth has joined Jackson Walker as of counsel in the firm’s Austin office. He is a lecturer and former associate dean at The University of Texas School of Law.

“To welcome an attorney of John’s exceptional reputation is a significant accomplishment,” managing partner C. Wade Cooper said. “He is a prominent voice in energy law and arbitration, having been in private practice for 30 years before joining The University of Texas School of Law. We are fortunate to have him on our team here at Jackson Walker.”

“Jackson Walker is a great fit,” Beckworth said. “I’m proud to join a firm with such a long track record of leadership in energy law and many areas, and one with a strong presence in Austin and throughout Texas.”

Beckworth began his career in 1983 in the Litigation Section of Fulbright & Jaworski in Houston where he was a partner in the law firm before leaving in 1994 to start his own practice. During his time in private practice in Houston, Beckworth handled and tried civil cases and appeals in Texas and across the country, and he continues to serve as an energy and business lawyer and arbitrator, according to a release from the firm.

In 2013, Beckworth left his active law practice in Houston to join The University of Texas School of Law in Austin as Associate Dean for Administration and Strategic Planning and as a lecturer. “John has a tremendous following throughout the Texas legal and business communities – especially in Houston, where he lived and practiced for three decades before moving to Austin,” said Houston partner Alfred M. Meyerson. “Our clients will certainly benefit from his extensive experience and vast network of professional contacts.”

In addition to his roles as Associate Dean and lecturer in the Law School, Beckworth has served The University of Texas as a former trustee of the University of Texas Law School Foundation and as president and chairman of the board of the Texas Exes. In 2018 he was elected to become a trustee of the LBJ Foundation.

Beckworth is a longstanding appointed member of the Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee. In 2017, he became a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Board Leadership Fellow.

Miller & Chevalier Chartered announced that Loren C. Ponds will join the firm as a member in the Tax Department, effective Oct. 29, 2018. Previously, Ponds served as tax counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, where she was instrumental in the development of the international tax provisions included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA).

“Miller & Chevalier is known for tax excellence,” Ponds said. “I was drawn to the firm’s outstanding reputation and talented practitioners, who are able to provide specialized tax guidance across varied issues, an important factor given my interdisciplinary practice.”

Prior to her role with the Committee on Ways and Means, Ponds worked in Ernst & Young LLP’s National Tax Department, with a focus on transfer pricing. She advised multinational companies on international tax planning projects, including intellectual property planning, supply chain optimization, and restructuring projects. In addition, Ponds regularly counseled companies on a wide variety of controversy matters, including advance pricing agreements, mutual agreement procedure cases, and Internal Revenue Service audit defense projects. She also spent two years working directly with the leader of Ernst & Young’s global transfer pricing practice in Germany.

At Miller & Chevalier, Ponds will focus her practice on the implementation of the TCJA and other tax policy matters. She will also work with clients on transfer pricing and broader international tax issues.

“Loren’s first-hand experience at the Committee on Ways and Means, especially the critical role she played in drafting the international tax provisions of the TCJA, makes her one of the most well-equipped lawyers to advise clients navigating the new legislation,” said George A. Hani, Chair of Miller & Chevalier’s Tax Department. “Her counsel is grounded in deep knowledge of the underlying policies and her perspective from inside the process. She offers unique, detailed insight that few in the field can provide.”

“From executing complicated supply-chain restructurings, to guiding companies through transfer pricing dispute resolution, to drafting international tax legislation, Loren has gained vital experience and will be a tremendous resource to our clients. Her legislative experience, combined with her technical expertise, makes her uniquely situated to assist our clients as they seek to implement the TCJA, as well as pursue related technical corrections and administrative guidance,” said Marc J. Gerson, Chair of Miller & Chevalier’s Executive Committee. “We are thrilled to welcome her to the firm.”

Ponds earned an LL.M. in Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center, a J.D. from the American University Washington College of Law, and an A.B. from Davidson College.

Lowenstein Sandler LLP has launched a Global Trade & Policy practice that advises clients on the growing array of U.S. government regulations of global investments and trade, including foreign investment restrictions, trade sanctions, import tariffs, and evolving export controls. Doreen M. Edelman, most recently the co-leader of the Global Business Team at law firm Baker Donelson, will chair the group. Based out of Lowenstein’s Washington, D.C. office, Global Trade & Policy joins the Antitrust & Regulatory and Insurance Recovery teams as the third practice group in the firm’s D.C. office.

In a release, the firm said the Global Trade & Policy group will provide U.S.-based clients, foreign clients, and foreign-owned U.S. companies with compliance and policy development services. Areas of emphasis will include import tariffs and classifications, OFAC regulations and sanctions, CFIUS review protocols, and export controls. The team will assist clients in managing and reducing risk, especially regarding Chinese tariffs, by drafting exclusion requests and providing strategic guidance on these matters. Lowenstein clients in key economic sectors will benefit from the team’s counsel regarding foreign investment risks, evolving regulatory burdens, and technology-related issues pertaining to export issues.

“Whether it’s new CFIUS requirements for foreign investments in U.S. businesses, secondary sanctions issues, or evolving export controls on technology, nearly every transaction we are seeing requires a command of the global trade landscape,” said Gary M. Wingens, Lowenstein Sandler’s Chairman and Managing Partner. “Doreen and her team provide our firm with world-class experience to help guide our clients through this increasingly complex area.”

The firm said Edelman advises clients on the risks associated with export controls, customs matters administered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and U.S. economic sanctions in cross-border M&A and investment transactions and on requirements pertaining to technology, software, defense articles and services, and commercial goods. She has deep knowledge of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and the new requirements under the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA). Edelman counsels companies on Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and Directorate of Defense Controls (DDTC) export control regulations. She also counsels on the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) requirements, including compliance with U.S. sanctions frameworks, OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals list, and the ever-evolving sanctioned-countries programs involving nations such as Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Russia/Crimea, Syria, and Sudan.

Edelman has represented high-profile international clients such as the Sultanate of Oman, where she secured passage of the U.S.-Oman FTA, and she also served as general counsel to the American-Turkish Council.

“Our new practice group will dovetail with Lowenstein Sandler’s existing transactional work in private equity, M&A, trade, and import-export compliance,” Edelman said. “Companies around the world are facing new challenges when it comes to emerging technologies, global investments, international trade, and complex regulatory challenges. Helping our clients navigate this space to minimize risks and improve diligence with respect to trade regulatory compliance is imperative to avoiding serious problems down the road. Our team is situated perfectly to provide important guidance while bolstering Lowenstein Sandler’s global footprint.”

The team members joining Edelman at Lowenstein Sandler include:
• Abbey E. Baker, who joins as counsel, advises clients on a broad array of trade compliance issues, including import and export controls, economic sanctions, anti-bribery and anti-boycott compliance, CFIUS and FIRRMA reviews and filings, CBP procedures and regulations, USCIS Form I-129 Part 6 certifications, and immigration-related sanctions issues.
• Andrew Bisbas, who joins as an associate, focuses his practice on import and export controls, anti-dumping, economic sanctions, anti-boycott and anti-bribery compliance, CFIUS foreign investment issues, business-related USCIS immigration issues, and CBP procedures and regulations. He assists clients with import/export classifications and securing licenses from the BIS, the DDTC, and OFAC.
• Megan C. Bodie, trade analyst, researches a broad array of trade topics, including customs classifications, statutory and regulatory updates, international trade statistics and trends, and government enforcement actions.

Gary Klein and Alex Edelman of recruiting firm Klein Landau LLC introduced Edelman to Lowenstein Sandler.

Ryan J. Letson has joined the Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP’s Huntsville office as an associate in the Intellectual Property Practice Group.

“We welcome Ryan to Bradley in our Huntsville office,” said Bradley Huntsville Office Managing Partner Frank M. Caprio. “Ryan is a great addition to our experienced team of attorneys with diverse backgrounds who excel at protecting and enforcing the IP rights of our clients.”

In a release, the firm said Letson focuses his practice on intellectual property and technology matters. He handles patent and trademark prosecution before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and represents clients in proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. In addition, he assists clients in disputes involving patents and other intellectual property in federal and state courts. His technical experience covers a wide range of areas including computer hardware and software, electronics, data communication networks, autonomous vehicles, electromechanical devices, payment processing and e-commerce systems, biometric sensors, and structural systems. Mr. Letson’s experience also includes litigating matters involving contract, business tort, government contract and real estate issues.

Prior to joining Bradley, Letson was an attorney with Maynard Cooper & Gale in Huntsville. He also previously worked as a systems engineer with The Boeing Company.

Letson received his J.D. from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University and his Bachelor of Science from the University of Alabama.

Writing in ContractsProf Blog, Myanna Dellinger discusses a case that “nicely demonstrates how the consideration doctrine is still relevant and, as always, the importance of getting contracts in writing even though they do not have to be.”

The plaintiff had agreed to do some work for the defendant for $10 an hour, with the understanding that he would receive a $150,000 bonus after nine months. Somewhere along the way, the employer gave him a raise to $11, and then, after a total of 18 months of labor, fired him and refused to pay the bonus.

Dellinger explains that the court apparently found that because the plaintiff actually received one single dollar more per hour over nine months, there was no consideration for the original promise of working for a “reduced salary.”

Read the article.

David Drummond, the  chief legal officer of Google parent Alphabet Inc. and a one-time Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati partner, was cited in a New York Times report about the allegedly lax approach that Google has taken to relationships between supervisors and their subordinates.

Bloomberg Law focused  on the part of the report that detailed an alleged extramarital affair involving Drummond and a subordinate, an in-house senior contract manager at Google. The affair resulted in the woman giving birth to Drummond’s child, the Times reported.

“The report, which cited [Jennifer] Blakely and other Google employees, said she and Drummond had a son in 2007,” Bloomberg reports. “Thereafter, it said, Drummond disclosed the relationship to the company—and Blakely was asked to leave because relationships between managers and subordinates were ‘discouraged.’”

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

A former partner at Balch & Bingham has been sentenced to five years in prison for a scheme to bribe an Alabama state legislator to oppose expansion of a site designated for an environmental cleanup, reports the ABA Journal.

Gilbert was part of Balch & Bingham’s environmental and natural resources practice, according to reporter Debra Cassens Weiss. Prosecutors had alleged he and a co-defendant, coal company executive David Roberson, funneled $360,000 to the state lawmaker through a consulting contract with his private foundation.

The lawmaker, former Alabama State Rep. Oliver Robinson, was previously sentenced to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud and tax evasion, the Journal reports.

Read the ABA Journal article.

Above the Law reports that the Biglaw firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath has settled a racial discrimination case filed against them earlier this year. In that case, Syneetra Hill, an African-American legal assistant in their Princeton office, alleged pay discrimination and that she was subjected to a hostile work environment and retaliation.

Editor Kathryn Rubino writes that Hill’s lawsuit alleges several problematic examples of the work environment, including a former supervising attorney who kept a collection of Confederate memorabilia throughout the office, and an of counsel who referred to Hill as “our slave” in front of a client.

Read the Above the Law article.

Texas Lawyer has singled out Heim, Payne & Chorush partner Miranda Jones as its “Top Woman in IP” for the publication’s 2018 Professional Excellence honors.

The statewide recognition is based on Jones’ intellectual property law experience and numerous successes and professional accomplishments, which include trial counsel leadership roles in multimillion-dollar patent infringement litigation and significant appellate work at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jones is a partner in the firm’s national patent litigation practice group, representing patent holders as trial and appellate counsel in infringement litigation involving new technology in cutting-edge areas.

Read more about the honor.

L-R: Jenny Brevorka, Lara Hollingsworth and Megan Moore

Texas trial lawyer Rusty Hardin has named Jennifer Brevorka, Lara Hollingsworth, and Megan Moore new partners at Rusty Hardin & Associates, LLP, the civil and criminal litigation firm he founded 22 years ago.

“These talented lawyers have repeatedly demonstrated their courtroom savvy and business sense in negotiating and winning the best results for our clients,” said Hardin. “I’m thrilled to honor their achievements and promote them to a higher level of responsibility at our firm.”

Brevorka handles both civil and criminal matters, and she has successfully tried complex lawsuits in courtrooms across the country. She has represented elected officials and CEOs, whistleblowers, and small businesses.

Hollingsworth, who has been of counsel with Rusty Hardin & Associates for 15 years, has shifted to full time and focuses primarily on appellate work. She has extensive experience as lead appellate counsel in commercial trials.

Moore is a commercial litigator who has represented a diverse group of corporate and individual clients in business and employment disputes. She was a key member of a federal trial team litigating a matter with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake.

Read details about the new partners.

A post on the website of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius takes a look at some of the issues involving the latest contracting trends for services agreements.

“At the outset of the contracting process, it is important for the deal team and the key stakeholders to evaluate and properly define the types of data that the service provider will access or process as part of the services,” advise the authors, Edward J. Hansen and Christopher C. Archer.

The assessment should consider the scope and types of data, and define company data and personal data.

Read  the article.