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Lawyer, Robert Theofanis launched his estate planning practice in mid-2019. His “plan was to start off with below-average fees and by the end of the first year increase them to the high end of the market,” discusses Theofanis in ABA Journal’s Your Voice.

After working his way through those clients, he started charging his published fees, which were about average for the area.

He was hitting his stride at the start of 2020 and felt it was time to increase his fees. “At the time, I was in the middle of a marketing program and decided to hold off on increasing fees until after I updated my website with new marketing content.”

“Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.”

In the end, he decided to raise his fees for two reasons.

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ATLANTA – Barnes & Thornburg has added Sarah J. Hawk as a partner in the firm’s Labor and Employment Department in the Atlanta office. Hawk brings nearly two decades of experience advising organizations on their immigration policies.

Employing an extensive knowledge of immigration rules and regulations, Hawk helps organizations obtain visas and permanent residence status for executives, managers, and other critical employees. She advises clients on immigration petitions, consular processing, outbound placement, and waiver cases, as well as complex I-9 and E-Verify compliance, audits, investigations, and trainings. Hawk also oversees the preparation of virtually every kind of employment-based immigration petition.

Hawk is a member of the Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network (GAIN) Advisory Board.. She earned her J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law, a M.A.T from Agnes Scott College, and a B.A. from Agnes Scott College, magna cum laude.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that Robert A. Cox Jr., a partner in the firm’s Charlotte office, has been recognized as a Board Certified Specialist in Business Bankruptcy Law by the North Carolina State Bar.

“We congratulate Rob on earning distinction as a North Carolina board-certified Business Bankruptcy Law attorney,” said Bradley Charlotte Office Managing Partner Christopher C. Lam. “This certification is proof of his leadership, skills and high standards of commitment to the practice.”

The North Carolina State Bar certifies lawyers as specialists in designated practice areas as a service to the public. To be certified as a board certified specialist in a practice area, a lawyer must be an active member in good standing with the North Carolina State Bar for at least five years, devote at least 25% of his or her practice to the specialty during the past five years, attend continuing legal education (CLE) seminars in the specialty, be favorably evaluated by other lawyers and judges, and pass a written examination in the specialty practice area. Certification is granted for a period of five years and may be renewed if the lawyer meets the same requirements at the time of renewal.

A member of Bradley’s Bankruptcy Practice Group, Mr. Cox focuses his practice on financial restructuring and insolvency, including bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, commercial workouts, bankruptcy related litigation, and distressed asset acquisitions. He represents corporate debtors, secured lenders, unsecured creditors, asset acquirers, lessors, equity holders, and other parties in interest in bankruptcies and out of court workouts in matters throughout the United States.

About Bradley
Bradley combines skilled legal counsel with exceptional client service and unwavering integrity to assist a diverse range of corporate and individual clients in achieving their business goals. With offices in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and the District of Columbia, the firm’s nearly 550 lawyers represent regional, national and international clients in various industries, including banking and financial services, construction, energy, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, real estate, and technology, among many others.

“An Iowa lawyer described as a ‘superb advocate’ has been suspended for overbilling the state public defender for her legal services and car mileage,” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s Daily News.

“Lawyer Jennifer Meyer was well regarded, but her billing practices require a one-year suspension, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in a May 15 opinion.”

“Meyer provided services to the state public defender as a contract attorney. She billed the agency for more than 24 hours in a day on 30 different days, according to an audit spanning four years. During the same period, Meyer had duplicated reimbursement requests for mileage, attributing trips to a location to multiple clients 147 times.”

“Before the grievance commission, Meyer consistently argued that she did the legal work and was entitled to payment, despite billing irregularities. She often worked beyond customary hours and on weekends, she said.”

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“A former clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and late Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. has been named general counsel to the Libra Association, a Geneva-based group founded by Facebook to launch the social media company’s digital currency, the organization announced May 19,” reported in PYMNTS’ Personnel.

“Robert Werner brings regulatory, financial crime compliance and enforcement experience from his work in the public and private sectors, Libra said. Before joining the association, Werner was founder and CEO of Green River Hollow Consulting and held leadership positions at several financial institutions, including HSBC and Goldman Sachs, where he served as the enterprise executive for policy, privacy and regulatory relations. He also headed financial crime compliance for Merrill Lynch.”

“Previously, Werner worked at the U.S. Department of the Treasury as director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, senior counsel to the Under Secretary of the Treasury, Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, and assistant general counsel for Enforcement and Intelligence in the Office of the General Counsel, Libra said.”

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“Santander Consumer USA will pay $65 million to states and forgive hundreds of millions more in consumer debt as part of a settlement with a group of attorneys general over practices in its subprime auto lending business,” reports Laura Alix in American Banker.

“The attorneys general, representing 33 states and the District of Columbia, said the Dallas-based lender had exposed borrowers to unnecessarily risky loans with a high chance of default. In addition to paying $65 million in restitution, Santander Consumer has also agreed to forgive nearly $500 million in car loan debt to borrower nationwide.”

“Santander defrauded desperate consumers by placing them into auto loans the company knew these customers could never afford to pay, resulting in defaults and negative ratings on consumers’ credit reports.”

“The agreement announced Tuesday caps an investigation the attorneys general launched early in 2015 into the U.S. consumer lending unit of the Spanish banking giant Banco Santander. The coalition said its investigation revealed Santander Consumer knew that certain groups of consumers had a high risk of default, but still steered them into loans with high loan-to-value ratios, significant backend fees and high payment-to-income ratios.”

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“The state’s highest court issued an order permanently disbarring a once popular Tampa attorney now accused of withholding his clients’ settlement money,” reports Jackie Callaway in ABC Action Taking Action for You.

“The Florida Supreme Court issued the order disbarring Jose Toledo as of May 14.”

“Toledo practiced personal injury and immigration law in the Tampa Bay area for two decades.”

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“An Ohio lawyer crossed a border and also a line, leading to a two-year suspension and a restitution order under an opinion the state supreme court handed down this week. The suspension was based on ethics violations as to numerous clients, but one involved the prohibitions against unauthorized practice and sexual activity with clients. The opinion continues the disciplinary trend in the Buckeye State to treat all forms of lawyer-client sex harshly — even in the absence of physical contact. It also shines a light on the perils of unlicensed cross-border practice,” reports Karen Rubin in The Law for Today’s How Not to Practice.

“The client’s divorce action was already pending in Monroe County, Michigan when she retained the lawyer, who practiced in Toledo, Ohio, just across the border from Michigan. The lawyer advised the client that he was not licensed to practice in Michigan, but would file a motion for pro hac vice admission and affiliate himself with an Ohio lawyer he knew who was licensed in both states.”

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Redgrave LLP, the national law firm focused on addressing complex legal challenges that arise at the intersection of the law and technology, has formed one of the only Restructuring Discovery teams in the country. In this space, Redgrave works closely with law firms and turnaround advisors on all types of restructurings, acting as subject-matter professionals in the areas of discovery and information governance.

The Redgrave team handles all aspects of restructuring discovery, both pre-petition and after a bankruptcy has been filed, and advises both debtors and creditors, as well as consultants and judicial groups. As discovery counsel, Redgrave works hand-in-hand alongside merits counsel, handling all of the data identification, preservation, collection, review, and production efforts. Discovery in and around restructurings also requires complex privilege analyses. Redgrave attorneys have unique knowledge in the area of attorney-client and other privileges and protections for which clients have relied on for years.

Discovery counsel in restructuring matters sits in between the client, merits counsel, and the eDiscovery vendor to develop an overall discovery strategy and provide legal advice during the process. The Redgrave team focuses on key areas, including preservation strategies, document and data collection, negotiation of discovery issues, compliance with applicable privacy laws, appropriate and e-active privilege determinations, education for judges and special masters on complex discovery issues, and special master and expert services for appropriate cases.

Davis Wright Tremaine is pleased to partner with LaborLess and SHRM to bring you the webinar “COVID-19’s Impact on the H-1B Visa Process.” The COVID-19 pandemic has forced employees all around the US to work from home, which has had real implications on employers who hire H-1B visa workers.

This panel will go over how COVID-19 has impacted the H-1B visa process, walk through some of the issues around LCA posting and public access files, offer some practical tips and solutions, and discuss opportunities for streamlining processes going forward.

Register for this webinar.

As U.S. businesses face daunting decisions while they return to regular operations, Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, is helping them reintegrate their employees into the workplace and implement new policies and protocols set forth by federal, state and local authorities with the launch of the Akerman Return to Work Resource Guide. Offering a library of key reference materials and procedures, the Akerman Return to Work Resource Guide provides employers with best practices in facilitating a safe and orderly transition to a “new normal” in a COVID-19 era.

In addition to 24/7 live support from Akerman’s employer-focused Return to Work team, the Resource Guide includes a variety of tactical guidance, available for access through a personalized, secure online portal. Akerman’s resource library includes more than 60 downloadable documents, such as questionnaires, checklists, policies, and procedures to help provide direction, context, and clarity as businesses return to regular operations, including:

• Employee requests for ADA accommodations, letters addressing the need to return to work, and health screenings for employees and visitors
• Protocols for prevention of COVID-19 exposure, limitations of non-essential business travel policy, and employee temperature screenings policies
• Trainings for managers in the COVID-19 environment to be tailored to employer requirements, including in the areas of workplace privacy and security, employee benefit plan impacts, and union and non-union concerns
• A deeper dive into return to work issues, such as OSHA and workplace safety, special considerations relating to on-site medical clinics, and workplace configuration and scheduling consideration
• Contract considerations for vendors, including the purchase or implementation of on-site medical clinics, telehealth, IT services, benefit plan services, and payroll services

The launch of the Akerman Return to Work Resource Guide comes at a time when the firm has been singled out by clients for its leading services and unfailing commitment to help during these unprecedented times. Akerman was named on BTI Consulting’s Mad Clientist list as one of 37 Midsize Law Firms Punching Way Above Their Weight. Clients who participated in the Mad Clientist survey look to firms like Akerman “for a wide variety of risky, delicate, and thorny matters – including highly customized advice about reopening [business] and related issues.”

“In a letter addressed to Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Treasury indicates its intention to revise the rules governing the deadline for construction of wind and solar projects to qualify for the production tax credit (PTC) and investment tax credit (ITC). The expected revised guidance would provide much needed relief to projects struggling with construction delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” reports in White & Case’s Publications & Events.

“Pursuant to current rules, consistent with several IRS notices, in order to qualify for either the PTC or ITC, wind and solar developers need to “begin construction” by a specific date, either by beginning “physical work of a significant nature” or by paying or incurring capital expenditures of at least 5 percent of the total cost of the project.”

“Once construction has begun, developers must further satisfy an additional “continuity” requirement by making continuous efforts to complete the project (in the case of the five percent safe harbor) or by maintaining a continuous program of construction until the completion of the project (in the case of the physical work test).”

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“He led the Minneapolis-based legal team at Faegre & Benson that distributed $1 billion to native Alaskans and fishermen affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill,” reports Jennifer Bjorhus in Star Tribune’s Local News.

“For nearly two decades, Brian O’Neill fought Exxon after the catastrophic 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound.”

“The charismatic environmental lawyer led the Minneapolis-based legal team at Faegre & Benson that distributed $1 billion to thousands of native Alaskans and fishermen affected by the spill, a crusade chronicled in the book ‘Cleaning Up’ by Minnesota author David Lebedoff. It was a herculean chapter in O’Neill’s career. There were many others, including ones on wolves, bald eagles and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.”

“O’Neill died at his home in Minnetonka on May 6 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. He was 72.”

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“Much has been said about due diligence when investing in or acquiring a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business. However, the increased reliance on cloud-based technology in today’s remote world makes it critically important for a SaaS customer to be able to quickly identify the important contract provisions that will lead to receiving value from the customer’s technology spend. This post provides key areas of focus when you are contemplating acquiring access to technology provided as SaaS,” writes Matt Hafter in Thomas Coburn’s Publications.

“Before clicking ‘accept,’ your business and IT teams should consider the following … about the proposed SaaS terms:
1. Scope of services
2. Permitted use and users
3. Testing and acceptance
4. Warranties and service level commitments
5. Data usage and security
6. Other important vendor obligations
7. Liability caps and exclusions
8. Intellectual property
9. Termination
10. Escrow”

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“The ability to protect trade secrets (and other legitimate business interests, including customer goodwill) has been hit by a perfect storm caused by the current coronavirus pandemic,” warns Russell Beck in Fair Competition Law.

“Accordingly, this post provides practical guidance for companies on how to manage their trade secrets (and other legitimate business interests) – both generally and particularly while employing a remote workforce – thereby avoiding preventable problems by having a plan in place to address problems when they arise, which they inevitably will. Specifically, it explains general aspects of trade secret protection programs, provides a detailed guide to the creation of a trade secret protection program, and identifies where to focus efforts now to address the current circumstances and the expected new ‘abnormal,’ as restrictions begin to be lifted.”

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“At the Academy’s recent Virtual Summit, I spoke, among other things, about the rising importance of your clients’ advance directives during this coronavirus crisis. Here is a piece of what I shared,” writes Randi Siegel in American Academy’s Client Services.

“Why have advance directives and access to them become more crucial during Covid-19?”

“Because the novel coronavirus is so contagious, your clients will be alone in the hospital if they have Covid-19, and may be alone even if they do not have Covid-19. (Hospitals need to protect visitors from contracting the virus and also from visitors potentially spreading the virus within the hospital.)”

“Without visitors, your clients’ family can’t talk with the doctors right away, in person. They can’t tell the doctor who is the health care agent, or provide any other pertinent medical information about the patient.”

“Without visitors, doctors can communicate with family only by phone and video chat. It can be hard for doctors to know the phone numbers for family members even if they do know whom they’re supposed to talk to.”

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“A policy adviser to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner was arrested Monday and charged with endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly leaving her 4-year-old daughter unattended in her car for more than a half-hour,” reports Mensah M. Dean in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Dana Lynn Bazelon, 40, was taken into custody about 3:30 p.m. on Rittenhouse Street near Lincoln Drive in West Mount Airy, according to Mark Shade, a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office, which is handling the matter.”

“Bazelon took her 6-year-old son for a walk and left her sleeping daughter in the backseat of her Ford Fusion with all four windows cracked but not enough for a person to be able to reach inside, a law-enforcement source said.”

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“Jennifer Loya, 30, helped a drug network in San Antonio stay a step ahead of drug enforcement agents through her access to information as a federal employee, according to court documents,” reports Christine Hauser in The New York Times.

“A paralegal in the San Antonio headquarters of the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas is accused of using her access to help a notorious drug cartel evade the authorities.”

“Just before they were raided by federal agents, drug dealers in San Antonio affiliated with a Mexican cartel moved their stockpiles of heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine. A paralegal in the federal prosecutor’s office tipped them off, the authorities said.”

“Court filings in Texas describe a career path that took Jennifer Loya, 30, from a low-level post in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Antonio to a promotion in February to paralegal, a position that prosecutors said she turned into an inside job helping a network of Cartel del Noreste associates stay a step ahead of the authorities.”

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