“Just before the coronavirus outbreak pushed pause on our regular daily lives, Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs named its first female executive committee chair in Cynthia ‘Cindy’ Young,” reports Sarah Shadburne in Louisville Business First’s Professional Services.

“Young, whose practice revolves around mergers and acquisitions, securities transactions and advising public and private clients on corporate and insurance matters, said that while law has a reputation for being a male-dominated industry, she’s seeing women rise to the top every day.”

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“Amid a flurry of fresh lateral moves among labor and employment lawyers, one of the leading L&E firms is facing a lawsuit tied to hires it made several years ago from an industry group that counts many of its clients as members,” report Arriana McLymore and Sara Merken in Reuters’ Employment.

“Law firms have been grabbing labor and employment lawyers at a fast clip the past several weeks, with hires at Blank Rome, Ogletree Deakins, Dentons and Kaufman, Dolowich & Voluck.”

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“Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Motors’ U.S. units on Friday agreed to a record $210 million civil penalty after U.S. auto safety regulators said they failed to recall 1.6 million vehicles for engine issues in a timely fashion,” reports David Shepardson in Reuters’ Autos.

“Hyundai agreed to a total civil penalty of $140 million, including an upfront payment of $54 million, an obligation to spend $40 million on safety performance measures, and an additional $46 million deferred penalty if it does not meet requirements.”

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“PitchBook has again ranked Cooley as the #1 most active global law firm for all deals in its Q3 2020 Global League Tables – marking the second consecutive quarter Cooley has earned the top spot,” posts Cooley in their News.

“Across all deal types, Cooley was credited with 339 disclosable deals last quarter, representing more than $30 billion in combined deal value. The data also confirms Cooley as the #1 most active law firm in the US and globally for venture capital and #1 in venture capital deals across multiple sector categories, including pharma and biotech, healthcare systems and services and IT hardware, and US regional categories, including the West Coast, mid-Atlantic, mountain, south and Great Lakes. The firm is also #1 for late-stage deals and #1 for all company-side deals in the US and globally.”

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“From a fossil-fuel friendly state with only a small renewables presence, Virginia went to one with a mandatory schedule for phasing out fossil fuels by 2050, participation in a regional carbon market and some of the highest renewables targets in the nation,” writes Saray Vogelsong in Virginia Mercury’s Energy + Environment.

“Much of this transition will occur under the aegis of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, a law described by Sigora Solar policy chief and Solar Energy Industries Association board member Karla Loeb as “the single largest shift in energy policy as it relates to the electricity sector that’s ever been achieved in any state.” But that law wasn’t the only major clean energy legislation to get the General Assembly’s stamp of approval. Other measures sought to give local governments more power in negotiating permits with large-scale solar developers, to give apartment-dwellers access to solar and to pump money into low-income energy efficiency efforts. ”

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“Now in its 29th week, the Barnes & Thornburg Wage & Hour Practice Group’s COVID-19 related workplace litigation tracker has now analyzed 605 complaints filed across the United States, in 12 different categories. This week’s spotlight is on a category of COVID-19 related workplace complaints that have arisen in the context of businesses seeing increased revenue as a result of the pandemic,” post Caroline Dickey, Anthony K. Glenn, Mark Wallin and Peter J. Wozniak in Barnes & Thornburg’s Employment Law Blog Currents.

“Two such cases were brought by commission-based employees working in sectors of the economy that have experienced a boost in demand due to the pandemic: healthcare and sales of cleaning products. In both cases, the employees allege they earned large commissions in the first half of 2020 due to pandemic-related revenue, but that their employers have refused to give them their proper share of the windfall.”

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“It depends,” advises David A. Zetoony in The National Law Review.

“To the extent that a service provider agreement, or a data processing addendum, already prohibits a service provider from ‘disclosing’ personal information for ‘any purpose’ other than what is specified in the agreement, and the agreement does not specify that the service provider can sell or share information for targeted advertising, it’s not clear that the agreement would need to be amended to specifically state that in addition to not disclosing personal information the service provider may not sell or share it (as selling or sharing would be a form of disclosure). To the extent, however, that an agreement that was drafted under the CCPA prohibited the general disclosure of personal information, but specified that, notwithstanding the general prohibition, a service provider could share it for cross-context advertising, the agreement might need to be amended to prohibit such disclosures in order to make clear that any transfer of information is being done on behalf of the business.

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“In cases where the COVID-19 virus or government measures have interfered with commercial contracts, it is necessary to carefully analyze the state of affairs to determine the appropriate remedy. This article briefly summarizes the legal situation for commercial contracts affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and in other common law countries (UK, Hong Kong and Singapore),” writes Kanz from DLA Piper Global Law Firm in Lexology.

“Force majeure clauses are contractual provisions that may excuse a party’s non-performance when circumstances beyond the control of a party prevent performance. New York courts have held that force majeure clauses are to be interpreted in a narrow sense and that performance under a contract is ordinarily excused only if the event preventing performance is explicitly mentioned in the force majeure clause. The wording of the force majeure clause thus determines whether the COVID-19 pandemic is covered by the clause.”

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Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that the firm’s Construction Practice Group was named among Law360’s 2020 Practice Groups of the Year, one of only five firms in the nation to receive this honor.

Law360’s annual Practice Group of the Year awards honor law firm practice groups that have accomplished the most significant litigation wins or deals over the past year. This year’s honorees were selected from more than 800 submissions.

Bradley was named the “Law Firm of the Year” for Construction Law in the 2020 and 2018 editions of U.S. News & World Report – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms. This is the first time Bradley’s Construction Practice Group has been recognized among Law360’s Practice Groups of the Year.

From initial contract negotiation and bid preparation to project close-out and dispute resolution, Bradley’s Construction Practice Group has handled every aspect of large-scale construction projects across the country and around the world. The team’s broad experience comes from their hands-on approach to managing both the business and legal challenges their clients face every day. Bradley’s construction lawyers have advised clients on projects in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, as well as more than 35 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and South America. They are devoted to spending time onsite at projects and engaging with clients face-to-face on matters as they develop. Many of the firm’s construction attorneys have degrees in engineering, building science or architecture and have previous practical experience working in the construction industry.

Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has released the results of the Littler Employer Pulse Survey Report. The survey was completed by representatives of nearly 1,100 companies in mid-October – seven months after the remote-work pivot necessitated by the coronavirus and just weeks before the 2020 presidential election.

With COVID-19 cases again surging in the United States, the reality of the extended remote work environment seems to have set in for respondents, which include in-house counsel, human resources professionals and C-suite executives. At this stage of the pandemic, the results show employers placing greater focus on employee well-being and maintaining company culture, while bracing for workplace policy changes that will come with the new presidential administration.

Workplace Culture and Employee Well-Being

Among respondents who have maintained a largely remote workforce during the pandemic, the majority are continuing remote work arrangements at least through the end of the year (57 percent) or gradually bringing employees back on a voluntary basis (25 percent). Only 18 percent are reopening and requiring more employees to return.

In this prolonged remote work environment, maintaining company culture and keeping employees content emerged as key areas of concern for employers. A strong majority (81 percent) report being at least somewhat concerned about the pandemic’s impact on employee mental health and well-being – and just two percent say they are not concerned at all. Seventy-five percent expressed the same level of concern about how the shift to remote work has impacted company culture, collaboration and employee loyalty.

Employers report taking a range of actions to address employee well-being during the pandemic, including offering more flexible work schedules (73 percent) and providing mental health services and Employee Assistance Programs (68 percent).

The 2020 Election

While the survey was conducted just prior to the November 3 election, the results suggest employers were already anticipating significant changes to workplace policy under a Biden administration.

Half of the employers surveyed expect an uptick in enforcement actions by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and its state counterparts regarding compliance with COVID-19 safety rules. Outside of the new presidential administration’s COVID-19 response, respondents predict employment law-related changes in such areas as: paid sick and family leave requirements (74 percent), healthcare policy (71 percent), immigration (66 percent) and measures to address income inequality (64 percent).

Additional Key Findings

Other findings discussed in the report include:

• More than half of employers surveyed (56 percent) say they are struggling to navigate the various laws that apply to time off, scheduling and accommodation requests from employees with children whose education and care are affected by COVID-19.
• Amid renewed calls for racial justice and equality, supporting employees and addressing racism in the workplace emerged as an area of concern. That concern was especially pronounced among companies with over 10,000 employees as 43 percent say they are extremely or moderately concerned about this issue (compared to 27 percent of all respondents).
• With COVID-19 accelerating technology’s already prominent role in how companies operate, many employers report using technology or digital tools to manage their workforces during the pandemic. For instance, 55 percent of all respondents (and 70 percent of those whose companies have over 10,000 employees) are now using technology-driven recruiting and hiring tools

“A federal appeals court has concluded that a federal judge’s comments about a lawyer for a bias plaintiff were ‘within the bounds of what imperfect men and women, even after having been confirmed as federal judges, sometimes display,'” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s News.

“The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Cincinnati ruled that U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman of the Eastern District of Michigan was not required to recuse himself before tossing the discrimination case against General Motors. But his threat to place the lawyer on a pro bono list ‘could easily be seen as punitive,’ the court said.”

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“Earlier this fall, when elite firms were falling over themselves to match the Davis Polk special bonus scale, others were in no rush, instead simply committing to make sure that associates would be properly compensated in the future. That’s what Goodwin Procter did back in early October. Lo and behold, today, the morning after Cravath announced that it would fall in line to match those generous pandemic bonuses, Goodwin has announced that it will be handing out special bonuses on the DPW scale,” reports Staci Zaretsky in Above the Law’s Biglaw.

“But, there’s a catch. While the DPW special bonuses merely required associates to be in ‘good standing,’ Goodwin’s special bonuses are hours-based by class year.”

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“Which Biglaw firm is the true gold standard of Biglaw compensation? … Cravath is sorta the default answer, even though they aren’t, strictly speaking, the top of the market. And that reputation took a further hit this year when Cooley started the COVID fall bonus trend followed by Davis Polk coming over the top of that scale, while Cravath opted to wait until the end of the year. Now year-end bonuses at Cravath have been announced, and while their associates will get full market scale, it’s clear they’re not about making any waves this year,” writes Kathryn Rubino in Above the Law’s Biglaw.

“But there’s another firm that’s been making their pitch to be the compensation leader. Milbank’s the firm that brought about the $190K salary scale, and last year, they were the first to move on year-end bonuses. So they’ve definitely proven they have what it takes to set the standard in Biglaw compensation. Now they’ve released their year-end bonuses…”

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“IAC (NASDAQ: IAC) today announced the appointment of Kendall Handler to Senior Vice President and General Counsel, succeeding Gregg Winiarski who will step down December 31, 2020 after more than a decade in the General Counsel role. Ms. Handler, who currently serves as Vice President, Mergers & Acquisitions Counsel at IAC, will take on the General Counsel position effective January 1, 2021, overseeing all legal, compliance and human resources functions for the company,” IAC provided to Cision PR Newswire.

“Ms. Handler joined IAC in 2017 as lead M&A Counsel, and in that role has led some of IAC’s largest transactions, including its acquisition of Care.com and its $1 billion investment in MGM.”

Read the article.

Stroock is pleased to bring some positive news to these challenging times with the promotion of four new partners and three new special counsel, effective January 1, 2021.

The following lawyers have been promoted to partner:

Julie Nevins (Litigation, Miami): Nevins handles a broad range of complex commercial matters, including insurance coverage, bad faith, business torts, contracts, real property, outdoor advertising and intellectual property. In addition to litigating, she provides counseling on coverage and claims handling. Nevins is a sought after conference panelist and a regular author on important insurance issues that impact the market, most recently providing insight on business interruption in the era of COVID-19.

Marija Pecar (Financial Restructuring, New York): Pecar specializes in debt finance as part of the Financial Restructuring Group. Pecar represents leading investment and commercial banks, hedge funds, private equity sponsors and other alternative capital providers, as well as public and private companies, as creditors, sponsors, debtors, underwriters, arrangers, collateral agents and indenture trustees on a wide range of complex domestic and cross-border financing transactions, including leveraged acquisition and syndicated financings; distressed debt and other special situations financings and restructurings (including “debtor-in-possession” financings, bridge facilities and chapter 11 exits); ABLs; high-yield bond issuances and other debt and capital markets transactions.

Shannon Reaves (Government Affairs & Regulatory Support, Washington, D.C.): Reaves focuses his practice in the areas of Exon-Florio reviews before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS); industrial security, including Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence (FOCI) mitigation matters before the U.S. Departments of Defense and Energy; and export control compliance. He also advises companies regarding major defense industry acquisitions. Reaves has participated in hundreds of CFIUS reviews, has conducted industrial security due diligence for transactions and has investigated export control violations. He is a noted panelist at leading industry conferences and has contributed to numerous articles on CFIUS regulation.

Gabriel Sasson (Financial Restructuring, New York): Sasson concentrates his practice on bankruptcy proceedings and out-of-court restructuring transactions. Sasson has extensive experience representing ad hoc groups of bondholders, secured lenders and other creditors, DIP lenders, official committees of unsecured creditors, indenture trustees, equity holders and debtors in connection with in-court and out-of-court restructurings. In addition, Sasson has experience in the representation of large insurance companies, as creditors, in chapter 11 and chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings.

The following lawyers have been promoted to special counsel:

Kerry Cooperman (Government Affairs & Regulatory Support, New York): Cooperman focuses on complex commercial litigation, with particular concentrations in commercial real estate disputes, financial regulatory enforcement matters, and political law compliance. Cooperman also supports Stroock’s Public Service Project, helping oversee our pro bono program with particular attention to representing children with special education needs in securing appropriate educational services and school placements. His concentration also encompasses advocacy for not-for-profit organizations.

Thomas Shiah (Financial Restructuring, New York): Shiah focuses his practice on the corporate and transactional aspects of in-court and out-of-court restructurings, including mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financings, debtor-in-possession financings, and restructurings and workouts. He has experience representing clients in all aspects of the structuring, negotiation, financing and implementation of these transactions. Shiah also regularly represents hedge funds, private equity funds, banks and large institutional investors regarding the development and implementation of distressed investment strategies.

Daniel Yost (Litigation, New York): Yost focuses on complex commercial litigation, as well as regulatory compliance counseling and defense for clients in federal and multi-state investigations, enforcement actions and examinations. He has experience in matters involving state and federal consumer protection statutes, fair lending and fair housing laws, credit reporting and debt collection. Yost pro bono practice focuses on asylum claims for refugees and housing rights for New York City tenants.

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP will present a free webinar, “Legal Ethics for IP Practitioners: A Cautionary Tale of Professional Irresponsibility,” featuring Fitch Even attorney Steven G. Parmelee.

The webinar will take place on Wednesday, December 16, 2020, at 9:00 am PST / 10:00 am MST / 11:00 am CST / 12 noon EST.

Registered patent practitioners must follow the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct, which conform to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Although largely similar to state bar rules, the USPTO rules can be applied in some fact scenarios that are unique to the intellectual property world.

During this webinar, the presenter will take a deep dive into how one patent attorney repeatedly ran afoul with the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct in the context of a business venture that purported to serve the unique needs of the inventor community. This troublesome tale showcases some interesting ways in which the USPTO Office of Enrollment and Discipline interprets and applies these USPTO rules. The presenter will examine these and other behaviors to which the USPTO objected:

• Following instructions from an intermediary on when to file a patent application for a client
• Disclosing a fee arrangement with a client
• Supervising an employee working for a client via an intermediary
• Doing business under an assumed name

CLE credit has been approved for California, Illinois, and Nebraska. Other states may also award CLE credit upon attendee request.

Following the live event, a recording of the webinar will be available to view for one year at www.fitcheven.com.

Register for the webinar.

Dykema, a leading national law firm, today announced the addition of Ryan S. Alexander to its Corporate Finance Practice Group as a Member in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Alexander joins Dykema from Lewis Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith, LLP.

Alexander concentrates his practice on corporate, commercial and technology transactional matters. He represents publicly-traded companies, privately-held companies, private equity funds, partnerships and professional service firms for clients in the automotive, consumer products, utility, government vendor, financial services and media and advertising sectors. Alexander has completed numerous M&A transactions ranging in size between $25M-$800M in market sectors including automotive, consumer products, defense, energy, gaming and health care.

Alexander has vast commercial experience and has completed transactions relating to the design, development, manufacture, distribution and sale of products and the sourcing of materials, products, and technology. He has created sales and warranty policies for several high-end consumer products manufacturers, prepared various distribution, dealer and franchise agreements, and has counseled clients regarding development, manufacture and sale of automotive components and restricted technologies.

Alexander earned a J.D. from the John Marshall Law School and a B.S. from Midwestern State University.

Washington, DC (November 24, 2020) – The Venable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Venable LLP, is pleased to announce that it has been recognized as a platinum-level participant in D.C. Access to Justice’s 2019 Raising the Bar Campaign. The platinum level is the campaign’s top tier and honors firms that have administered financial support amounting to .11% of D.C. office revenue to local legal services providers. In 2019, the Venable Foundation awarded $341,000 in grants to legal aid organizations in D.C., and more than $600,000 across the country.

To meet the urgent need for increased funding for legal services, the D.C. Access to Justice Commission formally launched the Raising the Bar in D.C. Campaign in December 2010. The campaign’s goal is to substantially increase financial support to the District’s legal services community by establishing benchmarks for law firm giving and annually recognizing those firms that have donated at benchmark levels. Because the benchmarks are based on revenue, the recognition levels are accessible to firms of all sizes.

The D.C. Access to Justice Commission was created by the D.C. Court of Appeals in 2005 to improve low- and moderate-income residents’ ability to access the civil justice system and raise awareness of the need for equal access to justice. The Commission has twenty-four commissioners, including D.C. Court of Appeals and Superior Court judges, past presidents of the D.C. Bar, executive directors of leading legal services providers, corporate counsel, and other community leaders.

The Venable Foundation was established in 1983 to support a wide variety of charitable, civic, and cultural endeavors, and serve public interest law needs in our communities. In the past 10 years, the Venable Foundation has granted more than $25 million to worthy organizations that provide critical support to those in need. These include children’s services and funding for disadvantaged families and individuals; homeless shelters and food programs; community organizations, hospitals, hospices, and local chapters of national health organizations; and educational, artistic, and cultural events and organizations. In 2019 alone, the Foundation awarded $3.2 million in grant dollars to 363 nonprofit organizations in Washington, DC, Baltimore, New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The Foundation is funded by the partners of Venable LLP.

This event is FREE for all In-House Counsel.*
*If you are a non-member of the New York City Bar Association, please call Customer Relations at (212) 382-6663.

Chaired by Michael S. Solender, Global Vice Chair & General Counsel, EY, this year’s program will feature keynote speaker Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security, and will talk about the role of lawyers in upholding the rule of law. Four panels will cover the subjects we expect are foremost on your mind with respect to the new administration –

• Justice and Law Enforcement
• Environmental Policy and Regulation
• Healthcare Policy and Regulation
• Business Policy and Regulation (including trade, tax, technology and China)

For each panel, we have recruited top experts in their fields who will offer diverse perspectives from a range of different vantage points, including:

• Top academics including Abbe Gluck of Yale, Michael Gerrard of Columbia, and Mary McCord of Georgetown
• Leaders from the private bar including Barry Berke of Kramer Levin, Antoinia Apps of Milbank, William Bernstein of Manatt Phelps, and Claire Reade and Jonathan Martel of Arnold & Porter
• Current and former public officials New York Commissioner of Environmental Conservation Basil Seggos, former Federal Judge John Gleeson, Congressman Eric Swalwell, California’s 15th District and others to be announced
• New York Times Journalists Sarah Kliff and Ana Swanson
• Senior in house lawyers Roger Martella from General Electric, Helena Sullivan of Bunge and Michael S. Solender from EY
• Public interest lawyer and leader Abigail Dillen
• Tax leader and practitioner Kate Barton of EY

Register Now

“Addressing climate change and its effects is one of President-elect Joe Biden’s top four priorities. Growing the clean-energy sector will be necessary to achieve his new administration’s goal of economy-wide, net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, a 2035 target for a ‘carbon pollution-free power sector’ and plans to rejoin the 2015 Paris Agreement, from which President Donald Trump announced the US would withdraw, an action that took effect on Nov. 4,” write Corinne Grinapol, Mary B. Powers, Pam Radtke Russell, and Debra K. Rubin in Engineering News-Record.

“That global agreement sets a collective goal of limiting CO₂ rise in the 21st century to under 2° C above pre-industrial levels, with each country submitting specific reductions. The U.S. had initially pledged to cut, by 2025, greenhouse gas emissions to 26%-28% below the 2005 level, as well as strive for an overall 28% emissions reduction.”

Read the article.