Litigation Will Explode With the Ban of #MeToo Forced Arbitration

“One of the biggest impacts we can expect with the new law banning arbitration of certain new sexual harassment claims is a likely explosion in the number of cases filed and litigated in state and federal court, given the prevalence of employment arbitration agreements, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP employment attorneys predict,” reports Roberta, Rachel & Julie in Bloomberg Law.

“President Biden is expected to sign legislation that explicitly amends the Federal Arbitration Act to make pre-dispute arbitration agreements and class (or joint) action waivers unenforceable for claims involving sexual assault or sexual harassment.”

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Dallas Trial Lawyer Dick Sayles Inducted into D Magazine’s Inaugural Hall of Fame List

Dallas Trial Lawyer Dick Sayles Inducted into D Magazine’s Inaugural Hall of Fame List

Mr. Sayles is one of 50 selected for prestigious honor

DALLAS – Esteemed trial lawyer and Bradley partner Dick Sayles is being honored as a member of D Magazine’s first Best Lawyers in Dallas Hall of Fame list. The award is one the magazine is bestowing only on attorneys who have been named to its Best Lawyers in Dallas list a minimum of 15 times.

“When you’re doing a client’s work, you’re of course concentrating on that and not really thinking about these kinds of honors,” said Mr. Sayles. “But it is very gratifying to see the good work you do honored in this way. And it is nice to be included among the other fine lawyers named to this list.”

Mr. Sayles has developed a national reputation for his work in the courtroom, bringing over 150 cases to verdict and earning more than a dozen multimillion-dollar jury verdicts along with high-profile defense wins. He has an active caseload in state and federal venues across the country, representing clients in a range of commercial litigation including securities, healthcare, product liability, patent infringement disputes and high-stakes commercial litigation.

Honored as the Dallas Bar Association’s Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2018, Mr. Sayles has also been recognized by Benchmark Litigation and Best Lawyers in America. In addition, he is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the International Society of Barristers. Mr. Sayles was featured in Texas Lawbook’s “Lions of the Texas Bar” and has been selected among the Texas Super Lawyers Top 10 lawyers in Texas multiple times. Mr. Sayles was previously named in the 2020 edition of the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America, and most recently he was inducted into Lawdragon’s Hall of Fame earlier this year.

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 600 lawyers represent clients worldwide in a wide range of professions, including financial services, healthcare, construction, technology, energy, insurance, and many others.




Contract Logix Appoints Karen Meyer to Chief Executive Officer to Lead and Accelerate Next Stage of Company Growth

Contract Logix, a leading provider of data-driven contract management software, today announced the appointment of its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Karen Meyer. Meyer brings more than 20 years of Software as a Service (SaaS) experience to the role, as well as a passion for helping organizations scale and grow.

She joins Contract Logix from Upland Software, where she served as head of the company’s Global Customer Success organization, responsible for commercial and customer engagement teams for over a dozen products. Meyer will leverage this experience to lead and accelerate Contract Logix through its next phase of growth, as it continues its mission to help organizations uncover and mitigate hidden contractual risk through process automation, data-driven intelligence, and real-time collaboration.

In her prior role, Meyer was critical in driving Upland’s M&A and integration strategies leading to high growth and strong customer retention. She brings a unique blend of customer advocacy, communications, and sales effectiveness and enablement skills to Contract Logix. She also held executive leadership roles at Qvidian, a proposal and RFP automation provider, leading to the acquisition of the company in 2017.

“Contract Logix has over fifteen years of experience helping customers automate and optimize their contract management and support their broader digital transformation efforts, and I could not be more excited about joining this team,” said Meyer. “I am passionate about listening to customers and helping solve problems. Joining a company with a customer-centric culture focused on helping them successfully achieve fast time-to-value and broad user adoption seemed like the perfect fit. I look forward to helping grow our business and strengthening existing relationships.”

“As a longtime leading provider of data-driven contract lifecycle management software, Contract Logix has a tremendous growth opportunity in serving the needs of any organization looking to streamline their contracting processes,” said Lewis Miller, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Contract Logix. “We believe Karen will help accelerate the pace of growth and innovation of the company, and with her outstanding mix of strategic and operational experience, Contract Logix will continue to scale with speed.”

This announcement closely follows a period of significant growth for Contract Logix. Over the past 12-months, the company has seen a triple-digit percentage increase in platform usage as it rapidly adds new customers and expands existing relationships. This tremendous growth is evidence of the need and desire for organizations to digitally transform and simplify the way they conduct business with greater compliance, business agility, security, and collaboration.




Ukraine War Highlights Need for Energy Independence, Energy Experts Running for Congress Warn

“Two Republican congressional candidates with extensive experience in energy faulted the Biden administration for weakening the United States’ energy independence and warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine highlights the importance of America’s energy independence. We’re seeing now that energy,” reports Tyler O’Neil in Fox News.

“Alexis Martinez Johnson, an environmental engineer and Republican candidate for New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District, told Fox News Digital. We need to be producing natural gas and oil, as an exporter, not only to ensure low energy costs at home, but also to keep our allies from being beholden to Russia. Europe has become.”

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MRC Global Awarded Major Equipment Supply Contracts for Sunrise Wind Project

“MRC Global Inc. NYSE: MRC announced today that Aker Solutions AS has awarded MRC Global Norway AS contracts to provide the complete scope of valves, instrumentation, piping, tubing and fittings for the Sunrise Wind offshore wind power project located east of Long Island’s Montauk Point in,” reports Globe News Wire in their blog.

“The Sunrise Wind project will be the largest offshore wind farm by power generation capacity in the state of New York. Located over 30 miles offshore east of Long Island’s Montauk Point, the 924 MW project will be sufficient to power nearly 600,000 homes and supply 100% renewable energy to help realize New York’s vision of becoming.”

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Broken Contracts in The Merchant of Venice and Wolf Play

“The actor John Douglas Thompson, now legendary among theatre audiences for his interpretations of classical material, is his own philharmonic of well-tuned instruments. His voice, at a rumble or a rasp, glides from line to line and feeling to feeling he turns Shakespeare’s flurries and puzzles,” reports Vinson Cunningham in The New Yorker.

“Language into seemingly inevitable verbal outpourings of unknowable internal processes. His face, similarly, is a map of emotions. Before he speaks, his brows churn and his mouth searches. Whatever he says next has been looked for and, somewhere deep in the soul, found. But, in a new production of The Merchant of Venice directed by Arin.”

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Four Contracts Void, Adding to Packers’ Cap Woes

“Last offseason, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst and his right-hand man, Russ Ball, inserted void years into the contracts of four contracts to help the team deal with a challenging salary cap. At 3 p.m. Monday, all those contracts officially voided. From a personnel perspective, it means,” reports Bill Huber in Fan Nation.

“All-Pro inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell signed a one-year, $2 million contract in June that turned out to be the biggest bargain in the NFL. It included a minimum base salary and a $1.01 million signing bonus that was prorated over five years with the addition of four void years. With his contract voided, the remaining $808,000.”

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Biglaw Offices in Russia and Ukraine Confront Reality of Wartime Law Practice

“As Russia invades Ukraine, Baker McKenzie and Dentons have closed up their Ukraine offices. No word on the DLA Piper presence, but it’s likely closed up as well. Dentons told Bloomberg Law that We are in regular contact with our team in Kyiv and are providing our 49 colleagues with any assistance they,” reports Joe Patrice in Above The Law.

“Which is to be expected. It’s impossible to imagine a global law firm operating in Ukraine over the last few years without formulating an emergency response. As soon as the former administration lifted sanctions on Russia and held up military aid to Ukraine, conflict may not have been guaranteed, but became increasingly likely.”

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College Appoints Matthew Lahey as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

“The College announced the appointment of the new Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary Matthew D. Lahey on Jan. 11. At Oberlin, Lahey will be responsible for a number of Oberlin’s legal needs, in addition to overseeing the restructuring of the Board of Trustees bylaws and,” reports Kushagra Kar in The Oberlin Review.

“Supporting the implementation of One Oberlin. Lahey’s appointment has sparked controversy among Oberlin alumni, faculty, and staff and who are concerned about a LinkedIn profile that included union avoidance among his skills. Following the creation of the Office of the Vice President, Following the creation of the Office of the Vice.”

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The Lanier Law Firm Helps Secure $1.85 Billion Opioid Settlement for Texas

“A historic $1.85 billion settlement reached late last week with opioid manufacturers and distributors resulted from the diligent work of the Texas Attorney General’s office and a committee of top lawyers, including The Lanier Law Firm’s Dara Hegar. The settlement marks a key milestone in the state’s ongoing,” reports PR Newswire in their blog.

“Established to seek compensation for the efforts of state and local governments to cope with the epidemic of opioid abuse, as well as fund education, intervention and treatment programs across the state. In addition to Ms. Hegar, members of the negotiating team included Ken Paxton and Lesley French of the Texas Office of the Attorney.”

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Arkansas Teacher Retirement System Reaches $642M Settlement in Pension Loss Lawsuit

“The Arkansas Teacher Retirement System on Friday unanimously approved a $642 million settlement with Allianz, the German finance company it sued for losing $774 million of its pension fund during the March 2020 market panic. The settlement amount does not include attorney’s fees and other,” reports Scott Carroll in Above The Law.

“The teachers fund filed suit in July 2020, accusing Allianz of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and negligence. The company had bet heavily on stock options, and it argued that the losses were the result of unprecedented market volatility at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The teachers fund wasn’t the only.”

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DISCO Expands Products Portfolio, Acquires Legal Hold and Workflow Technology Assets

DISCO Expands Products Portfolio, Acquires Legal Hold and Workflow Technology Assets
AUSTIN, Texas — February 24, 2022 — Legal technology leader DISCO (NYSE: LAW) today announced it has acquired legal workflow products Hold360 and Request360, as well as related regulatory and alert solutions, from Congruity 360, LLC. These critical legal workflow capabilities will integrate with DISCO’s market-leading cloud-based ediscovery platform and provide a modern, digital solution for corporate legal hold obligations and legal request compliance.

Hold360 and Request360 are next-generation, streamlined technology solutions that eliminate the challenges from legacy solutions, which relied on human processes, teams of attorneys and legal professionals, and limited technological solutions to ensure compliance with legal preservation obligations.

With Hold360 and Request360, DISCO will expand its solution set to address the legal hold requirements of customers, including the ability to hold data and documents in place electronically rather than recreate, store, and manage copies of duplicative data. Further, silent hold capabilities allow legal teams to easily enact holds, without the need to engage IT departments to ensure retention of sensitive information. The easy-to-deploy solutions and workflow allow corporate legal teams to save time and resources and improve their compliance with state and federal laws.

“The legal hold product team that is joining DISCO has built modern, complete solutions for the legal workflow needs of today, complementing DISCO’s solutions that empower legal departments to focus on delivering better legal outcomes,” said DISCO Chief Product Officer Kevin Smith. “We are excited to further demonstrate how great technology can empower legal teams, save time and money, increase efficiency, and ensure compliance. This also addresses the unmet needs of our legal services partners, many of whom have relied on legacy services to fill this critical gap for their customers.”

“When you look at the legal technology market, there are few companies that have enough disruptive DNA to upset the status quo. DISCO has the product-centricity, go-to-market scale, and velocity to drive real change,” said John Sanchez, founder of Hold360 and Request360. “We are excited to join the DISCO team and accelerate our contribution to transforming how legal work is done in the modern era.”

About DISCO

DISCO (NYSE: LAW) provides a cloud-native, artificial intelligence-powered legal solution that simplifies ediscovery, legal document review and case management for enterprises, law firms, legal services providers and governments. Our scalable, integrated solution enables legal departments to easily collect, process and review enterprise data that is relevant or potentially relevant to legal matters.

References to “DISCO”, “our,” or “we” in this press release refer to CS Disco, Inc. and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis.




Polsenberg Elected President of Appellate Academy

Nevada lawyer Dan Polsenberg has been elected President of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. Polsenberg is a partner in the Las Vegas and Reno offices of Lewis Roca.

The Appellate Academy is one of the most prestigious appellate organizations in the country. It is an exclusive, invitation-only membership, comprised of 350 of America’s best lawyers who do appeals.

With over 30 years as a litigator, Polsenberg has personally argued 285 appeals and authored briefs in over a thousand more. These cases cover the legal field, ranging from contracts to constitutional law and from torts to tax. He has garnered the reputation as the Nevada lawyer for a “big appeal.”

Polsenberg is past president of both the State Bar of Nevada and the Clark County Bar. Twenty years ago, he was inducted as the first Nevadan to be a fellow of the Appellate Academy. Polsenberg is the second Lewis Roca lawyer to serve as President of the organization.

For the next year as President, Polsenberg looks to implement initiatives to diversify the lawyers who practice appellate law throughout the United States. He will also focus on efforts to expand the areas in which the Appellate Academy will file “friend of the court” briefs. Polsenberg also wants to have the Academy develop reforms to improve court rules.

Continuously ranked by top legal publications including Chambers USA, Benchmark Litigation, The Best Lawyers in America, and three-times as the number one lawyer by Mountain State Super Lawyers, Polsenberg has earned the respect of his peers as one of the nation’s top lawyers.

About Lewis Roca

Lewis Roca is an Am Law 200 law firm serving clients globally in complex litigation, intellectual property, business transactions, gaming, government relations, labor and employment, and regulatory counseling. Its offices are located in Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Reno, Silicon Valley, and Tucson. To learn more about the firm, please visit us at our website at www.lewisroca.com.




Ball Janik LLP. Continues to Add to its Exceptionable Team, Hires Land Use Attorney Nikesh J. Patel

Ball Janik LLP is pleased to announce that Nikesh J. Patel has joined as the newest land use & development associate in the firm’s Portland office. Patel will assist the firm with various legal matters surrounding affordable housing, mixed-use, commercial, and community development. Patel’s experience includes local government procedures, highlighted by his time as an honors attorney with the City of Portland and an associate in a real estate and land use group at a major international law firm.
“Nikesh is a welcomed addition for the firm’s Portland office,” said Heather Oden, Ball Janik’s Chief Operating Officer. “His knowledge and experience in the local area are invaluable, and we are excited to see his contributions help the office grow and add to our offerings for clients.”
Patel’s experience includes assisting clients in their development goals by working collaboratively with local governments and communities to establish common objectives. He has advised city bureaus on housing and development programs and assisted in legislation and administrative rules. Patel takes great pride in shaping the future of land use. As a Portland native, he sees it as his responsibility to ensure he contributes to the longstanding health of his community by assisting local community organizations.
“I am thrilled to be joining a law firm with the industry reputation that Ball Janik has,” said Patel. “Ball Janik holds a strong reputation in the region as an industry leader in real estate and land use law. The firm is dedicated to its clients and has significantly contributed to the Portland community since its inception. I cannot wait to see what we all accomplish together.”
Patel graduated cum laude with his Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Oregon in 2014. He received his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2017. He is a member of the Oregon Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the Oregon Chapter of NAIOP, the Urban Land Institute, the Oregon State Bar, and the Washington State Bar. In law school, Patel served as a law clerk at the U.S. Senate Finance Committee in Washington, D.C. for Senator Ron Wyden and published an article with the Minnesota Journal of International Law titled, “An Emerging Trend in International Trade: A Shift to Safeguard Against ISDS Abuses and Protect Host-State Sovereignty.” He also interned at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
About Ball Janik LLP
Ball Janik LLP is a bi-coastal comprehensive services law firm focused on real estate, land use, construction, and business litigation. As a bi-coastal law firm with offices in Florida and Oregon, we service clients in the areas of affordable housing, bankruptcy, and creditor rights, community associations, construction and design, construction defect disputes, corporate, financial services, hospitality, insurance recovery, investigations and white-collar crime, public agencies and schools, and renewable energy.
Since our firm’s inception, we have expanded our capabilities, professionals, and geographic footprint. In doing so, we have earned a national reputation for upholding the rights of our clients.
Ball Janik LLP has been recognized by Chambers USA, US News & World Report and Best Lawyers®, The Best Lawyers in America©, and Corporate International. Ball Janik LLP’s success and integrity have repeatedly made it one of “Oregon’s Most Admired Professional Firms,” according to the Portland Business Journal’s survey results of CEOs throughout the region.




LexisNexis Adds New Capabilities and Enhancements to CounselLink, the Legal Industry’s Leading Enterprise Legal Management Platform

LexisNexis® CounselLink® today announced the release of version 22.1 of its industry-leading enterprise legal management (ELM) solution. This release delivers significant new features across the entire legal management process to help legal departments streamline work and matter management, better predict costs and demonstrate their value to their business.

“As the leading ELM platform, CounselLink is committed to driving continuous innovation and product improvement and putting the most critical requirements of our customers first,” said CounselLink Vice President of Product Management, Aaron Pierce. “With each release we add new tools and deeper capabilities to help legal departments lower costs, make budgets more predictable, manage risk and improve decision-making.”

To help improve the way in-house legal departments run, the updated ELM platform addresses a variety of key operational areas. Some of the many new features include:

• Enhanced Microsoft Outlook add-in to streamline tasks, eliminating need to switch applications
• Upgraded visual dashboard to analyze and report on outside counsel billing compliance
• Expanded budgeting capabilities to better manage and reconcile spend against projections
• Expanded invoice review functionality to allow greater usability across multiple sessions
• Expanded allocation capabilities for better financial oversight and user role management
• New API integrations that improve interoperability with other financial and workflow tools

The greater visibility into in-house operations delivered by CounselLink helps legal departments run more effectively as a business. Key learnings from enterprise legal management solutions can help teams anticipate events or develop tactical initiatives for better strategic planning and workflow. Through this basis of continuous improvement, legal teams will be better able to both demonstrate their value to the business and succeed in their tasks.

About CounselLink
LexisNexis® CounselLink® is the leading enterprise legal management solution designed to help corporate legal departments gain 100% visibility into their work, matters and invoices. For nearly 30 years, CounselLink has been providing innovative solutions for corporate legal departments crafted from the insights of thought leaders, industry expertise, and customer feedback. CounselLink delivers Work Management, Financial Management, and Vendor Management solutions in one easy-to-use, cloud-based platform for controlling costs, maximizing productivity, and making better decisions – all supported by powerful analytics that provide you with the necessary data to demonstrate your department’s value. Learn more about CounselLink at www.counsellink.com.




Wiggin and Dana Joins Midsize Mansfield Rule Initiative to Boost Diversity in Law

February 23, 2022 – Wiggin and Dana announced its participation in Diversity Lab’s Mansfield Rule for Midsize Law Firms, underscoring the firm’s commitment to tangible progress towards greater Diversity, Equity and Inclusion across the firm and in the legal profession. From March 2022 to September 2023, the firm will join other participating firms in a certification process to boost diversity in leadership.

The Mansfield Rule aims to broaden the pool of women, LGBTQ+ lawyers, lawyers with disabilities, and racial and ethnic minority lawyers who are considered for entry-level and lateral attorney job openings, leadership opportunities, partner promotions, and opportunities to connect with clients. Participating firms must engage in hiring, promotion and leadership transition activities aimed at increasing representation of underrepresented lawyers in leadership roles to at least 30 percent. Diversity Lab, an incubator for innovative ideas and solutions that boost diversity and inclusion in the legal industry, developed the midsize iteration of the Mansfield Rule initiative to better serve appropriate firms.

“The Mansfield Rule provides a framework for us to increase representation and promotion of diverse talent, which is critical to our mission of working towards a more equitable and inclusive firm and legal industry,” said Tim Diemand, Wiggin and Dana’s Managing Partner. “DEI is a cornerstone of our firm’s culture and The Mansfield Rule will help ensure that we remain intentional in our efforts.”

“Real progress towards representation requires action and measurement,” said Jana Simon, Wiggin and Dana’s Chief DEI Officer. “These two areas act as pillars of the Mansfield Rule, allowing us to take meaningful steps on the road towards advancing diversity and inclusion.” Wiggin and Dana’s DEI action plan, DEI DRIVE, aims to drive the firm into the top 33 percent of its law firm peer group for diversity in five years, and the top 25 percent in ten years. The firm’s participation in the Mansfield initiative follows several important steps taken towards Wiggin and Dana’s DEI goals. Last month, the firm created a C-level leadership role fully dedicated to addressing DEI.




Top 10 Biglaw Firm Ponies Up Money for Hardworking Associates

“What better way for a Biglaw firm to let associates know much their work is appreciated than with a nice raise? And thanks to the new market standard set by the combination of Milbank and Davis Polk, firms are doing just that. The latest firm to say thank you with cold, hard cash is Sidley Austin. The,” reports Kathryn Rubino in Above The Law.

“The firm took in $2,462,935,000 in gross revenue in 2020, making it number 6 on the Am Law 100, and they are happy to share their good fortune with the associates who made it all possible. As expected, the firm matched the prevailing market compensation as detailed in the chart and like many of their peer firms, the raises will.”

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Whisper names Fremantle’s Thomas COO, General Counsel

“Whisper has appointed Roisin Thomas as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel. Thomas has joined from Fremantle, where she was Director of Corporate Development. Prior to that she was Chief Operating Officer at Banijay Rights, with her tenure spanning both the mergers. She has also been,” reports Jon Creamer in Televisual.

“She will sit on the company’s senior management team and report to CEO Sunil Patel. Thomas will be charged with helping Whisper to deliver on its growth strategy, while also providing leadership and oversight across legal & business affairs and operations as well as the continuing development of Whisper’s culture and using its platform.”

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Chicken of the Sea Tuna Price Fixing $20M Class Action Lawsuit Settlement

“The settlement benefits indirect purchasers of Chicken of the Sea tuna products who purchased the products in certain states and territories between June 1, 2011, and July 1, 2015. Eligible products may have been packaged in cans or pouches smaller than 40 ounces. Chicken of the Sea agreed to pay,” reports Top Class Actions in their blog.

“It worked with other tuna companies to artificially raise the price of tuna products, and Class Members do not need proof of purchase to make a claim. The settlement benefits indirect purchasers of Chicken of the Sea tuna products who purchased the products in certain states and territories between June 1, 2011 and July 1, 2015. Eligible.”

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Class Action Securities Litigation Settlements Reached $3 Billion in 2021

“Class action securities litigation settlements increased by 50% in 2021, according to a report by Broadridge Financial Solutions, which added that total settlements reached more than $3 billion. Significant trends in the class action world, which are already continuing into 2022, include a rise in,” reports Rick Steves in Finance Feeds.

“Steve Cirami, Broadridge Class Actions leader, said. Last year we watched the number of settlements rise by a dramatic 50% as cases continue to be increasingly complex and global. The landscape continues to change dramatically, with more countries enacting class action laws. At the same time, we are now seeing more settlements.”

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