“FOX News Media has named Bernard T. Gugar as General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Corporate Development, announced its CEO Suzanne Scott, to whom he will report. Mr. Gugar will begin his new role effective immediately,” announced Fox News in their Press Releases.

“Mr. Gugar joins the network from Google, where he served as the U.S. Head of Industries for Google Cloud’s Deal Pursuit Organization. In his role, Mr. Gugar led a team that drives Google Cloud’s most strategic and complex transactions across several industry sectors. Prior to that, Mr. Gugar provided his skills and background to the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Booth School of Business, where he guided tech entrepreneurs spanning digital media, fintech, healthcare, artificial intelligence and E-commerce industries in developing and monetizing their business ventures.”

Read the article.

Hunton Andrews Kurth has announced that their firm will be matching the market standard for Biglaw special bonuses for associates, but they have to wait until the fall for their bonus, reports Kathryn Rubino in  Above the Law’s Biglaw.

“The firm noted that, to be eligible for the bonuses, associates must be in good standing and billing 1900 hours annualized. These will be in addition to any year-end bonuses”

Read the article.

We are delighted to welcome Emoke Starr as our new Vice President of People. As a member of our Executive Team, Emoke will oversee Onna’s Human Resources function. She will relocate from San Francisco to join the Onna team in Barcelona.

Emoke joins us from Workday, where she was most recently Senior People and Purpose Partner with overall responsibility for HR within her aligned business units globally. During her time at Workday, Emoke partnered with a variety of businesses, including Global Expansions, Enterprise Business Technology, Enterprise Program Portfolio Office, and Emerging Services. Before Workday, Emoke was VP of People at Benchling, where she built the HR function from scratch during a period of hyper-growth for the company. Previous roles have included senior HR positions at Prezi, and Cisco Systems.

Originally from Romania, Emoke has a license in Psychology and started her career working for non-profit organizations, before pivoting to HR and leading the function for Financial Services companies in Romania. When not at work, Emoke enjoys staying physically active, cooking, and attempting DIY projects that involve power tools.

By Rebecca L. Palmer, Esq.

As a Family and Marital Law attorney with more than 25 years of experience, I work with families during the most difficult time of their lives. During a divorce proceeding, the custody of minor children is a complex, and emotional process that takes a toll on everyone involved. The introduction of the Florida House Bill 1559 and Senate Bill 1922, providing a presumption 50-50 timesharing provision, proposes a far too basic formula for this complex issue.

Creating or modifying a parental plan as part of the divorce should always center around what is in the best interest of the child. Every divorce case that I have worked on has had its own unique set of circumstances, and in partnership with my clients, we work to navigate the legal and personal requirements throughout the process. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, nor would I apply such an uncaring and unprofessional strategy in support of my client. I take the same approach to family law matters. The parties involved are not case numbers but human beings with feelings, worries, and obligations that require customized solutions that will be mutually agreeable to both parties resulting in a long-term positive outcome.

An argument supporting the new bills suggests that the structure of the current law helps fuel an acrimonious fire to the dissolution of marriage proceedings and extends the litigation process. As legal professionals, we look at facts, and there is no evidence to support that a presumptive 50-50 timeshare benefits minors, their guardians, or has any impact on the litigation process.

If the intention of these bills is to reduce the strain on the interested parties, their families, and the legal system, it is a bit naïve to think that a generic plan, when it comes to the welfare of children, is the solution. House Bill 1559 and Senate Bill 1992 will not solve any of the complex problems that arise in custody proceedings and should not be seen as a viable solution by lawmakers to do so.

While the 50-50 custody agreement may work in some cases, we should continue the conversation about how we, as legal professionals, can make the custody process less taxing and emotionally draining for all parties involved. It is imperative that we preserve the well-being of all children during these challenging life events, and a one-size-fits-all approach to custody is not the answer. We are #hereforyou.

Rebecca L. Palmer, Esq. is a Family & Marital Law attorney practicing in Orlando, FL. She is the Managing Partner of the Rebecca L. Palmer Law Group, and she can be reached at rebecca@rlplawgroup.com.

ORLANDO, Fla., – RumbergerKirk has launched a new podcast, Legally Qualified, providing strategic legal insight and analysis for the business community. Each episode will lean on the depth of knowledge and practice areas from RumbergerKirk’s more than 100 attorneys, sharing personal experiences and advice on trending topics relevant to business leaders.

When faced with today’s complex business challenges, executive leaders need hyper-focused, easily accessible and actionable legal insights on topics like commercial litigation, product liability, employment law, insurance coverage and bad faith, casualty litigation, professional liability claims, bankruptcy amid COVID-19 and diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

The first three Legally Qualified episodes are available now and cover topics including employment law and diversity, equity and inclusion. Each features an in-depth discussion between experienced attorneys addressing hot topics, trends, and the important challenges businesses are facing.

Episode 1: “Women in Law: How We Got Here, Why We Stay and Tips for the Next Gen”
RumbergerKirk attorneys Carie Hall and Rebecca Arends talk about lessons learned along their journeys of becoming successful lawyers, challenges they’ve faced and advice for those looking to pursue a legal career.

Episode 2: “Can Employers Require Workers to Get Vaccinated?”
RumbergerKirk attorneys Sally Culley and Chase Hattaway discuss legal implications of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for employees and share key considerations in helping employers decide the best option for their workforce.

Episode 3: “Breaking Down Barriers: Increasing Diversity of the Legal Profession by Creating Opportunities for the Next Generation of Black Lawyers”
RumbergerKirk associate Shenele Pettis Bright talks with LaShawnda Jackson, a partner at RumbergerKirk and the first Black president of the Orange County Bar Association and Judge Alicia Latimore, the first Black female Circuit Judge in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida about their inspirational paths to success and what others can learn from their journeys.

New episodes are in production and will be released as they are completed. Future topics include the state of bankruptcy in the wake of COVID-19, challenges and concerns facing school boards, restaurants and other industries and what businesses need to know about TCPA, digital communications and data collection and privacy issues.

Legally Qualified can be found on the firm’s website and is playing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Libsyn and Spotify.

RumbergerKirk provides litigation and counseling services in a wide range of civil practice areas including product liability, commercial litigation, construction, real estate, intellectual property litigation, securities litigation, labor and employment law, bankruptcy, insurance coverage, professional liability and administrative law. Offices are located in Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Tallahassee and Birmingham, Alabama. For more information, visit www.rumberger.com.

###

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP announced today it has added cybersecurity pro Michael T. Borgia as a partner in its Washington, D.C., office to lead the information security group in the firm’s Technology + Communications + Privacy & Security practice.

Borgia has worked in and around information security as outside counsel, in-house counsel and strategic advisor. He joins DWT from cybersecurity and digital risk consulting firm Stroz Friedberg, a part of Aon’s Cyber Solutions division, where he was a vice president. At Stroz Friedberg, Borgia advised clients on incident response, proactive cybersecurity, digital forensic investigations, electronic discovery and other areas. In his various roles, Borgia has advised global companies and startups alike, including those operating in the information technology, finance, energy, health care and other sectors. In addition to cybersecurity, Borgia also is an experienced practitioner in the areas of privacy, intellectual property and financial services regulation.

Before his work at Stroz Friedberg, Borgia was global cybersecurity counsel at Accenture. He also was an attorney at Jenner & Block LLP, where he practiced in the areas of privacy and security, intellectual property and financial services. He joined Jenner & Block following a federal district court clerkship. Borgia received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, magna cum laude, and his law degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School.

“The anniversary of COVID-19 shutdown orders brought an upturn in both the number of business-interruption lawsuits against insurers and the amount of damages they are claiming,” writes Jim Sams in Claims Journal.

“In the past month:

• A New Jersey hospital system, RWJBarnabas Health, sued Zurich American Insurance Co. seeking $2.5 billion in damages from a virus that sickened 1,000 patients and killed nine staff members.
• Caesers Entertainment filed suit against 60 carriers seeking $2 billion in damages caused by restrictions at its Las Vegas resort casino. The company said it paid $25 million in premiums for $3.4 billion in coverage through a variety of “all-risk” policies, most of which did not include virus exclusions.
• Denison University, Kenyon College, Ohio Wesleyan University and the College of Wooster filed suit against their 16 insurers seeking $1.2 billion in coverage. The consortium of private colleges say their insurers turned their backs on them after the virus made their facilities unsafe and uninhabitable.”

“Also, some of the recent filings were made by groups of businesses against a single or multiple insurers. For example, on March 16, six restaurants and a fitness center in New Jersey filed a class-action suit in Bergen County Superior County against six carriers. On the same day, 26 Ohio dental practices filed suit against Amco Insurance Co. in the U.S. District Court in Toledo.”

Read the article.

“The threat of a shutdown still looms over Energy Transfer LP’s Dakota Access pipeline even after the Biden administration announced it wouldn’t take action against the project,” reports Ellen M. Gilmer in Bloomberg Law’s US Law Week.

“The Army Corps of Engineers revealed its position Friday during a hearing at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, saying it won’t take action against the oil pipeline ‘at this time.'”

“But the agency left open the possibility of future enforcement, which could include ordering Dakota Access to halt service, as it monitors the pipeline’s compliance with safety conditions after two courts determined the project had been permitted in violation of federal environmental law.”

Read the article.

“JM Eagle, the country’s largest manufacturer of plastic piping, filed a multimillion-dollar legal malpractice lawsuit against law firm Walsworth, claiming the firm cozied up to plaintiff firms who sued the company in asbestos lawsuits and was too willing to settle such cases,” writes Jon Parton in Courthouse News Service.

“In a complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday, the company alleges that it lost millions of dollars in asbestos cases due to the law firm pursuing “a self-serving, ‘settle-always’ strategy, which valued the needs of the firm, and Walsworth’s comfortable relationships with plaintiff asbestos firms, over the best interests of its client.”

“JM Eagle, or J-M Manufacturing (JMM), has long been targeted by lawsuits for previously selling pipes made with asbestos in the 1980s, though the company has stopped selling such products for decades.”

Read the article.

“The information blocking provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act officially went into effect this week, putting into focus the Department of Health and Human Services’ regulatory and compliance effort around HIPAA-required data sharing between applicable healthcare entities,” writes Jessica Davis in Health IT Security.

“Enacted by the 21st Century Cures Act in 2017 and implemented by a final rule in 2020, Congress defined information blocking and established penalties for providers that engage in practices that interfere with the access, exchange, and use of electronic health information.”

“The long-awaited info blocking provision established rules and penalties for non-compliance. The law carves out exclusions for providers if they meet an exception established by the HHS Secretary, or for other applicable reasons.”

“Starting April 5, relevant covered entities and business associates must comply. The Office for the National Coordinator recently released insights on just what the law’s enactment means for those relevant providers, as well as the areas HHS will focus on in the next 18 months.”

Read the article.

“The time for doctors and other healthcare providers to review their employment relationship and their duties to their patients isn’t when the doctor is about to leave a medical practice. The time to conduct these reviews is before the doctor joins a new medical practice. Physicians generally enter into written employment contracts with a medical practice, unless the physician is just a sole practitioner,” writes Cohen Healthcare Law Group in their blog.

“Doctors who are joining a medical practice are focused on making the new employment relationship work. New doctors often fail to anticipate that the relationship may not work. The doctor may be fired from the practice. The doctor may want to go out on his/her own. The doctor may want to join a new practice.”

“Doctors need to understand that in many cases, the best time to discuss what happens when the employer/employee relationship ends or a partnership relationship ends is right when the relationship begins. An experienced healthcare lawyer can explain the main factors in end-of-employment contracts that need to be reviewed upfront.”

Read the article.

“The past year has brought with it many changes, and the tumultuous realm of intellectual property law is no exception. From a pair of holdings that made copyright claims more difficult when the government is involved on either side to an anticipated reexamination of an old doctrine of patent law, the pandemic has not prevented the Supreme Court from further refining the field of intellectual property law,” discusses Erick J. Poorbaugh in Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig’s blog.

“In a holding that hits particularly close to home for those of us in the legal profession, a five-justice majority ruled that annotations to statutory compilations are not copyrightable if they are drafted under a government entity. Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., 140 S. Ct. 1498 (2020). The Court held that even though these annotations were drafted by a private company (Lexis) and were not legally binding, the fact that they were commissioned and owned by the government brought them within the ambit of the ‘government edicts doctrine,” which provides that official interpretations of the law are not copyrightable. In addition to its legal analysis, the Court also considered the practical effects of its decision. The Court found that charging money for government-commissioned annotations effectively creates two versions of the law—an ‘economy-class’ unannotated version that omits key information such as which statutes have been invalidated and a ‘first-class’ annotated version that contains this information. The Court concluded that this disparity puts the poor at a disadvantage in learning what the law actually requires. This holding drew two dissents that not only challenged the majority’s application of the law but also its practical analysis. Justice Thomas argued that the new rule will deter companies from producing government-commissioned annotations, leaving only the more expensive fully-private annotations and thus increasing the disadvantage suffered by the poor. Having an experienced attorney on your side to address any questions about intellectual property can be beneficial.”

Read the article.

“On March 18, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reconsidered the lawfulness of terms in employment arbitration agreements that require employees to sign as a pre-dispute condition of employment. Ultimately the NLRB decision … represents a surgical excision of Epic Systems v. Lewis that will have a lasting effect on employment agreements for years to come,” write Stuart R. Goldberg, Chris Barrett and Elizabeth Liner in Baker Donelson’s Publications.

“The NLRB held that confidentiality requirements for arbitration hearings, discovery, and awards are enforceable. However, as to arbitration settlements, the Board ruled agreements cannot silence workers regarding the details of the settlements through pre-dispute confidentiality provisions. According to the NLRB, the Federal Arbitration Act has no jurisdiction over employment-related arbitration settlements such that confidentiality provisions intended to gag employees as to the result of settlement negotiations would interfere with workers’ rights to discuss employment-related concerns. The same could, in turn, per the NLRB, chill employees’ ability to access the NLRB.”

“Notably, the Board stated that confidentiality of settlements could be agreed upon when negotiated, but pre-dispute confidentiality provisions, as a condition of employment, cannot be enforceable. The NLRB reiterates that broad agreements providing for the arbitration of all employment-related claims could constitute a violation of the National Labor Relations Act (the Act) if the arbitration agreement, when read in light of Boeing, would interfere with the individual’s rights under the Act, such as filing a charge with the NLRB.”

Read the article.

Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has added Lisa M. Kathumbi as a shareholder in its Columbus office. An attorney with Littler from 2013 to 2016, Kathumbi rejoins the firm from Bricker & Eckler LLP where she was a partner in the labor and employment group.

With clients that range from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies, Kathumbi represents employers in state and federal courts against allegations of discrimination and harassment, accommodation and leave violations, breach of non-compete agreements, wrongful termination, and whistleblower violations, among other matters. With extensive experience in employee benefits litigation, she also advises clients on denial of benefits claims arising under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). In addition to her litigation work, Kathumbi provides training and counsel to employers on a wide range of employment issues and conducts high-stakes workplace investigations. Early in her career, Kathumbi was senior legal counsel to the Ohio Department of Health.

Recognized in the legal industry and the Columbus business community as a leading employment attorney, Kathumbi has earned a number of accolades, including being named Columbus Lawyer of the Year for employment law management by Best Lawyers of America in 2021, a Client Service All-Star by BTI Consulting Group in 2020 and receiving the Barrister’s Salute Award from the John Mercer Langston Bar Association in 2018. Active in the legal and business communities, she is an alumna of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity’s fellowship program, has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations and was elected the first Black president of the Ohio Women’s Bar Association (OWBA) in 2016. Kathumbi also received the OWBA’s President’s Choice Award in 2015 and was recognized by the Women for Economic and Leadership Development’s Ohio chapter for “WELDing the Way” in 2017.

Kathumbi received her J.D. and B.A. from the University of Cincinnati and her M.A. from the University of Chicago.

On Friday, April 9, New York Supreme Court Justice Susan Kushner delivered a resounding win for the state’s residential real estate brokerage industry in declaring the Department of State’s guidance banning the collection of brokerage commission from tenants “an error of law” and “an abuse of discretion.” The case involved the Department of State’s guidance memo that incorrectly interpreted the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (the “Act”), and which stated the Act prohibited tenants from having to pay broker fees when the broker was also retained by the landlord. Representing the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), the New York State Association of Realtors, Corcoran, Douglas Elliman, Sotheby’s International Realty, Brown Harris Stevens, Bond, Bohemia Realty and many of New York State’s other prominent real estate brokerage firms, Stroock’s Litigation team convinced the court that the Act’s failure to mention brokers’ commissions or landlord agents made it clear that the Act was not intended to apply to them.

Justice Kushner’s decision bans the DOS from applying any rule that would prevent brokers from receiving compensation that they lawfully earned in bringing about a meeting of the minds. It also permanently prevents the DOS from taking disciplinary action against brokers for collecting such fees.

REBNY president James Whelan applauded the decision stating that it “ensures that thousands of hardworking, honest real estate agents across New York State can earn commissions without fear of unwarranted discipline by the Department of State based on its erroneous interpretation of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act.”

Led by Claude Szyfer, Stroock’s litigation team included attorneys Daniel Bertaccini, Kerry Cooperman, Nate Benfield and TaLona Holbert; paralegals Nicole Fiore, Christine Stygar, and Ellen Brier; and docketing team members Victor Rivera and Steve Wattenberg.

“Holland & Knight and Thompson & Knight announced on Friday that they are in talks for a merger that would unite two of the largest law firms from Florida and Texas, respectively,” reports Meghan Tribe in Bloomberg Law’s Business & Practice.

“According to a joint statement released by the firms and viewed by Bloomberg Law, the two are in the midst of due diligence in connection with the combination that they expect to complete in the next 90 days. A tentative closing date is set for the summer, the statement said.”

“The combined firm would have nearly 1,600 lawyers across 30 offices, placing it among the largest law firms in the U.S.”

“This proposed combination would expand significantly each firm’s presence in important geographic markets and would also improve the breadth of the services offered to clients in key industries, said Mark Sloan, managing partner of Thompson & Knight and Steven Sonberg, managing partner of Holland & Knight, in the statement.”

Read the article.

“Seattle-based travel giant Expedia Group named Patricia Menendez-Cambo, deputy general counsel of SoftBank Group and general counsel of the SoftBank Latin America Fund and SoftBank Opportunity Fund, to its board of directors,” reports Todd Bishop in Geek Wire.

“Menendez-Cambo fills a vacancy created by the resignation in January of longtime board member A. George “Skip” Battle. She joined the board’s audit committee, satisfying a Nasdaq rule requiring three independent directors on the audit committee, Expedia said.”

“Expedia Group, based in Seattle, includes travel brands such as Vrbo, Orbitz, Hotwire, Trivago, Hotels.com, and Egencia in addition to the flagship Expedia.com. The pandemic took an extraordinary toll on the company’s business amid the massive slowdown in global travel. Annual revenue fell 57% to $5.2 billion in 2020, and gross bookings fell 66% to $36.7 billion.”

Read the announcement.

“Nine Kirkland & Ellis lawyers have taken in-house private equity positions during the first quarter of 2021, with most leaving for legal chief roles,” reports Brian Baxter in Bloomberg Law’s Business & Practice.

“Kirkland corporate partner Nadia Karkar left the firm’s San Francisco office last month to join TPG Global LLC as a general counsel based in the same city. Elizabeth Freechack, a New York-based mergers and acquisitions and private equity partner, joined private equity firm L Catterton as a deputy general counsel, also in March.”

“Among other notable exits, Andrew Fleischman, a New York-based corporate partner, jumped to FTV Management Co. LP in February as general counsel. Joshua Merrill, a newly promoted private equity and M&A partner in Dallas, also left that month to become legal chief at Echo Investment Capital.”

Read the article.

“Biglaw has done well — really, really well — in spite of the ongoing pandemic. In fact, the largest law firms in America have done so well that many of them are in the process of handing out millions of dollars’ worth of special bonuses to their hardworking associates. But are there any firms that are willing to do more and increase salaries along with those bonuses?” asks Staci Zaretsky in Above the Law’s Biglaw.

“The last time we saw a salary raise was in 2018, when the majority of Biglaw firms increased their base pay for associates to $190K. Earlier this spring, DLA Piper increased base pay for its associates in some offices, and we wondered whether others would follow in the firm’s footsteps, and now, it looks like that day has come.”

Read the article.

“Three lawyers were among the top six highest-paid executives at ViacomCBS Inc. in 2020, according to a proxy statement filed by the media conglomerate,” reports Brian Baxter in Bloomberg Law’s Business & Practice.

“General counsel Christa D’Alimonte and fellow attorneys Nancy Phillips and Doretha “DeDe” Lea received more than $12.7 million in total compensation, the April 2 proxy filing shows.”

“The payouts come as the company continues to face shareholder litigation related to the Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. merger a year ago. The reunion of the two companies resulted in rounds of layoffs by New York-based ViacomCBS, which is now divesting itself of non-core assets.”

“Phillips and Lea joined the combined company in late 2019 ahead of the completion of the $11.7 billion all-stock merger. D’Alimonte, a former top lawyer at Viacom who succeeded Michael Fricklas in 2017, assumed leadership of the combined ViacomCBS legal group in December 2019.”

Read the article.