Brightflag, the AI-powered legal spend management and matter management software, today announced the launch of its Microsoft Outlook integration, limiting the need to transition between tools and keeping essential context within easy reach. This latest product development will be followed by several releases throughout 2021 focused on applying Brightflag’s machine learning leadership and modern design principles to more elements of the platform.

With the new integration, Outlook users can now sync emails, attachments, and notes directly into a legal matter managed in Brightflag without leaving their inbox. Once in Brightflag, they can also search through this information by keyword without switching back to Outlook.

Security and compliance remained top priorities for Brightflag while developing this convenient new solution. Outlook assets uploaded to Brightflag are protected with SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001:2013 compliant controls that safeguard the entire platform. Centralizing all relevant matter materials also helps customers preserve clear and simple audit trails.

The Microsoft Outlook integration is available to all Brightflag customers at no extra charge and can be configured in less than an hour.

For more information, please visit: brightflag.com/product/matter-management/

Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm, today announced the expansion of its New York office with the addition of partners Craig Weiner and Lisa Coyle, and associates Frederick Braunstein, Reena Jain, and Alexander Newman. They join as members of firm’s Litigation Practice Group, deepening the firm’s experience in high-stakes commercial, financial, fraud, business tort, employment, and intellectual property litigation.

Weiner counsels corporations, high-net-worth individuals, celebrities, investment banks, private equity/hedge funds, and venture companies in litigation and strategic planning. Often called upon to manage emergency situations, Weiner guides clients through high-stakes litigation and contentious negotiations, as well as helping to facilitate joint ventures, strategic alliances, government grants, and conducting online commerce. His practice includes complex financial and investment cases, high-stakes employment litigation, professional malpractice, and bankruptcy and reorganization, having previously served as debtor’s authorized representative and lead counsel in adversary proceedings. In addition to a national practice, Weiner serves international clients, including private equity funds, high-net-worth families, and investors in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, China, and Vietnam.

Coyle has more than 15 years of experience representing large and small domestic and international corporations, entrepreneurs and other individuals, celebrities, financial institutions, and foreign sovereigns in complex commercial litigation and arbitration matters. She has represented clients in shareholder disputes, derivative actions, business divorces, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, business tort cases, stock options disputes, and cases arising under federal securities laws and anti-discrimination, harassment, and retaliation laws. Some of her proudest accomplishments have been winning highly favorable resolutions for a victim of domestic violence, a women who was fired in retaliation for her complaints about discrimination and harassment, and a man who suffered racial and age discrimination. Coyle also has experience helping boards through difficult and complex disputes among directors and activist shareholders. She also regularly represents clients in litigation arising out of failed corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions.

A passionate advocate for advancing equality and justice, Coyle is very active in women’s causes and diversity initiatives. She volunteers her time with multiple local organizations and serves on Akerman’s Women’s Initiative Network. In addition, she is committed to her pro bono work, through which she has assisted several transgender individuals through the often confusing process of obtaining a name change. She also hosted a panel discussion with Land O’Lakes regarding their first openly LGBTQ+ CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Braunstein focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts. He represents clients ranging from individuals to large corporations in a wide array of matters, including appellate strategy and advocacy. Deeply devoted to pro bono and civil rights work, Braunstein has a particular interest in issues of social and economic justice and has advocated on behalf of transgender clients in several precedent-setting civil rights cases.

Jain focuses her practice on business, entertainment and media, and intellectual property litigation, representing a broad range of clients, including individuals, start-ups, and large corporations. She regularly guides clients through every stage of litigation and arbitration, from performing pre-suit evaluations, initiating suits, and aggressively pursuing discovery, to summary judgment, mediation, and trial on the merits. Her experience includes breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, copyright, defamation, RICO, right of publicity, trademark, trade secret, and unfair competition litigation. Reena has represented clients in a wide range of industries, such as alcohol, apparel, CBD, music, and pharmaceuticals. She also is committed to pro bono work and volunteers with both Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and the New York Legal Assistance Group.

Newman focuses his practice on commercial litigation in state and federal courts. He represents clients ranging from individuals to large corporations in complex business disputes. In addition to prosecuting and defending numerous actions, he has experience in arbitration and mediation. Newman maintains an active and diverse pro bono practice, representing immigrants seeking asylum, artists in disputes over their work, and employees in litigation with their employers, among others.

The new team brings a diverse mix of backgrounds, talents and experiences to Akerman, reflecting the firm’s commitment to recruit and retain an inclusive group of people. Their joining the firm follows the recent addition of veteran trial lawyer Joel Mohrman and Andy Cao to the Litigation Practice Group in Houston. They joined as partners and grow the firm’s experience in intellectual property litigation, class actions, and complex commercial litigation, particularly in the healthcare and maritime sectors. Akerman also welcomed litigation partner William Sentell to its Houston office, where he brings experience in franchise dispute resolution and related corporate, regulatory, and compliance matters.

Lansing – April 7, 2021 – Dykema, a leading national law firm, announced today that Lansing-based Member Jarrod Smith has been selected as Leader of the firm’s Public Finance Practice Group.

Smith has more than 16 years of experience in public finance. In his practice, he serves as bond counsel to the State of Michigan, the Michigan Department of Treasury, the Michigan Department of Transportation, the State Building Authority, the Michigan Finance Authority, the Michigan Strategic Fund, and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, as well as various municipal clients including the Detroit Downtown Development Authority and the City of Lansing. Smith also frequently serves as underwriter’s or bank counsel to numerous national underwriting and financial institutions. Smith’s experience includes some of the most complex public finance transactions in Michigan over the past several years—including the $3 billion Unemployment Obligation Assessment Revenue Bonds transaction, and a $288+ million transaction that funded the completion of a large county criminal justice complex, each of which received “Deals of the Year” recognition by The Bond Buyer.

Smith also provided counsel for various transactions involving the construction of Little Caesar’s Arena, home to the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons. He also was a key player in the Michigan Finance Authority’s refunding bond transaction to restructure and fix out the debt of the Detroit Public Schools and he assisted in the State’s restructuring of its School Bond Qualification and Loan Fund program through the creation of a School Loan Revolving Fund program.

Prior to joining Dykema, Smith was an Assistant Attorney General with the Michigan Department of Attorney General for more than a decade. During that time, he acted as issuer’s counsel to the State of Michigan and its various authorities for numerous transactions representing billions of dollars in public finance transactions.

Smith earned a J.D., cum laude, and a B.S. from Michigan State University.

Neal Gerber Eisenberg (NGE) is pleased to announce that Corporate & Securities Group Chair Robert G. Gerber has been named the third managing partner in the firm’s 35-year history. Gerber, who began his career with NGE as a summer associate in 1997, is the first managing partner to rise through the firm’s associate ranks. He will assume his new role on June 1, 2021, and he will continue to serve on the firm’s Executive Committee. He succeeds Scott J. Fisher, who led the firm as managing partner for five years.

Fisher will remain a partner and resume his active trial practice. Under his leadership, NGE’s performance improved significantly by every relevant measure and the firm has been an industry leader in focusing on the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and employee engagement.

Gerber is focused on the firm’s role as a values-driven business and an active corporate citizen.

Neal Gerber Eisenberg is a leading law firm dedicated to handling sophisticated matters for entrepreneurs, public companies, and private businesses and their owners. More than one-third of the lawyers at Neal Gerber Eisenberg were recognized in 2021 in Best Lawyers, and the firm represents scores of the Fortune 100 and many of the best known private companies. The firm also acts as the trusted advisers to nonprofits, startups, growth companies and entrepreneurs. The firm has built over thirty years of trusted partnerships with clients that span the globe, and we meet each unique client need with the same personalized service and collaboration that provide the most practical solutions for every matter.

Washington, DC (April 1, 2021) – Venable LLP announced today that it has elected 16 attorneys to the firm partnership. The new partners, from Venable’s Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC offices, are emerging leaders from a broad cross section of the firm’s practice groups, including Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights, Commercial Litigation, Corporate, Environmental, Financial Services, Intellectual Property, International Trade, Labor and Employment, Political Law, and Privacy.

Stu Ingis, chairman of Venable, said, “The new partners were elected based on their exceptional legal abilities, contributions to the firm, commitment to client service, and demonstration of the firm’s values. Their promotion to the partnership recognizes both their accomplishments to date and the confidence of the partnership in their future contributions to the firm.”

The following attorneys are joining Venable’s partnership effective April 1, 2021.

Baltimore Office

Laura S. Bouyea advises clients across industries with respect to a wide range of bankruptcy matters and complex commercial disputes. She has extensive experience representing lenders and special servicers in the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) industry, both in court and in the workout context.

Lindsay McCrory Monti is a corporate attorney who focuses on mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, and equity financings. She guides clients as they close on financing, negotiate business points, work through intellectual property issues, and successfully complete transactions.

John V. Sunder’s practice encompasses a wide range of business law matters, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions and equity/debt financing, including structuring secured and unsecured credit facilities. His clients include operating businesses, private equity funds, family offices, agent banks and financial institutions, and specialty lenders.

Los Angeles Office

Ryan M. Andrews first-chairs the defense of employment lawsuits and arbitrations, counsels employers and executives on navigating restrictive covenants, and advises clients on employment law compliance and best practices.

Logan M. Elliott is an experienced trial and appellate litigator who represents companies and individuals in a variety of high-stakes business litigation matters. He has substantial experience handling a wide range of matters, including entertainment, trust and estate, real estate, finance, and general commercial litigation.

Matthew M. Gurvitz focuses on complex litigation in state and federal courts across the United States. His broad range of experience, including consumer product litigation, entertainment litigation, general business litigation, employment litigation, and probate litigation, provides a multidisciplinary wealth of knowledge that he can draw on to creatively approach any complex dispute.

Marjorie W. Norman helps clients obtain and protect their intellectual property through domestic and international trademark preparation and prosecution, portfolio strategy, licensing, clearance, and intellectual property transaction counseling.

New York Office

Evan R. Minsberg counsels fintech companies, banks, and other financial service providers on regulatory, product development, and transactional issues in the payments, consumer and commercial credit, and data analytics industries.

Lindsay M. Nathan provides strategic advice, guidance, and oversight to political groups and nonprofit organizations on all aspects of federal, state, and local political law. She has experience in campaign finance, lobbying disclosure, government ethics and gift rules, and procurement and pay-to-play laws.

Erica L. Norey is an intellectual property attorney whose practice focuses on complex patent litigation under the Hatch-Waxman Act, contested proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and patent diligence, acquisition, and licensing for high-profile clients in multiple technical fields. She is admitted to the state bars of New York and New Jersey and is registered to practice before the USPTO.

James R. Tyminski practices intellectual property law, with a focus on Hatch-Waxman patent litigation. He has extensive experience litigating various types of pharmaceutical patents, including patents covering novel pharmaceutical formulations and polymorphic forms of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Washington, DC Office

Margaret K. Fawal represents clients in a wide array of environmental regulatory and litigation matters, with a focus on issues impacting rail and surface transportation, mining, electric utility companies, and trade associations. She regularly advises clients on chemical regulation and waste management issues and assists clients through the regulatory and environmental review processes for complex infrastructure development projects.

Jay C. Johnson serves clients in a variety of infrastructure and natural resource contexts, guiding them past regulatory and environmental review obstacles to win agency approvals, then defending those approvals in court.

Elizabeth K. Lowe advises U.S. and non-U.S. companies on a variety of cross-border and international trade regulatory, commercial, and policy matters, with a focus on global logistics, economic sanctions, Customs laws, and export controls rules. Her work includes internal compliance reviews and investigations, due diligence activities, voluntary self-disclosures, responses to inquiries from federal agencies, compliance training, and licensing.

Calvin R. Nelson’s practice covers a wide range of intellectual property matters, including patent litigation, trademark and brand protection, and anti-counterfeiting. He has extensive experience litigating disputes in federal courts and before the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Ariel S. Wolf leads the firm’s Mobility and Transportation Technology team. He counsels clients facing complex legal and policy issues at the intersection of automation, connectivity, safety, privacy, and cybersecurity.

“Wiley is pleased to announce that Thomas M. Johnson, Jr., former General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has joined the firm as a partner, and will serve as co-chair of the firm’s Appellate Practice. Mr. Johnson has over 15 years of experience in private practice and public service at the federal and state levels, representing clients in high-stakes appellate and regulatory litigation matters,” released Wiley in their Press Releases.

“Mr. Johnson has advised clients on all stages of federal agency rulemaking, adjudication, and litigation, in fields ranging from communications to environmental law to securities to labor and employment. As FCC General Counsel, Mr. Johnson successfully persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Commission’s media ownership reforms, resulting last week in a “unanimous knockout” (The Wall Street Journal) of a Third Circuit decision vacating those rules, and successfully defended the Commission’s “net neutrality” repeal at oral argument before the D.C. Circuit. While naturally building upon a regulatory litigation practice that focuses on communications, technology, and the internet, Mr. Johnson will be positioned to strengthen Wiley’s capabilities in administrative law and appellate litigation across all sectors and practice groups.”

Read the release.

“Law firm mergers may quadruple by the end of the year after cratering in 2020 when offices struggled to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, an Altman Weil report released Tuesday found,” reports John Hughes in Bloomberg Law’s US Law Week.

“Law combinations began a rebound in the first quarter of 2021 with 26 transactions, putting deals on a pace to shatter the total of 65 in all of last year. Acquiring firms on average had 908 lawyers compared with 14 in those being acquired, according to Altman Weil.”

“The Altman Weil findings resemble those of legal consultancy Fairfax Associates, which found firms focusing on smaller combinations. Fairfax Associates recorded 18 completed mergers in the first quarter of 2021, a slight drop from the same time period in 2020, which saw 21 mergers.”

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“Bona Law, a national boutique antitrust law firm headquartered in San Diego, announced today that two prominent antitrust attorneys, Pat Pascarella and Jim Lerner, have joined the firm. Together they bring with them more than five decades of experience at top international law firms and a dozen years as chief in-house antitrust counsel at a Fortune 10 company,” released Bona Law in their Law Firm News.

“Pascarella, who moved from a Global Competition Review 100 firm, brings with him wide-ranging experience in antitrust litigation and counseling. He has represented clients facing investigations, enforcement, and litigation in the United States, Mexico, Columbia, and Europe. His career also includes service with the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division in Washington, D.C., and a dozen years as AT&T’s chief in-house antitrust counsel.”

“Lerner moved from Global Competition Review 100 firm Winston & Strawn. He is a global antitrust counselor and litigator who has represented clients before competition enforcers in numerous high-profile U.S. and international criminal and civil cartel investigations involving products such auto parts, carbon fiber, cathode ray tubes, computer components, food flavor enhancers, impact modifiers and processing aids, lysine, and vitamins. He has also defended numerous clients in major multi-district antitrust class actions.”

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“Ten years ago, Oracle argued that Google had infringed Oracle’s copyright, by copying the ‘structure, sequence, and organization’ of 37 Java application programming interfaces (APIs) into Android. Google replied that an API is like an alphabet or a grammar. They’re the fundamental elements used to create programs. Now, at long last, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has concluded what programmers had known all along: APIs can’t be strictly copyrighted. Fair use must play its part,” reports Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols for Between the Lines in ZD Net.

“Ironically, in the 90s, both Oracle and Sun, Java’s original owner, argued that software APIs shouldn’t be covered by copyright. That was then. This is now. For the last decade Oracle has been desperately trying to monetize its failed Sun purchase by attempting to squeeze $9-billion dollars out of Google’s use of Java APIs in Android.”

“After a long-delayed hearing on Oracle v. Google in October 2020, SCOTUS ruled on April 5 that Google could legally use Oracle’s Java API code when building Android.”

Read the article.

Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that Jeffrey W. Guise has joined the Intellectual Property (IP) Practice Group as a partner, resident in the San Diego office, further strengthening the firm’s IP Biotechnology and Life Sciences team in both the patent prosecution and patent litigation areas.

Dr. Guise brings nearly 30 years of extensive experience to the firm, and while resident on the West Coast, serves a client base that is multinational, including clients based in Europe and throughout the US. Previously, Dr. Guise practiced for 17 years at Wilson Sonsini.

Dr. Guise joins the firm’s growing IP team in San Diego, as well as a growing global IP team with more than 150 dedicated IP lawyers spread across Africa, Asia, Europe, Russia, the UAE and the US. His arrival signals another significant milestone in Eversheds Sutherland’s strategic plan to have an unparalleled global IP practice.

Dr. Guise, a Ph.D. with a degree in molecular biology and immunology, helps start-up and middle-market pharmaceutical, biotech and medical technology companies build, enforce, and monetize their patent portfolios. He also provides IP consulting and litigation services. Global IP strategies he constructs with clients include areas such as patent portfolios, patent opinions, patent licensing, patent litigation, patent office contested proceedings, and corporate work including finance, M&A and joint venture matters.

Specific global industries include biotechnology, pharmaceutical, immunology, medical diagnostics, genetic engineering, agricultural biotechnology and genomics.

Dr. Guise is the 11th IP focused lawyer to join the San Diego office and is the latest step in Eversheds Sutherland’s strategic plan to globally expand the IP Practice Group.

Many law firms would like to call themselves the preferred choice of the technology industry’s leading legal departments. But few are making a stronger claim to that title than Davis Wright Tremaine, which, after adding an in-house veteran from Apple and Google, has now added the former general counsel of Japan Display Group, which makes displays for those companies and more. Ulysses Hui has joined the firm as a partner in its new Silicon Valley office.

Silicon Valley-based partner Brutoco, formerly in-house with Apple, Google, Amazon and GoPro, joined DWT in 2020 to spearhead its growth in the Bay Area. Her work will be complemented by Hui, who as the first general counsel of Japan Display Group, helped guide the company through its 2012 formation, 2014 IPO, rapid growth and trade tensions of recent years. Created through a merger of the display units of Hitachi, Sony and Toshiba, it grew to over $9B in global annualized sales.

At Japan Display Group, Hui focused on the acquisition of major customers and strategic partners to advance new display and sensor technologies in the automotive as well as smartphone, wearables and mixed reality space. In addition to creating the company’s global compliance policies, he more recently secured an exclusion to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration—a rare achievement for a Japanese company importing products from China.

Before his tenure at Japan Display Group, Hui served as an associate at multiple AmLaw 100 firms, where he focused much of his practice on the semiconductor industry.

Davis Wright Tremaine recently reported that it had another strong year in 2020, its seventh consecutive year of record performance. Revenue increased by more than 7% and net income rose by nearly 12%.

Michael Best Strategies is pleased to announce that Bob Harward, U.S. Navy (SEAL) Vice Admiral (Ret.), has joined the Michael Best Strategies Board of Advisors.

A national security and defense expert, Admiral Harward served on the National Security Council for the Bush administration, commissioned the National Counter Terrorism Center, and served on the Secretary of Defense Threat Reduction Advisory Committee (TRAC) where he chaired the Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction Task Force. His prestigious military career spanned 40 years from May 1974 to November 2013, where he rose to the rank of Vice Admiral. His extensive combat experience as a U.S. Navy SEAL saw him serve tours of duty in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, and Bosnia, as well as the rest of the Middle East.

Over the course of his career, Admiral Harward has received numerous civilian, military and government accolades, including The Donovan Award from the CIA, the Distinguished Service Award from the Department of State, the German Silver Star, the Polish Silver Star, the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, four Bronze Stars with V device, two Presidential Unit Citations, and he was also recognized with the US Naval War College Distinguished Graduate Leadership Award.

A U.S. Naval Academy alumnus, Admiral Harward holds a master’s degree in International Security Affairs, is a graduate of the Naval War College and the MIT Foreign Policy Program. He also served as an executive fellow at RAND and sits on several commercial boards to include Channel, USAA REALCO and Shield AI. Admiral Harward is currently Chief Executive for Lockheed Martin Middle East and was recognized by Forbes as one of the fifty most influential CEO’s in the Middle East in October 2019.

Contract Logix announced triple-digit percentage growth in usage of its products as customers rapidly digitize contracts and business processes. Organizations across all industries are adopting Contract Logix’s platform to automate and digitize their contract lifecycle management (CLM) for the purpose of mitigating legal and financial risk, while maximizing corporate and regulatory compliance.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when people were forced to work remotely, with fewer resources, and on more cross-functional teams, Contract Logix’s customers found that its data-driven tools were uniquely positioned to help them digitally and intelligently manage contracts in today’s “new normal” operating environment. One year into the pandemic, the company continues to see triple-digit percentage growth in the number of contract requests, triggered workflows, and tasks, as well as quadruple-digit percentage growth in the number of electronic signatures that customers manage with its software.

This skyrocketing adoption represents clear and convincing evidence that executing digital transformation strategies continues to be a top priority for Legal, Procurement, Sales, Finance, and IT organizations, and that CLM plays a foundational role in these efforts.

For more information: www.contractlogix.com

Washington, D.C. — Blank Rome Government Relations LLC (“BRGR”) is pleased to welcome principals Don Norden, Katie Kachel, David Tennent, and Snjezana Arthur, as well as senior advisors Keith Hartwell and Richard Sherman, to the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. Norden, Kachel, Tennent, Hartwell, and Sherman joined on April 1 and Arthur will join by early June. The prominent group notably counsels clients in the transportation industry, particularly in the railroad and public transit sector, and joins BRGR from Chambers, Conlon & Hartwell, LLC.

Collectively, the team represents clients before the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government. Leveraging prior experience gained on Capitol Hill, the team is well versed in legislative analysis, the appropriations process, regulatory review, and available grants for clients. As such, the group develops comprehensive government affairs strategies for clients, ranging from private corporations to municipalities, state governments, public agencies, and trade associations. In addition to helping clients navigate federal legislative and regulatory affairs, the team develops and implements grassroots lobbying strategies, such as organizing local media events and mobilizing citizen support for elected officials that are aligned with client interests.

With an emphasis on supporting clients in the transportation industry, the group is well known for working with railroad and public transit operators and trade associations and has well-established connections in Congress on related legislation and initiatives, especially with regards to reauthorization and infrastructure spending. Furthermore, the team supports maritime clients with their government affairs needs. For example, Congress just recently passed the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes maritime provisions for port infrastructure development grants—a competitive grant program that many island communities are watching closely. BRGR and Blank Rome will be following these developments closely on behalf of clients and helping them obtain these grants.

About the Team

Norden has extensive experience in transportation, governmental finance, land use, labor law, and tax issues. His accomplishments include numerous legislative language and line-item amendments in Congress, as well as working with federal agencies on interpretive issues that avoided the need for congressional action. Throughout his career, Norden has successfully worked with both parties to reach bipartisan consensus among a wide range of varied interest groups to advance client objectives. Norden received his J.D., as well as his B.A. in Political Science, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association.

Kachel brings more than a decade of experience to her clients, designing and implementing federal funding and policy strategies on matters related to economic development, freight and passenger rail, mass transit, aviation, and port development. She is a two-time awardee of the Bryce Harlow Foundation Fellowship and serves as chair of its Alumni Advisory Board. Kachel holds an M.A. in Government and an M.B.A. from Johns Hopkins University.

Tennent has more than 40 years of experience in the railroad industry beginning as a front-line supervisor in the Norfolk and Western’s locomotive shops. His career encompasses assignments with railroad companies, rolling stock manufacturers, government financial institutions, public transportation authorities, and international state-owned railways as well as owning and running his own small engineering and manufacturing firm. This has provided him with a unique understanding of technical and managerial issues as well as the role of government entities in this sector. Tennent has a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Delaware and is a licensed Professional Engineer.

Arthur has an extensive background working with nonprofits and engaging in fundraising efforts with state and local government and associations. At her previous firm, she was notably responsible for managing the firm’s long-term strategic goals and day-to-day operations, harnessing her strong experience in operational and information technology management, including revenue management, finance and accounting oversight, risk management, human resources and legal matters, facilities, and outsourcing. Arthur received her B.A. in English Language and Linguistics from the University of Banja Luka, Bosnia.

Hartwell is a seasoned lobbying and public relations professional who has strong experience managing national and local grassroots political activities and legislative initiatives on behalf of corporate and industry association clients. His background notably includes writing and processing over $200 million dollars in transportation grant and loan applications as well as securing congressional approval of a short line railroad rehabilitation tax credit, which was extended six times since 2007 and was made permanent in 2020. Additionally, he led a government affairs effort related to federal regulatory approval of a leading railroad merger. Hartwell received his B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Sherman focuses on transportation and public sector government relations, project management, funding, and business analysis. He has extensive experience preparing applications for federal assistance for infrastructure capital projects, and has secured more than $69 million in grant funding for clients across 13 separate awards. He has provided compliance support for rail operators and industry suppliers, including for projects and acquisitions subject to federal domestic content requirements, such as Buy America. Sherman holds a Master of Public Policy degree from American University and a B.A. in International Affairs from The George Washington University.

Duane Morris partner John S. Polzer has been appointed to the Retail Contractors Association (RCA) Advisory Board. RCA is a national organization of retail contractors united to provide a solid foundation of ethics, safety, quality and professionalism within the retail construction industry. Advisory board members are appointed by the president and serve three-year terms. During that time, they actively assist the RCA Board of Directors in identifying key industry issues and formulating policies and programs designed to positively impact those issues.

Polzer’s practice areas include commercial litigation, construction and real estate. He has worked with RCA member companies including Westwood Contractors, Elder-Jones and Shrader & Martinez. Polzer has represented numerous clients in asset purchase litigation and represented an international food company in class action litigation in California. He has represented an exploration & production (E&P) company in title litigation involving more than 200 parties and a global technology company in an antitrust suit filed by a major airline. Polzer’s experience also includes representing an international oil and gas producer in shareholder litigation filed after the announcement of a merger.

Polzer is a graduate of the University of Houston Law Center (J.D., 2005), where he was articles editor of the Houston Business and Tax Law Journal, and the University of Texas at Austin (B.S., 2002). He is an adjunct professor at Texas Christian University. Polzer’s community service includes volunteering at the YMCA and serving on the Chancellor’s Centurions for the University of Texas System.

Foley & Lardner LLP announced today that Matthew McBride has joined the firm’s Boston office as a partner in its Fund Formation & Investment Management Practice Group. McBride comes to Foley from Proskauer Rose LLP, where he was a partner in the Private Funds Group.

McBride focuses his practice on representing investment managers in all aspects of their business, with a particular emphasis on representing private equity sponsors in connection with the establishment of private investment funds, fundraising activities, structuring of management company and in-house arrangements and regulatory, compliance and governance matters. He has extensive experience advising sponsors across various strategies, including buyout, growth equity, venture capital, private credit, funds-of-funds and secondary funds. McBride has represented sponsors ranging from first-time and emerging managers to some of the largest and best-known sponsors of private equity funds. In addition, he has worked with family offices in the formation of investment vehicles, in-house agreements, incentive compensation plans and their investment activities.

In addition to a core practice of fund formation, McBride has assisted clients with a wide array of other matters, including managing company restructurings, hiring and separations, incentive compensation plans, retirement and succession planning, joint ventures and other strategic transactions. He has also represented sponsors in connection with GP-led restructuring, strip sales and affiliated recapitalizations.

DALLAS – William G. (Bill) Whitehill, a former Justice on the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals, has joined Condon Tobin Sladek Thornton Nerenberg, a Dallas-based business law firm. 

Justice Whitehill authored more than 600 opinions covering a wide range of Texas legal issues during his six years on the bench in Texas’s largest and most active intermediate appellate court.   

Prior to being elected to the court in 2015 Justice Whitehill was a trial and appellate associate and partner for more than 32 years in Dallas. His experience in private practice includes the successful management of numerous high-profile appeals and litigation involving antitrust, commercial, banking, securities, real estate, hospitality, intellectual property, domestic and international arbitrations, and trust and estate matters.  

He also serves as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and is a frequent continuing legal education speaker for bar associations, law firms, and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. 

“Tom Farrell, who led Dominion Energy for more than a decade and was a powerful force in Virginia business and politics, died Friday, one day after stepping down from his post as the company’s executive chairman. He was 66,” reports The Associated Press in ABC News.

“A news release from the utility said Farrell, who served as the company’s chairman, president and chief executive officer from 2007 to 2020, had been battling cancer, which took a sudden turn in recent weeks.”

“Farrell spent more than 15 years practicing law before joining Dominion Energy as general counsel in 1995. Over the next nine years, he served in several senior management positions at the company. Farrell was named president and chief operating officer in 2004, and president and chief executive officer in 2006. He was elected chairman in 2007, a post he held until Thursday.”

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“Smart contracts are often mentioned in blockchain-themed patent applications and recited in claims. However, Examiners without a thorough understanding of this concept or unfamiliar with blockchain technology often equate smart contracts with legal or commercial contracts stored on blockchains. As a result, the Examiners may find claims directed to merely applying the blockchain technology to execute legal or commercial contracts, for example, as part of a commerce system, like hedging,” write Yunlai Zha and Weiguo (Will) Chen in The National Law Review.

“Without detailed explanations of ‘smart contract’ set forth in the specification, patent prosecutors may find themselves in anuphill battle against the abstract idea finding. What makes it worse is that several mainstream online sources often explain ‘smart contract’ in a narrow sense or an incorrect way, from where Examiners may have looked up and gathered an impression.”

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“On March 10, 2021, Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) introduced the first comprehensive consumer privacy bill of the 117th Congress. The Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act is designed to ‘establish a uniform set of rights for consumers and create one set of rules for businesses to operate in,’ according to a press release from Rep. DelBene accompanying the bill. While she expressed the need for a ‘a clear domestic policy’ in order to ‘shape standards abroad [or] risk letting others, like the European Union, drive global policy,’ the bill’s text notes that it ‘complements global standards’ and borrows many concepts made familiar by the GDPR,” writes Daniel Friedman in The National Law Review.

“The bill has the support of a number of consumer privacy and technology organizations, including the Main Street Privacy Coalition, the U.S. Chamber Technology Engagement Center (C_TEC), TechNet, BSA | The Software Alliance, and the Progressive Policy Institute. It also contains a number of concessions to business interests, most notably preemption of some state privacy laws, no private right of action, and an expansion (from a previous draft of the bill) of the audit requirement from one year to two. Still, the bill currently has no Republican co-sponsors.”

Read the article.