DENVER (January 12, 2021) – Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that Andrew J. Kline has joined the firm in Denver as a senior counsel in the firm’s Commercial Litigation Practice and Cannabis Law Industry Group.

Kline brings a rare combination of public policy, cannabis law, coalition building and prosecutorial expertise to the firm, following decades of service in the highest levels of government and in the private and non-profit sectors. Drawing on his fourteen years of experience as a federal prosecutor, and public service working as policy advisor to then-Vice President Biden and counsel to then-Senator Biden, Kline will represent clients in some of most sensitive areas of law and policy.

Most recently, Kline had been leading public policy for the cannabis industry at the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), the industry’s preeminent trade organization for the state-legal cannabis industry, and was previously president of the National Association of Cannabis Business. Prior to joining the cannabis industry, Kline held a variety of high-profile positions in government and the private sector. Kline’s experience as a federal prosecutor includes six years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia. He also served as a federal prosecutor for six years in the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section, with the DOJ’s Criminal Division, and in the Enforcement Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission. Kline has first-chaired over forty criminal jury trials, twelve bench trials, and argued numerous criminal appeals.

At NCIA, Kline led public policy development and created and led its Policy Council – the “think tank” for the cannabis industry. Under Kline’s leadership, the Council developed public policies to promote, grow, and protect state-legal cannabis businesses. The Council’s work served to inform and influence members of Congress, Executive Branch officials, state legislators and regulators, the media, and industry stakeholders on matters critical to the future of the burgeoning industry.

Kline earned his J.D. from the Pepperdine University School of Law and his B.S. from Emerson College. He also has an M.P.A. from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Kline is admitted to the Bar in Colorado, California, and Washington, DC.

Perkins Coie is a leading international law firm that is known for providing high value, strategic solutions and extraordinary client service on matters vital to our clients’ success. With more than 1,100 attorneys in offices across the United States and Asia, we provide a full array of corporate, commercial litigation, intellectual property and regulatory legal advice to a broad range of clients, including many of the world’s most innovative companies and industry leaders as well as public and not-for-profit organizations.

A large majority of U.S. businesses (68%) report that technology is a core part of their growth strategy, yet most companies are not adequately prepared for the risk of lawsuits and reputational damage arising from technology-related issues such as tech bias, technology failure, and cyberattacks and data leaks, according to a report released today by global law firm Hogan Lovells.

The report, “Litigation Landscape: How to prevail when technology fails,” is based on a survey of 550 business leaders.*

Tech bias was one area of particular concern, according to the report, which found that 45% of businesses globally do not check their technology – such as wearables, “smart” home products, voice or facial recognition – for racial and gender bias.

Most improvements in AI systems are made because of advances in machine learning. However, algorithms often adopt unwanted biases found within the data on which they are trained, which can lead to failures by facial recognition sensors to accurately identify people with dark skin; the application of AI that results in women receiving lower credit card limits than men; and medical devices that give higher priority to white patients for the treatment of complex medical conditions.

The report also found that:

• Only 35% of U.S. businesses are confident that their senior executives understand the risks associate with technology.
• Just 6% of U.S. businesses’ boards deem technology risk to be as important as financial risk and other traditional risks.
• 56% of U.S. business leaders are not actively considering how to prevent and mitigate technology failure, including failures that would render critical systems or products unusable or unprotected.
• Half of businesses do not have an up-to-date response plan in case of a cyberattack, despite hacking concerns over areas such as cloud technology, autonomous vehicles or wearables.
• Most companies don’t involve their legal teams in cyber response planning.
• 70% of U.S. businesses do not involve privacy specialists in product development.

The report also noted that major businesses may not be prepared for the legal risks associated with technology partnerships:

• 58% of U.S. businesses plan to outsource a key business function to a technology company.
• Yet 74% of U.S. businesses do not check if all their suppliers have the adequate cybersecurity credentials.
• U.S. businesses are particularly eager to engage technology businesses: 57% of U.S. companies plan to enter into a joint venture in the next two years; a significant increase from the 34% who did so in the last two years.
• More than half of businesses find it difficult to assess the legal risks associated with M&A and JVs with technology companies.

In addition, the report found that while 52% of businesses plan to accelerate their hiring of tech experts over the next two years, many are not aware of the risks.

Given the breadth of technology-related litigation risks, businesses should engage in contingency planning based on four key principles, according to Hogan Lovells:

1. Boards and the C-Suite should be involved in identifying risks.
2. Collaboration with legal teams and privacy specialists is key.
3. Risks should be monitored through the entire tech lifecycle.
4. Businesses are only as strong as their weakest third party.

METHODOLOGY
*The companies surveyed have a turnover of between US$200m – over US$1bn. They operated in seven sectors: technology & telecoms (82), financial services and insurance (82), life sciences (82), automotive (83), consumer (83), diversified industrials (83), energy and natural resources (55).

The survey is based on 550 interviews with GCs, data privacy officers or equivalent at 550 companies, among them some of the largest multinational companies, in late 2020. The respondents were based in the U.S. (100), UK (100), Germany (100), France (100), China (45), Japan (45), Hong Kong (20), Singapore (20), Italy (10) and Spain (10).

Contract Logix, a leading provider of data-driven contract management software, recently announced that international aid organization, Food for the Hungry, is using its platform to efficiently and effectively digitize and automate contract lifecycle management (CLM) related to fundraising efforts. Digitizing contracts has helped Food for the Hungry maximize its fundraising activities by mitigating risks, identifying new opportunities, and optimizing processes, allowing the organization to focus on its core mission of ending all forms of human poverty.

Key Facts:

Since 1971, Food for the Hungry has been going into the world’s hardest places with an exit strategy: to respond to human suffering and graduate communities of extreme poverty into self-sustainability, all within a decade. By creating context-specific solutions in education, agriculture, health, livelihood, clean water, and disaster risk reduction, the nonprofit focuses on transformational development, investing in children as the key to lift entire communities out of poverty. It currently serves more than 5.3 million people in over 20 countries worldwide.

Food for the Hungry partners with a number of artists and influencers around the country to share information and fundraise for the organization’s mission. The organization leverages the Contract Logix platform to get a holistic, data-driven, and accurate view of all the contracts and supporting documents related to festivals, events, tours, sponsors, vendors, artists and consultants that are paramount to its fundraising efforts.

Food for the Hungry needed a solution that would allow them to easily and accurately create and track contract line items to keep track of financial expectations and actuals associated with fundraising events. With Contract Logix, the organization is able to capture and monitor key financial information in its contracts including expected and actual fundraising goals from events, and uses this data to report on, evaluate and optimize its fundraising contracts and performance.

Food for the Hungry also required the ability to have automated alerts to keep track of contract renewals, expirations, as well as alerts on contract line items such as payment schedules to help the organization minimize financial risk. Contract Logix’s “no-code” configurability was a key factor in its decision because it makes creating and automating alerts on contract datapoints such as line items simple and fast.

By using Contract Logix to manage, track and optimize the contracts associated with its critically important fundraising goals and objectives, Food for the Hungry is able to maximize the reach of its resources to those who need them around the globe. The data-driven visibility and automation provided by the Contract Logix platform give Food for the Hungry the insights they need to sponsor more children and support more projects.

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP will present a free webinar, “Means Plus Function Claim Construction in Patent Prosecution and Litigation,” featuring Fitch Even partner Jon A. Birmingham.

The webinar will take place on Wednesday, January 27, 2021, at 9:00 am PST / 10:00 am MST / 11:00 am CST / 12 noon EST.

Means plus function claim construction is being applied by courts and the USPTO when the term “means” is not explicitly used. When does this happen, and what is the impact? Understanding the law of means plus function claim construction, as well as its application in litigation and patent prosecution, can provide answers.

During this webinar, we will discuss these topics and more:
• How to identify means plus function claim terms
• How to construe means plus function claim terms
• How to avoid a means plus function claim construction in patent prosecution
• How to use means plus function claim terms in patent prosecution
• Indefiniteness and means plus function claim terms
• Differences between the Doctrine of Equivalents and means plus function equivalents

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

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

Register for the webinar.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that Robert E. Leonard has joined the firm’s Nashville office as an associate in the Real Estate Practice Group.

Leonard is a business and commercial real estate attorney who focuses his practice primarily in the areas of commercial real estate transactions, commercial leasing, land development, commercial lending and general corporate work. He assists in the drafting, editing and negotiation of lease agreements, purchase and sale agreements, financing documents and ancillary closing documents; manages and runs closings; conducts due diligence for a variety of real estate transactions; and reviews, analyzes and summarizes zoning for clients.

Leonard received his J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law and his B.A. (magna cum laude) in Political Science from the University of Tennessee.

Bradley’s real estate attorneys serve every sector of the market, including acquisitions, financing, lending, leasing, construction, regulatory, tax, and other matters. Their work involves complex, multimillion-dollar projects for large institutions that take years to see through to completion, as well as ongoing transactions for clients whose primary businesses are in real estate investment or development.

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

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that eight partners in the firm’s Charlotte office have been named 2021 North Carolina Super Lawyers or Rising Stars, including C. Bailey King, Jr. and Robert R. Marcus who were both named to the Top 25: Charlotte and Top 100: North Carolina Super Lawyers lists.

Following are the seven partners and their primary recognized practice areas who have been named North Carolina Super Lawyers for 2021:

• Corby Cochran Anderson, partner (Intellectual Property Litigation)
• Ryan L. Beaver, partner (Construction Litigation)
• Douglas Grimes, partner (Intellectual Property Litigation)
• Mark J. Horoschak, partner (Antitrust Litigation)
• Bailey King Jr., partner (Business Litigation)
• Christopher C. Lam, partner (Business Litigation)
• Robert R. Marcus, partner (Business Litigation)

In addition, the following partner and his practice area was named a North Carolina Rising Star for 2021:

• Matthew K. Lilly, partner (Construction Litigation)

Only the top 5% of lawyers in North Carolina are named Super Lawyers. No more than 2.5% of lawyers in the state are selected as Rising Stars, who must be 40 years old or younger or have been in practice for 10 or fewer years. Published by Thomson Reuters, Super Lawyers determines its rankings through independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. The North Carolina Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists are published in North Carolina Super Lawyers Magazine and in Charlotte magazine and are distributed to attorneys and ABA-accredited law school libraries.

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

“Tyson Foods separately struck an agreement to settle with the group of chicken buyers to settle price-fixing claims, but did not disclose the amount … Tyson reportedly did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, which is still subject to court approval, reports Lillianna Byington in Food Dive.

“Pilgrim’s Pride agreed to pay $75 million to chicken buyers to settle price-fixing claims, according to an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The amount will be reflected in Pilgrim’s upcoming Q4 earnings.”

“This settlement comes just months after Pilgrim’s agreed to pay a $110.5 million fine as part of a plea deal with the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division in the price-fixing investigation.”

Read the article.

“As many as 11 Boies Schiller Flexner summer associates in New York declined full-time job offers last year, according to sources familiar with the situation, a sign the litigation powerhouse’s reputation has taken a hit on the recruiting trail,” reports Roy Strom and Chris Opfer in Bloomberg Law’s The United States Law Week.

“The firm says it is hiring three first-year associates in New York following a 14-person summer associate program in 2019. One source said one of the summer associates was not offered a position at the firm, with the rest declining to join the firm to pursue opportunities at law firms or clerkships.”

“Boies Schiller’s recruiting troubles occur as the firm is trying to turn the corner with new leadership after last year experiencing nearly 60 partner departures, including prominent lawyers who represent companies including Facebook Inc., Uber Technologies Inc., Apple Inc., and Barclays PLC.”

Read the article.

“The HIPAA Safe Harbor bill amends the HITECH act to require the Department of Health and Human Services to incentivize best practice cybersecurity for meeting HIPAA requirements,” reports Jessica Davis in Health It Security’s News.

“The Senate unanimously passed the legislation without amendment on December 19.”

“The legislation directs HHS to take into account a covered entity’s or business associate’s use of industry-standard security practices within the course of 12 months, when investigating and undertaking HIPAA enforcement actions, or other regulatory purposes.”

Read the article to learn more.

“Salesforce.com Inc. and Zendesk Inc., competitors in the customer service software space, are starting 2021 with new general counsels,” reports Brian Baxter in Bloomberg Law’s The United States Law Week.

“Salesforce has promoted Todd Machtmes, executive vice president of commercial legal, while Zendesk has hired Shanti Ariker, a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces and one-time general counsel of Salesforce’s philanthropic arm.”

“Machtmes will assume his new position Feb. 1, the same day that the president and chief legal officer, Amy Weaver, becomes chief financial officer at Salesforce. Machtmes has spent nearly the past 16 years at the cloud-based software company, which he joined in 2005 after spending five years in-house at Adobe Systems Inc.”

“Ariker takes over from Hasani Caraway, who left Zendesk in November to become the first in-house legal chief at software startup Notions Labs Inc.”

Read the article.

Sidley is pleased to announce that Deborah Martin Owens, former New York City Bar Association Executive Director for its Office of Diversity and Inclusion, has joined Sidley as its East Coast Diversity Director. Martin Owens is based in the firm’s New York office and responsible for the further development and implementation of programs, policies, and initiatives that support Sidley’s strategic diversity and inclusion goals for our Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C. offices.

Martin Owens led the New York City Bar Association’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion since 2018. During her tenure, she worked very closely with corporations, law firms, managing partners, and practice group leaders, and law schools, students, and others to advance diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. She also advised leaders, including board of directors and governance committees on best practices for pipeline initiatives, diverse membership engagement, policies, and procedures. Martin Owens was responsible for increasing involvement in the City Bar’s Leadership Institute program for mid-level to senior associates by 50%. Under Martin Owens’s leadership, the City Bar’s Diversity and Inclusion office revitalized the Thurgood Marshall Summer internship program, helping place 27 students in paid summer internships with law firms. Most recently, Martin Owens developed and implemented a support group for junior partners to help them learn how to effectively develop and maintain relationships during COVID. She is chair of Women of Creating Change, a nonprofit organization that works to increase civic engagement among women.

Mike Mullen recently joined the Houston office of the national law firm, Chamberlain Hrdlicka, as an associate in the Intellectual Property practice, where he will focus on chemical patent prosecution.

Mullen brings both legal and technical experience to the firm, including his chemical engineering background. Mullen had a summer externship at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Denver, as well as a summer internship and full-time associate position with Nielsen IP Law LLC in Houston.

Mullen graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering. He participated in the Chemical Engineering Honor Society and the Golden Buffalo Marching Band.

Mullen obtained his law degree at the University of Houston Law Center, where he was heavily involved in intellectual property and other extracurricular activities, such as leadership roles within the Intellectual Property Student Organization and Houston Journal of International Law and participation in the Giles S. Rich Moot Court Competition and the Tom Newhouse Mediation Competition. He is currently an active member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that the firm was ranked nationally as a Tier 1 firm for Product Liability and Recall in the 2021 edition of Benchmark Litigation. In addition, Bradley partners Leigh Anne Hodge, Lela Hollabaugh, Kimberly Martin, Craig Mayfield and Tripp Haston were recognized as National Practice Area Stars for Product Liability.

A leading guide to litigation firms and attorneys in the United States and Canada, Benchmark Litigation determines rankings through peer reviews and case examinations. Benchmark Litigation is the only publication that focuses exclusively on U.S. litigation.

Bradley’s Litigation Practice Group is the firm’s largest practice and includes almost half of the firm’s nearly 550 attorneys who represent clients in litigation and arbitration in every U.S. state and federal district court across the country, as well as internationally. Attorneys handle matters in nearly every substantive area of business law and in a wide range of industries, including high-stakes and complex cases.

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

Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that Andrew J. Kline has joined the firm in Denver as a senior counsel in the firm’s Commercial Litigation Practice and Cannabis Law Industry Group.

Kline brings a rare combination of public policy, cannabis law, coalition building and prosecutorial expertise to the firm, following decades of service in the highest levels of government and in the private and non-profit sectors. Drawing on his fourteen years of experience as a federal prosecutor, and public service working as policy advisor to then-Vice President Biden and counsel to then-Senator Biden, Kline will represent clients in some of most sensitive areas of law and policy.

Most recently, Kline had been leading public policy for the cannabis industry at the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), the industry’s preeminent trade organization for the state-legal cannabis industry, and was previously president of the National Association of Cannabis Business. Prior to joining the cannabis industry, Kline held a variety of high-profile positions in government and the private sector. Kline’s experience as a federal prosecutor includes six years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia. He also served as a federal prosecutor for six years in the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section, with the DOJ’s Criminal Division, and in the Enforcement Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission. Kline has first-chaired over forty criminal jury trials, twelve bench trials, and argued numerous criminal appeals.

At NCIA, Kline led public policy development and created and led its Policy Council – the “think tank” for the cannabis industry. Under Kline’s leadership, the Council developed public policies to promote, grow, and protect state-legal cannabis businesses. The Council’s work served to inform and influence members of Congress, Executive Branch officials, state legislators and regulators, the media, and industry stakeholders on matters critical to the future of the burgeoning industry.

Kline earned his J.D. from the Pepperdine University School of Law and his B.S. from Emerson College. He also has an M.P.A. from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Kline is admitted to the Bar in Colorado, California, and Washington, DC.

The Virginia law firm Gentry Locke is pleased to announce the promotion of Scott A. Stephenson to the partnership, effective January 1, 2021.

Stephenson is a member of the firm’s Business Litigation team. His experience includes complex business litigation, property disputes, mineral rights cases, municipal government litigation, and appellate matters. He thrives on the challenges presented by complicated cases and nuanced legal issues. Stephenson earned his B.A. degree from Roanoke College and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Washington, D.C. – January 12, 2021 – Dykema, a leading national law firm, today announced the addition of Mark Mansour to its Regulated Industries Department, Food & Beverage Industry Group, and Health Care Practice Group as a Member in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. Mansour, who joins Dykema after practicing at Locke Lord LLP’s Washington, D.C., office, previously served as in-house counsel for two major multinational food companies.

For more than two decades, Mansour has practiced food and drug law. He has extensive experience handling a variety of matters for drugs and devices, including securing Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals, reviewing advertising materials, responding to safety issues, and managing recalls. Mansour has counseled U.S. and multinational clients on market access, food and nutrition policy, biotechnology, nanotechnology, dietary supplement regulation, agribusiness, and the regulation of cannabis products at the state and federal levels.

Additionally, Mansour has experience working with clients to resolve advertising matters involving the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). He advises clients on social media regulation and has revised numerous corporate websites to ensure compliance with FTC requirements.

Mansour earned both a B.A. in International Politics and a J.D. from Georgetown University, as well as an M.A. in International Politics from Harvard University.

GQ|Littler, a leading specialist employment law firm and the UK arm of Littler, the world’s largest employment and labour law practice representing management, has opened an office in Dublin. The Ireland office will be led by partner Niall Pelly, an experienced attorney who joins from a leading Irish law firm.

The move extends the reach of Littler’s robust global footprint and follows expansions in 2020 into Spain, Poland and Austria, as well as Brazil through a correspondent counsel relationship.

Pelly advises companies on all aspects of employment law and workplace issues, with a particular emphasis on complex, high-value litigation such as whistleblowing claims and High Court employment injunctions. He works with a variety of large national and multinational clients across various sectors including technology, pharmaceuticals and financial services.

Pelly is qualified to practice in Ireland, England & Wales and New York, and worked for several years with leading international law firms in London. He is active in the Employment Lawyers Association, the International Bar Association, and the European Employment Lawyers Association.

Pelly earned a Bachelor in Laws degree from Trinity College Dublin and a diploma in employment law from University College Dublin. He frequently speaks, publishes and conducts trainings on employment-related topics. Pelly has been recognised as a leading labour and employment lawyer by such organisations as Chambers Europe (which noted Pelly as being “held in high regard by the market, with several sources noting his experience gained working in London”) and European Legal 500 (in which he was noted as “an absolute standout adviser”).

“In late 2012, we created the Manufacturing Law Blog with the goal of providing our manufacturing clients with a holistic approach to the unique issues facing manufacturers that operate globally. Starting in 2016, we made sure our first three posts of the year are dedicated to providing a yearly outlook from our different vantage points,” posts Jeffrey White in Robinson+Cole’s Manufacturing Law Blog.

This article addresses corporate compliance and litigation issues that manufacturers will face in 2021.

Read the article.

“the IRS issued new guidance (Notice 2021-05) on New Year’s Eve that extends the four-year window, within which projects must place in service in order to be deemed to have satisfied the ‘continuous efforts’ or ‘continuous construction’ requirement, to ten years,” reports Judy Kwok in Mintz’ Insights Center.

“Under the existing provisions, developers must ‘begin construction’—i.e., begin physical work or incur capital expenditures equal to 5% of the total project cost—by a specified date in order to qualify for the ITC or the PTC. Projects often start construction in contemplation of accessing the credits, and the default rule is that ‘continuous construction’ or ‘continuous efforts’ (depending on whether construction was begun via physical work or capital expenditures) must continue until the project is completed. Under Notice 2017-4, the ‘continuous construction’ or ‘continuous efforts’ requirement is considered to be met if the project is completed in or before the fourth calendar year following the calendar year of the beginning of construction (such rule, the ‘Continuity Safe Harbor’). To accommodate COVID-19 related delays, Notice 2020-41 extended the Continuity Safe Harbor to the fifth calendar year following the calendar year of the beginning of construction for projects that began construction in 2016 and 2017.”

Read the article.