Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that Shandra Wright, Bradley’s director of eDiscovery and paralegal services, and Jennifer Cooper, the firm’s eDiscovery and litigation support coordinator, have been elected to the Women in eDiscovery Board for the Birmingham chapter. Cooper was elected social media director, and Wright was chosen as director.

Bradley maintains a position at the forefront of the rapidly evolving electronic data and discovery field. Electronic data discovery and preservation of electronically stored information is more important to litigation than ever and can often unearth evidence that can change the outcome of an entire case. To this end, the firm’s eDiscovery team works tirelessly to ensure that their clients receive all the data they are entitled to during discovery.

Women in eDiscovery (WiE) is a non-profit organization that provides educational opportunities regarding technology in the legal industry to its members. The organization offers networking and leadership avenues, promotes personal and professional growth of women, and donates mentoring and charitable contributions to its communities. WiE is comprised of professionals within the legal industry including attorneys, litigation support professionals, paralegals, legal IT staff, court reporters, consultants, recruiters and vendors.

Michael Best is pleased to announce that Desmond Hunte has joined Michael Best Strategies as Senior Director of Operations.

Prior to joining Michael Best Strategies, Hunte spent four years as a strategy, performance and knowledge management strategist at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Geneva, Switzerland. Prior to joining the Global Fund, he was at Wells Fargo Bank from 2002 to 2014. Prior to leaving the organization, he served as Vice President of Strategy with responsibility for strategic planning, product development, market analytics & sales support in Columbia, MD.

While at the Global Fund, Hunte managed the operational delivery of the audit and investigations group, which provided oversight of more than $14 billion worth in grants in 120+ countries. He served as a liaison between executives, staff and external clients to manage and implement the strategic programming, provide oversight of internal operational performance, and optimize the group’s cultural environment. Additionally, he advised the Inspector General and senior management on key administrative operational and financial activities.

Hunte received his B.A. and M.S. from Wake Forest University.

Foley & Lardner LLP announced today that William (Bill) Ball, former Deputy Staff Director of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, has joined the firm as a Public Affairs Director in its Government Solutions Practice Group. Ball will work from Foley’s Washington, D.C. office.

Ball comes to Foley with a decade of experience on Capitol Hill, where he worked with House and Senate committees on energy, natural resources, water and infrastructure issues. In his most recent role as Deputy Staff Director of the Natural Resources Committee, Ball was responsible for supporting the committee’s policy agenda, and building and implementing that agenda across its five subcommittees. He handled the committee’s day-to-day operations, worked to build coalitions of Congress members and stakeholders on a host of natural resource issues, and served as the committee’s lead staff negotiator on important legislation. Among them were the Water Resources Development Act (P.L. 115-270), the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (P.L. 114-322), the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act (P.L. 116-9), and numerous appropriations packages.

Prior to his time with the House of Representatives, Ball served on the legislative team for Sen. Susan M. Collins from Maine. In that position, he advised the senator and her senior staff on legislative issues pertaining to commercial fisheries, trade, aquaculture, tourism, oceans and coastal management. He also advanced the senator’s priorities on the Senate Commerce Committee and the Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee.

The fourth-quarter edition of the prestigious Defense Counsel Journal (DCJ) published by the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) offers a new batch of scholarly articles that inform and educate about the practice of law. Topics explored include the American Law Institute’s ongoing efforts to “restate” the common law of torts, data protection regulation in U.S. litigation, and new rules concerning written discovery in federal court.

IADC member Christopher B. Parkerson, who took over as editor of the DCJ with the current issue, said he looks forward to continuing the rich tradition of the DCJ: “Playing a role in such an important piece of the IADC’s history is an amazing honor,” said Mr. Parkerson, a Member at Campbell Conroy & O’Neil, P.C., in Boston, “from its initial publication as the Insurance Counsel Journal in 1934 … to the critical role it played during World War II keeping IADC members in the military advised of new legal developments, through to the present day where compelling legal issues are reviewed in a digital format.”

Frequently and favorably cited by courts and other legal scholarship, the DCJ is a quarterly forum for topical and scholarly writings on the law, including its development and reform, as well as on the practice of law in general. DCJ articles are written by members of the IADC, which is a 2,500-member, invitation-only, worldwide organization that serves its members and their clients, as well as the civil justice system and the legal profession.

The IADC’s fourth-quarter 2020 DCJ is available for free and without a subscription via the IADC’s website at https://www.iadclaw.org/documents/?CategoryId=4.

Following are brief summaries of the articles included in the fourth-quarter 2020 issue of the DCJ:

Chamberlain Hrdlicka welcomes Atlanta-based associates Jessica Ledingham, Dustin Pitts and Hunter Shelman to the firm’s Tax Controversy and Litigation Practice, where they will advise and represent clients before federal, state and local taxing authorities in all federal and state courts in which tax disputes are litigated. These attorneys are the latest additions to Chamberlain’s Atlanta office, which has been experiencing rapid growth in 2020, adding 11 lawyers to its headcount since January.

Jessica Ledingham
Ledingham previously worked at Miller & Chevalier Chartered representing taxpayers in controversies before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). She was also previously an associate at PwC, where she developed, implemented and defended significant U.S. federal tax reduction strategies.

Ledingham earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado Denver, her law degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law and her Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center.

Dustin Pitts
Prior to joining Chamberlain, Pitts served as an honors attorney for the Office of Chief Counsel, IRS in Nashville, Tenn., where he represented the agency in U.S. Tax Court litigation as the lead counsel and trial team co-chair. In this role, he litigated issues such as syndicated conservation easements, recourse versus nonrecourse debt, family limited partnerships, constructive dividends, loss limitations and more. Additionally, Pitts advised the IRS on individual, corporate and partnership tax, civil tax procedure and collection matters. He also has additional experience in private practice in Charleston, S.C., and New York.

Pitts earned his undergraduate degree from the College of Charleston, his law degree from Charleston School of Law and his Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

Hunter Shelman
Shelman most recently served as the International Specialty Tax Services senior associate for BDO USA with Voluntary Disclosure packets, larger multinational corporations, private equity funds, annual partnership compliance requirements and more. He also worked for Crowe LLP, a public accounting, consulting, and technology firm with offices around the world.

Shelman earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky in accounting and his law degree from the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law.

November 10, 2020 – Buchalter is pleased to welcome Kirsten Day newest Shareholder and member of its real estate practice group in Portland. Day brings over 20 years of experience to her national practice in leasing, acquisition/disposition, development and financing of regional shopping centers and other retail properties, Class A office buildings and industrial properties.

Day has ample experience as both a private attorney and as the former Vice President and General Counsel of PacTrust (Pacific Realty Associates, L.P.), which has given her both a strategic focus and first-hand knowledge of the day-to-day legal issues her clients face. She continues to represent a variety of clients on commercial real estate matters of all types, including real estate company management responsibilities, dispute assessment, negotiating and managing regulatory environmental compliance agreements, and other legal/business questions and issues faced by real estate companies.

Further, Day has held leadership positions in numerous Real Estate Professionals associations, including CREW Network. She has been ranked by Chambers USA, as one of “America’s Leading Real Estate Lawyers” from 2016 – 2017, and by “Best Lawyers” in 2019, 2020, and 2021.

Day earned her J.D. from UC Hastings College of the Law, where she was the Associate Note Editor and Director of Writing Competition for the Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal. She earned her B.S. on the Dean’s List in Economics from Tufts University. She is licensed to practice in Oregon, Washington, and California.

“Flueid, a fast-growing insurtech company accelerating the title insurance, real estate and mortgage lending industries by providing modern digital solutions to traditional inefficiencies, today announced the addition of Jerry Burditt as Executive Vice President and General Counsel. In his new role, Burditt will lead the legal and compliance teams for Flueid,” posted Flueid on BusinessWire.

“With more than 25 years in senior management roles in the real estate technology and mortgage lending sectors, Burditt joins Flueid from Realty.com where he served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel/Brokerage Operations. He previously served as Senior Vice President, Technology, Data & IP Counsel at Xome Holdings LLC and also held tenure as Chief Division Counsel at Black Knight Financial Services. Burditt’s respected legal career was first established with a successful practice in commercial litigation. Over more than two decades, he has provided leadership and guidance in the development and management of technologies ranging from mortgage loan origination, mortgage servicing, real estate settlement services, government-facing technology, and a variety of other real estate software applications.”

Read the article.

“A husband and wife were sentenced today to a combined 92 months in prison for their roles in a sophisticated fraud scheme that primarily targeted elderly Americans,” posts The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia.

“According to court documents, Chirag Choksi, 36, who was sentenced to 78 months in prison, and Shachi Majmudar, 36, who was sentenced to 14 months, were members of a criminal conspiracy in which members used a variety of schemes, including impersonating law enforcement officers and other government officials, to trick and coerce victims into mailing and shipping cash to other conspiracy members by convincing the victims, a disproportionate number of whom were elders, that it was in their best interests to do so.”

“These schemes generally started with automated “robocalls” from a call center in India that were designed to create a sense of urgency with unsuspecting recipients. The messages typically told the recipient that they had some sort of serious legal problem, and that if they did not immediately take a particular action demanded by the callers then there will be drastic consequences. Typically the recipients were threatened with arrest, significant financial penalties, or cessation of government benefits. The fraudsters almost invariably instructed the call recipient that, in order to prevent these dire consequences, the recipient must pay money, by wire transfer or cash, to some purported government entity. This conspiracy operated “money mule” cells in multiple states, including New Jersey, California, Indiana, Texas, Illinois and Minnesota. These money mules would receive parcels containing cash that had been sent by victims and then deposit the money in bank accounts controlled by conspirators.”

Read the article.

“Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced on Thursday a historic $60 million state settlement with Terminix International in response to the company’s alleged illegal business practices targeting Alabama consumers,” reports Fox10 News.

“Officials say a statewide fund for consumer relief will be created to address Alabama consumer damages due to Terminix’s actions.”

“An investigation by the Alabama Attorney General’s office and the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries revealed that Terminix engaged in a pattern of collecting annual termite protection premiums from Alabama consumers, but failed to deliver or provide the termite protection services promised in the contracts consumers had with Terminix. As a result, many homes and businesses suffered termite infestation.”

Read the article.

“The federal government is suing to block Visa’s $5.3 billion acquisition of fintech startup Plaid, alleging the merger violates antitrust laws,” reports Clare Duffy of CNN Business in KTEN News.

“Visa in January announced plans to acquire Plaid, which makes digital infrastructure linking financial data from people’s bank accounts to the apps they use to manage their money such as Venmo, Coinbase and Expensify.”

“The US Justice Department alleged Thursday that Visa is a ‘monopolist in online debit transactions’ — and a new service in development by Plaid could pose legitimate competition to Visa’s business, according to the complaint in US District Court in Northern California.”

Read the article.

“S&P Global Ratings downgraded FirstEnergy Corp. and its subsidiaries, citing the dismissal Thursday night, Oct. 29, of former CEO Charles Jones in relation to a bribery scandal,” reports Bloomberg in Crain’s Cleveland Business.

“The ranking was cut two steps to BB+ from BBB, S&P said in a statement. The company and its subsidiaries remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, it said.”

“Akron-based FirstEnergy fired Jones and two other senior executives after a board review in the wake of a federal corruption scandal found they had violated the company’s policies and code of conduct.”

Read the article.

“A last will and testament must be the consequence of a person’s free will (which is why they are aptly referred to as ‘wills’). Nevertheless, a person may execute a contract during life to include certain terms and/or beneficiaries in their will in exchange for goods or services,” writes Chepenik Trushin in the Florida Probate Litigation Lawyer Blog.

“Enforcing a contract to create a will is more complex than enforcing a normal contract. With these types of agreements, it may be impossible to tell whether the testator lived up to his or her side of the bargain until their estate plan is revealed after their death. Additionally, the terms of a will do not come into effect until death, so there may not technically be a breach of the contract until the decedent’s death. Further, if you were supposed to be a part of the decedent’s estate plan, but were not included, it’s possible you may never even receive notice regarding the administration of the decedent’s estate.”

Read the article.

“Many races and initiatives that California voters considered on November 3 are still undecided, but Proposition 24, the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (the ‘CPRA’) isn’t one of them. The California electorate approved Proposition 24 by a comfortable margin – 56% of Californians voted in favor,” discusses Robert E. Braun in Cybersecurity Lawyer Forum.

“Like its predecessor the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the ‘CCPA’), the impact of the CPRA won’t be felt immediately. It goes into effect on January 1, 2023, and many of its provisions are unclear and will require study. But all businesses that have a presence in California will need to consider its requirements, and given the scope of the law, addressing its requirements early will be essential.”

Read the article.

“Eventbrite wanted to send a lawsuit to arbitration, so it invoked the arbitration clause in its TOS. But did the plaintiffs assent to Eventbrite’s TOS? The court says no. What went wrong?” questions Eric Goldman in Technology & Marketing Law Blog’s Evidence/Discovery.

“Eventbrite has three online venues: its desktop website, a separate mobile website, and its mobile app. Each venue has two relevant pages, the signup page and the purchase page. This means Eventbrite needs to lay the evidentiary foundation for 6 different TOS formation processes. Because each of the 6 screens are different, the court says it can’t categorically bless or reject the TOS’s formation.”

“The court wanted a clean chain of evidence showing the exact user interface and TOS terms for each of the 6 screens since January 2018 (the earliest that a plaintiff signed up). Eventbrite didn’t deliver that evidence.”

Read the article.

The International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) has announced that Paul Rosenblatt, an attorney at Butler Snow LLP in Ridgeland, Mississippi, has accepted an invitation to join the IADC, the preeminent invitation-only global legal organization for attorneys who represent corporate and insurance interests.

Rosenblatt represents pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in mass tort and individual cases pending in various state and federal venues throughout the country. He has developed considerable experience in all stages of litigation from discovery through trial, focusing primarily on preparing, defending, and cross-examining expert witnesses.

Rosenblatt received his J.D. from Mississippi College School of Law. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from Mississippi College and a Bachelor of Science from Longwood University.

Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that Theodore H. Cominos Jr. has joined the firm’s M&A and Private Capital teams in the Chicago office as partner. Cominos is the sixth partner to join the firm in Chicago and the third M&A partner added there since the office opened in May 2019. Additionally, Cristina Audran-Proca has joined Eversheds Sutherland in the Paris office as counsel.

Cominos, who joins from Faegre Drinker, advises domestic and international clients on complex M&A, private equity, venture capital, corporate commercial, commercial real estate and debt-finance transactions. He has more than 20 years of experience as lead counsel on mergers and acquisitions, asset sales and dispositions, restructurings, joint-venture, co-investment, strategic collaboration, profit-participating and licensing/royalty arrangements. His clients include public and private companies, private equity funds, venture funds, seed and angel investors on all stages of private investment.

Audran-Proca, also joining from Faegre Drinker, advises clients on private equity, venture capital and other cross-border M&A and corporate transactions in Europe and beyond. She has over fifteen years of experience advising private investment funds of all sizes, consortia of funds, management teams, entrepreneurs seeking venture or private equity backing, and corporates on various international transactions and projects, across a multitude of sectors and jurisdictions.

Together, they have over 15 years of cross-border transactional collaboration as a team, across a wide array of geographies, sectors and industries.

Venable LLP is pleased to announce that Erik Jones, former chief investigative counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; counsel to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; and former Illinois Assistant Attorney General, has rejoined the firm as a partner in the eCommerce, Privacy, and Cybersecurity Practice in Washington, D.C. Jones worked at Venable from 2015 to 2017, when he led the firm’s Congressional Investigations Practice.

Jones focuses his practice on issues at the intersection of law, technology, and government investigations. He counsels clients on data privacy, cybersecurity, consumer protection, advertising, e-commerce, and the regulatory implications of disruptive technologies. He has represented clients in investigations before congressional committees, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), state attorneys general, and the Department of Justice. Jones recently served as senior public interest counsel under Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. In that role – his second stint at the attorney general’s office – he led the office’s investigation into clergy sexual abuse in Illinois. He previously served as director of the policy bureau and assistant attorney general. In addition to acting as Attorney General Madigan’s lead adviser on data security and privacy, he developed investigations and legislation on a range of privacy and technology issues, including patent trolls, payroll cards, and the effort to update Illinois law on data security for the first time in nearly a decade.

Jones’s experience in government began in Congress, where he served as deputy general counsel and chief investigative counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. He helped create the Committee’s Office of Oversight and Investigations and later served as its lead counsel on cybersecurity matters. Prior to his work in the Senate, he was counsel to the House of Representatives Committees on Energy & Commerce and Oversight & Government Reform.

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Venable LLP is an American Lawyer Global 100 law firm headquartered in Washington, DC that serves as primary counsel to a worldwide clientele of large and mid-sized organizations, nonprofits, high-net-worth entrepreneurs, and other individuals. With more than 850 professionals across the country, including in California, Delaware, Maryland, New York, Virginia, and Washington, DC, the firm strategically advances its clients’ objectives in the U.S. and around the globe. Venable, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary, advises clients on a broad range of business and regulatory law, legislative affairs, complex litigation, and the full range of intellectual property disciplines. For more information, please visit https://www.venable.com/.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that six of the firm’s partners have been included in the 2020 edition of the LMG Life Sciences referral guide to leading North American law firms and lawyers that focus in the life sciences industry. In addition, Bradley was named a “Highly Recommended” firm in the Product Liability & Recall category.

Bradley partners Lindsey C Boney IV, Tripp Haston, Lela M. Hollabaugh, David G. Hymer, Dana C. Lumsden and Kimberly B. Martin were selected as “Life Sciences Stars,” who are designated as among the preeminent life sciences practitioners in the United States.

LMG Life Sciences attorney rankings are based on peer, client and firm feedback, combined with independent review of all research data, including publicly available information. The rankings are posted online at www.lmglifesciences.com and will be distributed to selected in-house counsel within pharmaceutical and biotech corporations.

Bradley’s nationally recognized Life Sciences Industry Team represents clients involved in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, molecular testing services, drug delivery systems, clinical labs (CLIA), genomic labs, bioinformatics, genomic medical clinics, research institutions, contract research organizations, animal sciences, plant sciences, and healthcare. Among the team’s other recent top accolades are Tier 1 national rankings in the 2021 edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” for Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions, as well as Tier 1 “Best Law Firms” metropolitan rankings for Product Liability Litigation – Defendants for Bradley’s offices in Birmingham; Jackson, Miss.; Montgomery, Ala.; Nashville; and Washington, D.C.

George Borovas, a leading international nuclear power projects attorney who advises governments, sponsors and lenders on the development of civilian nuclear power programs and the financing and construction of nuclear power plants, has joined Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP as a partner.

Borovas, who will be the Chair of the firm’s Nuclear Energy practice and the Managing Partner of the Tokyo office, brings to the firm two decades of experience advising on nuclear projects and transactions in the U.K., the U.S., Russia, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, China, Australia and South Africa. Borovas joins the firm from Shearman & Sterling LLP.

Borovas is a board member of the World Nuclear Association (WNA) and has been recognized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation (IFNEC), as well as by the U.S. government as an appointee to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce’s Civilian Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee (CINTAC). Borovas is also recognized as a Leading Lawyer in Projects & Energy: International in Japan by Chambers Asia-Pacific (2017-2020).

Borovas earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and his law degree from George Washington University Law School.

(ROSELAND, NJ/New York, NY – November 9, 2020) – A.Y. Strauss, a leading law firm focused on commercial transactions and litigation in the areas of real estate, construction contracting, bankruptcy, and franchising law, is pleased to announce that Joseph H. Harris has merged his New York law firm White Harris PLLC, which focused exclusively on representing employers, with A.Y. Strauss. He joins A.Y. Strauss as a partner and as chair of the newly launched Labor & Employment practice group, representing employers. He is based in New York City.

Harris represents employers in state and federal court and before government agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the New York State Department of Labor, and the New York State Division on Human Rights. His litigation practice focuses primarily on defending employers against claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and the violation of wage-and-hour laws. He also represents employers in disputes involving the breach of post-employment restrictive covenants, such as non-competition, non-solicitation, and confidentiality agreements.

Prior to joining A.Y. Strauss, Joe was a founding partner in White Harris PLLC, a boutique employment law firm that focused exclusively on representing employers. Before that, he practiced employment law at Moses & Singer LLP, one of New York City’s oldest law firms where he represented corporate clients in a variety of employment law matters, including those involving breach of contract, wrongful termination, and wage-hour law. These corporations ranged in size from regional businesses to international financial institutions.

Harris has presented numerous lectures on a variety of employment law topics, including at the Strategic Steps for Growth program at New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Emory University School of Law, Fordham University School of Law, the Community Business Program of Columbia University, the Human Resources Association of New York, the New York State Society of CPAs, and the National Academy of Continuing Legal Education.

Harris earned his J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University and his B.A. from Haverford College. He also attended Oxford University, Pembroke College. He is licensed to practice in New York; the United States District Court, Southern District of New York; and the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York. Harris is a member of the New York State Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section; the New York City Bar Association; and LeGaL (LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York).

Harris has been recognized by New York Metro Super Lawyers – Labor and Employment Law, Thomson Reuters, 2020; New York Metro Rising Stars – Labor and Employment Law, Thomson Reuters, 2013-2019; by SmartCEO as Finalist- Attorney of the Year Award, 2014; and by the American Society of Legal Advocates for its Top 40 Under 40 ranking – Labor and Employment, State of New York, 2019; and has been rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell, 2015-2020.