“When the New York City Council passed the Climate Mobilization Act last year, Ken and Bradley Fishel, the father-and-son team behind the commercial real estate firm Renaissance Properties, were already well along the way to slashing their properties’ energy consumption. Then COVID-19 hit,” writes Christopher Cameron in Commercial Observer.

“Suddenly, the Fishels saw their four Manhattan office buildings empty of workers and tenants.:

“Low occupancy meant that they could finish updating their office buildings in NoHo and Midtown to comply with New York City’s Green New Deal legislation — which is in line with, but not tied to, the proposed federal legislation of the same name, and which the Department of Buildings will begin enforcing in 2024 — without disturbing tenants. That meant cost savings.”

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“By this point in the COVID-19 pandemic, almost every person in business, construction, and real estate has heard the term ‘Force Majeure’ more times than they can count. This is an important contract clause for a party required to perform obligations—and whose performance might be delayed or limited by unforeseeable events or events outside of their control such as civil or labor riots, wars, fires, terrorism, explosions, weather disasters, and acts of G-d. The typical force majeure contract clause will excuse such a delay in performance or provide the party with additional time to perform if the delay is the result of a force majeure event,” discusses David Podein, Parnter at Haber Law in Contractor.

“But what about unforeseeable governmental restrictions or even economic disasters—especially on a statewide, national or even global scale? Would the 2008/2009 global financial crisis qualify as a force majeure event under your boilerplate force majeure clause? Would the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic qualify as a force majeure event under your boilerplate force majeure clause?”

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“Businesses have several available causes of action to claim when a competitor attempts to replicate the business’ appearance in advertising or its products. Trademark law, such as the Lanham Act, provides many remedies to a business which believes that a competitor is emulating the business and creates a ‘likelihood of confusion.’ … However, copyright law has a more limited application in comparison to trademark law in cases involving emulation of design amongst competing businesses, as reflected in the recent case, Off Lease Only, Inc. v. Lakeland Motors,” discuss Mavrick Law Firm in their blog.

“When a competitor emulates the appearance of a company’s products or advertising, the first cause of action to consider is usually under trademark law. Trademark law was enacted to prevent a business emulating or copying the appearance of another. Copyright law is generally more concerned with protecting artists from unlawful reproductions of their work, such as in music, film, or in books. However, in limited scenarios, an aggrieved business may also have the opportunity to initiate business litigation under copywrite law when a competitor copies the artistic qualities of a business’ advertising or products.”

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“The Ninth Circuit recently reminded companies that they must provide notice to consumers when they change their terms and conditions, even where original terms state that they are subject to change at-will and at any time (i.e. the original contract contains a ‘change-of-terms’ provision). Without express notice to the consumer, any change is unenforceable,” warn David A. Grant and Hilary A. Williams in Payne & Fears Insights.

“In Stover v. Experian Holdings, Inc. … a consumer expressly agreed to Experian’s terms as they existed in 2014. Those terms required her to arbitrate all claims arising out of the service she purchased and contained a change-of-terms provision stating that she would be consenting to ‘the then current terms’ (i.e. new or different terms added/changed after 2014) each time she accessed Experian’s website. The consumer accessed the website in 2018. At that time, the terms had changed to exclude certain disputes from arbitration. The consumer argued that her dispute should not be subject to arbitration pursuant to the 2018 terms.”

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“On Friday Coinbase Inc. announced the appointment of former Google Senior Legal Director Milana McCullagh as deputy general counsel for product and commercial legal,” reports Husayn Hashim in Cointelegraph.

“McCullagh, who worked for more than 13 years at Google, will work across functions at Coinbase on product legal support, helping the firm to streamline legal compliance for new product launches.”

“McCullagh’s appointment is part of both a Coinbase campaign to attract legal talent that started last year, as well as a broader industry-wide movement of top-tier attorneys joining crypto firms.”

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“Doctor Shoaib Qureshi, Doctor Imran Mirza, Memphis Primary Care Specialists, Lunceford Family Health Center, and Getwell Family Medicine agreed to pay $341,690 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly charging Medicare for services rendered by nurse practitioners at the higher reimbursement rate for physician services, the Justice Department announced today,” released the Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs.

“Medicare pays a higher rate for physician services than for non-physician services. Medicare will pay the higher physician rate for services rendered by non-physician providers if the services are ‘incident to’ the services of a physician. Such ‘incident to’ services, however, must be provided under the direct supervision of a physician. The United States alleged that, from 2015 to 2018, Doctor Qureshi, Doctor Mirza, and their clinics billed Medicare as though the physicians had provided the services in question, when in fact nurse practitioners had treated the patients without the supervision required by Medicare’s ‘incident to’ rules. Indeed, the government alleged that the services were rendered when the physicians were out of the office, including times when they were traveling out of state or abroad.”

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“… a disbarred lawyer in Westchester County, pled guilty today in White Plains federal court to stealing government funds. VILA’s plea results from his theft of approximately $1 million that the Department of Justice’s 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) had awarded to the defendant’s client, a 9/11 first responder,” released the Southern District of New York.

“VILA was arrested on September 3, 2020, and pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti.”

“Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: ‘As he admitted today, Gustavo Vila stole money awarded by the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund to his client, an NYPD officer and 9/11 first responder, and falsely told the client for more than three years that the stolen money had yet to be released by the Fund. Now Gustavo Vila awaits sentencing for his crime.'”

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“A lawsuit accusing several paving companies of anti-competitive practices and price gouging is over, with state officials announcing Friday a $101.35 million settlement,” reports in Steven Allen Adams in The Intelligencer.

“West Virginia Paving Inc., Kelly Paving Inc., American Asphalt and Aggregate Inc., and eight associated companies agreed to pay that amount to the state in a settlement of an anti-trust case brought by Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and six local governments, in Parkersburg.”

“The lawsuit, filed on Jan. 11, 2017, accused CRH PLC – based in Ireland and the parent company for several asphalt and paving companies doing business in West Virginia – of creating a monopoly on paving and asphalt supplies, driving up the cost of projects and materials at the expense of state taxpayers.”

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Blueshift IP founders and attorneys Cynthia Gilbert and Robert Plotkin were recognized as IP Trailblazers by the National Law Journal in its November issue. The Trailblazers series recognizes individuals who are “moving the needle” in intellectual property law in areas including patents.

Having unmatched expertise, determination, and passion, Gilbert and Plotkin have been blazing trails as software patent experts for decades. Post-Alice, they developed innovative ways to overcome the roadblocks to software patents even after the Alice U.S. Supreme Court decision led many to believe software patents were dead. They are pioneers of novel legal strategies and are consistently at the forefront of cutting-edge industries, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing.

Plotkin, an MIT computer science graduate, is a recognized “industry insider,” frequently appearing alongside other industry leaders in publications such as IPWatchdog. He wrote the first and only book about AI and patents a decade ago. He is a member of the IEEE AI Policy Committee, which advises government agencies and industry on AI policy.

Gilbert leverages her computer science degree and industry experience to engage with complex, technical details of software inventions, revealing where technology is innovative and differentiated, while navigating equally complex patent processes to obtain valuable patents. Additionally, as a female attorney, while 93 percent of inventors and 85 percent of software patent attorneys are men, Gilbert brings a unique perspective to her work.

Blueshift IP’s data-driven approach to patent strategy and understanding of the finest details in software patent law enable clients to secure software patents effectively and efficiently. International law firms and U.S. patent lawyers turn to Blueshift IP for their constantly evolving expertise in obtaining U.S. software patents for clients. Blueshift applies agile thinking to patent strategies for its fast-moving clients, maximizing short term benefits and protecting against future changes in the law. An example is the revolutionary approach the firm often uses to obtain software patents in the wake of Alice. Post-Alice, Blueshift first obtains strong, defensible, laser-focused patents and then obtains successively broader patents over time. Firm clients benefit from faster patent grants and a portfolio that protects technology with an interwoven mesh of strong, enforceable, defensible patent protection.

For more information about Blueshift IP, please visit https://blueshiftip.com/. For more information about the National Law Journal and its IP Trailblazer award, please visit https://www.law.com/.

Ball Janik Expands Legal Offerings; Launches New Affordable Housing and Community Development Practice

PORTLAND, Ore., November 2, 2020 – Ball Janik LLP, a business law firm with offices in Florida and Oregon, is pleased to announce the launch of its Affordable Housing and Community Development Practice, which is expected to gain momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic and after.

From all aspects of acquisition, disposition, financing, development, construction, and operation, Ball Janik represents affordable housing developers in the public, private and non-profit space. The firm’s deep experience in real estate, land use, public-private partnerships, finance, construction, insurance recovery, and construction defect litigation, allows attorneys to assist clients with their asset development and management objectives in ways that are practical, streamlined, and tailored to their business needs.

Dallas – Sidley Austin LLP is pleased to announce that Aimee Fagan and Phillip Aurentz have joined the firm as partners in the Dallas office. Ms. Fagan and Mr. Aurentz will be members of the global Intellectual Property (IP) Litigation practice. Both Ms. Fagan and Mr. Aurentz join Sidley from McKool Smith.

Fagan is a sought-after patent litigator and first chair trial lawyer recognized for her keen ability to align her client’s business goals with litigation strategy right at the outset. She has a formidable track record of wins obtained on behalf of her clients, including jury trials, arbitrations, and pre-trial successes. She regularly advises clients, particularly those in the energy industry, on complex patent litigation and commercial litigation matters, including business disputes, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract, securities investigations, and lawsuits, among other concerns. Over the course of her career, Fagan has gained extensive experience in the busy patent docket of the Eastern District of Texas, in addition to the state and federal courts in Dallas, Austin, Houston, and outside of Texas.

Aurentz is an experienced patent litigator and trial lawyer representing companies as both plaintiffs and defendants across various technologies ranging from digital content transmission technology to down-hole oil field tools and hydraulic fracturing. He has tried multiple cases that have resulted in millions in damages or take nothing verdicts depending on which side of the aisle his client is situated. He has also argued successfully at the Federal Circuit.

The addition of Fagan and Aurentz follows the firm’s recent hires of Eric Winwood to the Tax, Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice and Bart Biggers to the Aviation practice, who have joined the Dallas office within the last three months.

Anthony “Tony” Burba has rejoined Barnes & Thornburg’s Litigation Department as a partner in its Chicago office to focus on white collar and government investigations. He joins from the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where he served as a trial attorney on the corporate and Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid strike forces in Nashville.

As a prosecutor, Burba investigated and prosecuted complex corporate healthcare fraud cases, often dealing with abusive prescribing of powerful opioids for the personal profit of the prescriber. Burba returns to Barnes & Thornburg, where he was a partner in the litigation and healthcare departments prior to his time at the DOJ.

In addition to his healthcare and white collar prosecution work for the DOJ, Burba previously worked as a part of a federal monitor team for a large international medical device maker at Barnes & Thornburg and helped oversee the monitorship of a large national healthcare company as part of the Fraud Section’s Corporate Strike Force.

In private practice, he has defended numerous clients against civil investigations arising out of federal and state False Claims Acts. Burba also has experience defending clients in criminal investigations related to allegations of wire fraud, commodities fraud, environmental crimes, obstruction of justice and money laundering among other types of financial crimes.

Burba has advised some of the largest healthcare companies in the world on state and federal regulations in the healthcare industry, particularly the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark laws. Burba also regularly assists clients in building and improving complex compliance programs and developing internal controls to ensure compliant operations.

Burba earned his J.D. from the University of Kentucky College of Law, Order of Coif, his Master of Arts from Marquette University, and his Honors B.A. from Murray State University, summa cum laude.

“Edgewise Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing small molecule therapies for musculoskeletal diseases, today announced the appointment of John Moore to the newly created position of General Counsel. Mr. Moore has many years of experience as General Counsel for small molecule biopharmaceutical companies working in a range of therapeutic areas. This comes at an important time as Edgewise advances EDG-5506, the company’s lead product candidate, in clinical development for Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD and BMD),” posts Edgewise Therapeutics in News.

“Prior to joining Edgewise, Mr. Moore was General Counsel and Secretary at Peloton Therapeutics, where he led the legal aspects of the company’s initial public offering (IPO) efforts and was a key advisor on its acquisition by Merck on the eve of its planned IPO. Previously, Mr. Moore served for 15 years as General Counsel and Secretary at Array BioPharma Inc., and for 5 years on the board of directors of Nivalis Therapeutics. Mr. Moore began his legal career as an attorney in private practice. Mr. Moore holds a B.S. in chemistry from the University of North Carolina, an M.S. in biochemistry from the University of Illinois and a J.D. from the University of North Carolina.”

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“Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton announces a $1,498,750 settlement against New Jersey-based Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. (‘Bed Bath & Beyond’) as part of a settlement of a civil environmental prosecution,” was posted in East County Today’s California.

“The judgment is the culmination of a civil enforcement lawsuit filed last month in Ventura County Superior Court claiming that more than 200 Bed Bath & Beyond stores throughout the state (including Cost Plus, buybuy BABY, Harmon, Harmon Face Values, World Market, and Cost Plus World Market stores) unlawfully handled, transported and disposed of batteries, electronic devices, ignitable liquids, aerosol products, cleaning agents, and other flammable, reactive, toxic, and corrosive materials, at local landfills that were not permitted to receive those wastes.”

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“Anthem is paying a substantial portion of Blues plans’ tentative antitrust settlement, which is estimated to be nearly $3 billion, executives said on a call with investors on Wednesday morning,” reports Paige Minemyer in Fierce Healthcare’s Payer.

“Anthem has penciled in $594 million for its contribution to the $2.7 billion settlement. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association reportedly agreed to the settlement in a lengthy class action suit late last month.”

“Anthem chief financial officer John Gallina called the settlement ‘pending’ during the earnings call, and said having a deal in the works ‘removes an uncertainty’ for the business around the ongoing litigation.”

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“Herbalife Nutrition Ltd.’s (‘Herbalife’) recent settlement of bribery allegations demonstrates the U.S. government’s continuing focus on China and the critical role that board members and senior management of multinationals play in overseeing compliance globally. On August 28, 2020, Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. (‘Herbalife’) agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘SEC’) and the Department of Justice (‘DOJ’) more than $123 million in penalties and disgorgement to resolve bribery allegations in China. The settlement resolves a long-running probe in which two former executives of Herbalife’s Chinese subsidiary were indicted on criminal charges in November 2019. The resolution is one of many recent noteworthy enforcement resolutions targeting the operations of multinationals in China,” writes Geoffrey M. Atkins, Carissa Yuk and Viacheslav (Slava) Iavorskyi in Ropes & Gray’s Alerts.

“The Order indicates that Herbalife China’s then-Managing Director and Director of External Affairs, along with other Herbalife China employees, provided lavish meals, gifts and other benefits to Chinese government officials in order to obtain its first direct selling license in March 2007. The SEC further stated that Herbalife China employees funded the meals and gifts through falsified expense reimbursements until 2016.”

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Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that nine attorneys in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office were named to the 2019 Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll. Lee-Ann Brown, Greg Marshall, Patrick Quigley and Jessica Zurlo each received High Honors for performing 100 or more hours of pro bono service. In addition, Joshua Dhyani, Anna Lashley, Marc Nardone, Andrew Narod and John Parker Sweeney received Honors for completing 50 or more hours of pro bono service.

The Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll recognizes honorees who donated 50 hours or more of pro bono service during the last calendar year to those who cannot afford legal counsel. The 2019 Honor Roll recognizes all sectors of Washington’s diverse legal community, including honorees from 176 law firms and individual practices, as well as federal and local government agencies, corporations, associations, law schools and public interest organizations.

Through Bradley’s pro bono program, the firm’s attorneys across all 10 of its offices devote a significant amount of time each year to pro bono work and community service. In 2019, the firm’s attorneys and staff performed more than 15,400 hours of pro bono service valued at more than $5 million.

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.

Arent Fox Government Enforcement & White Collar Partner Michelle J. Shapiro was named Global Vice-Chair of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA), a worldwide organization that promotes diversity, provides training, and creates networking opportunities for its more than 2,200 members across 42 chapters.

Shapiro new position expands upon on her role as Global Chair of the Development Committee, which is responsible for promoting the WWCDA, its chapters and members through the work of seven subcommittees. This year, a top priority has been pioneering new ways for members to connect and collaborate.

In May, Shapiro spearheaded the launch of the WWCDA Watercooler, an online virtual forum for members to share ideas, ask questions, brainstorm, vent, laugh, and connect with trusted WWCDA peers and friends. Building on the success of the Watercooler’s informal gatherings, under Shapiro leadership, in October, the WWCDA launched the WatercoolerPLUS, an online virtual forum to present substantive topics of interest to the WWCDA’s members, beginning with a series of discussions regarding the challenges of returning to the Federal Courts in the Time of Covid.

Based in Arent Fox’s New York and Boston offices, Shapiro is a white collar criminal defense attorney who advises companies and individuals in connection with all phases of government and internal investigations, prosecutions, enforcement actions, and remediation efforts. Another key component of Shapiro practice is helping global companies design, enhance and implement customized compliance programs, with a particular focus on preventing and detecting corruption. Among Shapiro proudest achievements are pre-indictment resolutions of government allegations without media coverage or significant business disruption for her clients, including last month’s deferred prosecution agreement on behalf of an individual accused of engaging in a multi-million dollar money laundering transaction in bitcoin.

The Women’s White Collar Defense Association

Founded in 1999, the WWCDA is a coalition of women attorneys and other professionals who specialize in the white collar criminal defense field. These women are members of WWCDA chapters around the world and focus their practices on representing corporations, other organizations and individuals facing government enforcement actions (criminal, civil, regulatory, and administrative), and in internal investigations, compliance and ethics matters. Many of the WWCDA chapter members previously served in government positions and in corporate roles. Notable members include former corporate General Counsels and Chief Compliance Officers, as well as former prosecutors and high ranking government officials. More information can be found at http://wwcda.org.

First National Realty Partners, a leading private equity real estate firm, is pleased to announce that Zain A. Naqvi has joined the team as General Counsel and Head of Legal, announced First National Realty Partners.

“Zain A. Naqvi will be overseeing all legal matters as it relates to sales, acquisitions, leasing and financing of FNRP’s portfolio of office and retail properties. Mr. Naqvi brings over a decade of varied and diversified commercial real estate experience, with a focus on acquisitions, sales, investment, commercial financing and leasing transactions, and related litigation. He spent several years practicing in Manhattan at one of New York City’s most prestigious commercial real estate law firms, where he represented some of New York City’s most prominent real estate developers and landlords, including both privately held and publicly traded REITs, in complex real estate transactions and litigations. He furthered his practice in the real estate group of one of New Jersey’s largest law firms, where he concentrated on acquisitions and sales, leasing, and commercial lending.”

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“A Middletown, R.I., man currently serving a term of federal supervised release having been convicted and incarcerated for robbing four banks, admitted in federal court in Providence today to fraudulently seeking more than $4.7 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgivable loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act,” released the District of Rhode Island U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“Michael C. Moller, 41, admitted that he applied for and received nearly $600,000 in PPP loans he claimed were to be used to pay employees for a Fall River, MA, businesses he operated, ‘Top Notch Tile.’ FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation agents determined that ‘Top Notch Tile’ was not incorporated with the Massachusetts Secretary of State, nor could investigators locate any tax or bank records for the company.”

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