“An Illinois appellate court affirmed the adjudication of a firm’s attorney’s liens down to zero, where the discharged firm failed to provide any evidence of the amount of hours it had spent on the case, and also where the firm had engaged in multiple breaches of its fiduciary duties to its clients. As a matter of law, the firm was not barred from receiving attorney’s fees, but the breaches of fiduciary duty were reasonable factors for the trial court to consider in determining the appropriate amount of fees to award,” reports Hinshaw Law in their Legal Updates.

“Scot Vandenberg was paralyzed after he fell off the upper deck of a yacht manufactured by Brunswick Corporation and Brunswick Boat Group, which was owned and operated by RQM, LLC. The McNabola Law Group represented Vandenberg and his wife in a negligence and strict liability action against Brunswick and RQM. The Vandenbergs signed a contingency fee agreement with the Firm, and agreed to pay the Firm’s actual expenses. The fee agreement also provided for compensation to the Firm in the event the Firm withdrew prior to the resolution of the Vandenbergs’ claims. In that case, the Vandenbergs agreed to pay the Firm at a rate of $450 per hour for the time spent on the claims, or 33.33% of the amount being offered in settlement at the time of the request to withdraw, whichever was greater.”

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“Simon Property Group, Inc. (“Simon”) wants out of a deal to acquire its competitor, Taubman Centers, Inc. (“Taubman”), due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” reports Amy E. Lott and Lynsey J. Hyde in Gray Reed’s M&A Insights.

“Simon, the buyer, is an Indiana-based company that owns malls, outlets, and shopping centers. Its last 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission states that it had an interest in more than 200 properties in the United States. For example, in Texas, Simon owns The Galleria in Houston, Katy Mills, Grapevine Mills, Houston Premium Outlets in Cypress, and The Domain in Austin, among others.”

“Taubman, the seller, is a Michigan-based company that also owns malls, outlets, and shopping centers. Its portfolio includes shopping centers in the United States and Asia, including the Beverly Center in Los Angeles, the International Place Market in Waikiki, the Starfield Hanam in South Korea, and The Mall of San Juan in Puerto Rico.”

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“Bayer recently announced its intent to settle all Roundup, dicamba drift and Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) water litigation cases between $10.1 and $10.9 billion. The company says this settlement is not an admission of fault, but rather a cost-effective way to end the ‘distraction,’ reports Sonja Begemann in AG Web’s Business.

“The decision to resolve these cases was driven by our desire to bring greater certainty to the farmers we serve every day,” says Liam Condon, Bayer president of the crop science division.”

“These, and all our products, bring to growers and other users around the world the ability to help them economically and sustainably produce a healthy crop.”

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“Cass Information Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CASS), the leading provider of transportation, energy, telecom and waste invoice payment and information services, has recruited Matt Schuckman to fill the newly created position of general counsel. Schuckman, 46, will also serve Cass as corporate secretary,” reported in Cass Information Systems, Inc.’s Press Releases.

“Schuckman joins Cass after a 20-year career as a commercial and transactional attorney with the St. Louis office of Armstrong Teasdale, LLP. As a partner in the commercial services group, Schuckman advised clients – including Cass – on mergers and acquisitions; complex contracts; corporate governance issues; and business law.”

Read the article.

This year’s third-quarter edition of the Defense Counsel Journal (DCJ) published by the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) offers scholarly articles about a diverse range of topics such as defending producers under the Defense Production Act, recent EPA actions attempting to ban asbestos, and the law related to wrongful birth actions.

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 third-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 third-quarter 2020 issue of the DCJ:

“Defending the Producers: Examining Product Liability Protection for Compelled Manufacturing Under the Defense Production Act” by Lauren R. Greenspoon, senior counsel, and Ryan D. Class, an associate, both at Carlton Fields, P.A. – The article discusses defending producers under the recently enacted, COVID-19-induced, Defense Production Act, taking a deep dive into the act’s history and the evolution of the Government Contractor Defense and related immunity.

“The EPA’s March to Ban Asbestos: 2020 Draft Risk Evaluation” by senior partner Claire C. Weglarz, partner Eric T. Hawkins and senior partner Evelyn Fletcher Davis, all at Hawkins Parnell & Young, LLP. – The article examines the unusual recent actions of the Environmental Protection Agency in attempting to ban asbestos in almost exclusive reliance upon the work of plaintiffs’ experts and attorneys.

“What’s Unconstitutional About Wrongful Life Claims? Ask Jane Roe…” by partner Bruce R. Parker and counsel Thomasina Poirot, both at Venable LLP, along with former Venable attorney Scott C. Armstrong. – The piece reviews the law relating to wrongful birth actions, forcefully arguing that such actions, which exist in only three states, are unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade.

About the International Association of Defense Counsel
The IADC is the preeminent invitation-only global legal organization for attorneys who represent corporate and insurance interests. Founded in 1920, the IADC has members who hail from six continents, 54 countries and territories, and all 50 U.S. states. The core purposes of the IADC are to enhance the development of skills, promote professionalism, and facilitate camaraderie among its members and their clients, as well as the broader civil justice community. For more information, visit www.iadclaw.org.

“Class actions present significant risk, because a certified class exposes a class defendant to class-wide liability,” warns James Bogan III of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP in JD Supra.

“Most defendants agree to settle rather than face the risk of a class verdict. But sometimes a class defendant will roll the dice, hoping it will prevail either at trial or on appeal. In a recent case, Bahamas Surgery Center, LLC v. Kimberly-Clark Corporation, …, the class defendants did just that. Although the district court entered judgment against the class defendants in the amount of $24 million, they were ultimately saved on appeal by a split panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.”

“By way of background, Bahamas Surgery Center, LLC (Bahamas), sued Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KC) and Halyard Health, Inc. (Halyard), for fraud, asserting that KC and Halyard misrepresented the efficacy of surgical gowns in terms of blocking the spread of pathogens. Bahamas presented evidence that the surgical gowns had been labeled as compliant with a specific standard going to that efficacy – the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) Liquid Barrier Level 4 standard – when in fact the gowns did not meet that standard.”

Read the article.

“Bison Trails has hired BlockTower Capital’s former legal and compliance director to be its first general counsel,” reports Nathan DiCamillo in BitCoin’s Business.

“Elizabeth Ralston will be in charge of all legal, risk, compliance and policy matters at the blockchain infrastructure startup. Prior to her time at BlockTower Capital, Ralston was a vice president at investment bank Goldman Sachs. While at BlockTower, Ralston negotiated agreements with custodians, exchanges, over-the-counter desks, software providers and other service providers. She also handled venture investments in early-stage companies.”

“Ralston will tackle some of the same issues at Bison Trails, with a focus on tax implications for crypto investors participating in proof-of-stake networks.”

Read the article.

“After nearly four years of litigation, PAM Transport truckers will finally get to collect money owed to them after a federal court approved of a $16.5 million settlement,” reports Tyson Fisher in Land Line.

“Judge Timothy L. Brooks of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas granted final approval of a settlement between PAM Transport and more than 16,000 of its drivers. The settlement agreement was reached in February just one day before the trial was scheduled to begin.”

“After attorneys take their one-third cut of $5.5 million, the three named plaintiffs collect their $40,000 each, plaintiffs who sat for deposition receive $1,000 ($31,000 total) and plaintiffs who prepared to testify at trial get $2,500 ($17,500 total), the average amount for each driver comes to around $600. Each class member will receive a minimum of $150 plus a pro-rated amount based on the number of weeks employed as a trucker. According to the settlement, any unclaimed funds will be donated to the St. Christopher Truckers Development and Relief Fund.”

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“Several women and former employees accuse a prominent Chicago family attorney of sexual assault – all of it is outlined in a complaint filed last month by a state disciplinary board,” reports Charlie De Mar of CBSN Chicago.

The day after the report of “allegations against David Pasulka, the lawyer found himself in legal trouble – arrested for driving under the influence in Glenview.”

“… police in Glenview were called on Friday, July 24, to a McDonald’s in Glenview, where they said they found Pasulka in his car intoxicated and in need of medical help.”

“Glenview police said the man behind the wheel was Pasulka, the prominent Chicago family attorney and guardian ad litem. Police said he would not wake up, and he was so drunk that was taken to Glenbrook Hospital – where police said he was too intoxicated to take a breathalyzer or field sobriety test.”

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that Zachary P. Martin has joined the firm’s Birmingham office as an associate in the Litigation Practice Group.

Martin focuses his practice on a wide range of matters, including complex civil litigation, white collar criminal defense and state government investigations. Prior to joining Bradley, he served as an intern at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama, where he researched and prepared briefs on a variety of legal issues involving criminal and civil cases.

Martin received his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his Bachelor of Arts from Iona College.

The Litigation Practice Group is Bradley’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.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that seven of the firm’s partners have been selected to the 2020 Benchmark 40 & Under Hot List, which recognizes top young talent in litigation communities in the United States and Canada.

The annual 40 & Under Hot List, produced by Benchmark Litigation, includes attorneys aged 40 or younger as selected through review of their recent case work, peer review, and consideration of client feedback on their performances. The Hot List honorees all have been involved in some of their firms’ most noteworthy recent cases and have earned praise from clients and peers regarding the quality of their work. Benchmark Litigation covers the litigation and disputes market in North America, including the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Following are Bradley’s partners, listed by office, named to the 40 & Under Hot List:

Birmingham

Tiffany J. deGruy – A member of the Litigation Practice Group, she has considerable experience trying high-stakes business and commercial litigation for clients in a variety of industries, such as healthcare, e-commerce, and insurance.

Ann Phelps Hill – A member of the Litigation Practice group, she represents private and publicly held corporations in all phases of high-stakes and complex litigation.

Rudy Hill- As a member of the Litigation and Intellectual Property practice groups, he handles matters in all phases of litigation, including pre-suit investigation, fact discovery, expert discovery, summary judgment, and trial.

Ellen Presley Proctor – A member of the Litigation Practice Group, she focuses her practice on representing healthcare industry clients in medical malpractice, pharmaceutical, and medical device litigation in state and federal courts and in national MDLs.

Thomas Richie – A member of the Litigation Practice Group, he represents clients in procedurally complex civil litigation, both in trial and appellate courts throughout Alabama and across the country.

Whitt Steineker – A member of the Litigation Practice Group, co-chair of the Cannabis Industry team, and leader of the Food, Beverage and Hospitality team, he provides clients of all types with litigation counsel, transactional advice, and practical strategies for growth.

Washington, D.C.

Aron C. Beezley – A member of the Litigation, Construction and Government Contracts practice groups, he represents government contractors in a variety of industries and in all aspects of the government-contracting process, including negotiation, award, performance and termination.

The Litigation Practice Group is Bradley’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.

Michael Best Strategies is pleased to announce that Donald Conrad has joined the firm as a Principal in the Waukesha office as part of Michael Best Strategies’ Business and Community Solutions team. This move underscores the growth of the group in recent weeks coming on the heels of three recent additions to the group earlier this month – Tamara Quiram, Kimberly Allen and Chase Braden.

Conrad will focus on helping industry innovators to prepare and position their products and solutions for success, as well as identifying technologies to solve clients’ most pressing challenges. As an experienced strategist, Conrad will concentrate on delivering complex solutions to clients, while assisting new solutions to become viable competitors in a crowded marketplace.

Conrad spent the past six years at Advocate Aurora Health Care, first as an Innovation Manager at the system’s research institute and later as an Investment Manager in the strategy and innovation group, where he evaluated new strategic opportunities and helped manage the system’s multi-million dollar corporate ventures program.

Conrad is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, completing three combat tours from 2005 to 2008. He also held positions in the healthcare and private equity investment banking groups at Deutsche Bank before making the move to Advocate Aurora Health.

Conrad earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Villanova University, and he received his Master of Public Policy from Harvard University.

Leaders from Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP’s global privacy and cybersecurity practice and the Centre for Information Policy Leadership recently discussed the implications of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s landmark Schrems II decision, which invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield for cross-border transfers of personal data.

In a webinar, Hunton Andrews Kurth partners Lisa Sotto, Aaron Simpson, David Dumont, and Bridget Treacy joined CIPL President Bojana Bellamy to provide an overview of the Schrems I and II cases. They also discussed the CJEU’s ruling on Standard Contractual Clauses and their role going forward, along with a number of key policy considerations.

A full recording of the webinar can be accessed here.

The Schrems II decision on July 16 invalidated the Privacy Shield, which more than 5,000 companies and organizations used as a principal legal framework for the transfer of personal data from the EU to the United States. The decision did not invalidate SCCs but creates significant additional obligations for companies to continue to use SCCs to transfer EU personal data to the US or to other jurisdictions around the world.

Hunton Andrews Kurth’s privacy and cybersecurity practice is ranked as a leader in its field. The firm has been ranked by Computerworld magazine, Chambers and Partners, and The Legal 500 as a top law firm globally for privacy and data security. The firm’s Centre for Information Policy Leadership works with industry leaders, regulatory authorities, and policy makers to develop global solutions and best practices for privacy and responsible data use to enable the modern information age.

For more information, visit www.huntonprivacyblog.com.

“In corporate democracy, the default system is voting, but shareholders are free to contract over their votes. In private companies, shareholders routinely do so, using shareholder agreements — contracts amongst the owners of a firm — to bargain directly over directorships and other rights of control. Why? Why use a contract to shape control rather than corporate law’s more familiar instruments — the charter and bylaws? This article shows that shareholder agreements’ distinctive role in corporate governance arises both because of contracts’ distinctive procedural attributes, and because corporate law empowers shareholders to personally waive rights by contract that the charter and bylaws cannot remove. Statutory rules that are mandatory for the charter and bylaws do not bind shareholder agreements,” writes Gabriel V. Rauterberg of the University of Michigan Law School in SSRN.

“This article offers a theoretical, legal, and empirical study of shareholder agreements. Its implications range across a number of foundational debates in corporate law and governance.”

Read the article.

“Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has filed a lawsuit contending that it is entitled to return of rent on unoccupied New York City offices during the COVID-19 pandemic,” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal.

“The breach of contract suit, filed Monday in state court in New York, seeks $8 million in damages, Law.com reports. The suit also seeks a declaratory judgment that the law firm is entitled to rent abatement while the pandemic continues or government mandates continue.”

“According to the suit, Simpson Thacher’s lease has a ‘relatively unique clause’ in the lease for its offices at 425 Lexington Ave.”

Read the article.

“…the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled a report that lays out a blueprint strategy for the development of a national quantum internet, bringing the United States to the forefront of the global quantum race and ushering in a new era of communications. This report provides a pathway to ensure the development of the National Quantum Initiative Act, which was signed into law by President Trump in December 2018,” writes Brookhaven National Laboratory in SciTechDaily.

“Around the world, consensus is building that a system to communicate using quantum mechanics represents one of the most important technological frontiers of the 21st century. Scientists now believe that the construction of a prototype will be within reach over the next decade.”

Read the article.

“The recently enacted Small Business Reorganization Act (‘SBRA’) is available to help ‘small business debtors’ with debts of no more than $2,725,625 (temporarily increased to $7,500,000 for one year by the CARES Act). Although there are several requirements that must be satisfied in order to qualify as a ‘small business debtor’ under the Bankruptcy Code, courts have recently considered whether an individual debtor must be engaged in “commercial or business activities” at the time of his or her bankruptcy filing. Both courts which have considered the question have answered ‘no,'” reports Megan R. I. Baxter-Labut, Ronald A. Spinner and Marc N. Swanson in Miller Canfield’s resources.

“Two recent bankruptcy cases, one from South Carolina and another from Louisiana, construe this phrase broadly, holding that a person is ‘engaged in commercial or business activities’ for the purposes of the SBRA if the person’s debts arose primarily from business activities (including guaranties of business debt). This is true regardless of whether the person seeks to reorganize an ongoing business or currently conducts business of any kind. If other courts follow suit, more debtors will qualify to file under the SBRA than creditors may have originally expected, making it more important than ever for creditors to fully understand this new ‘subchapter V of chapter 11’ of the Bankruptcy Code.”

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“The U.S. Soccer Federation Friday announced the hiring of Karen Leetzow as its new Chief Legal Officer,” reports Front Row Soccer.

“Noting as a result-oriented industry executive, Leetzow, spent 20 years at NASCAR where she most recently served as its senior vice president and general counsel. She will begin her new position in Chicago in early August and is the first executive hire by U.S. Soccer secretary general and CEO Will Wilson.”

“Leetzow succeeds Lydia Wahlke, who was suspended in March and quit her position May 21 amid an outcry over a court filing that asserted players on the U.S. women’s national team were less skilled than male players. She agreed to act as an ad hoc consultant for the organization until Sept. 15, according to the federation.”

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“Shares of San Diego-based chipmaker QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) rocketed over 15% Thursday after the company topped analysts’ fiscal third quarter expectations and announced that it had come to a settlement agreement with Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies Co. Qualcomm reported adjusted earnings of 86 cents per share on sales of $4.89 billion, with the wireless chip producer benefiting from the nation’s 5G cellular rollout. Analysts had expected earnings of 72 cents per share on revenues of $4.8 billion,” reports Timothy Smith in Investopia’s Company News.

“Moreover, Qualcomm said that the settlement – which includes money owed from previous quarters and a global patent-licensing agreement – will add about $1.8 billion to its top line and $1.38 in earnings per share during the current quarter. “With the signing of the Huawei agreement, we are now entering a period in which we have multi-year license agreements with every major handset OEM,” Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf told investors, per MarketWatch.”

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“An Atlanta, Texas, lawyer who was arrested last year by Texas Rangers for allegedly smuggling methamphetamine into the Cass County jail is now facing federal drug and weapons charges,” reports Lynn LaRowe in the Texarkana Gazette.

“A four-count indictment recently unsealed in the Marshall Division of the Eastern District of Texas alleges Bryan Lee Simmons, 49, is guilty of conspiracy to distribute meth from July 2019 through August 2019. Simmons was taken into custody at the Cass County jail Aug. 29, 2019.”

“Following his arrest in August 2019, Cass County District Attorney Courtney Shelton said Texas Rangers had been investigating and surveilling Simmons for at least a month. At that time, Simmons was arrested on state drug and weapons charges.”

Read the article.