BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that Rich Sharff has rejoined the firm’s Birmingham office as counsel in the Healthcare Practice Group.

Mr. Sharff has represented a variety of healthcare providers in his career, in a range of transactional, compliance and litigation matters.

“We are pleased to welcome Rich back to our Birmingham office,” said Chairman of the Board and Managing Partner Jonathan M. Skeeters. “Rich brings nearly three decades of diverse experience and insights that will further enhance our firm’s healthcare practice.”

Mr. Sharff was an attorney at Bradley from 1994-2007 before leaving to join Surgical Care Affiliates (SCA), a nationwide owner and operator of outpatient surgery centers, as its executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary in 2007. After SCA’s acquisition by Optum, he was also named general counsel of OptumHealth, which is one of the three primary business segments within Optum and includes care delivery businesses such as SCA, physician groups/IPAs and urgent care centers, and numerous other major platforms serving behavioral health, population health, complex care and consumer offerings at Optum.

Mr. Sharff earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia.

Bradley’s Healthcare Practice Group is a nationally recognized, interdisciplinary team of attorneys and advisors who provide a comprehensive suite of services to virtually the entire range of health industry participants. The Healthcare Practice Group is routinely relied on to guide major transactions, advise on complex regulatory matters, and handle high-stakes litigation. Many of the group’s attorneys have served in high-profile industry leadership positions, including as president of the American Health Lawyers Association, and many have been recognized by leading legal industry referral guides, including Chambers, Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers.

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.

Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, welcomes Mauricio Rivero in Miami, expanding the national presence of the Tax Practice Group and widening the firm’s expertise in international taxation. Rivero resolves domestic and international tax matters, representing foreign trusts and estates, investors, and businesses in cross-border transactions throughout the U.S. and Latin America.

Rivero focuses his practice on international tax planning, business succession planning, U.S. tax compliance, and tax controversy work. He has experience servicing high-net-worth international families with U.S. tax planning, expatriation, pre-immigration and succession planning, including the use of Private Trust Companies (PTCs), and U.S. income and transfer tax aspects of foreign trusts and estates. He has also assisted U.S. and foreign investors and businesses with both inbound and outbound U.S. tax planning, income tax treaty planning, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, corporate and partnership tax matters, and has assisted clients with REIT structuring, particularly involving foreign investors.

Rivero follows the arrival of Robert Lowey to Akerman’s Tax Practice Group in New York. He focuses his practice on U.S. and international tax planning.

“The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. announced Dennis F. Kerrigan has been appointed executive vice president and general counsel, effective immediately, following the retirement of longtime general counsel, J. Kendall Huber. In this role, Kerrigan is responsible for The Hanover’s legal, regulatory and government affairs, as well as compliance, state filings, securities, and corporate governance matters,” posted in Cision PR Newswire’s News Releases by Emily P. Trevallion and Abby M. Clark.

“Kerrigan brings decades of corporate counsel, insurance and global legal experience to the company. He joins The Hanover after more than 10 years as general counsel for Zurich North America, where he led the legal, compliance, government and industry affairs, security and regulatory affairs groups.”

“Kerrigan previously served as a partner in the global litigation department of an international law firm, representing Fortune 500 companies in a variety of matters, including trials, arbitrations, governmental investigations, regulatory proceedings and internal investigations.”

Read the article.

“Despite the speed and efficiency that comes with signing documents electronically, many business people (and even some lawyers) remain reluctant to accept electronic signatures.  Luckily for those of us who are sheltering in place or practicing social distancing, most electronic signatures are just as valid and enforceable as a traditional manual signature,” writes Ryan P. Siney in Tucker Arensberg’s News + Insights.

“A federal law, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (ESIGN) Act, and the law of nearly every state (through the adoption of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act or similar legislation), provide that electronic signatures are legally enforceable as long as a few basic requirements are satisfied.  These laws require electronically signed contracts to be enforced and treated the same as any document signed by traditional means.  In other words, no contract can be voided or rendered unenforceable merely because it was signed electronically.”

“To qualify as an enforceable electronic signature, there must be evidence of the signer’s intent to execute or accept the agreement.  This is typically accomplished by requiring the signer to take affirmative action, like typing their name or drawing their signature using a mouse or touchscreen.  As long as the signer’s intent to agree to the contract can be discerned from the record, an electronic signature is likely to be enforceable. Courts in some states have enforced contracts where a party’s intent to accept the terms of the agreement were evidenced by email exchange or text message, even though there was no drawn or typed signature.”

Read the article.

“In Richards v. State Farm Lloyds … the Texas Supreme Court answered a certified question posed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals; namely, whether the absence of a clause requiring a carrier to defend claims that are “groundless, false or fraudulent” means that the “eight-corners” rule does not apply when determining the existence of a duty to defend. The Texas Supreme Court held that the eight-corners rule applies regardless of whether the underlying policy obligates a carrier to defend claims that are groundless, false or fraudulent,” write Alissa K. Christopher and Gregory S. Hudson in Cozen O’Connor’s Recent News & Publications.

“Ten-year-old Jayden Meals died in an ATV accident while under the supervision of his paternal grandparents Janet and Melvin Richards. Jayden’s mother filed suit against the Richards, alleging that they negligently failed to instruct or supervise Jayden in his operation of the ATV. The underlying petition, however, contained no allegations regarding where the fatality occurred and no allegations regarding the custody relationship between Jayden and his paternal grandparents.”

“State Farm Lloyds provided a homeowner’s policy to the Richards. It agreed to defend the Richards under a reservation of rights and separately initiated a declaratory judgment proceeding in federal court.”

Read the article.

“In yet another opinion applying the Florida Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc., 945 So. 2d 1246 (Fla. 2006), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed denial of motions for judgment as a matter of law against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Philip Morris USA Inc. in a published opinion upholding multi-million dollar jury verdicts against both defendants,” posts Keith Emanuel in Eversheds Sutherland’s 11th Circuit Business Blog.

“Plaintiff Kerrivan became an addicted serial smoker at an early age, suffered increasingly serious medical diagnoses as a result, and made repeated unsuccessful attempts to quit. He eventually quit smoking but has required an oxygen tank to assist his breathing ever since. After the jury awarded $15.8 million in compensatory damages and $25.3 million in punitive damages on various fraud and conspiracy claims, the tobacco companies renewed motions for judgment as a matter of law and filed a motion for new trial or remittitur, arguing that the compensatory damages award was excessive, that the punitive damages award was unconstitutional, and that the evidence of reliance was insufficient to support the fraudulent concealment and conspiracy claims. The appeal stemmed from the district court’s denial of such motions.”

Read the article.

The rapid shift to a remote workforce can create a number of business challenges when it comes to contract management. As you implement your business continuity plans, it’s critical your contract management efforts are not impacted by employees working from home.

To help navigate this challenging environment, please join us for an upcoming webinar: Best Practices for Managing Contracts Remotely.

Our speakers will review important considerations and strategies you can leverage to keep your contracting activities moving forward effectively and efficiently, including:

-Contract management challenges to watch out for when working remotely
-Best practices for successfully managing your contracts remotely

Speakers:

Tim Donaghy
CTO
Contract Logix

David Parks
Director, Product Marketing
Contract Logix

Justin Perkins
Solutions Engineer
Contract Logix

The rapid shift to a remote workforce can create a number of business challenges when it comes to contract management. As you implement your business continuity plans, it’s critical your contract management efforts are not impacted by employees working from home.

To help navigate this challenging environment, please join us for an upcoming webinar: Best Practices for Managing Contracts Remotely.

Our speakers will review important considerations and strategies you can leverage to keep your contracting activities moving forward effectively and efficiently, including:

• Contract management challenges to watch out for when working remote
• Best practices for successfully managing your contracts remotely

Register.

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP begins its new fiscal year with the promotion of the following 13 lawyers. The firm proudly recognizes these talented individuals for their accomplishments and outstanding client service.

Jeremy S. Boczko (Litigation, New York) litigates and helps companies acquire intellectual property rights underlying brands and innovations within a wide variety of industries, including banking and financial services, fashion, entertainment, wine and spirits, pharmaceuticals and computer software. Boczko earned his undergraduate degree from Yeshiva University and his law degree from Fordham University School of Law.

Anthony Bonan (Capital Finance and Real Estate, New York) focuses his practice on commercial real estate transactions, including acquisitions, development, financing, leasing and joint ventures and has extensive experience counseling institutional investors and lenders, real estate opportunity funds and private developers on all aspects of their real estate-related business. Bonan received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University and his law degree from New York University School of Law.

Emily E. Cabrera (Tax and ERISA, The Woodlands) focuses her practice on executive compensation and employee benefit arrangements (including their related tax, accounting, securities and corporate governance aspects). Cabrera earned her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and her law degree from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law.

Ashley D. Drummond (Capital Finance and Real Estate, Dallas) focuses on commercial real estate transactions nationwide, including acquisitions, dispositions and financings (multifamily, office, retail, industrial and golf course properties), real estate aspects of mergers and acquisitions, construction projects and leasing (both landlord and tenant), for a broad spectrum of clients in the real estate industry, including owners, developers, private equity funds and financial institutions. Drummond received her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and her law degree from Southern Methodist University.

M. Kaylan Dunn (Litigation, Houston) practices commercial litigation with an emphasis on oil and gas, banking, real estate disputes and fiduciary litigation with an emphasis on trust and estate disputes. Dunn earned her undergraduate degree from Texas Christian University and her law degree from South Texas College of Law.

James W. Head (Energy and Infrastructure, Washington and Richmond) focuses his practice on domestic and international project finance and public-private partnerships, particularly in the energy and transportation industries. Head earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia.

James A. Kennedy II (Corporate, Richmond) represents public and private companies in connection with mergers and acquisitions, strategic corporate transactions, securities offerings, general corporate matters and corporate governance matters. Kennedy received his undergraduate degree from the College of William & Mary and his law degree from Washington and Lee University School of Law.

Jonathan H. Kim (Corporate, Charlotte) serves as counsel to financial institutions and other market participants in capital markets matters with a primary focus on the securitization of various asset classes and the trading and financing of mortgage loans, servicing rights and mortgage-backed securities. Kim earned his undergraduate degree from North Carolina State University and his MBA and law degrees from Wake Forest University.

Brit Mohler (Corporate, New York) represents borrowers, lenders, issuers and underwriters with respect to the financing and securitization of various asset classes primarily related to servicing rights, residential mortgage loans and credit risk collateral. Mohler received her undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and her law degree from William & Mary Law School.

Adam O’Brian (Corporate, New York) focuses his practice on energy sector capital markets transactions, which includes representing issuers and underwriters on a range of securities transactions, including dedicated utility rate securitizations, and counseling clients on SEC registered public offerings, Rule 144A/Regulation S offerings and private placements. O’Brian earned his undergraduate degree from McGill University and his law degree from State University of New York School of Law at Buffalo.

Sergio F. Oehninger (Litigation, Washington) represents companies in complex insurance coverage and bad-faith disputes arising in various industries, including retail, financial services, energy and real estate, and counsels multinational corporations on cross-border insurance and risk management issues. Oehninger earned his undergraduate degree from the College of William & Mary and his law degree from The George Washington University Law School.

Joseph Rovira (Capital Finance and Real Estate, Houston) represents secured lenders, debtors, hedge funds, private equity funds, unsecured creditors and various official and ad hoc committees in both out-of-court financial restructurings as well as chapter 7, 11 and 15 bankruptcy proceedings. Rovira earned his undergraduate degree from Trinity University and his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center.

Jessica R. Tobin (Capital Finance and Real Estate, Richmond) represents corporate borrowers and lenders in connection with secured and unsecured revolving, bridge and term loan facilities, including acquisition financings, recapitalizations and “going private” transactions, with an emphasis on the representation of portfolio company borrowers. Tobin received her undergraduate degree from the University of New Hampshire and her law degree from the University of Richmond School of Law.

When Michael Lyons left a large firm to start a trial firm in 2008, he had a simple mindset that captured everything about his practice. Simply stated, he believed he was a warrior for his clients’ causes. “My clients’ problems are my problems, and we have that approach to everything we do,” said Lyons. Twelve years later, when Lyons joined forces with Chris Simmons, that same mindset continues on times two. “We match our clients’ problems with the kind of tenacity and seriousness every case deserves, and the results we’ve obtained speak to that.”

That could not be truer when you look at the cases that Lyons and Simmons have handled over the last several years. “We’ve been involved in some of the most consequential and technically challenging cases, not just in Texas but around the country, and we’ve seen the difference it’s made in the lives of our clients,” said Lyons. “With Lyons & Simmons, we plan to continue that track record of excellence.”

Lyons and Simmons were previously partners at the Dallas-based trial boutique Lyons & Simmons, LLP. By example, here is a cross section of some of their cases just over the past five years:

• Wrongful Death: Worker killed in a gas well blow-out in Quinton, Oklahoma; the deadliest oil and gas disaster since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion
• Breach of Fiduciary Duty: A nine-figure fraud and breach of fiduciary duty case involving a complex series of aviation transactions
• Sexual Assault: Disabled person was sexually assaulted in her home by employee of cable installer
• Breach of Contract: Former Power 5 head football coach sued university over the failure to pay liquidated damages provisions in his written contract
• Wrongful Death: Patron drowned in spa’s unsupervised aquatic sensory deprivation tank
• Catastrophic Personal Injury: Former lead singer of a rock band sustained life-altering injuries when she was crushed by motorist in parking lot
• Brain Injury: 3-year-old child sustained catastrophic brain injuries after being struck by falling tree limb on a playground
• Catastrophic Personal Injury: 2-year-old child sustained life-altering injuries by defectively designed and installed gate operator
• Gross Negligence: Teenager sustained life-altering brain injuries when she was struck by delivery driver who was intoxicated, distracted and on the wrong side of the road
• Airplane Crash: Man was killed along with two others when multiple system failures occurred mid-air in instrument conditions

Together with senior counsel Chris Carr and Stephen Higdon, who has joined the firm as an associate, Lyons & Simmons will continue to focus its practice on wrongful death, personal injury and products liability litigation along with “bet the company” type business disputes.

“For Mike and I, the goal is to level the playing field,” said Simmons. “Our clients are often facing the most challenging situation they will ever encounter when we’re brought in to help. So we have a tremendous responsibility to do everything we can to get the best possible outcome.”

Already with a reputation for huge outcomes on the biggest cases, Lyons & Simmons is poised to continue the crusade for their clients’ causes — even if that means a little less sleep.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals is ruling on the Dish Networks $280M settlement reports Eric J. Troutman in TCPA World.

“The appellate court concluded that the district court made no material legal errors save one– in assessing damages the Court started with the Plaintiff’s ability to pay and worked backward. The Court determined that proper constitutional analysis starts with the amount of harm actually caused, and then application of a multiplier.”

“The appellate court concluded that the district court’s award amounted to $4.00 per violation and suggested that if the harm caused per call was $1.00 than the judgment would certainly be proper. But it remanded for the lower court to assess the damage of an unwanted call (according to one expert the cost per unwanted call is as low as 6.8 cents, which would make a proper award no higher than 72 cents a call using a 9 times multipler.)”

Read the article.

“General Motors has reached a $120 million settlement with owners who claimed that their vehicles lost value because of defective ignition switches, which have been linked to 124 deaths,” reported in Reuters’ AutoBlog.

“The preliminary settlement was filed on Friday night with the federal court in Manhattan and requires approval by U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman. It would resolve the last major piece of litigation stemming from ignition switches that could cause GM vehicles to stall and prevent airbags from deploying.”

“The automaker denied liability in agreeing to settle, court papers show.”

Read the article.

“Top in-house lawyers are getting their compensation cut along with other executive officers as the new coronavirus causes widespread economic distress,” reports Brian Baxter in Bloomberg Law’s Corporate Governance.

“Marriott International Inc., the Cheesecake Factory Inc., and other companies have announced plans to cut pay for top executives. Bloomberg Law recently reported that gaming company Accel Entertainment Inc.’s leadership is going even further, foregoing 100% of their pay until it hopes normal business operations resume next month.”

“Veta Richardson, president and CEO of the Association of Corporation Counsel, said that she can’t recall another time when executive pay cuts have become so extensive.”

Read the article.

“NeoPhotonics Corporation, a leading designer and manufacturer of advanced hybrid photonic integrated circuit based modules and subsystems for bandwidth-intensive, high speed communications networks, today announced the appointment of Barbara Rogan as the Company’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel, reporting to Tim Jenks Chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics,” reports Michael Newsom in Yahoo Finance.

“Ms. Rogan brings twenty years of legal experience in technology in both public and private companies. Prior to joining NeoPhotonics, Ms. Rogan served as General Counsel at Velodyne Lidar, Inc. where she was responsible for Velodyne’s worldwide legal operations. Ms. Rogan has also held legal leadership roles at Cadence Design Systems, Inc. where she was Vice President and Associate General Counsel and at LogLogic, Inc. (acquired by TIBCO) where she was Vice President of Legal Affairs.”

Read the article.

The Texas Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Beck Redden client Enterprise Products Partners LP. The ruling wiped out a trial court’s $535 million judgment against Enterprise, agreeing with the company that it never had a binding partnership with Energy Transfer Partners LP to develop a crude oil pipeline.

The ruling — the result of a more than 8-year fight — is further proof that Beck Redden is prepared to go the distance and knows what it takes to win — and win big.

Deal or No Deal?

In 2011, Enterprise and Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) agreed to work together to build a crude oil pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma to near the Gulf of Mexico. Both companies signed agreements that said they would not have a partnership until two conditions were met:

1)   The companies executed definitive agreements
2)   Each company’s board of directors gave approval

But when interest in the pipeline never materialized, Enterprise moved on to a separate pipeline with a different company.

And with that, the battle began.

Ready for a Fight

Round one of the fight began when Energy Transfer Partners sued Enterprise, alleging it had been unfairly cut out of the valuable pipeline deal. It claimed it had a partnership with Enterprise, but Enterprise argued that because the two conditions in the agreements had not been met, no partnership was created.

In 2014, Beck Redden tried the case before a Dallas jury, but the jury sided with ETP and ordered Enterprise to pay $535 million in damages.

It’s Not Over Until…

In 2017, the Dallas Court of Appeals overturned the jury’s decision. However, when the court refused ETP’s request for a rehearing, ETP took its case to the Texas Supreme Court.

A Fight to the Finish

Finally, on January 31, 2020, after years of fighting, the decision Beck Redden and Enterprise had been fighting for — No deal. No partnership. No money.

In the end, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of Enterprise, finding that no partnership was formed between Enterprise and ETP, wiping away the $535 million judgment against Enterprise.

A Monumental Decision

And with that, the ruling reversed one of the largest verdicts in the state of Texas – A monumental win for Enterprise and Beck Redden.

As a result, the Texas Supreme Court decision will have a major impact on future disputes about partnership formation. The court ruled that Texas law does allow for parties to agree that no partnership will exist unless certain conditions are met.

When the stakes are high, bet on Beck Redden.
What does it take to save your client $535 million and get a landmark decision from the Texas Supreme Court?

Click here to find out.

ContractPodAi®, the award-winning provider of AI-powered contract lifecycle management software, today announced that IPsoft, the largest independent leader in enterprise AI, has rolled out ContractPodAi to support its document management. Live since October 2019, IPsoft is working with ContractPodAi to empower its global workforce with an innovative contract management solution.

As a fast-moving and highly innovative company, IPsoft looked to migrate from document management to a records-based approach for contract management. To do so, the company required a contract lifecycle management system that is reliable, robust and graphically intuitive, as well as a solution that could easily analyze and track contract data. What’s more, the solution needed to be simple to use for attorneys and legal staff in order to alleviate the workload on legal teams and drive company-wide adoption.

ContractPodAi offers customers intelligent AI functionality, out-of-the box. Customers gain access to a smart contract repository, which replaces time-consuming manual efforts and helps to manage versions of contracts across locations. Additionally, ContractPodAi helps customers track key metrics regarding contract data and search metadata including phrases or clauses. What’s more, having a dedicated success manager provides IPsoft a go-to contact who’s knowledgeable about the product, as well as able to quickly resolve any potential issues.

Learn how ContractPodAi is empowering legal teams across the world at contractpodai.com.

Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, announced that Charles Critchlow has joined the firm’s national Litigation Practice Group in New York. Critchlow brings a four-decade legal practice resolving matters related to antitrust and trade. His experience extends to Latin America, India, and Africa, representing international enterprises in the transportation and logistics, fertilizer, natural resources, and electrical sectors.

Critchlow focuses his practice on export antitrust matters. He counsels clients on competition law applicable to joint venture export corporations. Additionally, he advises on antitrust exemptions and a broad range of corporate-related matters, including joint venture agreements, corporate procedures and compliance, and export sales and distribution contracts. With a focus on antitrust and commercial litigation, he also advises on joint ventures, merger clearance, cartel investigations, class actions, and general business litigation. He has worked on matters relating to industrial chemicals, fertilizers, oil, electrical contracting, gasoline, moving and storage, and paper industries.

Critchlow has appeared before federal agencies and in state and federal courts throughout the United States. He has handled antitrust and trade matters in Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, India, and South Africa, and coordinated antitrust legal compliance matters in over two dozen overseas jurisdictions. His experience includes general commercial litigation, antitrust litigation, and representation of companies in government and grand jury investigations. Critchlow has counseled on antitrust merger clearances, at home and abroad, in connection with acquisitions in the coal, industrial gases, household and agricultural insecticides, and fertilizer industries.

Critchlow helps build upon Akerman’s national bench of more than 350 litigators and trial lawyers across the United States. Most recently, complex commercial litigator Grasford Smith joined Akerman’s office in West Palm Beach, and Joel Forman, Philip Touitou, and Joseph Silver joined in New York, growing the firm’s experience in securities litigation and professional liability. The Honorable Ruben Castillo joined Akerman’s White Collar Crime and Government Investigations Practice in Chicago, following his retirement from the bench. Akerman’s recently acquired litigation skills expand to Atlanta, where Robin Johnson and Anthony Morris handle commercial litigation matters.

The National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) is pleased to announce that Tom D’Amore of D’Amore Law Group, P.C. has successfully achieved recertification as a civil trial, civil practice and truck accident law advocate. The NBTA was formed out of a strong conviction that both the law profession and its clients would benefit from an organization designed specifically to create an objective set of standards illustrating an attorney’s experience and expertise in the practice of trial law.

D’Amore is part of a growing number of trial attorneys that have illustrated their commitment to bettering the legal profession by successfully completing a rigorous application process and providing the consumer of legal services with an objective measure by which to choose qualified and experienced legal counsel.

The elaborate screening of credentials that all NBTA board certified attorneys must successfully complete includes: demonstration of substantial trial experience, submission of judicial and peer references to attest to their competency, attendance of continuing legal education courses and proof of good standing.

Board Certification is the highest, most stringent, and most reliable honor an attorney can achieve. Board certifications are the only distinctions awarded by non-profit organizations. The NBTA as well as all board certifying organizations are committed to safeguarding the public’s ability to choose a good attorney.

D’Amore is licensed to practice in Oregon, Washington and California. He represents individuals and families in catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, spinal cord injury – paraplegia and quadriplegia, brain injury, class actions, insurance company bad faith and complex business litigation.

Approximately three percent of American lawyers are board-certified, and Mr. D’Amore is a member of a very select group who has taken the time to prove competence in their specialty area and earn board certification.

“Across the country, dozens of cities and states have passed laws or resolutions targeting 100 percent carbon-free electricity — most recently 20 communities in Utah and the state of Virginia,” reports David Roberts in Vox’s Energy & Environment.

“But is it even possible to power a modern economy with a carbon-free grid? And if so, what are the best energy sources and technologies for getting there?”

“Now there is a growing list of jurisdictions that face stringent emissions targets in years ahead and urgently need to figure out answers. We’ll discuss the most notable such jurisdiction, California, and a cool new(ish) technology that it may help it reach its 100 percent target, in a moment.”

Read the article.