Foley & Lardner LLP announced today that its San Diego office has moved to Del Mar Gateway at 11988 El Camino Real, Suite 400, a building where the firm will have greater visibility, including building-top signage and access to additional amenities. The move included an office redesign with an emphasis on encouraging employee and client collaboration and integrating technology features.

The Foley San Diego office offers clients top-notch regional experience and access to the firm’s global resources. This location stands out from the firm’s other offices in metropolitan areas across the United States, as it is positioned on the peripheries of the city for greater access to clients. The new location is easily accessible from highway I-5, allowing Foley to serve Southern California’s dynamic technology clients in a more convenient location.

International architecture firm Gensler spearheaded the design of Foley’s new San Diego office into a modern and inspiring space. It contains more offices for lawyers and staff, as well as ergonomic features, designs influenced by the California coastline and integrated technology. Modular desks and conference rooms sit alongside glass walls and a coastal color palette with oranges, tans, golds and blues. A shining feature of the space is a ceiling installation that uses sound-absorbing material to replicate ocean waves. In addition, touch screen displays are integrated into all meeting rooms and common spaces have TVs for news monitoring and work. The office is also conducting business electronically by digitizing all records.

Foley’s San Diego office has its sights on growth. The office anticipates hiring lawyers to bolster its practice areas in the intellectual property, technology, and biotechnology and medical device sectors. In addition, nearly every member of the 2019 summer associate class in San Diego accepted invitations to return to the firm this year.

The move of Foley’s San Diego office demonstrates the firm’s continued growth in California and nationally. In Southern California, Foley has hired nearly 20 lawyers over the past three years, including the additions of Jaikaran Singh, a partner in the Consumer Law, Finance & Class Action Practice in San Diego, and Stephen Smerek, a partner in the Intellectual Property Department and IP Litigation Practice in Los Angeles.

“The Ohio Supreme Court has suspended an Olmsted Falls attorney who repeatedly violated a protection order, lied to police about violating the order and tested positive for cocaine use, which violated the terms of his probation,” reports Dan Trevas in the Highland County Press’ Headlines.

“In a per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court suspended Anthony M. Piazza for two years, with one year stayed with conditions, based on repeated violations of court orders between July 2017 and March 2019, as well as failing to comply with the rules for operating his client trust account. The second year of Piazza’s suspension was stayed as long as he does not commit further professional misconduct and obtains an assessment from the Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program (OLAP).”

“Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and Justices Sharon L. Kennedy, Judith L. French, R. Patrick DeWine, Michael P. Donnelly, and Melody J. Stewart joined the opinion Feb. 25.”

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“A couple of years ago, a Reuters investigation uncovered another revamp of immigration policies under President Trump. ICE has a Risk Classification Assessment Tool that decides whether or not arrested immigrants can be released on bail or their own recognizance. The algorithm had apparently undergone a radical transformation under the new administration, drastically decreasing the number of detainees who could be granted release. The software now recommends detention in almost every case, no matter what mitigating factors are fed to the assessment tool,” reports Techdirt in Above the Law’s Technology.

“ICE is now being sued for running software that declares nearly 100% of detained immigrants too risky to be released pending hearings. The ACLU’s lawsuit  opens with some disturbing stats that show how ICE has rigged the system to keep as many people detained as possible.”

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“Cynthia Marie Rodgers, the Capital University School of Law graduate who got dinged on her Ohio character and fitness application for having almost $900,000 in school debt—and seemingly no clear plan to ever repay it—can sit for the bar exam, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled March 5,” reports Stephanie Francis Ward in ABA Journal’s News.

“The court based its finding on Rodgers being candid about her financial situation and complying with the terms of her student loan repayment plan.”

“Rodgers’ current student loan payment is zero because her income is so low, according to the Ohio Supreme Court’s board of character and fitness report. She became disabled after a 2001 tree-trimming accident, and she can’t work a 40-hour week, the report stated. Rodgers’ school debt is consolidated with her husband’s, and he also is not making loan payments because he’s semi-retired and seeking disability, according to the report.”

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“Two of the largest U.S. real estate companies have announced new top lawyers,” reports Brian Baxter in Bloomberg Law’s Corporate Law News.

“CoStar Group Inc., a real estate data and information provider, said Wednesday it was promoting deputy general counsel Jaye Campbell to general counsel and corporate secretary. CoStar deputy general counsel and assistant corporate secretary Jeannette Koonce is being promoted to chief compliance officer.”

“The two appointments mark the start of a new legal and compliance regime at CoStar, where the law department has been led since 2005 by general counsel Jonathan Coleman. A CoStar spokeswoman told Bloomberg Law that Coleman is leaving the company and would not be retiring but ‘looking toward new adventures which are yet to be determined.'”

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“Non-disclosure agreements (“NDAs”) can play a key component in encouraging American businesses to hire personnel, entrust them with valuable or confidential information, enter into joint ventures with other companies and resolve disputes in a mutually agreeable way (to name only a few scenarios),” advises E. Phileda Tennant in Vinson & Elkins’ Insights.

“However, NDAs can and have become a point of contention in a world that is – rightly – more focused than ever before on sexual harassment issues and conduct in the workplace.”

She discusses three mandatory items needed to have a firm grounding in basic elements for drafting legal NDAs.

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“Litigation has its place, but most in-house counsel agree: avoid it if at all possible. That’s why Chris Fairey is a proponent of arbitration clauses in his employee contracts. Fairey is General Counsel for American Residential Services (ARS), one of the nation’s largest residential and commercial heating, air-conditioning, and plumbing services companies. ARS earns approximately $1 billion dollars in revenue annually and has more than 6,000 employees across the country. Like any legal leader of a company that size, Fairey spends a lot of time thinking about risk,” discusses Mark P. Henriques in Womble Bond Dickinson’s Articles and Briefings.

“One of the big upsides to arbitration from Fairey’s point of view is that the process takes a lot of the emotion out of a dispute.  He points out that presenting a case to an experienced arbitrator, rather than a jury, removes many of the emotional elements that can go along with litigation, especially when employees or consumers are on the other side. A jury trial can be subject to grandstanding by plaintiff’s counsel, which is not the case in arbitration.”

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“Schick, the shaving product company, recently announced it was abandoning its proposed $1.4 billion acquisition of rival startup Harry’s Razors. The announcement followed the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) threat to block the deal in federal court over antitrust concerns. Harry’s has reportedly threatened to sue Schick for failing to exercise ‘reasonable best efforts’ to get the deal through merger review. It is one of an increasing number of these ‘broken deal’ claims, which may be prevented by more specific antitrust provisions in the merger agreement,” discuss Barry J. Reingold, Jon B. Jacobs and Jeremy C. Keeney in Perkins Coie News & Insights.

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“The IRS has issued much-awaited guidance regarding the Section 45Q credit,” reports David B. Blair, David J. Fischer, Teresa Abney and Eleanor Moran McWaters in Crowell Moring’s Alerts & Newsletters.

“In Revenue Procedure 2020-12, the IRS provided a safe harbor under which the IRS will treat partnerships as properly allocating the Section 45Q credit to investor-partners. In Notice 2020-12, the IRS issued guidance and safe harbors on the beginning of construction under Section 45Q, which permits credits only for projects for which construction begins before January 1, 2024. Taxpayers await proposed regulations on Section 45Q, which are expected to cover technical issues such as recapture and alternatives for secure geological storage.”

They discuss Section 45Q Background, Revenue Procedure 2020-12 and Notice 2020-12 in detail.

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Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that Michael Gordon has joined the firm’s Washington, D.C., office, as a partner in its Banking and Financial Services Practice Group and as part of the firm’s Government Enforcement and Investigations Team.

“We are very excited to welcome Mike to our D.C. office and our team of highly experienced and accomplished banking and financial services attorneys,” said Bradley Washington, D.C., Office Managing Partner Douglas Patin. “Mike is a business-savvy attorney who adds significantly to our strength in key practice areas.”

Practice Group Leader Robert Maddox noted: “Mike Gordon is an accomplished consumer finance lawyer with more than 20 years of experience as a law firm partner, senior federal regulator, and fintech general counsel. Mike has established a reputation for helping financial institutions and service providers successfully navigate the complex and ever-changing regulatory environment of the financial services industry.”

Prior to joining Bradley, Mike served as general counsel and chief compliance officer for a fast-growing fintech and renewable energy company, where he oversaw legal, compliance, and regulatory functions. He was also the former chair of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Practice Group at WilmerHale, where he represented banks, financial services companies, fintech firms, and investors.

Mike also has substantial experience as a senior government official, having served as senior counselor to the director of the CFPB, counselor to the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Treasury, and chief investigative counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Mike received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and his B.A. (cum laude) from Harvard College.

Bradley’s Banking and Financial Services Practice Group counsels clients on complex legal needs, including matters involving litigation, regulations and compliance, and diverse corporate matters. The group’s attorneys represent a broad range of banks, lenders, and financial services institutions across the United States.

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, is pleased to announce that it has enhanced its Intellectual Practice Group with the addition of Alejandro Fernandez and Stephen Leahu. Fernandez and Leahu, both Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Intellectual Property (IP) and registered patent attorneys, practice in Akerman’s office in Tampa. They bring a deep understanding of IP protection and enforcement, further strengthening the firm’s capabilities in advanced software, artificial intelligence, manufacturing, and medical device industries.

Fernandez is a versatile IP counselor and litigator. For nearly twenty years, Fernandez has represented clients in every stage of IP litigation around the country. During that time, he has also negotiated many IP agreements and drafted countless heavy-duty patents in varied technical fields. His collaborative approach and IP knowhow has led colleagues and former opposing counsel to refer clients to Fernandez or co-counsel with him in later cases.

Leahu partners with clients to protect and enforce their rights in all areas of intellectual property, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade dress, domain names, unfair competition, idea misappropriation, and trade secrets. He is actively involved in patent prosecution, post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, litigation, licensing and the counseling of clients on their product development, and transactions concerning intellectual property rights. Leahu represents clients in intellectual property litigation in various state and federal courts and before the International Trade Commission (ITC).

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that it has secured a favorable settlement agreement for its hospice provider client AseraCare with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) over a Qui Tam lawsuit that began in 2008.

Under terms of the agreement, AseraCare will pay $1 million to the DOJ, which had sought more than $200 million worth of claims under the False Claims Act.

“Our client AseraCare is very pleased with this settlement and the outcome of this case that provides benefit and clarity to the hospice industry over Medicare billing reimbursement, as well as some level of comfort and certainty to physicians who treat terminally ill patients,” said Bradley partner Jack W. Selden, who served as lead counsel in this case. “The existing law and the evidence that we presented clearly supported AseraCare’s position and helped us secure this settlement beneficial to our client.”

Bradley partner Kimberly B. Martin, chair of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group who also served as counsel to AseraCare in this matter, added, “This positive outcome also helps AseraCare continue its mission to provide vital hospice care and services to patients and their families with integrity and the utmost commitment to upholding ethics in the healthcare industry.”

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in an opinion issued Sept. 9, 2019, agreed with AseraCare and the District Court that a mere difference of reasonable physician’s opinions on a terminal patient’s prognosis will not constitute falsity under the False Claims Act. The Court of Appeals also clarified that any other evidence presented by the government in an effort to impose False Claims Act liability must be directly linked to the claim the government contends is false. Bradley partner Matt Lembke, who was a key member of the trial team and argued the case in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, noted that “The result provides additional clarity for hospice providers faced with claims under the False Claims Act.”

Other key members of the Bradley team included Nick Danella, Tiffany deGruy, Fritz Spainhour, and Erin Sullivan.

AseraCare is a leading provider of hospice services caring for 2,200 patients and families per day. The company operates 44 locations in 14 states. For more information about AseraCare, visit www.aseracare.com.

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.

“Syracuse, New York-based Carrols Restaurant Group has appointed Markus Hartmann as vice president and general counsel, effective February 18. He succeeds Bill Myers, who will serve in a transitionary role for an unspecified period of time. Myers is retiring, according to a spokesperson,” reports Ben Maiden in CorporateSecretary’s Appointments.

“Hartmann was most recently vice president for technical compliance at Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America. During his time with the company, he was in charge of creating the technical compliance function in North America for Daimler’s passenger car and vans division.”

“He had previously been the North American general counsel for Sandoz, a division of Novartis, and had served as European and North American general counsel for UK-listed Reckitt Benckiser while living and working in the Netherlands.”

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“Apple has tentatively agreed to a $500 million settlement after admitting to slowing down older phones. The deal would provide small payouts for many iPhone owners in the US, plus greater compensation for named class members and attorneys. It covers people who bought any product in the iPhone 6 and 7 lineup — which Apple secretly throttled to conserve battery life.” reports Adi Robertson in The Verge.

“As Bloomberg Law notes, the settlement was filed in a California court last Friday and is awaiting final court approval. The deal — which took months to negotiate — would resolve dozens of class action lawsuits that were filed between 2017 and 2018, then later consolidated into one complaint.”

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“Using social media to support your firm’s and lawyers’ business development efforts should be at forefront of everything you do on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc. If the post doesn’t support your firm’s strategic goals, take a time out to think about why you are even doing this and rethink your strategy,” writes Stefanie Marrone in The Social Media Butterfly’s Insights.

“Don’t use your social channels to only focus on your firm’s work and its substantive news, events and publications – that can make your firm seem dry, a little boastful and devoid of personality and heart.”

“Firms should also showcase their “softer” side, which can support their business development efforts, because clients want to peek behind the curtains on the firms on which they rely.”

“Showcasing the softer side of your law firm humanizes your firm and makes your lawyers more relatable. Include posts about firm life, pro bono and community service, upcoming holidays, as well as profiles on lawyers and alumni, and photos from firm events.”

Read the article.

“While organizations make significant investments in protecting their data from outside infiltration, they can often overlook the serious threats that exist within their own workforce. According to a 2020 study released by the Ponemon Institute, the biggest threat in terms of disclosure of sensitive information comes from so-called “insider threats,” in the form of employees who disclose protected information or provide a means of access to that information to third parties, either unwittingly or otherwise. That threat has only grown in recent years, increasing by 47% in the last two years alone,” reports Risa B. Boerner in Fisher Phillips Newsletters.

She further breaks down her article into the following sections:

• The Costs Can Be Staggering
• Why The Recent Surge?
• First Steps: Awareness + Training
• Advanced Tactics

Read the article.

Selman Breitman LLP is pleased to announce that Karen B. Goldberg has been elected to the firm’s partnership.

Goldberg, who practices in the firm’s Los Angeles office, concentrates on products liability and toxic tort litigation. She represents a broad range of clients, including premise owners, as well as manufacturers, distributors and suppliers of a wide variety of products. Goldberg also represents companies in the manufacturing, petrochemical, construction, distributing, maritime contracting and automotive industries.

Goldberg earned her J.D. from the Southwestern University School of Law and her B.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce the arrival of three international arbitration partners to the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. The high-profile team joins from Dentons and includes Meriam Nazih Al-Rashid in New York, and William O’Brien and John Lomas in Washington DC. Ms. Al-Rashid and Mr. O’Brien are already resident in their respective offices while Mr. Lomas will join Eversheds Sutherland in the next few weeks.

In addition to growing the practice in the United States, Eversheds Sutherland added seven partners in key arbitration markets around the world last year. The global arbitration practice covers all the leading global arbitration hubs, including New York, London, Paris, Singapore, Hong Kong, Zurich and the Middle East. With a solid presence in the US, the group will continue to grow in the Americas, and is looking to build in Latin America, as well as the US.

About the Lawyers

Al-Rashid represents and advises clients on complex international disputes with a focus on public international law, including issues related to human rights, war crimes, genocide, and international investment arbitration, international commercial arbitration, foreign investor risk management, and arbitration legislative reform in various jurisdictions. Her practice covers a broad spectrum of industries, including mining, mineral resources, infrastructure, oil and gas, civil engineering, textiles, hospitality, and real estate. Al-Rashid has served as counsel in disputes and transactions involving parties from around the globe, including Latin America, the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, and Europe. Her experience includes participation in arbitrations before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), International Court of Justice (ICJ), Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), as well as under the rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

O’Brien guides clients through complex and high-stakes international arbitrations, litigation, and dispute resolution, in which he serves as lead counsel before all major arbitral institutions and US courts. His work spans a wide variety of sectors, including aviation/aerospace and defense, construction, energy, government, manufacturing, and transportation. He focuses on high-profile, and often politically charged, cross-border matters, including enforcement of arbitration awards, treaty issues, foreign sovereign immunity, government contracts, and defense against fraud or corruption allegations.

Lomas helps his clients from across the globe achieve their strategic goals in complex and challenging transnational disputes before US trial and appellate courts and the major international arbitration institutions. He focuses his practice on commercial and business disputes, intellectual property, False Claims Act and fraud claims, and competition/antitrust issues. His work spans a variety of industries, including technology, health care, manufacturing, finance, transportation, and defense.

Harrity launched its Minority Firm Incubator last year to help women and minorities establish their own law firms in an effort to change the disparity of minority-owned firms in the field. James was selected for the program from a large pool of applicants due to both his experience in IP law and his desire to create opportunities for minorities to succeed in underrepresented industries.

“Our firm’s Diversity Mission is focused on fostering inclusion within the legal community and encouraging the growth and success of individuals from all backgrounds,” said firm Managing Partner John Harrity. “The Minority Firm Incubator is a service-oriented program intended to further this mission by helping underrepresented groups flourish in a field where diversity is lacking. James not only shares our beliefs on the importance of diversity in the practice of law, but he is committed to using this role with the incubator as a community outreach platform to help overcome the socioeconomic barriers that many minority groups face. These values, in addition to James’s impressive background in intellectual property law, make him the ideal candidate to launch our Minority Firm Incubator program.”

James is a patent attorney with nearly 15 years of experience counseling clients on matters related to intellectual property law. His practice focuses on preparing and prosecuting patent applications in a variety of technological fields, including electrical and software technologies. James has experience in private practice and as an in-house attorney.

James began the Minority Firm Incubator program, which consists of four phases, Feb. 3. During the first phase, James is focusing on efficiently drafting effective, high-quality patent applications through the use of Harrity’s in-house tools and processes. In the second year, he will focus on prosecuting pending patent applications. The third phase consists of firm management training, during which James will learn best practices for hiring and training attorneys, establishing and maintaining an office, managing human resources, accounting, docketing, pitching and retaining clients, and more. At the beginning of the fourth year, James will launch his own firm, through which he hopes to reshape the perspective of minority-owned firms and improve the diversity of the legal field.

“Given my own background as an individual who was raised by a single mother in a low income household, who was the first college graduate in my immediate family, and who is a member of an underrepresented group in the legal profession, I am very grateful for and fortunate to have had great experiences in my legal career thus far,” James said. “I understand the obstacles someone with my background needs to overcome to be successful in this profession, and I understand the importance of improving diversity in the legal field. I want to use this program/platform as a means to give back in light of the great experiences in my legal career. I also hope to help provide a blueprint or guide to success for members of underrepresented groups, so they can see me as a testament that success in any professional field, and more particularly in the legal field, is a realistic possibility in their future.“

Harrity’s Minority Firm Incubator program is currently accepting new applications. To learn more and apply to the Minority Firm Incubator, and to read about Harrity’s other initiatives for driving diversity in the IP legal field, visit harrityllp.com/diversity.

About Harrity & Harrity, LLP
Harrity & Harrity is a leading patent preparation and prosecution firm specializing in the electrical and mechanical technology areas and is considered a Go-To Firm for the Patent 300®. Our clients trust in our high-quality work, experienced people, industry leading innovation, and outstanding service. For more information, visit harrityllp.com.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that James A. Collura, a partner in the firm’s Houston office, has been appointed to the executive committee of the Institute for Energy Law of the Center for American and International Law. He will serve a one-year term as chair of the Oilfield Services Committee.

The Institute for Energy Law is one of the world’s oldest continuing legal education providers and an international organization with membership that includes leading energy companies and attorneys. It presents several educational conferences and seminars each year, publishes papers and periodicals, and provides an important forum in which contemporary issues affecting the energy industries can be discussed.

“We are very proud of Jim’s involvement with the Institute for Energy Law and we congratulate him on being chosen to serve in this important leadership role,” said Bradley Houston Office Managing Partner Ian P. Faria.

A member of Bradley’s Construction and Energy practice groups, Mr. Collura has a nationwide energy and construction complex litigation practice. He also currently serves as the Houston representative on Bradley’s managing board. Mr. Collura has litigated to verdict or award hundreds of millions of dollars in claims and has served as lead counsel on hundreds of matters in state and federal courts across the country. His experience includes claims involving merger and acquisition disputes, commercial ownership disputes, fraud, covenant not to compete enforcement and defense, theft of trade secrets, commercial construction disputes, partnership claims, oil and gas matters, business torts, catastrophic torts, and indemnity claims. Mr. Collura also has extensive experience litigating in domestic and international arbitration, as well as regulatory matters.

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.