“The judge presiding over a case which saw Johnson & Johnson hit with an $8bn jury verdict has reduced the amount the company has to pay in damages to $6.8m.” reports PM Live.

“Last October,  J&J was ordered to pay $8bn in damages to a US man who claims he was not warned that taking the company’s antipsychotic Risperdal could lead to breast growth.” A jury in Philidelphia agreed with his allegations.

Johnson & Johnson appealed the verdict arguing the size of the payout was “grossly disproportionate”.

Read PM Live‘s article.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that an African American man serving a life term for a 1989 murder is entitle to a new trial says a federal appeals court. Ezzard Charles Ellis learned, “after his lawyer’s death, that the attorney was a racist who regularly expressed contempt for minority clients.”

“After San Bernardino attorney S. Donald Ames died in 1999, his daughter and others described incidents in which he used racial slurs to refer to nonwhites, particularly African Americans. ”

The “state attorney general’s office, which represented the prosecution in Ellis’ appeal, had agreed that the conviction should be reversed.”

Read the San Francisco Chronicle’s article.

Time reports that Michael Avenatti is “being imprisoned in the same chilly cell that once held drug kingpin El Chapo, his lawyer said.”

“Avenatti was put in the most secure section of the federal facility under special administrative measures designed to cut off his communications with the outside world, Srebnick said. The special housing unit has held dozens of terrorism defendants over the past quarter century.”

“His cell, reportedly once occupied by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, has an officer posted outside it around the clock and two cameras focused on him.”

Read the Time‘s article.

“The opening debate of the Senate impeachment trial on Tuesday afternoon was supposed to be merely about the trial rules. But members of President Donald Trump’s legal team wasted no time telling a number of lies before things really got going.” reports Vox.

“Though getting facts wrong might be somewhat understandable in the context of extemporaneous statements, these falsehoods came in the context of prepared remarks read by White House counsel Pat Cipollone and personal Trump attorney Jay Sekulow.”

Read Vox‘s article.

Curious how Conga Contracts could impact your business?

The complimentary event will be January 28th at 9 a.m. PST / 12 p.m. EST

Join Conga to hear from their guests from Forrester to learn about current contract lifecycle management (CLM) priorities and findings from “The Total Economic Impact of Conga Contracts” a study commissioned by Conga, to find out how.

Sean Owens, Principal TEI Consultant with Forrester Consulting, and Andrew Bartels, VP and Principal Analyst with Forrester Research will summarize current contract lifecycle management priorities and best practices, unpack the study findings, and discuss the potential ROI of Conga’s CLM Suite.

Register for the webinar.

The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics will host Academies in 18 locations worldwide to help Deepen Your Compliance Expertise in 2020.

Learn to effectively manage a compliance and ethics program and mitigate risk at your organization at one of SCCE’s Basic Compliance & Ethics Academies. They are ideal for professionals who want to raise their knowledge level and help improve the effectiveness of their organization’s program.

While at the Academy, you can also take an optional Compliance Certification Board (CCB)®  exam. They offer the Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional (CCEP)® exam at US Academies and the Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional — International (CCEP-I)® exam outside of the US. Learn more about certification and the exam at SCCE to see if you meet the criteria and have the practical work experience it takes to become certified.

Register for the event or get details.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP is pleased to announce that Andrew Tuggle has joined the firm’s Huntsville office as an associate in the Intellectual Property Practice Group.

Tuggle focuses his practice on technology and intellectual property law.

Prior to law school, Tuggle worked for a large multinational hardware manufacturer and for a small engineering-design startup. He also worked in academic DARPA- and G8-funded research. His R&D experience includes magnetic devices and materials, nanoscale electronics, computer modeling and simulation, Barker codes, and sensors.

Tuggle worked as a summer associate at Bradley in 2017 and 2018. He received his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law and his Bachelor of Science from the University of Alabama.

Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that William “Bill” E. Lawler has joined the Firm’s Washington, D.C., office as a Partner in the White Collar Defense & Investigations group. Lawler joins from Vinson & Elkins LLP where he was co-head of the firm’s government investigations and white collar practice group. Prior to his tenure at Vinson & Elkins, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia (1989–1996).

Lawler represents corporations, organizations, government entities, and individuals in high-stakes, high-profile matters in federal and state courts and before regulatory agencies and Congress. He brings extensive experience counseling clients on various types of government enforcement actions—enduring numerous administrations in the United States and abroad—on matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), criminal antitrust, healthcare fraud, government and public corruption, campaign finance, and other white collar crime issues.

Lawler’s comprehensive and geographically diverse experience gives him insight into the nuances and developments in international enforcement approaches and actions. Throughout his career, Lawler has tried more than 70 jury cases to verdict, has argued 15 appellate cases, and has conducted hundreds of grand jury and motions proceedings across 37 U.S. states and more than 30 countries.

He is active in the legal community, serving as a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel’s White Collar Committee and previously serving on the board of directors of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia where he formerly served as president and as chair of the Young Lawyers Section. Additionally, he has been repeatedly recognized by Chambers USA for his white collar defense and FCPA practices.

Lawler was previously a leading member of the Catholic Charities Legal Network, and in keeping with Blank Rome’s dedication to pro bono work, plans to continue his commitment to providing pro bono counsel at the Firm. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown Law, and his B.A. in English and Government, cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame.

Brouse McDowell is pleased to announce the addition of two new partners – Lori R. Kilpeck and Heather Allred – adding to our bench strength in Cleveland and Toledo, respectively.

Lori R. Kilpeck joins Brouse McDowell’s Cleveland Office as a partner in the Estate, Succession Planning and Probate Administration Practice Group. Prior to joining Brouse, she was a partner with a Cleveland estate planning boutique firm and has also previously served as acting Magistrate for Judge Lawrence Allen of the Willoughby Municipal Court. She has counseled her clients in complex probate and trust administration as well as contested estates that result in litigation due to undue influence, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud and elder abuse. Additionally, Kilpeck serves as a court appointed guardian.

Kilpeck received her BA from Cleveland State University and her JD from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

Heather Lee Allred joins Brouse McDowell’s Toledo Office as a partner in the Health Care Practice Group. Prior to joining Brouse, she was Vice President of Risk Management and Senior Counsel at ProMedica. She has comprehensive legal experience in the health care industry. As Senior Counsel she addressed legal challenges including, but not limited to, HIPAA, fraud and abuse, CMS conditions of participation, EMTALA, academic affiliations, residency and fellowships, research, GME issues, contract negotiations, patient care and risk management issues. She also has experience in business litigation, insurance recovery and tort litigation.

Allred received her BA from Brigham Young University, her MPH in Health Care Administration from Bowling Green State University and The University of Toledo, and her JD from University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Holland & Hart announced the addition of Karen Dean as Of Counsel joining the firm’s Denver office. Dean strengthens Holland & Hart’s Tax Controversy practice by bringing experience as a former senior in-house tax counsel for multiple global Fortune 500 companies.

Dean understands the complex business challenges multinational corporations face to evaluate and solve tax matters. She represents clients in high-stakes tax controversies and litigation and advises clients on a broad range of tax issues, helping them untangle complex tax matters. Dean has represented large public companies in audits and controversies before the IRS and state and local taxing authorities. She has extensive experience negotiating favorable resolutions of audits and appeals.

Prior to joining Holland & Hart, Karen served as in-house tax counsel for more than 10 years for several publicly traded multinationals. She also practiced as a tax attorney at McDermott Will & Emery in New York and at Ivins, Phillips & Barker in Washington, D.C. Dean is admitted to practice in Colorado, the District of Columbia, and New York.

Michael Best is pleased to announce the addition of Amy Kiiskila as a partner in the Wealth Planning Practice Group. She will be based primarily in the firm’s Waukesha office, but will act as a valuable resource to clients throughout all firm offices.

A returning attorney to Michael Best, Kiiskila began her legal career with the firm more than 20 years ago. For the past decade, she has been with the Advanced Planning team at The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, where she consulted with and trained financial advisors, attorneys, and accountants on estate planning, business planning, complex financial planning and product matters. Most recently, she led the team of highly specialized attorneys as Vice President of Advanced Planning.

She counsels clients on all aspects of wealth planning matters, focusing her practice in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration, tax planning, charitable planning, and business succession planning. She works closely with businesses and individuals to craft customized plans that preserve and grow their assets.

Kiiskila received her J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also earned her B.B.A., summa cum laude, from St. Norbert College.

Of all the offerings from internet giant Google, a robust Google My Business account should be one of the first goals for any company or law firm that wants to make sure they can be found online by the right audience, advises Bruce Vincent of Muse Communications.

In the post on the Muse website, Vincent explains that the information provided on a Google My Business listing is used by Google along with other online information to create the “knowledge panel” that appears on the right side of a Google search results page when you search for a business name.

He explains how to set up the account in Google and how to update and monitor the account.

Read the article.

Sidley Austin LLP is pleased to announce that Vincent Brophy has joined the firm as a partner in its global Antitrust/Competition practice. Brophy will be based in London and split his time between the firm’s London and Brussels offices. He joins Sidley from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP.

Brophy is a recognized authority on EU antitrust and competition matters. He is an experienced adviser and litigator with a successful track record in defending clients in high-stakes matters in front of European competition authorities, notably the European Commission and UK Competition and Markets Authority, as well as in antitrust litigation. He regularly counsels clients in the financial services sector, manufacturing and other industry sectors on high-profile mergers and antitrust investigations, cartel matters, regulations related to joint ventures and other EU regulatory matters. Brophy is fluent and works in both English and French.

Harrity & Harrity, a leading patent law firm based in the Washington, D.C., metro area, is pleased to announce the promotion of three top patent attorneys into partner roles, effective Jan. 1, 2020.

Neil Kardos, Eli Mazour, and Elaine Spector have consistently demonstrated excellence in their practices while going above and beyond to contribute to the firm’s accomplishments in the intellectual property sector. The announcement comes at a time when Harrity is on track to be national leaders in innovation, automation, analytics, charity, and diversity initiatives in the legal field. The transition of Neil, Eli, and Elaine into partnership roles will be a driving force in the continued growth and advancement of the firm.

Kardos, a former Primary Patent Examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and active member of the Intellectual Property Owner’s Association (IPO) and Corporate IP Institute, specializes in preparing and prosecuting patent applications. His practice focuses on electrical, computer, and mechanical technologies, including telecommunications, 5G, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) systems, financial technologies, computer hardware and software systems, computer networking, search engines, optical systems, internet hardware and software systems, machinery, sensors, control systems, e-commerce, and business methods. Neil is a graduate of The George Washington University National Law Center and has been with Harrity since April of 2012.

Mazour joined Harrity in 2010 and currently leads the firm’s patent prosecution team with a focus on helping Patent 300® companies build valuable, high-quality patent portfolios in an efficient manner. In this role, he develops and implements best practices for managing workflow and innovative patent prosecution strategies for reaching favorable results at the USPTO. Mazour is also the creator and host of the Clause 8 podcast, which features interviews with prominent members of the IP community, and has written and presented about various patent-related trends. As a result, he is sought out by clients and other professionals for his insights on various patent policy developments, including legislative proposals and changes at the USPTO.

Spector has over 20 years of experience in intellectual property law. Her extensive experience in the IP field includes patent application drafting and prosecution, trademark prosecution and enforcement, as well as litigating complex patent cases in federal courts. Spector’s current practice consists primarily of prosecuting patent applications with a focus on electromechanical technologies. She is a driving force in legal service quality, diversity programs, and charity involvement at the firm, and currently serves as Chair of the Harrity Diversity Committee and Chair of the AIPLA Women in IP Law Committee’s Global Networking Event and Outreach Subcommittees. She is also on the IPO Diversity Committee’s Management Team and is a Board Member at the non-profit No More Stolen Childhoods. Spector has been with Harrity since 2017 and is the firm’s first female partner.

Dykema, a leading national law firm, is proud to announce that James Azadian, Member in the firm’s Litigation Department and nationwide Appellate Practice, was presented with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s Distinguished Service and Leadership Award. Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Sidney R. Thomas presented the award to Azadian on January 13 at the Ninth Circuit courthouse in Pasadena, Calif.

Throughout his legal career, Azadian has served and significantly contributed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in numerous capacities, including serving a three-year term as the court-appointed Chair of its Appellate Lawyer Representatives (a term which recently concluded), as a court-appointed appellate mentor to civil practitioners through the Court’s Mentorship Program, serving two terms as a court-appointed member of the Ninth Circuit’s Advisory Committee on Rules of Practice and Internal Operating Procedures, and being appointed to serve on the Ninth Circuit Law Clerks Resource Group. In addition, Azadian has now commenced his service to the Court as a newly-appointed member to its Advisory Board.
Azadian’s practice focuses on complex federal and state court litigation raising cutting-edge and core business and constitutional issues. He has served as counsel in more than 200 appeals and writ proceedings covering a wide variety of industries and subjects. Throughout his career, Azadian has been responsible for arguing cases that have had an immense impact on the law, including securing a favorable Ninth Circuit en banc decision this past year that clarifies the standards for nationwide class actions and the requirements imposed on a trial court when accepting a nationwide class action settlement.

Buchalter is pleased to announce and welcome its newest Shareholder, Roxana K. Chamouillé to its Orange County office. Chamouillé handles sophisticated commercial real estate transactions on behalf of property owners, purchasers, and local, regional and nationwide institutional lenders. Her emphasis is on financing, acquisitions and dispositions.

Chamouillé’s extensive real estate experience includes negotiating, reviewing and closing loan and purchase and sale documentation for the acquisition, disposition, refinancing, and development of a wide range of commercial real estate projects. She has also been a lead and supervising attorney for highly complex litigation matters involving construction defects, insurance coverage, and failed commercial real estate transactions. Chamouillé has represented developers, insurance carriers, and business owners in all stages of litigation, successfully negotiating favorable settlements for her clients.

Chamouillé earned her J.D. at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law and her B.S. from the University of California Los Angeles.

Glaser Weil is pleased to announce that Partner Robert Allen has joined the firm.

Allen’s litigation practice focuses on representing creators and copyright owners in the protection of their works, including recording artists, songwriters, actors, photographers and authors.
His transactional practice focuses on providing counsel on both domestic and international acquisitions, negotiating licenses and agreements relating to music, film, television, digital media, production, television exploitation, on-demand media delivery, gaming and software.

Prior to returning to private practice, Allen was the senior vice president, head of business and legal affairs for Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) and led its New Media Business Development. He represented Quincy Jones against Michael Jackson’s company, MJJ Productions regarding Quincy’s masters on the albums Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad.

On behalf of a major music company, he has handled negotiations with Apple, YouTube, Google and Amazon for song digital distribution. Additionally, he has represented high-profile, major writers, including Prince, Eminem, U2, Justin Bieber, Chris Daughtry, R Kelly, Mariah Carey, the Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi, Jack Johnson, Gloria Estefan, Chris Brown, 50 Cent, 3 Doors Down, Babyface and Diane Warren, among many others.

Allen earned his J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. He attended the University of California, Berkeley where he received his B.A.

Meg Hobbins was promoted from Senior Attorney to Partner, making her the first attorney in GYH history to make Partner. Hobbins’ practice focuses on humanitarian and family-based immigration matters before U.S. consulates abroad, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the U.S. immigration courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the federal courts. She also represents clients before INTERPOL to challenge politically-motivated Red Notices. She has proven herself as an outstanding advocate and litigator with well over a decade of experience in the field. In addition to her extensive experience with consular processing, inadmissibility waivers and family-based immigration, Hobbins spends considerable time seeking a variety of humanitarian forms of relief for her clients, including Asylum, Violence Against Women Act protection, visas for victims of trafficking and more. As part of her dedication to the humanitarian aspects of immigration, she dedicates substantial time to providing pro bono legal services to the most at-risk immigrants.

Brouse McDowell, a leading business law firm based in Northern Ohio, welcomes Daniel K. Glessner as the new managing partner of the firm. Glessner succeeds Marc B. Merklin who served as managing partner for eight years.

Since joining Brouse McDowell in 2008, Glessner has focused on corporate and health care issues, providing legal counsel for hospitals, physician group practices, dialysis centers, ancillary health care companies, and other health care entities. His experience includes corporate and real estate transactions, long-term care, medical staff and licensure issues, employment, general contracting, implementation of policies and procedures, Medicare, Medicaid and commercial payor audits and reimbursement issues, HIPAA, fraud and abuse, non-profit tax-exempt and managed care issues, contract negotiations, patient-related issues, and regulatory compliance concerns. In the continuing evolution of health care reform, Glessner works with health care clients to ensure their compliance with new and revised laws and to develop strategic models to respond to changes in the health care industry.

Glessner is certified by the Compliance Certification Board as a specialist in Healthcare Compliance. He has received several accolades for his health care law practice, including recognition by Ohio Super Lawyers® (2015-2020) and The Best Lawyers in America© (2012-2016, 2019-2020). In 2015 and 2019, he was Best Lawyers® Health Care Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Akron. He is a member of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), the Society of Ohio Healthcare Attorneys (SOHA), the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA), the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) and the Ohio Hospital Association (OHA). He currently serves as the Co-chair of the Health Care Law certificate program at The University of Akron School of Law and is an adjunct professor at Widener University Delaware Law School.

Glessner also participates in a number of community non-profit and professional organizations. He is on the Board of Directors for the Hattie Larlham Foundation and the Boy Scouts of America Great Trail Council. In May 2019, he was the recipient of the Boy Scouts of America Silver Beaver Award, and in 2018, he received the William C. Zekan Outstanding Community Leader Award by the Boy Scouts of America, Great Trail Council.

While Glessner looks forward to leading the firm, he plans to continue his robust health care practice. Glessner received his JD from The University of Akron School of Law, his Masters of Taxation from The University of Akron College of Business Administration and his BS in Finance from The University of Dayton.

The 2020 Lateral Partner Satisfaction Survey, released by legal search firm Major, Lindsey & Africa, reveals that the top reason for law firm partners to make lateral moves is lack of confidence in firm management and strategy.

“The next most-often cited reasons were a lack of support to build their practice (about 35%), dislike of their firm’s culture (about 31%) and compensation (about 31%). The lawyers were allowed to choose more than one factor,” reports the  ABA Journal.

The survey also shows that many partners are making life-changing decisions with very little due diligence.

Read the survey.

Read the  ABA Journal‘s report.