A Davis Wright Tremaine post illustrates the application of a forum selection clause in a contract.

In Down-Lite International, Inc. v. Chad Altbaier, a federal magistrate judge denied defendant’s motion to transfer venue from Ohio to California largely because the parties’ forum selection clause designated Ohio as the venue for disputes.

Down-Lite’s holding illustrates that courts tend to enforce forum selection clauses unless there is a compelling showing of prejudice to the party opposing the agreed-upon forum, according to the post.

Read the article.

While prohibiting disparagement of co-workers, products and services is lawful, prohibiting disparagement generally of the employer, management, or policies is not, according to a memo from the  National Labor Relations Board, the Office of General Counsel.

Fiona W. Ong discusses the memo in an article for Shaw Rosenthal.

The memo was in part a response to a law firm’s employee agreements that contained a provision prohibiting critical comments about the firm. Several former employees posted negative reviews about the firm on various websites, including Glassdoor.com, Indeed.com, Avvo, Yelp, and Yahoo.business. The law firm then filed suit against them for breach of contract and defamation.

Read the article.

The Morgan Lewis Tech & Sourcing blog discusses a model agreement developed by the Clearing House as a voluntary starting point to facilitate data sharing between financial institutions and fintech companies.

The model agreement covers such provisions and concepts as flow-down obligations, data breach, liability, warranties and disclaimers, intellectual property, disclosure and consent, termination and suspension, and assignment.

Read the article.

Trump International Hotel
Image by Mike Peel

A federal appeals court in Virginia heard arguments Thursday about whether to revive a lawsuit accusing President Trump of violating the Constitution by profiting from his hotel near the White House, according to a report by  The New York Times.

The hearing marks the first time that a full appellate court has considered the emoluments or anticorruption clauses of the Constitution, and Trump is the first president to be sued for allegedly violating those clauses, writes the Times‘ Sharon LaFraniere.

The hearing was a spirited session that indicated sharp divisions among the judges over the legal consequences of the president’s conduct, according to LaFraniere.

Read the  NY Times article.

Tesla’s general counsel is leaving the company, meaning the company has now lost three general counsels in the past year.

CNBC reports that Jonathan Chang, who was GC at Tesla since February, has taken a position as general counsel at SambaNova.

Chang’s predecessor, Dane Butswinkas, left the company in February 2019 after just two months on the job because he was not a good cultural fit, a source familiar with the situation told CNBC at the time.

Read the CNBC article.

Bloomberg Law reports that a federal judge in Chicago ruled that Lincoln National Life Insurance Co. wrongly shortchanged a tax attorney’s disability benefits by $3,000 per month by determining he became disabled one day before he received a $65,000 raise.

Harlan Ten Pas, a former partner with McGladrey LLP, suffered a heart attack on Sunday over Labor Day weekend in 2014, one day before his raise became effective. The insurer based his disability benefits on his salary without the benefit.

Ten Pas sued, saying he was entitled to an additional $3,000 per month because the date of disability couldn’t be any earlier than the first non-holiday workday after his heart attack.

Read the Bloomberg  Law article.

Reed Smith announced that Jared Kelly has joined as a partner in the firm’s Global Corporate Group in New York.

Kelly formerly was with White & Case LLP.

Kelly is the seventh partner to join the Global Corporate Group since May, when Reed Smith opened its office in Dallas with three corporate partners.

In a release, the firm said Kelly focuses his practice on corporate finance transactions, including equity securities offerings, traditional bank finance and high yield bond issuances. He represents companies in the energy, fintech, media and manufacturing industries on securities issuances, SEC disclosure issues, corporate governance matters and exchange listing compliance. He has advised companies on corporate restructurings and recapitalizations, and represented borrowers and private equity sponsors on leveraged finance acquisitions, spin-offs, carve-outs and various debt financings.

Kelly began his legal career at Ballard Spahr LLP, before moving to Kirkland & Ellis, LLP in 2014. He received his BS, magna cum laude, in economics and political science from Florida State University, and his J.D. and LL.M. in Securities and Financial Regulation from Georgetown University Law Center.

Other recent additions to the Global Corporate Group in New York include Tadaski Okamoto, who joined from Morrison & Foerster on Oct. 8, and Sandy K. Feldman who joined on Oct. 23 from K&L Gates. Chauncey Lane joined the practice on November 7 in Dallas from Husch Blackwell. The launch of the firm’s newest office in Dallas in May included Bobby Majumder, Ryan J. Preston and Lynwood E. (Lyn) Reinhardt in the Global Corporate Group, all of whom joined from Perkins Coie.

Sidley Austin LLP announced the names of its newly elected partners, listed below by office and area of practice. These individuals will formally become partners in the firm effective January 1, 2020.

The new Sidley partners are as follows:

Chicago
Alexis A. Cooper, Private Equity
Joseph R. Dosch, White Collar: Government Litigation and Investigations
Erin Felchner, Real Estate
Bryan C. Mulder, IP Litigation
Scott Pollock, Tax
Kendra L. Stead, Commercial Litigation and Disputes

Dallas
Ryan M. Scofield, M&A

Houston
Daniel F. Allison, Energy
Tommer Yoked, Energy

Hong Kong
Linh Lieu, China Corporate and Finance
Oliver Zhong, Capital Markets

London
Alastair Hopwood, Commercial Litigation and Disputes
Michelle Tong, Private Equity

New York
Christina Prusak Chianese, Commercial Litigation and Disputes
Blake C. Fillion, Investment Funds
Patrick Michel, Investment Funds

San Francisco
Stephen Abreu, Technology and IP Transactions
Sally M. Wagner Partin, M&A

Tokyo
Tomoki Ishiara, M&A

Washington, D.C.
Thomas A. Broughan III, IP Litigation
Barbara Broussard, Global Arbitration, Trade and Advocacy
Benjamin B. Correa, Food, Drug and Medical Device Compliance and Enforcement
Ellen Crisham Pellegrini, White Collar: Government Litigation and Investigations
Craig Francis Dukin, White Collar: Government Litigation and Investigations
Kyle J. Fiet, Commercial Litigation and Disputes
Kate Heinzelman, Privacy and Cybersecurity
Katie Klaben, Securities Enforcement and Regulatory
Tobias S. Loss-Eaton, Supreme Court and Appellate
Christopher J. Polito, Energy
Peter Whitfield, Environmental

Arent Fox LLP announced the election of seven new partners and three new counsel, effective January 1, 2020.

The new partners include Sarah H. Cohn, M. Douglas Flahaut, Kirsten A. Hart, Katie Heilman, Eva J. Pulliam, Asra Syed, and James M. Westerlind.

The new counsel promotions include Ismael Bautista, Jr., Jeff Leung, and Lee A. Pepper.

Harrity & Harrity, LLP, a patent preparation and prosecution law firm, announced the addition of four patent attorneys and two law clerks to its legal team.

The new hires include Joseph Lentivech, a former Administrative Patent Judge with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Marine Corps veteran, who the firm announced last week returned as counsel.

Patrick Hansen, based in Raleigh, specializes in the preparation and prosecution of patent applications in electrical, computer, and mechanical technologies. Hansen has represented petitioners and patent owners in post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. He utilizes his comprehensive understanding of the industry and extensive legal experience to build high quality patent portfolios.

Joseph Lentivech, based in Mobile, Ala., specializes in the preparation and prosecution of patent applications in electrical and computer technologies, including telecommunications and computer hardware and software systems. Lentivech returns to the firm, where he was a patent attorney for four years, after working as an Administrative Patent Judge at the USPTO, where he decided appeals from adverse examiner decisions in patent applications directed to electrical and computer-related technologies and business methods.

McCord Rayburn, based in Charlotte, has significant experience in all aspects of patent preparation and prosecution for U.S. and international applications, including leading teams of patent attorneys to efficiently obtain high-value patent protection. Rayburn brings extensive technical knowledge and international legal experience, including the coordination of inbound U.S. national stage patent application filings for foreign corporations with global patent portfolios.

Bret Tingey, based in Raleigh, focuses his practice on patent preparation and prosecution for inventors in mechanical and electrical technology fields. He began his legal career with a specialty in IP litigation and wrote memos and briefs, including those for submission to the United States Supreme Court. He primarily focuses on patent preparation and prosecution, applying his litigation experience to every patent that he drafts or prosecutes.

Sora Ko, based in the Washington, D.C., metro area, is a law clerk specializing in patent preparation and prosecution before the USPTO. She has experience in different aspects of patent prosecution, including assisting with the preparation and prosecution of patent applications related to computer software, telecommunications, networking devices, and mechanical devices. Ko previously served as Editor-in-Chief of The University of Richmond Law Review and worked as a summer associate at Harrity & Harrity before joining the firm full-time.

Abigail Troy based in the Washington, D.C., metro area, joins Harrity as a law clerk specializing in the preparation and prosecution of patent applications with a focus on computer hardware and software, telecommunications, computer networking, business methods, and consumer products. She is a former Primary Patent Examiner at the USPTO, where she worked for nearly a decade examining patent applications directed to mechanical devices, including jewelry and fasteners. Troy also worked as a training assistant in the Patent Training Academy and as a technology center trainer in TC 3600.

Littler has launched an initiative to advance nonbinary gender inclusiveness within the firm, according to a release from the firm.

Internally, the firm is providing resources to employees that outline suggested practices for handling matters that involve nonbinary individuals whose gender identities are beyond the two categories of “male” or “female.” Gender-based pronouns will be eliminated from human resources documents, including handbooks, and employees will have the option of choosing a nonbinary identifier in the firm’s internal HR system. In addition, the firm is standardizing email signature blocks including the addition of a voluntary option to include preferred-pronoun identification.

Additionally, marketing collateral and other external materials will be made gender-neutral.

“An important part of gender identity is the pronouns we choose. By being mindful of others’ preferred pronouns and by proactively sharing our own preferred pronouns, we can help to ensure that we respect one another’s gender identity and avoid misgendering people,” said Tom Bender and Jeremy Roth, co-managing directors of Littler, in a joint statement. “In conjunction with broader efforts as part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we’re confident that these initial steps will further foster a more welcoming and inclusive environment for our employees and clients.”

Chris Camillone and Rachel Mathisen have joined Weisbart Springer Hayes LLP as associates in the firm’s Austin office.

In a release, the firm said Camillone has experience in a range of commercial litigation and family law matters, including trials and arbitrations involving breach of contract claims, securities-related claims and other financial disputes, and child custody.

He received his law degree from The University of Texas School of Law, where he served for two years as an editor for the Texas Review of Entertainment & Sports Law. While earning his undergraduate degree from The University of Texas, he was team captain of the Longhorn Tennis Team and was an NCAA All-American & NCAA Championship Doubles Finalist.

Prior to joining the firm, Camillone was an associate at Austin-based Duggins Wren Mann & Romero LLP.

Mathisen advises clients in all aspects of employment and trade secret law and has represented companies in commercial litigation disputes involving claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of restrictive covenants, and related issues in state and federal courts.

She earned her law degree from The University of Texas School of Law, where she served as Chief Notes Editor of The Review of Litigation. During law school she served as clerk for the Travis County District Attorney’s Office in Texas and the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office in Colorado and was a judicial intern for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio. She received her undergraduate degree from Trinity University.

Prior to joining the firm, she was an associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC in Austin, and Bell Nunnally & Martin LLP in Dallas.

As the launch date approaches for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) on Jan. 1, 2020, Exterro has published a white paper designed to help legal departments keep their organizations’ privacy processes defensible, and minimize the risk of violating new privacy laws.

The white paper can be downloaded from Exterro’s website at no charge.

The launch of the CCPA means that consumers have more information and control over a business’s data practices, which creates challenges for businesses, mostly: Do they have their arms around their data? Do they understand where it lives within in their organization, and where it’s shared?

The paper breaks down the key questions that arise in keeping an organization’s privacy processes defensible, such as:

• The final “checklist” questions that you should be asking about your organization’s data preparedness
• Tips for breaking down the elements of the CCPA into actionable processes
• Tips for maintaining a trim data inventory

Download the white paper.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the Utah Transit Authority’s former general counsel is suing the agency for $300,000 in deferred bonuses and benefits that leaders had voided as “unconscionably high.”

The agency responded in state district court by counter-suing Bruce Jones, alleging “fraud and legal malpractice.”

Jones claims he negotiated for the bonuses in exchange for keeping his base salary lower. The agency claims Jones represented “both himself and UTA in salary negotiations” on contracts that gave him the generous benefits, which were never approved by the board.

Read the Tribune article.

Associates at Wilkinson Walsh + Eskovitz can thank management for setting a standard-breaking bonus scale for Biglaw associates, according to a report by Above the Law.

The firm, with offices in Washington, Los Angeles and New York, set a bonus scale that is 1.5 times the going market rate. Above the Law senior editor Staci Zaretsky writes that this is the fourth time the firm has beaten the market on bonuses since it opened four years ago.

Senior associates and those in the class of 2012 are in line for bonuses of $150,000.

Read the Above the Law article.

Jones Day has filed a motion seeking sanctions against plaintiffs who filed a $200 million lawsuit alleging that the law firm discriminates based on gender and motherhood, reports the ABA Journal.

The firm alleges in the sanctions motion that the plaintiffs made up the lawsuit’s pay-bias claims “out of whole cloth” and seeks their dismissal, writes the Journal‘s Debra Cassens Weiss. Jones Day also is seeking an order for the plaintiffs’ lawyers to pay fees and costs that the firm spent to litigate the motion.

Jones Day has claimed that the plaintiffs in the original suit wrongly assumed that female associates at the firm were paid less than their male counterparts.

Read the  ABA Journal article.

Members of the National Association of Corporate Directors members can access an exclusive tour, custom designed for directors, of the latest technology trends at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January 2020.

“This experience will expand your point of view on cutting-edge technologies and how they relate to strategy discussions in the boardroom.” writes the NACD’s Matt Barone. “You’ll be able to see firsthand the innovations and breakthrough ideas that will disrupt your current organizations, and improve your understanding of their implications for your companies’ future business models.”

This year’s tour will offer in-depth insights designed to help directors ensure that their companies are fueled by, and not blindsided by, future tech. For example, this year’s participants will gain insights into the Smart City Sector, which includes IoT, 5G connectivity, transportation and smart automotive, data analytics, and more, according to Barone.

For information about joining NACD to gain access to this unique opportunity and much more, including exclusive content, top-tier educational programming, and unparalleled networking opportunities, email Barone or call 571-367-3708.

Farrell Fritz announced that Elizabeth E. Vail has joined the board of East Hampton based i-tri. Richard Quatrano has joined the board of Flushing Town Hall.

Vail practices land use, municipal and environmental law in the firm’s Water Mill office. She also serves as counsel to the Village of Sag Harbor’s Zoning Board of Appeals and to the Village’s Historic Preservation and Architectural Review Board. She earned her B.S from Dickinson College and her J.D from St. John’s University School of Law.

I-tri (itrigirls.org) is dedicated to transforming young girls’ lives and empowering them by building their self confidence through training for youth distance triathlons. Founded in 2010, the original pilot program consisted of eight teenage girls at a local school in East Hampton, New York. I-tri has grown to serve over 700 girls from ten school districts. Liz hopes to provide guidance to help grow this organization as they prepare for continuous, and eventually national, expansion.

Quatrano, who practices corporate law, earned his B.A. from Columbia University and his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. He said he looks to help Flushing Town Hall (flushingtownhall.org) further achieve their mission of presenting multi-disciplinary global arts that engage and educate the global communities of Queens and New York City.

Steven Wiederhorn

Insurance defense law firm Goetz Schenker Blee & Wiederhorn LLP announced that it has changed its name, adding Steven J. Wiederhorn as a named senior partner alongside founding partners Marisa Goetz, Robert C. Schenker, and David I. Blee.

In a release, the firm provides legal advice and representation to insurance companies and self-insured corporations across the United States.

The firm said Wiederhorn, co-managing partner of the firm’s New Jersey office, has more than 25 years of litigation experience. He is responsible for the account management of several leading insurance carriers across the United States and defends some of the firm’s more complex cases in the areas of general negligence, product liability, consumer fraud, catastrophic fires, construction defects, civil rights litigation, employment law and representation of public entities. Wiederhorn also has experience in the area of premises liability, with work conducted on behalf of statewide commercial and residential properties and regional recreational facilities.

Wiederhorn received his J.D. from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis and his Bachelor of Arts from Duke University.

Chadwick A. Hoyt has joined Neal Gerber Eisenberg as a partner in the Corporate & Securities practice group. Hoyt joins from Mayer Brown LLP, where he was a partner in the firm’s banking & finance practice.

The firm said Hoyt’s practice focuses on national and international structured finance transactions with an emphasis on mortgage-related transactions, particularly with the purchase, sale and securitizations of performing and non-performing residential and commercial mortgage loans and other real estate assets. Hoyt also represents clients in connection with warehouse, repurchase and other financing facilities.

Hoyt advises companies with servicing and origination agreements and assists them with the purchase, sale and financing of mortgage servicing rights. He also guides clients with respect to the funding and securitization of servicing advances assets such as auto loans and leases, franchise loans and charged-off credit card receivables. Hoyt has further experience in secured lending, leasing, leveraged leasing, and corporate transactions. the firm said in a release.

Hoyt received his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and his B.S. from the University of Iowa.