Bloomberg Law reports that conservative lawyer and activist Larry Klayman violated numerous professional conduct rules in his representation of an Iranian-born journalist and should be suspended from the practice of law for 33 months, a Washington hearing committee said.

“Klayman allegedly represented Elham Sataki, a plaintiff in a sexual-harrassment suit, for a 40% contingency fee, but didn’t commit the fee to writing,” writes Bloomberg’s Martina Barash. “Klayman allegedly became infatuated with Sataki and repeatedly sought a romantic relationship with her. When she declined, he told her the fee would be 50%, and verbally abused her, according to the 185-page report.:

The committee recommended a suspension of 12 to 18 months for Klayman’s conflict-of-interest violations alone.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

Consilio is conducting its 2019 Law Department Benchmarking Survey covering such topics as legal spending, department organization, staff workload, outside counsel and vendor management, leadership priorities, client service delivery and technology.

The company says the project’s aim is to measure and benchmark to identify best practices. Participants’ answers will help other corporate law departments understand current trends and practices.

Answers to survey questions are confidential. And participants will receive at no cost, access to the aggregated results. Deadline for participation is July 31, 2019.

Consilio is offering any company that participates in the survey a chance to win a complimentary assessment of their external legal spend.

Participate in the survey.

Two years after a major data breach exposed the personal information of around 147 million Americans, the credit bureau Equifax has agreed to pay at least $650 million to resolve consumer claims and multiple state and federal investigations stemming from the episode, according to The New York Times.

At least $300 million of that amount will go to consumers, with an additional $125 million available if the initial fund is exhausted.

Times reporter David Yaffe-Bellany writes that individual victims may be able to claim as much as $20,000 in compensation for losses resulting from the breach if they can prove they were harmed.

Read the NY Times article.

The dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s Law School has labeled remarks made by controversial professor Amy Wax on race and immigration as “repugnant.”

“During a panel on immigration in Washington last week, Wax reportedly said the United States would benefit if the immigration system favored people from Western countries, which ‘in effect means taking the position that our country will be better off with more whites and fewer nonwhites,’” according to a report in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Penn Law dean Ted Ruger said her remarks flirted with racism and white supremacy.

Bloomberg Law reports Wax has said in an email to Bloomberg that she has “no plans” to leave Penn permanently.

Read the Inquirer article.

A longtime lawyer with Gay Chacker & Mittin of Philadelphia has been charged with diverting clients from the plaintiff personal injury firm for a decade to outside attorneys in exchange for a cut of their fees, reports Philadelphia Business Journal.

Neil I. Mittin, 64, was a name partner with the firm for 38 years. The firm name is called Gay & Chacker.

Prosecutors, who charged him with mail fraud, said Mittin engaged in a 10-year-long scheme to steal cases from his longtime firm by referring them to outside attorneys. Prosecutors said the impacted clients did not know he was referring the cases, nor did they ask for referrals, writes the Journal‘s Jeff Blumenthal.

Read the Business Journal article.

Periodic review and maintenance of noncompetition and other restrictive covenants agreements is crucial to ensure employers get the maximum available legal protection from theft of their customer base and business opportunity, employee talent and confidential information, advises Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in a website post.

The article summarizes some of the recent and noteworthy state statutes concerning such agreements.

The article adds: “Even in states where there has been no statutory activity, changes in an employee’s job or the underlying competitive landscape can affect the scope of enforceability of noncompete agreements. Post-employment restrictions on working for a competitor or soliciting former co-workers or customers are contracts that must satisfy the usual elements of an enforceable agreement, including a valid offer, acceptance of the offer and consideration to support the parties’ agreement.”

Read the article.

The National Law Journal has honored The Law Offices of Frank L. Branson as a top law firm in the nation for product liability litigation based on the firm’s large jury verdicts and track record of excellence going back more than three decades.

The firm founded by Frank L. Branson was chosen for the prestigious Elite Trial Lawyers award based on exceptional product liability litigation work. The award was presented at a reception in New York on July 18. The firm was honored as part of a three-way tie in the product liability category.

The NLJ recognition follows a string of high-profile legal victories for Branson and his team, including:

A $242 million product liability jury verdict against Toyota in August 2018. Jurors agreed Toyota was grossly negligent for failing to correct or warn consumers about seatback design flaws in the Lexus ES 300. The award included $144 million in punitive damages awarded a Dallas family whose two young children suffered serious injuries in a collision. The verdict was recognized as the No. 1 product liability verdict in Texas in 2018.

A $10.9 million jury verdict resulting from the crash of a charter bus en route to the Choctaw Casino & Resort in Oklahoma. The 2016 verdict was affirmed on appeal and settled recently. The firm represented the estate and children of an 83-year-old woman who was killed in the accident. The verdict was awarded to Mr. Branson’s client and a second victim who was represented by separate counsel and who joined the case as an intervenor.

Branson also has won multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements in all types of transportation crashes. He has been recognized for top verdicts multiple times by VerdictSearch and the NLJ – four alone in the last six years.

“I feel honored every day to have the opportunity to put our clients on a level playing field with corporate America,” said Mr. Branson. “The results we’ve been able to secure reflect decades of hard work and our team of great lawyers.”

Neal Gerber Eisenberg partner Steven F. Pflaum has received the Chicago Bar Foundation (CBF) and Chicago Bar Association (CBA)’s 2019 Edward J. Lewis II Pro Bono Service Award. The award recognizes attorneys who “display a deep commitment to the fundamental principles of equal protection and equal justice in the community through outstanding pro bono service.”

Through its Pro Bono & Public Service Awards, the CBF and CBA honor lawyers who have used their talents and resources to improve access to justice for the less fortunate in our community.

Since joining the firm in February 2010, Pflaum has dedicated more than 3600 hours of pro bono work to improve access to justice for all. In addition to being co-chair of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group and Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee, Pflaum is a founding member and current chair of the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee. He is also a former member and two-term chair of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Professional Responsibility, a former general counsel of the CBA, and an appointee of the Illinois Supreme Court to, and chair of, the legislatively created Illinois Supreme Court’s Statutory Court Fee Task Force.

Pflaum has chaired the firm’s Pro Bono Committee since 2010. In that capacity, he collaborates with the members of the Committee and lawyers throughout the firm to implement the firm’s innovative and ambitious pro bono policy. Under Pflaum’s leadership, the firm has maintained a gold-level membership in the CBF Law Firm Leadership Circle, which represents a commitment to support pro bono, legal aid and related access to justice initiatives.

Pflaum will be honored at the CBA and CBF Pro Bono & Public Service Awards Luncheon on Tuesday July 23, 2019 at the Hilton Chicago.

Oren Gertner has joined Sidley Austin LLP in New York as a partner in its Investment Funds practice. Gertner joins from Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, where he was in the firm’s Corporate department, practicing in the Investment Management group.

The firm said Gertner focuses his practice on the forming, structuring and offering of domestic and international large and mid-market private equity funds, hedge funds, sector-specific funds, secondary funds and funds of funds. He advises on structuring and negotiating a broad range of transactions in the secondary market, including GP-led secondary transactions, as well as drafting operating agreements and carry plans in connection with the formation of new investment management companies and spin-outs. Gertner also counsels clients on state and federal securities laws related to fund formations and offerings.

Tracy A. Gallegos has joined Duane Morris LLP as a partner in the firm’s Corporate Practice Group. She will be resident in the Las Vegas office and also practice in San Francisco.

Prior to joining Duane Morris, Gallegos was a partner at Fox Rothschild LLP.

In a release, the firm said Gallegos’ practice covers corporate, real estate, cannabis, sports and entertainment law for clients ranging from startup companies to established businesses. Her clients include retail shopping centers, entertainment and media companies, online retailers and cannabis companies involved in retail, manufacturing and cultivation, as well as companies providing ancillary services to the cannabis industry in both California and Nevada. Gallegos’ corporate services include assistance with entity formation and restructuring, corporate rollups, financing and other general corporate matters. She routinely drafts and negotiates letters of intent, equity and asset purchase agreements, subscription agreements, loan documents, private placement memoranda and corporate governance documents such as bylaws, operating agreements and partnership agreements.

In her cannabis practice, Gallegos serves as lead transaction counsel on mergers and acquisitions, financing transactions and corporate rollups, and has been involved in deals with an aggregate value exceeding several billion dollars. She serves as lead regulatory and compliance counsel, and advises clients regarding the licensing process and other regulatory issues on both the state and local levels in California and Nevada.

The firm said Gallegos also represents both commercial and residential developers, as well as commercial landlords. Gallegos handles transactions involving the acquisition and disposition of multimillion-dollar commercial properties and residential subdivisions, and has served as lead counsel on transactions with purchase prices in the hundreds of millions of dollars. She also handles real estate financing transactions and has served as lead counsel on deals in excess of half a billion dollars. She negotiates and drafts purchase and sale agreements, promissory notes, public offering statements, disclosure statements, commercial leases and secured loan agreements. In addition, she frequently prepares third party borrower opinions and previously served on a prior firm’s opinion review committee, where she was responsible for reviewing borrower opinions for conformance with Nevada and California law.

Gallegos is a graduate of Drake University Law School (J.D., 2004) and the University of California, Davis (A.B., 1999).

Akerman LLP announced the expansion of its Chicago office with the addition of trademark partner Kourtney Mulcahy. She joins Akerman’s Intellectual Property Practice Group from Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP.

The firm said Mulcahy has experience in all areas of trademark law, including: domain name issues, right of publicity, social media, digital and print advertising, and marketing. She has represented clients before the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and around the country in trademark/trade dress infringement, dilution, cybersquatting, counterfeiting, and unfair competition claims. Mulcahy also handles licensing matters for clients—drafting and negotiating license agreements—in the areas of entertainment, technology, sports, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, consumer products, manufacturing, food products, healthcare, retail, restaurant, financial, commercial, educational, and charitable services.

In the last year, Akerman has attracted six lawyers to the Chicago office, including tax partner Mary Samsa from McDermott Will & Emery, labor and employment partner Amy Moor Gaylord from Franczek Radelet P.C., and litigation partner Amy Doehring from McDermott Will & Emery.

Dominique L. Casimir has joined Blank Rome LLP as a partner in the Government Contracts group in the Washington, D.C., office.

The firm said Casimir’s practice focuses on government contracts law with an emphasis on litigation, regulatory counseling, and responding to government enforcement actions. She joins Blank Rome from Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP where she was a partner in the firm’s government contracts practice.

Casimir practice focuses on suspension and debarment matters, successfully representing clients—including large and small government contractors and subcontractors—before suspension and debarment officials of numerous federal agencies. She serves as co-chair of the Debarment and Suspension Committee of the American Bar Association’s Section of Public Contracts Law, and she is often invited to speak at high-profile events—most recently at the ABA’s Annual Meeting alongside the Army’s Suspension Debarment Official and at a symposium in London alongside the Environmental Protection Agency’s Suspension Debarment Official.

The firm said she also provides litigation support and regulatory advice to her government contractor clients whose businesses span a variety of industries, such as defense, healthcare, information technology, and professional services. She often conducts internal investigations on behalf of her clients (including those undertaken in response to actual or potential False Claims Act matters), makes mandatory disclosures, and counsels contractors with respect to compliance with government audits.

A native Spanish speaker and daughter of immigrants, Casimir will continue her pro bono work at Blank Rome with a focus on aiding immigrants and those seeking asylum in the United States. The firm said she is also dedicated to networking and bringing greater racial diversity to the practice of government contracts law. She recently launched a group of diverse government contracts attorneys (from the government, in-house, and law firms) that convene quarterly to help with business development, building goodwill among government attorneys, and raising awareness of potential diverse recruits.

She earned her B.A. in Government from Georgetown University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Barnes & Thornburg has added Zachary Johnson in the Atlanta office as director of state government affairs-Georgia. As a member of the firm’s Government Services and Finance Department, he will work closely with the growing Atlanta-based government affairs team, including Stephen Weizenecker and W. Murphy Talmadge.

In a release, the firm said Johnson, a Georgia Certified Purchasing Associate, will work with clients on government relations and public affairs issues, with an emphasis on procurement and sourcing. He will focus on helping higher education institutions and state, county and municipal governments create and implement sourcing strategies. He will also work with the firm’s local government services team to provide political action committee (PAC) management strategies and legislative consulting.

Previously, Johnson served as director of government relations for the Georgia Department of Administrative Services, where he led outreach efforts to local higher education systems, local governments, enterprise agencies and the Georgia General Assembly. He was most recently vice president of government relations at McGuireWoods Consulting.

Johnson earned his B.S. in political science and government from Georgia College and State University.

Langley & Banack, Inc. announced that George H. Spencer, Jr. and James (Jim) Hoffman have joined the firm as of counsel.

Spencer is a board certified civil trial lawyer while Hoffman devotes much to his practice to bankruptcy litigation.

In a release, the firm said Spencer has experience with civil cases in both state and federal courts, with first-chair jury trials to verdict in lawsuits ranging from RICO to wrongful death, from breach of fiduciary duty to rock quarry nuisance, and from legal malpractice to scope of insurance coverage. He is also active in representing attorneys in State Bar grievance matters and, on occasion, has assisted in prosecuting such complaints. Spencer received his J.D. with distinction from St. Mary’s University School of Law and an A.B. from Princeton University.

The firm said Hoffman’s bankruptcy practice has included numerous Chapter 7, 11 and 13 Trustee representations, bankruptcy legal malpractice defenses, national creditor representations (including many Fortune 100 and 500 Companies) and general litigation and appeals in all aspects of bankruptcy law. He has acted as a court appointed bankruptcy disbursing agent and mediator.

A frequent speaker on bankruptcy issues, he was named 2017 San Antonio Bankruptcy Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America. He is a member of the San Antonio Bar Association, State Bar of Texas, American Bankruptcy Institute, member and past president of the San Antonio Bankruptcy Bar Association and is Co-Chairman of the Western District Federal Courts Committee. As an Eagle Scout, he has volunteered extensively with the Boy Scouts of America and numerous community organizations. Hoffman received his J.D. from St. Mary’s University School of Law and a B.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.

Trial law firm Martin Walker has earned honors for winning the largest medical malpractice verdict in Texas in 2018 for the $43.32 million jury award against Tyler-based East Texas Medical Center and one of its doctors. The editors of Texas Lawyer included the verdict in the magazine’s listing of Top Verdicts and Settlements, 10th Edition, based on research gathered by VerdictSearch.

A jury found ETMC grossly negligent for allowing Dr. Gary Boyd to treat 61-year-old Billy Pierce, despite having been placed on probation by the Texas Medical Board. Pierce was admitted in April 2014 with stomach pain and vomiting.

During the trial, Martin Walker attorneys argued the hospital bylaws should have prevented Boyd from practicing at the facility. Testimony showed that Boyd diagnosed Pierce with an abnormality he said would make surgery to remove bile duct stones impossible. For more than a month, the firm said, Pierce was in a medically induced coma during which time Boyd and the hospital abandoned him, according to testimony. Once the hospital sought a second opinion, a new doctor rejected Boyd’s diagnosis and operated without complication.

Jurors agreed that Boyd’s improper care led to the loss of Pierce’s quality of life and his ability to provide for his family. The $43 million verdict included $18.57 million for past and future pain, anguish, loss of earning capacity, and medical care and expenses. The jury also awarded $25 million in punitive damages, after concluding the hospital’s conduct involved an extreme risk of potential harm to others.

Pierce was represented by Martin Walker name partners Reid Martin and Jack Walker and attorney Marisa Schouten. The case is Billy Pierce v. East Texas Medical Center and Dr. Gary Boyd and the ETMC Digestive Disease Center, Cause No. 16-0853-C in the 241st District Court in Smith County.

The firm is based in Tyler, Texas.

Each year, VerdictSearch conducts a comprehensive review to produce the list of top verdicts in Texas. The full list is published in the July 2019 issue of Texas Lawyer.

Several Trump administration officials have personal or professional ties to Boeing’s man at the center of the 737 Max jetliner crash drama. He’s J. Michael Luttig, the longtime general counsel whom the company reassigned to lead its 737 response, reports Bloomberg.

“When he was a federal appellate court judge, Luttig brought on dozens of promising young clerks who are now spread throughout the judiciary and beyond,” explain Bloomberg’s Tom Schoenberg, Julie Johnsson and Peter Robison. “In more than a decade at Chicago-based Boeing, he stocked his department with ex-government lawyers. He also tapped Kirkland [& Ellis LLP], which has a big Chicago presence, for matters as varied as acquisitions and contract disputes.”

Luttig also is wired into the Supreme Court. He was a groomsman at the wedding of U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts.

Read the Bloomberg article.

Results of a survey by Working Mother show some advance for women in the number of equity partners and in the number of women who rank among their firms’ most highly compensated partners.

Some of the key initiatives the survey examined include paid parental leave, the use of reduced schedules, parent-resource groups, and mentoring and sponsorship of female lawyers.

Working Mother collaborated with the ABA Journal as a knowledge partner in recruiting firms and publicizing results.

Read the Working Mother article.

Five years after a Florida law professor was gunned down in his driveway, prosecutors are preparing to prosecute the crime that led to shocking revelations of alleged Miami hit men and a wicked murder-for-hire plot that stunned Tallahassee, a tight-knit law scholar community and the world beyond.

The Tallahassee Democrat updates the story of the murder of Dan Markel, a lawyer and Florida State law professor who was 41 when he was murdered.

A convicted Miami gang leader already in prison for other crimes has made a deal with prosecutors to testify against two other people in exchange for a lighter sentence. Prosecutors contend Markel’s ex-wife’s family ordered his killing, according to the Democrat‘s Karl Etters.

Read the Tallahassee Democrat article.

The Associated Press reports that federal, North Carolina and Virginia governments asked a court Thursday to declare the country’s largest electricity company liable for environmental damage from a leak five years ago that left miles of a river shared by the two states coated in hazardous coal ash.

The AP’s Emery P. Dalesio writes: “Government lawyers sought to have Charlotte-based Duke Energy declared responsible for harming fish, birds, amphibians and the Dan River bottom. Hazardous substances like arsenic and selenium poured into the river at levels high enough to harm aquatic life, according to a complaint filed in the North Carolina federal court district near the site of the 2014 disaster.”

Duke Energy pleaded guilty to federal environmental crimes in 2015 and agreed to pay $102 million.

Read the AP article.

The Eighth Circuit recently ruled that an employee was not subject to the employer’s arbitration agreement, including a delegation clause. The agreement was contained in an employment handbook addendum, which was available to the employee electronically.

Henry Allen Blair, writing for Arbitration Nation, discusses the case in a post about the ruling in Shockley v. PrimeLending.

Blair cites the court’s opinion, which states that “[w]e are aware of no legal authority holding that an employee’s general knowledge or awareness of the existence of a contract constitutes the positive and unambiguous unequivocal acceptance required under Missouri law.”

Read the article.