Above the Law reports that Baker McKenzie has eliminated 46 staff positions — all in the London office in professional and business roles — and another 33 jobs are still at risk as part of a firm-wide assessment.

The firm’s review covers 97 positions.

“Eighteen employees in those positions resigned, and 46 have been eliminated so far (15 were identified as redundant, while there remain 31 cut altogether),” writes Above the Law senior editor Kathryn Rubino.

Read the Above the Law article.

The relationship between Microsoft Corp. and Integreon Inc. has grown dramatically since the software giant took a chance on the nascent alternative legal service industry a decade ago, but there’s disagreement about whether such a model will take off widely enough to truly disrupt law firms, reports Bloomberg Law.

“What started in 2009 as a seven-member group of Integreon lawyers and paralegals in North Dakota handling small, English-language procurement contracts for Microsoft has expanded to a team of more than 80 based in offices across the continents who review 20,000 contracts a year in 15 languages,” writes Bloomberg’s Roy Strom.

It’s still an open question whether enough corporate clients will push the envelope far enough to dramatically alter law firms’ business outlook, adds Strom.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

The $166 million jury verdict secured by Fears Nachawati for the son of a North Texas woman killed for the proceeds of her life insurance policies has been recognized by The National Law Journal as 2018’s largest intentional tort award in Texas.

The May 2018 jury verdict in Tarrant County’s 141st Judicial District Court was also ranked the sixth largest among all verdicts in Texas and the 14th largest nationally for the year. Rankings are based upon national court records compiled by the NLJ’s research affiliate, VerdictSearch, coupled with its own research of online news sources and databases.

Read more about the case.

A post on the website of The In-house Advisor offers some cautionary advice about transactions that may be documented through a primary contract and subsidiary agreements that are referenced in, or even attached as exhibits to, the primary.

Shep Davidson of Burns & Levinson explains:

“While there is nothing inherently good or bad about papering a transaction this way, it is important to keep in mind that doing so may mean that the dispute resolution provisions of the primary contract do not apply if litigation arises and only involves a claimed breach of a subsidiary contract. Indeed, that is the hard lesson that was learned by the defendant in National Dentix, LLC v. Gold.”

He writes that the lesson here is that “even very closely related agreements still may be viewed as completely independent if there is a claim that only one of them has been breached.”

Read the article.

Dali Wireless, a maker of wireless systems designed to help improve cellular communications inside buildings, has prevailed over its much larger rival after a multiyear battle over both companies’ patents.

A federal jury in Dallas awarded California-based Dali $9 million, finding that rival CommScope infringed on two Dali patents. The same jury found Dali infringed on five older CommScope patents and awarded CommScope $1.98 million.

“We are very proud of our trial team,” said attorney Cris Leffler of the Seattle office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP, who represented Dali at trial. “The difference in the awards underscores the advantage of Dali Wireless’ innovative technology over CommScope’s older technology.”

In a release, Mark Strachan of the Dallas office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, who also represented Dali Wireless stated, “Dali Wireless honored us by trusting us with this important challenge. We are very pleased that the jury recognized and protected the value of Dali Wireless’ intellectual property. If this were a football game, then Dali Wireless scored a touchdown and a field goal, and CommScope had only a field goal. As time ran out, Dali Wireless walked away with the trophy.”

Dali Wireless is represented by Cris Leffler, Stefan Szpajda, Madeline Hepler, Ryan Meyer, and David Tseng from the Seattle office of Dorsey & Whitney, LLP and by Mark Strachan and Dick Sayles from the Dallas office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.

The dispute between the two tech companies dates to 2015, when Dallas Fort Worth International Airport chose Dali over North Carolina-based CommScope to install distributed antenna systems (DAS) in airport buildings. Considered a leading innovator in the field, Dali holds over 450 patents on its technology.

DAS uses a base station and remote units positioned throughout a building to receive and amplify cellphone signals and provide better cell service.

Following the DFW contract award, CommScope filed suit, claiming Dali had infringed on its patents. Dali countersued, claiming CommScope likewise had infringed.

The case is CommScope Technologies LLC v. Dali Wireless, Inc. No. 3:16-cv-477, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Chief Judge Barbara Lynn presiding.

Google announced a “site diversity change,” creating a window of opportunity for smaller law firms that have struggled to claim space on the first page of search engine results, according to Bruce Vincent of Muse Communications.

“This is not particularly good news for many law firms that have dominated the first page of results for certain topics,” he writes. “However, it presents a welcome scenario for smaller firm websites that contain solid information but never seem to be able to climb above the second or third page of search results.”

He explains that firms will need to provide quality information and good search engine optimization to be able to take advantage of Google’s change.

Read the article.

John Storz has joined Stroock’s national Financial Restructuring Group as a partner in the New York office.

In a release, the firm said Storz, who has corporate and bankruptcy experience, advised clients on mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings and investment fund transactions. He also has guided creditor committees and distressed companies through a variety of restructuring scenarios. Additionally, he advises institutional investors and has worked across industries as varied as biotechnology and manufacturing.

Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. announced that associate Stephanie Giagnorio has joined the firm’s Southeast office.

In a release, the firm said Stephanie Giagnorio joins SDV with a practice previously focused on general civil litigation as well as drafting, negotiating and reviewing contracts. She was managing editor of Law Review while in law school, where she graduated 4th in her class. She was also the recipient of the St. Thomas More Full Tuition scholarship in addition to other academic awards.

Above the Law has published the results of its new rankings of law schools, based on current ABA employment data.

Topping the list is the University of Virginia School of Law.

“UVA Law jumped to the pole position this year on the strength of its Biglaw employment score. With our methodology, even a five percent bump in Biglaw employment score can shuffle a school’s position,” writes executive editor Elie Mystal. “This year, UVA’s Biglaw employment score jumped 13 percent.”

The University of Chicago, last year’s number one, dropped to third place. In the top 10, big movers included Northwestern University, which gained six places, Cornell University, up by four, and Harvard and Yale, which dropped by five and three places, respectively.

Read the Above the Law article.

The Energy Law Blog of Liskow & Lewis discusses a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could have far-reaching implications concerning wage-and-hour laws for workers on oil and gas platforms located in open water on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Authors Jackie E. Hickman and Thomas J.McGoey II explain the background of the case:

“The plaintiffs in Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton, were offshore rig workers who filed a class action asserting that their employer violated California’s minimum wage and overtime laws by failing to pay them for stand-by time while they were on the drilling platform. Both parties agreed that the platforms were governed by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (“OCSLA”), but they disagreed regarding whether the California’s wage-and-hour laws were incorporated into OCSLA and therefore applicable to workers on the platform.”

The Supreme Court found that federal law is exclusive and state law only applies where there “is a gap in federal law’s coverage.”

Read the article.

When arbitration awards resolving contract claims are not based on the actual provisions of the relevant contracts, but rather on an individual arbitrator’s personal sense of “justice” and “public policy,” they can be successfully challenged, and vacated by the courts, points out Robert J. Kaler in a post for Holland & Knight.

He discusses a case in which an arbitration award purported to remedy an alleged breach of and “failure of consideration” for the owner’s underlying network operator agreement with the plaintiff’s subsidiary by rewriting that agreement so as to materially change its financial requirements.

A court subsequently vacated the award, finding that the arbitrator exceeded his powers by voiding the guaranty of the parent company while re-writing the terms of the operating agreement.

Read the article.

A Pepper Hamilton client alert discusses a Delaware case in which the court held that the sellers of a target corporation retained the right to assert attorney-client privilege over pre-merger communications with the target corporation’s counsel because the parties included a provision in the merger agreement that explicitly precluded the buyer from using the communications in a post-closing dispute with the sellers.

“The court’s opinion serves as an important reminder to sell-side counsel to negotiate for these provisions to ensure that privileged pre-merger communications between the target’s counsel and the sellers cannot be used against them in any future disputes,” the authors explain.

Read the article.

A webinar on compliance, ethics, and risk presented by Hanzo will discuss the key themes, takeaways, and lessons from the most significant new publications of Q2 2019.

The event will be July 17, 2019, at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

The one-hour webinar will be hosted by Tom Fox and Hanzo.

It will include analysis and discussion of:

1. The Department of Justice (DOJ) Updated Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs

2. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Compliance Commitments Framework

3. NAVEX 2019 Hotline Benchmark + Compliance Benchmark Reports

4. Ethisphere World’s Most Ethical (WME) Insights

5. LRN 2019 Program Effectiveness Index Report

6. KPMG 2019 Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) Survey

7. PWC 2019 State of Compliance Study

A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation, and each registered attendee will receive a written PDF report summarizing all the key findings, a copy of the presentation, a recording of the webinar.

Register for the webinar.

In a post on the firm’s website, George Nicholos of Vandeventer Black LLP provides an overview of contract terms addressing indemnity and requirements to hold harmless or responsible for the defense of another.

He cautions that these terms are often misunderstood, not fully appreciated, and found confusing by many.

Nicholos also warns that “it is critical that parties have a clear and informed understanding about what they are obligating themselves to in relation to the benefits of entering a contract in the first place.”

Read the article.

As concern mounts over health risks from so-called “forever chemicals,” environmental trial lawyers at Dallas-based Fears Nachawati Law Firm are investigating water contamination cases on behalf of states, counties and cities across the nation.

In a release, the firm said groundwater contamination from fluorine-based PFAS compounds has been reported at hundreds of sites across the U.S., threatening the drinking water of millions of Americans. Industrial chemicals including PFAS, PFOA and PFC have been widely used by corporations to make nonstick and stain-resistant consumer and industrial products. They are also found in fire-retardant foam, which has led to large-scale groundwater contamination at military sites.

Environmental trial lawyers at Fears Nachawati are actively involved in litigation seeking to hold industrial manufacturers accountable for groundwater contamination.

“Sadly, we’ve seen the regulations move in the wrong direction when it comes to protecting Americans from this serious health threat,” said environmental trial lawyer Bryan Fears, co-founder of Fears Nachawati. “Instead of increasing oversight and forcing polluters to take action and clean up these sites, regulators are loosening deadlines and sending the wrong signals to polluters. We all have a collective responsibility to get to the bottom of the cause of weakened environmental standards. This is about the future of our children’s drinking water.”

Called “forever chemicals” because they never fully degrade, polyfluorocarbons (PFC) are a group of synthetic chemicals that include PFAS and PFOA that have been in use since the 1940s, the firm said. The compounds have been found in drinking water used by 110 million people across the nation and is estimated to be in the bloodstreams of 98 percent of Americans. The compounds have been linked to immune system problems and cancer. Recently, the Food and Drug Administration reported the discovery of PFAS compounds in grocery store meats, milk and seafood as well as in off-the-shelf products such as chocolate cake.

“When corporations fail to accept responsibility for the damage they’ve caused and when regulators decline to protect our most precious resources, it’s up to state and local governments and the American people to demand action,” said Fears Nachawati co-founder Majed Nachawati.

Civil and criminal litigator Michael S. Bergerson Jr. has joined Barnes & Thornburg’s South Bend office as a partner in the firm’s Litigation Department. Bergerson previously was an attorney at the international law firm of Winston & Strawn LLP in Chicago.

A graduate of Notre Dame Law School and a native of Northwest Indiana, Bergerson focuses his practice on complex tort and contract litigation, as well as white collar and regulatory defense, including investigations and actions related to alleged fraud, conspiracy, and securities and commodities act violations. His civil litigation experience includes defending and pursuing claims of fraud, defamation, product disparagement, breach of contract, conversion, assault, battery, wrongful death, and negligence in state and federal courts throughout the United States. Bergerson also provides strategic guidance to clients facing unique personal and business concerns, both inside and out of court.

In a release, the firm said Bergerson has been a senior member of the legal team in several high-profile cases, including a 2017 jury trial in South Dakota involving a family-owned beef company against a major television network, reported as one of the largest defamation cases in U.S. history, and a 2018 wrongful death trial in San Diego that garnered national media attention for the unusual circumstances surrounding the plaintiff’s death.

Prior to his private law practice, Bergerson served as a legislative aide to U.S. Rep. Peter J. Visclosky, advising the Northwest Indiana congressman on issues including trade, labor, manufacturing and energy policy. He also served as staff director of the Congressional Steel Caucus, a bipartisan group of Congress members who represent regions with steel manufacturers or care about the American steel industry.

The firm said Bergerson devotes significant attention to pro bono matters in state and federal courts. He is active in the Northwest Indiana community, serving on the board of directors of One Region, a nonprofit supporting economic development and quality of life improvements across the region. He is also a board member for Citizens Concerned for the Homeless in Michigan City.

He has earned honors and awards, including as a member of Law 360’s Trial Group of the Year for 2017 and recognition as an Illinois Super Lawyers Rising Star for securities litigation in 2014, 2015 and 2018 and as an Emerging Lawyer in commercial litigation for 2018 by Law Bulletin Publishing Company.

Bergerson earned his J.D., cum laude, from Notre Dame Law School, where he served South Bend residents at the Notre Dame Legal Aid Clinic and was awarded the A. Harold Weber Moot Court Award for oral argument as a member of the Moot Court Appellate National Team. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and management at DePauw University, where he was captain of the varsity golf team.

President Donald Trump’s fondness for the U.S. Supreme Court could be tested by a series of legal disputes targeting him personally – from his taxes and businesses to his 2016 election campaign – that ultimately may be decided by the justices, according to a Reuters report.

Reuters reporters Andrew Chung and Lawrence Hurley write that some legal experts speculate that “as the focus of some of the major legal challenges shifts from his policies to Trump himself, there could be disappointments in store for him, … in particular if the Supreme Court stoutly defends the ability of Congress to pursue investigations of the president.”

J.W. Verret, an expert in corporate and securities law at George Mason University in Virginia, told the reporters that conservative justices “won’t feel any loyalty to Trump, but will instead support strong separation of powers” as delineated in the U.S. Constitution.

Read the Reuters article.

Investigators say the wife of Atlanta commercial real estate lawyer Gary Farris shot and killed her husband and then tried to conceal the crime by burning his body and hiding the remains on their property.

Melody Farris was extradited late Wednesday from Tennessee to Georgia, where she faces charges of malice murder, aggravated assault and concealing a death, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The victim’s body was discovered July 5.

“It took weeks for authorities to determine the extensively burned remains were that of 58-year-old Gary Farris, an attorney for the regional law firm Burr and Forman and the founder of its Atlanta office,” write Chelsea Prince and Christian Boone. “Even after his identity was confirmed by the GBI, sheriff’s investigators were not ready to identify a suspect in his death.”

Read the Journal-Constitution article.

Chicago attorney Joel Brodsky, who gained national notoriety for his representation of wife killer Drew Peterson, has been indefinitely suspended from practicing law amid an investigation into a series of bizarre antics that have drawn the ire of opponents and judges alike, reports the Chicago Tribune.

A filing by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission claims a license suspension is necessary before the investigation is complete because Brodsky allegedly “engaged in conduct that threatens irreparable injury to the public and to the orderly administration of justice.”

Tribune reporter Jason Meisner writes about one example cited: “In an insult-laced letter sent to a rival attorney in a divorce case, Brodsky said the lawyer ‘appears to be learning disabled,’ implied that the rival has a drinking problem and sarcastically asked if the attorney has gay ‘feelings for his client, the filing alleged.”

Read the Tribune article.

The Dallas-based law firm Fears Nachawati has been retained by the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners in Maryland to pursue a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors over their role in the epidemic of addiction to these painkillers, the firm said in a release.

Representing the southern Maryland county is a legal consortium that features Matthew McCarley and Jonathan Novak of Fears Nachawati, along with attorneys from Ferrer, Poirot & Wansbrough in Dallas; Motley Rice in Washington, D.C.; and The Kane Law Group and McNamee, Hosea, Jernigan, Kim Greenan & Lynch in Maryland.

Just southeast of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, Calvert County has seen its public resources overburdened by the societal, health and public safety demands created by the reckless proliferation of prescription opioids, plaintiffs say.

“The opioid epidemic has continued at a horrifying pace, taking a tremendous human toll and creating intense financial and social services pressures on local governments such as Calvert County,” said McCarley. “There is no single, simple solution, but recovery cannot begin until those who knowingly created the problem are held responsible for their actions.”

Fears Nachawati currently represents 61 counties, cities and hospital systems in Texas, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New Mexico and North Dakota in lawsuits seeking to hold 30 of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors liable for their role in the opioid addiction crisis that resulted from deceptive and illegal marketing schemes.

“While we fight to recover some of the financial costs related to the public health emergency caused by the overuse of prescription opioids, this is also about stopping these illegal and unethical practices,” said Novak.