Litigation boutique Estes Thorne & Carr PLLC announced that labor and employment attorney Monica Narvaez has joined the firm as a partner.

A Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), Narvaez has experience advising and defending clients in labor and employment matters. She has represented clients before the Texas Workforce Commission, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. Department of Labor, National Labor Relations Board, state and federal courts, and other regulatory bodies.

In a release, the firm said she previously served as assistant attorney general in Ohio where she defended state and county agencies in complex employment disputes. She also served as a human resources policy attorney for Ohio where she wrote and advised on the rules and policies for governmental employees.

Narvaez’s work includes representing clients in matters related to the Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, OSHA, and Americans with Disabilities Act policies and procedures. She also has led internal audits and advised on immigration issues. Her work earned recognition among the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Dallas by the Texas Diversity Council in 2018 and the Small Business Turnaround of the Year Award from the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association.

She graduated from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 2003. She also earned, with distinction, an LLM in Commercial Law from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and an MBA from Schiller International University, Paris and London.

Thadford A. Felton has been named managing officer of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C.’s Chicago office, effective May 3.

Felton succeeds David B. Goodman, who recently left the firm after serving as the Chicago managing officer since March 2014.

Felton joined the firm in July 2013. He previously was a partner and co-chair of the Commercial Litigation Group at Arnstein & Lehr in Chicago. In addition to his role on the board at Greensfelder, he co-chairs a firm committee focused on strategic growth and lateral recruiting.

The firm said Felton has more than 20 years of experience as a litigator and as outside corporate counsel for a variety of national clients. He has handled business and complex commercial litigation matters and has successfully tried cases in federal and state courts. In his role as corporate counsel, he advises business owners and executives in areas that include corporate governance, employment and personnel matters, contracts, litigation, risk management, intellectual property, and mergers and acquisitions.

Felton received his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology and his Bachelor of Arts from Denison University.

Mark E. Macias has joined Langley & Banack, Inc. as part of the firm’s insurance litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practice groups.

The firm said Macias practices in the area of general civil trial law with a focus on all areas of insurance defense litigation, including personal and commercial injury defense and first party cases. In his practice, Macias handles disputes involving breach of contract, business torts, deceptive trade practice, negligence claims, construction defects, and personal injury.

He also is a professional mediator. Fluent in Spanish, Macias routinely conducts mediations on behalf of his clients addressing adverse parties in Spanish, the firm said.

Macias holds a bachelor’s degree from Trinity University and a juris doctorate from St. Mary’s University School of Law.

A San Antonio native, Macias is a civic volunteer at many local non-profits, including the San Antonio Food Bank, Trinity University, and the Westside YMCA where he was awarded Volunteer of the Year. He is also recognized for his services with the Archdiocesan Legal Services.

Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri, outgoing chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC), will chair Quarles & Brady LLP’s Indian Law and Policy Group from its Washington, D.C. office, effective May 20.

In a release, the firm said President Barack Obama first designated Chaudhuri to serve as acting chairman in 2013, following his initial appointment to the agency by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. He was then nominated by President Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2015. During his tenure at the NIGC, Chaudhuri oversaw the $32.4 billion Indian gaming industry spanning approximately 250 tribal nations and 500 facilities across 29 states. Working with over 6,000 tribal regulators in the field, Chaudhuri led the NIGC during key milestones in connection with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), which promotes tribal economic development, self-sufficiency, and strong tribal governments.

Earlier in his career, he served as senior counselor to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. His 20-year legal career includes serving as a judge on five different tribal courts, including serving as chief justice of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Supreme Court, the highest court of the fourth largest tribe in the nation.

In tandem with his move to Quarles & Brady, Chaudhuri will begin an ambassadorship with his tribal nation, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, headquartered in Okmulgee, Oklahoma.

Originally from Tempe, Arizona, Chaudhuri has also served as a community organizer, adjunct professor, public defender, legal services director, and author. He received his J.D. from Cornell Law School, and his B.A. from Dartmouth College.

Holland & Hart announced that Kristy Kimball joined the firm’s healthcare team as a partner in Salt Lake City.

Before joining Holland & Hart, Kimball was the founding partner of Kimball Legal, PLLC, where she served as outside counsel to several major healthcare companies, including the largest hospital holding company in the U.S. Kimball is the founder and past chair of the Health Law Section of the Utah State Bar Association.

The National Association of Corporate Directors has published a briefing that explains how audit and nominating and governance committee chairs can improve their risk-oversight strategy.

The briefing can be downloaded from the NACD website at no charge.

The report discusses such questions as: How can boards and committees continue to scale up their capacity for overseeing the major risks on their agendas? How should they address the concerns risk oversight raises among investors and regulators?

Some of the strategies discussed are:

• Use ad hoc committees to cope with expanding oversight requirements.
• Leverage evaluations and carefully review charters to ensure that committees are focusing on clearly-defined priorities and responsibilities.
• Ensure directors’ skills are keeping pace with rapidly-evolving and future issues.
• Increase meeting efficiency with prereads, consent agendas, and other tactics.
• Communicate risk-oversight priorities and processes to investors and regulators.

Download the briefing.

Bloomberg Law reports that two women among a group of female associates accusing Morrison & Foerster LLP of pregnancy discrimination must replead some or all of their claims, a federal judge ruled.

One of the plaintiffs was too late with her claims under federal and District of Columbia law, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said. And another plaintiff’s allegations were insufficient to support her argument that a release she signed was unduly influenced by the dire economic situation caused by her termination, the court said.

The women are part of a proposed nationwide class action filed in April 2018.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

NBC News reports that prosecutors in the solicitation of prostitution case against New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft have accused two of his defense attorneys of lying.

The Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office filed a motion Tuesday asking that attorneys Alex Spiro and William Burck be held in contempt, according to NBC’s Janelle Griffith and Xuan Thai.

Prosecutors claim that in court last week, Spiro falsely accused Jupiter police officer Scott Kimbark of telling other officers he would lie to justify the traffic stop of another customer of the day spa where Kraft was alleged to have committed an offense.

The defense lawyers denied the allegations of lying.

Read the NBC News article.

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s board to tour the Butte County community where the company’s equipment is suspected of starting a historically devastating California wildfire last year.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that “U.S. District Judge William Alsup made the decision at a sentencing hearing he held for the utility regarding a violation of its probation arising from the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion. Alsup previously found the utility did not properly report a settlement it reached over a small 2017 fire.”

Alsup said he wanted the energy company executives to “see the gravity of what happened up there” and indicated he likely will join the tour.

Read the SF Chronicle article.

Hanzo will present a webinar on how to structure a robust investigation protocol to help compliance teams conduct investigations on a regular basis.

The webinar, “Compliance Investigations: Best Practices and Effectiveness Essentials,” will be May 17, 2019, at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

Tom Fox, the Compliance Evangelist and the author of The Compliance Handbook, and Michael Volkov, CEO of the Volkov Law Group, will be presenters.

The webinar will cover:

1) Why the intake of a hotline report is a critical start of your investigation protocol.

2) How to effectively set up a triage program for all internal and external reporting.

3) The different levels of investigations you should set up.

4) What type of report you should issue.

5) How and why you should protect the privilege.

Register for the webinar.

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed weaker standards for cleaning up dangerous groundwater contamination sites across the country where chemicals containing fluorine-based PFAS compounds threaten drinking supplies of millions of Americans, according to a post by Androvett Legal Media & Marketing. The proposal would lower existing requirements for addressing groundwater contamination at military bases where large amounts of contamination have been documented.

“We’ve seen companies like 3M and DuPont fail to take responsibility for the health risks caused by the chemicals they created. Federal regulators should be increasing – not decreasing – oversight at this time,” said water contamination attorney Bryan Fears of Dallas-based Fears Nachawati, who represents individuals and local governments in water contamination litigation against makers of the chemicals. “This problem is not going away and cleaning up these sites must be a priority.”

Called “forever chemicals” because they never fully degrade, PFAS compounds have been found in drinking water used by 110 million people across the nation and in the blood of 98 percent of Americans. The compounds, which are found in hundreds of consumer and industrial products, have been linked to immune system problems and cancer. The EPA proposal would extend the timetable for cleanup at more than 400 military bases where the use of fire-retardant foam containing the chemicals has been blamed for serious groundwater contamination problems.

The EPA proposal is under a 45-day review and comment period. “Now is the time for Americans to speak up about this problem and ensure that contamination is addressed sooner rather than later,” said Fears. “This is a fight for safe drinking water for our communities, families and future generations to come.”

Stroock has named Laura Besvinick, an insurance litigation partner with more than 30 years of experience, as managing partner of its Miami office.

The firm said Besvinick’s practice focuses on the representation of insurers in bad faith actions, complex coverage disputes and consumer class actions. She also advises insurers on claims-handling and bad faith issues.

She received her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, and her A.B. from Harvard-Radcliffe College.

Jackson Walker announced the addition of Joseph P. Regan and Adam L. Plumbley to the Chambers USA-ranked Trial & Appellate Litigation practice in Fort Worth.

In a release, the firm said Regan practices energy litigation with a concentration in eminent domain and related matters. He regularly serves as counsel for midstream energy clients and other condemning authorities in matters related to real property rights acquisitions, easement negotiations, and condemnation proceedings and trials. He has spoken and written on a range of industry topics, including condemnation and eminent domain, general litigation, and issues impacting the energy industry and financial services institutions.

Regan received his B.A., summa cum laude, from The University of Texas at Arlington and his J.D. from SMU Dedman School of Law, where he served as Casenote Editor of the Computer Law Review and Technology Journal and was President of the Student Bar Association. Upon graduating law school, he served as a briefing attorney for Justice Douglas S. Lang of the Fifth District.

He is president of the Board of Directors for The WARM Place, a grief support center for children and their families. In addition, he is a member of the Texas Bar College and has held leadership positions on the Tarrant County Bar Association’s Board of Directors and several of its committees.

Plumbley represents oil and gas producers, utilities, common carriers, and midstream companies in all aspects of energy litigation, condemnation and eminent domain, and real property disputes. He also handles a variety of general commercial litigation, including product liability and financial services.

Plumbley received his J.D., cum laude, from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law (Texas A&M University School of Law), where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. Prior to law school, he received his B.A., magna cum laude, from Texas Christian University.

He is a member of the Tarrant County Bar Association and the Eldon B. Mahon American Inn of Court. Previously, he volunteered his time with the Board of Directors of the Ladder Alliance and the March of Dimes Fort Worth Division.

Blank Rome LLP announced that Richard J. Miller Jr. and Sean R. Weissbart have joined the firm as partners, along with additional professional staff, in its Tax, Benefits, and Private Client group.

In a release, the firm said they are based in the firm’s New York office, which relocated last week to 1271 Avenue of the Americas after 40 years in the Chrysler Building. The group joins from one of New York’s oldest law firms, Morris & McVeigh LLP, where Miller previously served as managing partner. Morris & McVeigh, which will wind down, was formed in 1862 under the name of Henry Lewis Morris. Originally, the firm was primarily engaged in managing the real estate interests of the Morris family, which owned large portions of Morrisania, and it also represented prominent New York families. It gradually enlarged its practice through the years, offering comprehensive legal services to individual and corporate clients, both foreign and domestic, and various nonprofit organizations and foundations.

Miller and Weissbart have experience in estate planning services, including probate and estate administration; trust administration; estate and trust litigation; nonprofit matters; matrimonial matters; and domestic and cross-border income, estate, and gift taxation, the firm said.

Fears Nachawati trial lawyer Jonathan Novak will be a featured speaker at a continuing legal education conference in Austin exploring legal issues surrounding the opioid epidemic.

The May 8 Opioid Litigation Conference, hosted by HarrisMartin Publishing, is titled “The State Court Case Against the PBMs, Retailers and Distributors.” Novak is scheduled to present the 11:15 a.m. seminar “Roadmap for Applying DEA Retail Pharmacy Regulation Strategy to State Claims,” a general discussion on distributor liability theories in the opioid litigation.

A former litigator with the U.S. Department of Justice, Novak’s work focused on controlled substance regulation, policy and compliance, including prosecuting opioid cases and working with the federal ARCOS database, which collects information on controlled substances transactions involving manufacturers and distributors, the firm said in a release.

At the Austin Opioid Litigation Conference, Novak also will participate in the 1:30 p.m. roundtable discussion on ARCOS data.

Novak played a role in an investigation detailing how opioid distributors worked with a handful of lawmakers to push through a law that stripped the Drug Enforcement Administration of its authority. After leaving the DEA, he took part in a high-profile opioid investigation that exposed the slowdown of DEA enforcement and the influence of pharmaceutical companies over agency investigations and prosecutions. His work was featured on “60 Minutes” and in The Washington Post.

William C. Vail Jr. has joined Littler as special counsel in its Atlanta office. Vail previously spent seven years at Kindred Healthcare and Kindred at Home. He most recently served as division vice president and deputy chief litigation officer of Kindred at Home, the nation’s largest home health and hospice provider.

In a release, the firm said that, at Kindred, Vail advised on employment law compliance across a wide range of areas, including wage and hour, employee benefits, leave administration and disability accommodation, and federal procurement and contract regulations. He has resolved employment disputes across the country involving such issues as discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour violations, and breaches of non-compete agreements. Vail also has experience conducting internal investigations, drafting employment agreements, policies and handbooks, performing due diligence for employment matters, and managing integration initiatives in mergers and acquisitions.

Vail received his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Kentucky College of Law and his B.A., cum laude, from Washington and Lee University.

Joan Baughan has joined Steptoe & Johnson LLP as a partner based in the Washington office. Baughan practices food and drug law, focusing on US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and comparable international regulation of food contact materials, drugs, drug packaging, cosmetics, and medical devices. She will lead the firm’s global food contact materials practice.

In a release, the firm said Baughan’s food contact regulatory work includes the broad spectrum of activities associated with food contact materials including regulatory filings, opinion letters, performing compliance audits and training courses for clients, and advising on recalls. She also advises clients on drug packaging regulations, medical devices, Proposition 65 warning requirements, and cosmetics packaging issues. Baughan has experience with the regulation of food packaging materials and medicinal products under European Union and member state legislation, and is also familiar with the food contact approval regimes in Canada, China, Japan, and MERCOSUR (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela).

Baughan earned her J.D. from the Catholic University of America, where she was managing editor of The Catholic University Law Review. She received both her B.S. and B.S.M.T. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Redgrave LLP announced that three of the firm’s attorneys have been ranked nationally for Litigation: E-Discovery in Chambers USA 2019, a leading resource guide for businesses seeking external legal counsel in the United States. In addition, three attorneys also are ranked in Chambers Global 2019 for Litigation: E-Discovery – USA.

Jonathan M. Redgrave, managing partner of the firm, is again ranked as the only “star” practitioner in the area, which Chambers awards to lawyers “with exceptional recommendations in their field.” Chambers USA’s editorial says:

Kevin F. Brady, of counsel at the firm, is ranked in Band 2 in the most recent USA listings.

Redgrave partner Karin S. Jenson is ranked in Band 4 in the most recent USA listing.

Redgrave partner Christopher Q. King is ranked in Band 4 in the most recent Global listing.

London-based Chambers and Partners annually ranks the leading U.S. firms and attorneys based on in-depth research and interviews with clients and peers. Chambers ranks individual lawyers in bands 1 (highest) to 6, with all band rankings considered to be a significant achievement. Chambers assesses attorneys on attributes most valued by clients, including technical legal ability, professional conduct, client service, commercial astuteness, diligence, and commitment.

Above the Law takes a look at a U.S. News & World Report survey that ranks law schools with the highest salary-to-debt ratios among 2017 graduates.

“There are several law schools that are not only highly ranked, but whose graduates are very well-compensated after graduation — in fact, they’re so well-compensated that it makes up for the high costs of their education,” explains Above the Law senior editor Staci Zaretsky.

The top 10 list includes Howard University, with a salary-to-debt ratio of 2.35 to 1. On the other end is the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill with a ratio of 1.51 to 1.

Read the Above the Law article.

Image by IowaPolitics.com

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s one-time personal lawyer and fixer, is due to report to the Federal Correctional Institute in Otisville, New York, about 70 miles northwest of New York City, on Monday, reports Reuters.

“The 52-year-old Cohen will be housed in dorm-like accommodations at the facility’s minimum-security camp, which prison consultants say has become a destination for Jewish inmates due to its proximity to New York City’s Jewish and upstate New York’s Orthodox Jewish enclaves,” writes Reuters’ Brendan Pierson.

A prison handbook says the camp offers weights and other exercise equipment, a basketball court, a tennis area and a baseball field, and bocce ball.

A former inmate said Cohen “can pretty much do what he wants,” but guards “intimidate you a lot. They speak down to you a lot. It’s not a pleasant atmosphere.”

Read the Reuters article.