The media, entertainment, and intellectual property practice group at Davis Wright Tremaine has expanded with the addition of M. Darren Traub, a litigator and transactional attorney, who will work in the firm’s offices in New York and Los Angeles.

Traub was previously a partner at Akerman LLP in New York City.

Dykema announced that a case the firm was involved in was named the winner of the Litigation of the Year – Cartel Defence at the Global Competition Review’s 9th annual GCR Awards. The award recognizes the decision from the Eastern District of Michigan denying class certification in Automotive Parts Antitrust Litigation in which Dykema served as Counsel to AB SKF, a leading Swedish-based bearings technology provider.

In a release, the firm said Dykema attorneys involved in the matter include Howard Iwrey, Cale Johnson, Cody Rockey and Brian Moore. The decision by the court was the first certification ruling in long-running multidistrict litigation (MDL) involving 44 separate lead cases alleging price-fixing and bid-rigging against dozens of Tier 1 suppliers of 44 separate parts.

In its ruling, the court ruled first that the direct purchase plaintiffs (aftermarket distributors of bearings impacted by one type of alleged conspiracy) failed to demonstrate that their claims were typical of other putative class members (which included OEMs allegedly impacted by other types of conspiracies) or that they could adequately represent the interest of all putative class members.

The firm’s release said the court also ruled that the plaintiffs failed to satisfy the Rule 23(b) predominance requirement (that questions of law or fact common to class members predominate over any questions affecting only individual members). The court (following the Supreme Court’s decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend) reasoned that the plaintiffs failed to isolate the effects of a given conspiratorial effort upon all or a significant portion of the proposed class, rejecting experts’ regression analyses and testimony about the overall nature and characteristics of the market for bearings.

GCR editors selected the finalists in each category, and readers voted on the winners. The awards were presented at a ceremony on March 26 in Washington, D.C.

Tai-Heng Cheng and Simon Navarro have joined Sidley Austin LLP as partner and counsel, respectively, in its New York office.

They join from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, where Cheng chaired the New York International Arbitration practice. As an arbitration practitioner, Cheng will help direct the growth and development of Sidley’s global arbitration practice, the firm said inn a release. He was previously a tenured professor of law at New York Law School and served as co-director of the Institute for Global Law, Justice and Policy. While Cheng is based in New York, he will also be spending time in Asia and Europe.

Fluent in both English and Mandarin, Cheng focuses his practice on international commercial and investor-state arbitration, having achieved nine-figure victories in high-profile matters in Asia, New York and Europe, the firm said. One of his arbitrations was Vantage v. Petrobras, an arbitration under the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, which resulted in an award of $622 million plus 15.2 percent compound interest for the client. Cheng has also represented his clients in litigation, investigations and government enforcement matters.

The firm said Navarro focuses his practice on representing clients in high-stakes, complex commercial and investment treaty arbitrations. He has experience working in Latin America and Spain and is licensed to practice law in the U.S. and Spain. Navarro works in energy, insurance, banking, mergers and acquisitions, construction and infrastructure. He is fluent in Spanish.

Cheng has served as tribunal chair or co-arbitrator in more than a dozen arbitrations before major international arbitral institutions across multiple continents, and is a member of the arbitration panels of arbitration institutions in North America, Europe and Asia.

Courtney C. Williams has joined Littler as an associate in the Nashville office. She joins from Bass, Berry & Sims PLC.

Williams both advises companies and litigates on their behalf on a wide-range of employment matters, including compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, discrimination and harassment, and claims of wrongful termination and defamation, the firm said in a release. She also works with clients to develop employee handbooks and advises on severance, non-compete and other employment-related agreements.

Williams received her J.D. from the William & Mary School of Law and her B.A. from Carson-Newman College. She is a member of the Tennessee Lawyers’ Association for Women.

Edward Zughaib has joined FisherBroyles, LLP as a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office and Real Estate and Financial Services & Lending practice groups.

In a release, the firm said Zughaib focuses his practice in real estate and real estate finance, including loans, workouts, foreclosures, the purchase and sale of real property, and the leasing of office, retail and industrial space. He has represented regional and national lenders and borrowers in loans secured by real estate and other collateral. He also has represented owners, developers and investors in acquiring and developing land for retail, commercial, industrial and residential real estate projects and in acquiring, selling and operating retail, office, multi-family and industrial properties. In addition, Zughaib’s experience includes creating and administering complex reciprocal covenant and easement agreements for large office parks and mixed-use developments, and representing landlords and tenants with respect to office, retail and industrial properties on an international basis.

Zughaib most recently was a partner at Locke Lord LLP. He also previously practiced at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, McGuire Woods LLP and Boothe, Prichard & Dudley,

Zughaib received his J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law and his Bachelor of Arts from Colgate University. He has been listed for Real Estate Law in The Best Lawyers in America referral guide for the last 20 years.

Andrew Kay has joined Venable LLP’s Commercial Litigation Practice as a partner in the Washington, DC office.

In a release, the firm said Kay focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, with a particular emphasis on representing life insurers and financial services firms in regulatory litigation and related counseling, along with consumer class actions and shareholder and securities matters.

Kay was recently named a Law360 MVP in recognition of two litigation victories against federal and state regulators, in which he secured injunctions against regulations that impacted the retirement investment and life insurance industries. Both cases involved closely watched regulatory initiatives: the Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule, and state unclaimed property regulators’ enforcement efforts directed toward life insurers. Kay has also successfully litigated in federal and state courts, including consumer and shareholder class action defense, breach of contract, business tort disputes, M&A disputes, governance disputes, and disputes over intellectual property ownership rights. He has experience litigating matters in a broad range of industries, including life insurance products, financial services, mortgage lending, chemicals, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications equipment, and energy.

Kay is a member of the board of trustees of Norwood School, an independent PK-8 school, where he chairs the development committee, and he serves on the development and alumni relations committee of the University of Michigan Law School. He also sits on the board of directors of Communities in Schools of the Nation’s Capital (CIS), an organization that partners with public schools in DC to provide support and services to students who are at risk of dropping out. He is also a former board president and trustee of Aidan Montessori School.

Kay received a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School in 1997, and a B.A. from Cornell University in 1994.

Bowling Green State University’s top lawyer was placed on leave Friday and will begin serving a 30-day jail sentence Monday after a Wood County judge found him to be in contempt of court while representing himself during his divorce hearings, according to The Toledo Blade.

The Blade‘s Allison Dunn explains:

Sean P. FitzGerald, 58, who is employed as the university’s general counsel and vice president, was sentenced by visiting Judge Stephen Yarbrough following a series of misbehavior incidents while representing himself in the Wood County Common Pleas Court Domestic Relations Division in the divorce from his wife, Margaret A. FitzGerald.

Read the Toledo Blade article.

Victims of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme convinced a federal magistrate judge April 11 that their class action against the attorney who represented them belongs in federal court, reports Bloomberg Law.

Investors claimed attorney Helen Chaitman of Chaitman LLP and Becker & Poliakoff LLP improperly represented clients with competing interests while at the two firms.

A magistrate judge found that the case shouldn’t be dismissed, writes Bloomberg’s Perry Cooper.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

A new article by two Gray Reed & McGraw lawyers in Houston covers the benefits and risks of hydraulic fracturing, including reduction of foreign imports, jobs, reduced prices for consumers, water quality and usage, air quality, earthquakes, and social impacts, writes John McFarland in the Oil and Gas Lawyer Blog of Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody.

“A Brief Look at the Law of Hydraulic Fracturing in Texas and Beyond” gives a balanced view of the ongoing debate over whether increased use of natural gas for generation of electricity reduces greenhouse gas emissions, whether there is a connection between hydraulic fracturing and earthquakes, and adverse impacts on roads and other infrastructure, according to McFarland.

Read the article.

Image by NY Photographic

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas issued an opinion holding that an unintentional, duplicate obligation remaining under a contract can render the contract executory, even if perhaps in contravention of the plain language of the contract.

Writing for Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ Bankruptcy blog, David Li discusses In re TM Village, Ltd.:

The TM Village opinion framed the issues as whether the parties’ prepetition settlement agreement was an executory contract, and if so, whether the debtor could reject it in its business judgment (the court held in the affirmative on both issues).  The court reaffirmed that the plain language of a contract may be read in a broader context to avoid an “unreasonable, inequitable and oppressive outcome.” The case serves as a cautionary tale that even a simple clerical error may have unintended and prolonged consequences.

Read the article.

The 9th Circuit recently handed down an opinion that helps provide guidance to those employers trying to comply with collective bargaining agreements while simultaneously being challenged to apply potentially inconsistent definitions in California’s overtime law, writes Rebecca King for a Fisher & Phillips website post.

The case involved an offshore oil worker whose contract called for 12-hour shifts for a week and required him to be on the off platform between shifts. He wanted to be paid for the hours he was required to be on site.

Read the article.

While certain courts look with skepticism on class-action waivers in arbitration agreements, it is clear from the Supreme Court’s decisions, beginning with AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion through the court’s most recent decision in Epic Systems Corporation v. Lewis, that class action arbitration waivers do not violate the law, according to a Faegre Baker Daniels website post.

Ehren M. Fournier writes that Epic Systems reiterates the Court’s deference to arbitration agreements.

He discusses several points to consider when drafting an arbitration agreement with a class action waiver, including an opt-out option, conspicuous language, delegations to an arbitrator to decide enforcement, authority to allow class action, cost and fee provisions, severance language, and a claimant-friendly forum.

Read the article.

Jay Sawczak of Farrell Fritz has been selected to receive a 2019 Young Professionals Award from the Subcontractors Trade Association’s Young Professionals Committee.

Sawczak was honored on April 11 at the 50th Annual Construction Awards Dinner.

The Young Professionals Award is designed to honor innovative individuals that are emerging throughout the building and professional services industry.

Sawczak, a Hoboken, NJ, resident, earned his J.D. from Rutgers Law School and his B.S. from the University of Vermont.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP announced that it has received the 2018 Chapter 11 Reorganization of the Year ($50 to $100 million) Award from M&A Advisor for the firm’s role in the Chapter 11 case of Vanguard Healthcare and its 17 subsidiaries.

Bradley was the debtor’s counsel in the case, which was among the winners of M&A Advisor’s 13th Annual Turnaround Awards. Bradley partners William L. Norton III and James Blake Bailey served as lead bankruptcy attorneys, firm partner Michael D. Brent served as lead corporate counsel, and Bradley partner Ty E. Howard served as lead litigation counsel in the case.

The awards were presented during the 2019 M&A Advisor Distressed Investing Summit March 28 in Palm Beach, Fla. Bradley bankruptcy partner William A. Norton III accepted the award on behalf of the firm, along with a representative of BMC Group, which was the claims agent for the Vanguard Healthcare case.

Based in Bradley’s Nashville office, Norton is a member of the firm’s Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights Practice Group. He has experience with both debtor and creditor representation in bankruptcy, out-of-court workouts and restructurings, and bankruptcy-related litigation.

Based in Bradley’s Birmingham office, Bailey is a member of the firm’s Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights Practice Group. He has experience with both debtor and creditor representation in bankruptcy, out-of-court workouts and restructurings, and bankruptcy-related litigation. He also regularly represents commercial lenders and mortgage servicers in federal court commercial litigation.

Brent is based in Bradley’s Nashville, Tenn., office and is a member of the firm’s Healthcare Practice Group. He focuses his practice primarily on business law, representing clients in a wide range of transactional, regulatory and operational matters.

Also based in the Nashville office, Howard is a member of the firm’s Government Enforcement and Investigations Practice Group. He defends and counsels businesses and individuals involved in government investigations, compliance matters, False Claims Act and whistleblower cases, related business litigation, and white-collar criminal matters.

The Turnaround Awards recognize the best of the distressed investing and reorganization industry, including leading transactions, firms and individuals. The 2018 nominations represented more than 276 participating companies and were judged by an independent panel of industry experts. For a complete list of the 2018 Turnaround Awards winners, visit: https://maadvisor.com/DITA/2019-DITA/13th_Annual_Turnaround_Award_Winners_List.pdf.