Barnes & Thornburg has added Mark Keenan as a partner in the firm’s Labor and Employment Department in the Atlanta office.

In a release, the firm said Keenan advises management on complex workforce issues, with an emphasis on union avoidance campaigns and matters before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). His experience spans several industries, including financial services, healthcare, manufacturing and construction.

“Mark helps clients minimize the inherent risks of managing a workforce and provides comprehensive legal counsel in connection with discrimination matters, NLRB enforcement, and wage and hour issues,” said Kenneth J. Yerkes, chair of Barnes & Thornburg’s Labor and Employment Department. “Additionally, he has a proven track-record of engaging clients in union avoidance activities prior to the formation of an actual campaign.”

Keenan’s practice also encompasses non-compete and trade secrets litigation; issues related to the National Labor Relations Act; matters before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; ERISA litigation; and arbitration cases. He has guided employers through collective bargaining negotiations; traditional labor cases before federal courts of appeal; and the implementation of employee retention strategies, the release said.

Keenan is the latest addition to the firm’s Atlanta office, which also just added commercial and IP litigator Christina Baugh. Previously, Keenan was a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP.

“Over his 30-year career, Mark has earned the reputation as one of the top labor attorneys in the country,” said John T.L. Koenig, Atlanta managing partner and member of the Labor and Employment Department. “We’re excited to have him aboard and look forward to his contributions as we continue to grow our presence in the Southeast.”

Keenan earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law, and his B.B.A from the University of Iowa.

Jackson Walker has added Jennifer Caughey as a partner in its Houston office. A civil litigator and former justice on the Texas First Court of Appeals, Caughey will co-chair the appellate section of Jackson Walker’s Trial & Appellate Litigation practice.

“We are honored to have Justice Caughey join the firm. She represents everything we look for in our attorneys—smart, energetic, and determined to get to the bottom of every case,” managing partner Wade Cooper said. “Her significant experience and capabilities are a natural fit for Jackson Walker.”

Houston litigation partner Chip Babcock said: “Justice Caughey was a highly respected judge on the Houston Court of Appeals and our clients will benefit tremendously from her insight gained from that experience now that she has reentered private practice.”

Litigation chair Ross Forbes Jr., added: “We are fortunate to have such an outstanding team of trial and appellate attorneys who offer a wealth of experience for our clients. Jennifer joins an ever-growing list of Jackson Walker attorneys who have served on the bench, including judges David Folsom and Len Wade.”

While serving on the First Court of Appeals, Caughey authored more than 125 opinions (half signed, half per curiam) and participated in approximately 450 decisions. She wrote decisions in cases involving high-profile commercial disputes; statutory, contractual, and common law claims; and constitutional challenges.

At Jackson Walker, Justice Caughey will focus on appellate matters and complex litigation, the firm said in a release.

“Serving on the First Court of Appeals was an extraordinary honor, and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity,” Caughey said. “Now, I’m excited to begin the next chapter of my career and join the strong team of attorneys at Jackson Walker.”

Jutice Caughey earned her law degree from Harvard Law School, where she was an executive editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. She received her bachelor’s degree from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. After law school, Caughey clerked for the Timothy M. Tymkovich, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and for Justice Robert J. Cordy of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

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A study by U.S. News & World Report reveals that the 11 law schools with the highest scores on the  Law School Admission Test had average median scores of nearly 171.

That score compares with the national average median of 156, based on LSAT scores reported by 192 ranked schools to U.S. News in an annual survey.

Harvard University and Yale University tied for the top median LSAT score, with full-time law students entering in fall 2018 earning a 173 at both institutions, the magazine reports.

Read the U.S. News article.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a $1.5 million award to ex-NBA All Star David West, who claimed he qualified for a payout in the BP oil spill settlement because he earned less in 2010 than in 2009.

Reuters reporter Alison Frankel explains that West “was in the fourth year of a five-year, $45 million contract with the New Orleans Hornets when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in 2010. West was paid every penny of the $45 million he was owed under his contract, including the full amount he was due in the year after the spill. He nevertheless argued – and the settlement administrator agreed – that under the definitions and formulas in BP settlement, he qualified for a payout for economic losses because he earned less in 2010 than in 2009. The 5th Circuit shut that right down.”

5th Circuit Judge Andrew Oldham, who wrote for the panel, didn’t see it that way: “In 2010, he earned exactly what he was entitled to receive under his contract.”

Read the Reuters article.

Justin Paperny, a a former Bear Stearns stockbroker who spent 18 months in federal prison for conspiring to commit fraud, has become a go-to resource for wealthy criminals preparing for prison, according to a report in The Washington Post.

He and his eight-person firm, White Collar Advice, have already been hired by one person tied to the college admissions scandal. Post reporter Peter Holley writes that Paperny provided an invoice showing a down payment of several thousand dollars. And multiple people charged in the scandal have reached out to him for advice, he said, and he suspects he may be hired by several of them.

“Paperny said his fee — which could reach tens of thousands of dollars for his latest client — is high, in part, because he’s one of the few people who can speak to upper-crust criminals in a language they understand,” writes Holley.

Read the Post article.

Three trends have dominated the practice of law, and personal injury law in Texas, writes Bryan O. Blevins, an equity partner with Beaumont, Texas-based Provost Umphrey Law Firm. These are tort reform, judicial activism, and technology.

Tort reform has resulted in many more deserving victims having the courthouse doors slammed shut than frivolous claims being denied, Blevins writes in the article originally published in Texas Lawyer.

“Judicial activism can best be seen in the increase of appeals accepted and the almost universal reversal of trial judgments that favor plaintiff personal injury victims,” in Blevins’ view. “In the last 20 years, we have seen the explosive growth of appellate courts substituting their own version of end-result oriented justice through the guise of ‘expert’ qualification and testimony.”

And new technologies are forcing attorneys to rethink questions that, under other circumstances, may have been much simpler to answer, he added, citing legal issues surrounding driverless cars as an example of the new challenges lawyers must face.

Read the article.

In just six years, immersive technologies of XR, including augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality, will be as ubiquitous as mobile devices. That’s the opinion of nearly nine in 10 respondents to a new survey of startup founders, technology company executives, investors, and consultants by global law firm Perkins Coie LLP and the XR Association.

Perkins Coie provided a summary of the survey results:

Strong Confidence About Future of Immersive Technologies, Despite Concerns About User Adoption

The broad feeling of optimism when it comes to the technologies listed above (more commonly referred to as AR, VR, and MR) shows the enormous potential of immersive technology as we enter the third decade of the 21st century.

Investment in the space is still somewhat unpredictable, but it surged in late 2018. The fourth quarter saw a spike in global venture capital deal value to $1.7 billion USD in AR and VR, more than the amount of the previous three quarters combined, according to PitchBook. Investment also rose year-over-year, from more than $2.5 billion USD in 2017 to $3.8 billion USD in 2018. There were slightly fewer total deals in 2018 and many of them were in later financing rounds – perhaps signs that investors are eager to jump in but want surer bets from more mature players. It could also be a sign that companies are staying around longer, maturing, and moving through the start-up realm to become more established. As one investor explained, “It is an exciting time to be living with this type of technology.”

But, similar to findings from past surveys, concerns remain about the quality of user experience and available content offerings, along with the pace of adoption. Respondents found user experience, such as bulky hardware or technical glitches, to be the biggest obstacle for mass adoption of AR (26 percent) and VR (27 percent), but that’s down from last year when user experience was at 39 percent for AR and 41 percent for VR. In 2019, content offerings were also a concern for mass adoption for both AR (24 percent) and VR (19 percent), staying similar to 2018’s survey for both for AR (25 percent) and VR (17 percent).

Despite these concerns, industry and investor sentiment remains positive. “The idea of VR and AR as a means of connecting people to the digital world in a much more natural and human way is profound,” said Tipatat Chennavasin, general partner at Venture Reality Fund. “It will help everyone benefit from the power of the digital economy. It allows us to redefine computer literacy—we can adapt the computer to the way we think and want to work.”

North America Top Region for Investment with Promise Elsewhere

As the potential of these technologies is realized, some geographies and sectors appear more promising than others. North America, perhaps not surprisingly, was considered the top region for investment by 62 percent of respondents and was expected to witness the fastest growth in the next five years (57 percent). Still, the survey found promise for the technologies around the globe. Only 13 percent of respondents identified the Asia-Pacific region as most promising for investment, but significantly, 18 percent said it will witness the fastest growth in the industry in the next five years, which represents a 38 percent spread in the tech-hungry Asian market.

As was the case in previous surveys, gaming again led the pack when it comes to how the technology could be applied. Fifty-four percent of respondents said gaming is where they expect to see the most investing in the development of immersive technology or content in the next 12 months. Not far behind, 43 percent of respondents chose healthcare and medical devices. There was a strong diversity of answers to the question – education, military and defense, and manufacturing and automotive were all chosen by at least 20 percent of respondents – an indication of how the space is maturing.

Workforce development also showed promise. When shown the statement, “XR is highly applicable to workforce development at this time,” 78 percent of respondents agreed. When then asked about the top workforce uses for XR, there was a connection between providing access to all information in real time and facilitating training and mirroring real-life experiences.

Industry Bolsters Privacy and Security Measures

When respondents were asked about legal risks while developing immersive technology, consumer privacy and data security (61 percent) came out on top. This was up significantly from Perkins Coie’s 2018 survey, in which only 44 percent of respondents listed consumer privacy and data security as a concern, most likely as a result of new regulations in the EU and California. Other top issues for 2019 included product liability/health and safety issues (49 percent), difficulty in licensing technology and IP (32 percent), potential infringement of third-party owned IP (30 percent) and compliance with platform requirements in publishing content (30 percent).

Companies have responded to these new regulations and privacy concerns by updating privacy policies and disclosures regarding consumer data (47 percent) the top identified way to address concerns. But other approaches didn’t fall far behind. Companies are also strengthening data security measures (42 percent), limiting the amount of personal information that is shared (40 percent) and training employees about risks (26 percent).

“Privacy and data security are prevalent topics across the board in technology companies, so it is not surprising that those involved with AR, VR, and MR are focused on these issues as well,” said Kirk Soderquist, Co-Chair of Perkins Coie’s Interactive Entertainment Practice. “But maybe more interesting is how companies are working to protect their consumers’ data and themselves in the process of complying with the GDPR and the CCPA. As companies work toward compliance as even more regulations are passed, I expect this to be a continued discussion in coming years.”

The survey was completed by 200 respondents from a variety of industries, more than half of whom held C-level or VP titles. To view the complete Perkins Coie Augmented and Virtual Reality Survey report, as well as an infographic summarizing the results, please click here.

In addition to Firmwide Interactive Entertainment Co-Chair Kirk Soderquist, the Perkins Coie attorneys who developed the survey report and analysis included Donald Karl, Jason Schneiderman, Andrew Grant, and Ronald Koo. For more information on Perkins Coie’s areas of focus in the AR/VR industry, please click here.

Forbes contributor Jack Garson says a company’s contracts can be remendous assets that lock down rights to money, goods and services. But common mistakes can ruin all of that.

In his article, he discusses five mistakes that can turn contracts into liabilities.

They include using a one-sided agreement, bad drafting, using outdated contracts, using agreements that ignore the law, and failing to prioritize.

Read the article.

CobbleStone Softare, developer of contract management software, announced the “Mastering Contract Management Blog Series.”

In a release, the company said the goal for this blog series is to address the biggest challenges of contract management by providing insights on how to improve contract management processes and optimize contract lifecycles with leading contract management software.

Blog posts released, to-date, in the “Mastering Contract Management Blog Series” include:
• Contract Tracking
• Contract Approvals
• Contract Clauses

The Texas offices of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP have elevated Todd Basile and Adelaida Vasquez to shareholder, and Audrey Chang and Peter Lacina to of counsel.

Chang and Vasquez work in the firm’s Houston office, while Basile and Lacina work in the firm’s Dallas office.

Basile is in the Intellectual Property & Technology Practice; Vasquez is in the White Collar Defense & Special Investigations Practice; Change is in the Corporate Practice; and Lacina is in the Litigation Practice.

See more information on the four.

Defendants in the college admissions cheating scandal case have been turning to Biglaw firms for representation, including Cooley, Sidley Austin, Latham & Watkins, Boies Schiller Flexner, and Ropes & Gray.

Bloomberg Law reports that two of the latest hires are Cooley partners Randall R. Lee and William Schwartz, who have been hired by Jane Buckingham, the founder and chief executive of Trendera, a youth marketing consultancy. Prosecutors allege she paid $50,000 for someone to take the ACT college entrance exam in her son’s place.

And Jack W. Pirozzolo, a partner in Sidley Austin’s Boston office, is representing William McGlashan Jr., who worked at private equity firm TPG before being fired in the wake of the scandal.

Read the Bloomberg article.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore is being sued by a former public shareholder of a grocery chain in a class action that alleges the firm breached its fiduciary duty by providing tainted advice that directed the grocer toward a buyer, private equity group Apollo Global Management, reports Bloomberg Law.

In the complaint, the former shareholder claims Cravath crafted a “false and misleading” U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing relating to the 2016 $1.36 billion leveraged buyout of The Fresh Market by Apollo.

The complaint alleges Cravath drafted the SEC filing “to procure stockholder approval and cover up prior wrongdoing,” and in doing so, pocketed $5.5 million in fees in what amounted to “a sham sale process.”

Read the Bloomberg article.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that former members of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have provided enough evidence of misdeeds by their old lawyers for parts of a lawsuit to proceed, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.

The Tribune‘s Nate Carlisle explains:

The former sect members must still prove their case in a Salt Lake City courtroom, the appeals court said. The Denver-based appeals court only considered the narrow issue of whether federal Judge Ted Stewart correctly dismissed a lawsuit filed against FLDS President Warren Jeffs and the law firm which used to represent his church, Snow Christensen & Martineau.

The plaintiffs, ex-Jeffs followers, contend the lawyers helped Jeffs find legal mechanisms to hide child rape as well as benefit from child labor, kick people out of their homes and separate them from their families, Carlisle writes.

Read the Salt Lake Tribune article.

NAVEX Global will present a complimentary webinar title “Employee Hotlines: What Is Your Data Telling You?” on Thursday, April 4, at 10 a.m. Pacific time/1 p.m. Eastern time.

Studies show that effective internal whistleblower programs contribute to business success, including lower levels of litigation. Yet, external reports to the SEC are on the rise, with many employees failing to use internal reporting systems due to fear of retaliation.

The webinar will allow participants to compare how their hotline programs measures up against benchmarks from more than one million anonymized reports from industry leader NAVEX Global.

Register for the webinar.

Morae Global and SimpleLegal will present a breakfast and a panel discussion offering a practical look at digital transformation in corporate legal departments.

The complimentary event will be Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 7:30-9 a.m. CDT, Wells Fargo Plaza, 1000 Louisiana Street, Ground Floor Auditorium, Houston, TX 77002.

Digital transformation has become a rallying cry for business and technology strategists, the sponsors said in a release. Unfortunately, only 19 percent of in-house legal teams are well positioned to support enterprise digital efforts (Gartner). This presents a great opportunity for legal departments to use new technologies to reduce operating costs, increase productivity, and deliver enhanced new services to their company and adhere to regulatory and compliance obligations.

The event will cover:

• The Way We Work – Rethinking workflows and ensuring that the right people are doing the right work.
• Transformative Use of Technology – Considering how to leverage digital technologies in transforming work, collaboration and business facilitation.
• Use of Data Analytics – How businesses can identify previously unknown correlations among data to better predict outcomes, optimize delivery, mitigate risk, and tailor solutions to consumer demands and expectations.
• Change Management and Adoption – Best practices on leveraging change management to assist in the successful digital transformation of the legal department.

The panel will consist of Russ Dempsey (AGC at AIG), Ben Chrisman (AGC at Gridliance) and Ryan Murphy (Director of Legal Operations at LyondellBasell).

Register for the event.

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP will present a free webinar, “Back on Track?: Obtaining Software Patents Using New Patent Office Guidance,” featuring Fitch Even attorneys Timothy R. Baumann and George N. Dandalides.

The event will be on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at 9 am PDT / 10 am MDT / 11 am CDT / 12 noon EDT. It also will be available as an on-demand webinar after presentation.

Obtaining patents for software-related inventions has become more difficult in recent years, in the U.S. and throughout the world. However, recently released USPTO guidance addressing patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 and § 112, among other developments, offers some amount of much-needed clarity and direction.

During this webinar, presenters will share information and insights on:
• USPTO’s 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance
• USPTO’s 2019 Guidance on Examining Computer-Implemented Functional Claim Limitations
• How to use the recent guidance fruitfully, including claim-drafting strategies and evaluation of example claims
• Drafting strategies for filing software patent applications in foreign jurisdictions
• What the future may hold for software patentability

Register for the webinar.

The Ninth Circuit has ruled in a contract arbitration case that incorporated multiple Federal Acquisition Regulation clauses that govern the recovery of expenses in the event a contractor is terminated for convenience, i.e. required documentation and procedures.

Pepper Hamilton’s Constructlaw blog discusses Aspic Eng’g & Constr. Co. v. ECC Centcom Constructors LLC, in which an arbitrator had awarded Aspic more than $1 million. The arbitrator concluded that Aspic was not required to strictly comply with the FAR requirements based on several factors.

“The crux of the decision turns on whether the arbitrator’s decision draws its essence from the contract. The Ninth Circuit also explained that whether the award directly conflicted with the subcontracts was insufficient—on its own—to vacate the award,” the blog post explains.

Read the article.

The Pettit Law Firm announced that former Texas Court of Appeals Justice Craig Stoddart has joined the commercial and real estate litigation boutique as senior counsel.

Stoddart served on the 5th District Court of Appeals in Dallas from 2014-2018. He presided over 1,300 cases and authored more than 400 opinions, many involving complex commercial cases.

He also represented the state of Texas in more than 140 appellate prosecutions before joining the Court of Appeals.

“Justice Stoddart’s unique combination of trial court success and appellate expertise will greatly benefit our clients,” said firm founding partner Julie Pettit. “He provides our trial team with a pragmatic appellate perspective as we prepare for the courtroom, and he has the experience and expertise to assist our clients on appeal. We are honored to have such a knowledgeable and well-respected lawyer become a part of our firm.”

“I am extremely excited to join the team of talented attorneys at The Pettit Law Firm,” said Stoddart. “It is unusual to find a boutique firm that is so client-focused and achieves such impressive trial results. I look forward to serving our clients in trial and appellate work here.”

Before his judicial career, Stoddart served as appellate prosecutor for the Rockwall County Criminal District Attorney’s Office for 22 years. He has argued before appellate courts across the state, including the state’s highest criminal court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

He earned his law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law and is a graduate of the University of North Texas.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP announced that Kim Bessiere Martin, a partner in the firm’s Huntsville office, has been named Litigation Practice group leader. Leigh Anne Hodge and Michael R. Pennington, both partners in Bradley’s Birmingham office, will serve as assistant practice group leaders.

“We are thrilled to introduce Kim as the new leader of our highly acclaimed Litigation Practice Group,” said Bradley Chairman of the Board and Managing Partner Jonathan M. Skeeters. “We are also pleased that Leigh Anne and Mike will be assisting in leading the expansive efforts of that team. They all bring years of experience as top litigators and are committed to continuing Bradley’s track record of success for our clients in courtrooms nationwide.”

In a release, the firm said the Litigation Practice Group is Bradley’s largest practice and includes nearly half of the firm’s more than 500 attorneys who represent clients in litigation and arbitration in every U.S. state and federal district court across the country, as well as internationally.

Martin previously served as co-chair of Bradley’s Life Sciences Litigation team and focuses her practice on general litigation with an emphasis on medical device and pharmaceutical products liability litigation, as well as white collar matters and False Claims Act litigation. She has experience representing media clients on First Amendment issues and defamation claims. Her trial experience includes defense of personal injury, products liability, commercial litigation, First Amendment, and labor and employment claims. She has tried cases in state and federal court.

Martin has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® and was named by Best Lawyers as the Commercial Litigation “Lawyer of the Year” in Huntsville for 2013. Also ranked as a Super Lawyer for Personal Injury – Products: Defense, Ms. Martin was named to Mid-South Super Lawyers’ list of “Top 50 Women” for 2018.

Hodge represents clients in the healthcare industry in regional and national engagements. She regularly represents and counsels clients in product liability litigation, medical malpractice litigation, peer review and staff privileges matters, ERISA litigation, Medicare Advantage plan litigation, managed care litigation, insurance disputes, and insurance fraud cases. She has tried cases in federal and state courts and has experience in arbitration venues.

Hodge has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for Product Liability Litigation Defense, Healthcare Law, ERISA Litigation, Employee Benefits, and Insurance Law. In addition, she has been included in Benchmark Litigation in its Alabama litigation section and is listed in Mid-South Super Lawyers for Personal Injury-Products: Defense.

In addition to his new role, Pennington also leads the firm’s Class Actions team, which he helped establish more than 25 years ago. His practice includes class actions of every type, defense of insurers in sales practice, high-stakes litigation, and complex commercial litigation. He has defended class actions in state and federal courts. His practice also includes a variety of other financial services, insurance, and general commercial litigation in Alabama and throughout the country.

Pennington has spoken on class action litigation and other litigation topics for the American Council of Life Insurers and ALFA Corporation, as well as at numerous seminars across the country. He chairs the DRI’s Class Action Task Force and serves on the steering committees for DRI’s annual Class Actions Seminar and the American Law Firm Association’s biannual Insurance Roundtable. Pennington has consistently been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for his work in defending commercial litigation, mass tort litigation, and bet-the-company litigation. He also has been recognized in the Chambers USA, Benchmark Litigation and Super Lawyers listings of top U.S. lawyers.

Laurence S. Kirsch has joined Sidley Austin LLP in Washington, D.C., as a partner in its Environmental practice. He joins Sidley from Goodwin Procter LLP, where he chaired the firm’s Energy and Environment practice.

In a release, the firm said Kirsch, a litigator, focuses his practice on environmental matters involving contaminated sites, sediments, hazardous waste, toxic substances regulation, vapor intrusion, natural resource damages, environmental cost allocation proceedings, and environmental issues in bankruptcy proceedings. He has experience with federal statutes, particularly the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and related state laws. He also advises clients on the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Toxic Substances Control Act.

On the transactional side, Kirsch regularly counsels businesses on the environmental implications of real estate and corporate organizations and transactions. He has also been involved with environmental due diligence and structuring and negotiating deal terms to allow M&A and lending transactions to proceed notwithstanding environmental complications, the firm said.
Mr. Kirsch will add to the firm’s depth of environmental litigation expertise and its ability to serve clients in multidisciplinary matters across a broad geographic region.

“Larry is a pre-eminent environmental practitioner, particularly highly regarded for his work on large and complex Superfund sites, including contaminated sediment sites and their allocation proceedings,” said David Buente, a Sidley partner and co-leader of the firm’s Environmental practice. “He is known for having won some important Superfund decisions that many thought unwinnable. Our clients will value Larry’s deep knowledge of federal and state agencies in today’s evolving regulatory landscape. Sidley is, and always has been, a destination for top talent and we’re pleased Larry is joining our team.”