Kyle Gruder and Katherine Medianik have joined Farrell Fritz as first-year associates. Gruder is resident in the firm’s Water Mill office, and Medianik is resident in the Uniondale office.

They were both previously summer associates and law clerks at the firm. Gruder was admitted to the New York bar on January 9, 2019, and Medianik was admitted on February 6, 2019.

Gruder is a Patchogue, NY, resident. He earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University in May 2018, and his B.A., summa cum laude, from Stony Brook University.

Medianik is a Brooklyn, NY, resident. She earned her J.D., cum laude, from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in May 2018, and her B.A., magna cum laude, from Binghamton University — State University of New York.

Brown Rudnick LLP, an international law firm, announced the promotions of four lawyers to partner. Anupreet Amole, Kenneth Aulet, Zachary D. Hyde, and Chelsea Mullarney joined the partnership on February 1, 2019.

They will join four practice groups including White Collar Crime, Bankruptcy and Corporate Restructuring, Intellectual Property, and Commercial Litigation, the firm said in a release.

“We are very pleased to welcome these four attorneys to our firm’s partnership,” commented Brown Rudnick Chairman and CEO Joseph F. Ryan. “Each of them exemplifies our firm’s strong dedication to professional excellence and will strengthen our ability to provide a high level of client service in key practice areas.”

“We are excited about this opportunity to continue to grow and develop our talent pool,” said Bill Baldiga, Managing Director of the firm’s Litigation & Restructuring Department. “We have also had a successful year in attracting new lateral partners to the firm. We are committed to growing our firm in strategic ways, including through the development and addition of high-level talent in 2019 and beyond.”

The newly promoted partners are based in the firm’s Boston, London and New York offices.

The firm’s release continues:

The firm’s new partners include:

Anupreet Amole: White Collar Crime (London)

Anupreet advises companies and individuals on business crime and corporate compliance issues. Anupreet handles sensitive investigations in a range of multi-jurisdictional matters, focusing upon allegations of bribery and corruption, fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering.

Kenneth Aulet: Bankruptcy and Corporate Restructuring (New York)

Ken focuses his practice on bankruptcy and bankruptcy litigation, including regularly representing official committees, ad hoc committees, and other parties in interest in complex Chapter 11 cases, SIPA proceedings, and associated litigation across a wide array of industries. Ken has extensive trial experience in contested bankruptcy matters, adversary proceedings, and other litigation.

Zachary D. Hyde: Intellectual Property (Boston)

Zachary counsels clients in pursuing commercially relevant intellectual property protection strategies. He has extensive experience securing patents in areas including life sciences, biotechnology, bioinformatics, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductor devices and optical systems.

Chelsea Mullarney: Commercial Litigation (New York)

Chelsea’s practice includes representing clients in all aspects of litigation and arbitration matters focusing on contract and business disputes, financial services, unfair competition, and complex commercial litigation. Chelsea’s experience includes trials and appeals in state and federal courts and the American Arbitration Association and the representation of creditor committees and foreign liquidators in bankruptcy courts.

Camarin E.B. Madigan has joined Perkins Coie’s Real Estate and Land Use practice in San Francisco.

In a release, the firm said Madigan, an experienced real estate, land use and energy attorney, advises developers, landowners, lenders, and public agencies on acquisitions and dispositions and leasing for complex development projects and commercial properties, as well as land use entitlements and environmental permits. She regularly handles matters that involve an array of property types, including office buildings, research and development campuses, retail centers, medical facilities, hospitals and residential communities.

“The Bay Area is one of the most vibrant real estate markets in the world, and Camarin brings a strong reputation among the major players in the area,” said Cecily Barclay, Chair of Perkins Coie’s Real Estate and Land Use practice. “Camarin’s addition is important to the continued success of our national practice group and to strengthening client relationships through our professional excellence and focused client service.”

Madigan’s top clients include universities, technology companies, homebuilders and energy companies. She represents Stanford University in negotiating ground leases at the 700-acre Stanford Research Park and in real estate acquisitions, dispositions and leases across Stanford’s more than 8,000 acres. She also leads real estate transactions in the San Francisco Bay Area for bio-tech, emerging growth and other tech companies. Camarin counsels homebuilders in the acquisition and development of property for multi-family, mixed-use and transit-oriented projects throughout California. Additionally, Camarin has represented several solar companies in the acquisition and entitlement of solar projects in California, the western United States and internationally.

“Camarin’s addition will make an immediate impact on our firm’s efforts in Northern California and beyond,” said Barbara Schussman, Managing Partner of Perkins Coie’s San Francisco office. “She brings a tremendous opportunity to continue to expand our real estate and land use work in California and nationally.”

Over the course of her career, Madigan has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America (2017-2019) and in The Legal 500 US (2016-2018), among other nationally recognized rankings. She received her J.D., cum laude, from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and her B.A., with honors, from Grinnell College. Madigan joins Perkins Coie from Morgan Lewis.

Brian A. Colao, Director of Dykema’s Dental Service Organizations Industry Group, was selected for inclusion in Group Dentistry Now’s “2019 DSO Influencer’s List.” Colao is just one of seven individuals chosen for the publication’s inaugural list and is the only attorney to receive this recognition.

Here’s a portion of what Group Dentistry Now had to say about Colao and Dykema’s Dental Service Organizations Industry Group:

“As a leader within Dykema, Brian has helped transform the firm’s DSO group into a renowned leader in the middle market for DSO buy-side and sell-side transactions, and is considered one of the foremost authorities in North America on the DSO space. He and the DSO group provide valued counsel in developing innovative regulatory compliant DSO models and numerous alternative DSO structures, DSO business agreements, DSO M&A transactions, and DSO compliance.

“Brian also spearheaded the creation of Dykema’s renowned Definitive Conference for Dental Service Organizations. In 2014, Brian led his team to form this industry-leading DSO conference. Approaching its sixth year in 2019, it now draws more than 600 attendees and represents a “who’s who” of all segments of the DSO industry.”

In addition to his work in the dental industry, Colao has a nationwide practice that focuses on all facets of complex commercial litigation, including contractual disputes, franchise disputes, issues of corporate governance, breach of fiduciary duty, theft of trade secrets, unfair competition, covenants not to compete, patent, trademark and copyright infringement, fraud and deceptive trade practices, disparagement, lender liability and other business claims, the firm said in a release.

He earned a J.D. from Vanderbilt University and a B.A., with outstanding academic achievement, from Binghamton University State University of New York.

Freeborn & Peters LLP announced the expansion of its Trusts and Estates and Family Office practices with the addition of Michael D. Whitty as a partner.

“We are thrilled to welcome Michael to our Freeborn team of dedicated tax and estate planning practitioners as we continue to enhance and expand the breadth and depth of our practice,” said William E. Russell, Freeborn Co-Managing Partner and a member of the firm’s Trusts and Estates practice. “Michael is a distinguished and accomplished leader who brings more than two decades of experience and he will be a great counselor for our diverse client base including executives, closely held businesses, entrepreneurs, and wealthy families.”

Also a member of Freeborn’s Corporate Practice Group, Whitty concentrates his practice in estate planning, taxation, and estate and trust administration. He represents business owners, principals of venture capital and private equity funds, key executives, investors, and other high net worth individuals in planning for the preservation and transfer of their wealth. In addition, Whitty consults with executors, administrators, guardians, and trustees in probate and trust administration, and advises clients in connection with litigation involving disputes between trustees and beneficiaries and in contested trust and tax matters, the firm said in a release.

A frequent speaker on estate and financial planning topics, Whitty is a Fellow of both the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the Family Firm Institute. In addition, he is a director and the vice president/treasurer of Attorneys for Family-Held Enterprises and a member of the Chicago Estate Planning Council.

Prior to joining Freeborn, Whitty was a partner with Handler Thayer LLP in Chicago.

Whitty received his J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law and his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a Certified Financial Planner and is licensed in Illinois, Michigan, Texas, and the U.S. Tax Court.

A Bloomberg columnist sees seven leading contenders for President Donald Trump to consider for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, should the need arise.

“The four candidates under most serious consideration are all appeals-courts judges who were placed on the bench by Trump,” writes opinion columnist Ramesh Ponnuru.

Among the prospects is Amy Coney Barrett, whose confirmation to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals became a national news story in September 2017 when Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein and a few other critics made an issue of the nominee’s religious views.

The list of seven contenders also includes two judges who were considered for previous Supreme Court vacancies.

Read the Bloomberg article.

Alphabet Inc.’s Google will have to fend off a patent infringement lawsuit in East Texas after a federal appeals court refused to reconsider moving the case to another court, reports Bloomberg Law.

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied Google’s petition to rehear the issue of whether having servers in third-party facilities establishes a regular place of business for the purposes of filing a lawsuit, according to Bloomberg’s Malathi Nayak.

“SEVEN Networks LLC sued Google in for allegedly infringing patents related to data network traffic optimization through servers in East Texas,” Nayak writes. “Google said the case should be transferred because the presence of its servers in the district doesn’t amount to a regular and established place of business under the patent venue statute.”

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

The ABA Journal reports that a partner at a large international law firm in Houston has filed a $20 million suit claiming a bartender at Brennan’s of Houston spiked her drink with a drug and later raped her at her home.

The woman and her law firm are not identified in the lawsuit, according to the Journal‘s Debra Cassens Weiss. The suit names the bartender, Sean Kerrigan, and a restaurant manager who accompanied Kerrigan to the plaintiff’s home.

Kerrigan was criminally charged in July with raping the plaintiff and another woman in a later assault, but he died in November.

The plaintiff is in treatment  for post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the lawsuit.

Read the ABA Journal article.

Onit has published a case study showing how TIAA embarked on a journey that leverages best-in-class technologies, onshore and offshore partners, and innovation to bring together an efficient resource mix that enables the highest and best use of each law professional’s time.

The case study can be downloaded at no charge.

As TIAA law department’s chief operating officer and chief of staff for the past two years, Brad Rogers was tasked with transforming the entire legal operations function by bringing together law department employees and vendor partners from across the world to streamline processes and implement a comprehensive technology platform with capabilities rooted in process, workflow and collaboration that would allow the best use of each law professional’s time.

Download the case study.

Merry Neitlich of EM Consultants tells the story of the legal department of a Fortune 500 company its legal operations practices and interactions with its internal clients. Under the leadership of the senior vice president and general counsel, the legal department of 35 attorneys decided to ask their internal clients at the company how their services were being viewed and what could be done to improve upon them.

“The participants filled out a fourteen-question short answer continuum-based questionnaire,” explains Neitlich. “This information was transferred into graphs which allowed the attorneys to visually see their service strengths and weaknesses at a glance. The in-person feedback reports combined with the statistical data provided a deeper level of knowledge. ”

The article describes participants’ perception of the legal department, areas for possible improvement, internal communications, workflow options, human resources, and relationships with outside law firms.

Read the article.

The Second Circuit affirmed a ruling that denied a web service’s motion to compel arbitration, finding that the user did not have reasonable notice of the arbitration provision contained in the terms and conditions that were communicated via a hyperlink in a post-sale email, reports Proskauer Rose in its New Media and Technology Law Blog.

Jeffrey Neuburger, a partner in the firm, wrote the article.

“While the court recognized that a party has a duty to read a contract, it stressed that this does not morph into a duty to ‘ferret out contract provisions when they are contained in inconspicuous hyperlinks,’ particularly where, as in this case, the user was presented with multiple documents, each containing different sets of terms,” Neuburger writes.

Read the article.

In its newly published Defense Counsel Journal (DCJ), the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) offers insights on current challenges involving civil procedure, bankruptcy trust reform, and employment law. The IADC is an invitation-only global legal organization for attorneys who represent corporate and insurance interests.

The IADC’s first quarter 2019 DCJ is available for free and without a subscription via the IADC’s website.

The DCJ is a quarterly forum for topical and scholarly writings on the law, including its development and reform, as well as on the practice of law in general. DCJ articles are written by members of the IADC, which is a 2,500-member, invitation-only, worldwide organization that serves its members and their clients, as well as the civil justice system and the legal profession.

“The diverse, thought-provoking articles in this first 2019 edition of the Defense Counsel Journal focus on practical solutions to significant challenges,” says IADC president and Venable LLP partner Craig A. Thompson. “Our contributors have invested time and resources to ensure that we are kept up to date with the best, cutting edge thinking on key issues that affect many of our members and their clients.”

Current DCJ editor and former IADC board member Kenneth R. Meyer adds, “We delight in publishing thoughtful articles that offer insights and answers to the diverse and difficult problems facing those of us in the defense bar.” Meyer also is a partner at McCarter & English, LLP.

Following are brief summaries of some of the key articles included in the first quarter 2019 issue of the DCJ:

“Good Strategy or Forum Manipulation? The Continuing Evolution of the Bad Faith Exception to the One-Year Time Limit on Removal” by Anne K. Guillory, a partner and co-chair of the Toxic Tort Subgroup at Dinsmore & Shohl LLP – The article explores the complicated issues relating to removal, diversity jurisdiction, and forum shopping, and provides helpful and practical commentary on the “bad faith” exception to the legislative time limit imposed upon removal. The article analyzes a process that by its nature is not susceptible to appellate review, and explanation, and thus often misunderstood and misused.

“Department of Justice Combats Asbestos Trust Abuse” by Mark A. Behrens, a partner and co-chair of the public policy group, and William F. Northrip, of counsel, both at Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P. – The article examines governmental efforts to deal with the fraud and mismanagement prevalent with the administration of asbestos trusts. It is a companion piece to an article published in the fourth quarter 2019 DCJ and represents the DCJ Board of Editors’ ongoing effort to promote articles that spotlight IADC initiatives – in this case efforts by the IADC’s Civil Justice Response Committee to promote trust transparency laws.

Are You Ready for a Wallaby at the Water Cooler? Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals in the Workplace – What Do Employer Clients Need to Know? by Donna L. Burden, a founding member, and Sarah E. Hansen, a partner, both at Burden, Hafner & Hansen, LLC; and Sean Nash, managing counsel, labor & employment, in the United Airlines Legal Department – The article presents a timely and insightful look at workplace accommodations employers are asked to make for employees’ service animals.

Stacy Horth-Neubert has joined Sidley Austin LLP in Los Angeles as counsel in its global Litigation group. She joins Sidley from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Her arrival follows that of her former Skadden colleague and seasoned trial litigator Lisa Gilford, who joined Sidley in Los Angeles in January.

Horth-Neubert focuses her practice on commercial litigation, multidistrict litigation and class actions, federal and state appeals, international arbitration, and administrative appeals. She has advised clients on a wide range of matters, including state and local regulation, commercial contact disputes, and unfair business practices and false advertising. Horth-Neubert has represented several internet-based enterprises and large companies in such industries as design, entertainment, fashion, and travel and leisure.

“Stacy has a strong reputation representing clients in high-profile litigation matters,” said Dan Clivner, managing partner of the Greater Los Angeles offices and a member of Sidley’s Executive Committee. “We strive to outperform the expectations of our clients, and are well-positioned to continue doing so with Stacy and Lisa on our team.”

“Stacy has a wealth of experience representing clients in a broad variety of business and commercial disputes,” said Mark Hopson, global practice leader of Sidley’s firmwide Litigation group and a member of Sidley’s Management and Executive Committees. “She is a gifted litigator and will be a great asset to our clients in Greater Los Angeles and globally.”

Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Aughtry announced the addition of Jeffrey Hord as an Atlanta-based senior associate in the firm’s labor and employment section.

Hord’s practice will focus on defending employers nationwide in litigation matters regarding Title VII, the FLSA, ADA, NLRA, FMLA and ADEA. He will also counsel and advise clients on employment issues, including worker classification, DOL and OFCCP compliance, employee separation, shareholder disputes, and restrictive covenants.

Hord is admitted to practice law in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. He holds an AV Preeminent Rating from Martindale Hubbell and has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers eight times across three states. From 2009 to 2012, he served as an adjunct faculty member of the American University Washington College of Law’s trial advocacy program.

Hord earned his undergraduate degree from The College of William & Mary and his law degree from the University of Richmond School of Law.

In 2019, trial firm Provost Umphrey celebrates the firm’s 50th anniversary.

“We have been honored to call Beaumont home for the last 50 years and we’re privileged to represent honest people who need help,” said managing partner Joe J. Fisher II. “To be able to mark this milestone is a testament to our founders’ mission, our staff’s hard work and the local community, which has continued to embrace our firm. We look forward to the next 50 years of representing our community.”

In 1969, Walter Umphrey founded the firm, which now has 22 attorneys.

In a release, the firm said: “With a long history of involvement in notable cases and impressive verdict wins, the firm is perhaps best known for its lead role in the successful Texas litigation against the tobacco industry. Mr. Umphrey served as lead counsel for Texas, engineering a historic $15.3 billion settlement for the state.”

Provost Umphrey has contributed to several projects:

• Provost Umphrey Stadium, Lamar University, Beaumont
• The Sheila and Walter Umphrey Law Center at Baylor Law School
• The Sheila Umphrey Recreational Sports Center also at Lamar University
• Walter Umphrey State Park on Pleasure Island in Port Arthur

The firm has prepared a video highlighting some of its cases

Employment lawyer Emily Stout will join Crawford, Wishnew & Lang PLLC as a partner, the firm announced in a release.

Stout is Board Certified in Labor & Employment from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She advises on employment policies, practices, training, and employment benefits and litigates employment, labor, business, and commercial cases on behalf of both corporate and individual clients. She is a certified mediator and offers her services in employment and business cases, the firm said.

“I am extremely excited to bring my skillset to this talented group of lawyers who have built a well-respected practice in such a short period of time,” said Stout. “I will always treasure and fondly remember my years practicing with Clouse Brown. Joining the CWL team was the right move at the right time, and I look forward to the next chapter of my career.”

“Emily and I were adversaries in a noncompete case several years ago and became good friends,” Dave Wishnew said. “We have remained close over the years and have successfully worked together on several cases. I know first-hand the quality of person that Emily is, and we are lucky and thrilled to add such a high-caliber attorney that shares in our firm’s core values.”

Stout was with Crawford, Wishnew & Lang after many years working with Keith Clouse at the firm now known as Clouse Brown PLLC.

Michigan State University has removed former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Bob Young as its general counsel, reports the Lansing State Journal.

Young’s last day was Friday, eight months after he started in the job.

Young’s salary at MSU was $425,000 per year. He had a contract that ran through May 31, 2021, making its total value $1.275 million.

“A university spokeswoman said Young will receive a full payout of that contract,” writes the State Journal‘s Matt Mencarini. “That would mean the university will pay about $1 million on the remaining balance.”

Read the Lansing State Journal article.

Bloomberg Law reports that the makers of IBM’s Watson artificial intelligence tool have been in quiet, informal discussions with a small group of prominent law firms in a bid to launch an expansion of offerings for firms and to help them collaborate around AI.

Brian Kuhn, co-founder and global leader of the Watson legal practice at IBM, said the company until now has mostly focused its legal business marketing of Watson to legal departments within large corporations, according to Bloomberg’s Sam Skolnick.

Kuhn said the company is preparing for a large-scale entrance into the American and British law firm markets, adding to its existing arrangements with U.S. and U.K.-based firms already in place.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

Image by NY Photographic

In a recent ruling, the Fifth Circuit strongly suggested that claims for make-whole damages be characterized as “unmatured interest” and that claims for postpetition interest on unsecured debt be limited in bankruptcy proceedings, reports Jones Day in a post on its website.

The Fifth Circuit reversed the Bankruptcy Court’s order holding that the debtors’ plan impaired the unsecured noteholders’ claims and vacated and remanded for reconsideration determinations by the bankruptcy court that noteholders were entitled to recover such contractual amounts.

The decision makes the Fifth Circuit unattractive to unsecured or undersecured lenders asserting claims for make-whole payments and default rate postpetition interest, the authors conclude.

Read the article.

Writing in Gray Reed’s Energy & the Law blog, Charles Sartain points out that parties to a transaction need to be mindful that if a business deal is a partnership, there will be rights and duties not present in arms-length commercial transactions.

He discusses a recent appellate court opinion and considers the main question: Was a partnership formed by a letter agreement, a participation agreement and the actions of the parties?

Stephens et al v. Three Finger Black Shale Partnership et al. is a complicated petroleum development deal that included all those elements. The jury trial ended with a multimillion dollar judgment for actual and exemplary damages in favor of two separate groups of plaintiffs and intervenors against several groups of defendants.

The appellate court determined that there was no evidence of a partnership, which meant that no fiduciary duty was owed by the defendants.

Read the article.